An Average Day

3/19/15

Day 63

I had a quiz in psych this morning. And not a clue of what it was on. I met my friend at an ungodly hour to study... And then there was no quiz. Typical. I'm starting to see what people mean when they complain about the bureaucracy in Italy. We won't have any more quizzes because we haven't covered enough material to be tested. I sound like I'm whining, but I'm actually really excited about this new development!

I had tortellini for lunch, like I do for pretty much every meal here. It's embarrassing. I got to hear secondhand Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash and an especially loud phone call from our courtyard as I ate and it was surprisingly nice. I might be getting used to hearing every little thing my neighbors do. 

Before my next class, my friend told me to check my mailbox for a letter. And I found one from my friend Alyse! It was really cute and even included pictures to remind me that I should come home soon. 

Then, we took a walk with our class with a free guided tour by our professor. We learned that the things between buildings that look like this are supposed to hold buildings apart so they don't fall in on each other. If you stand at the right angle, you can see the buildings leaning and it's slightly unnerving.

I think this particular alley is off of Piazza Signoria. Next we wandered into a tiny piazza in front of Santo Stefano Church. 

Apparently, when the Ponte Vecchio was first built, it was named Ponte Santo Stefano, after this church. But when the newer bridges went up, this became the "Old Bridge" or "Ponte Vecchio." I googled this to see if I could find any evidence that I heard the story right, but nothing came up so I'm just gonna hope I'm not lying to you. 

Later, I sat by the Duomo for a little just to bask in its greatness and SAW SWEATPANTS. It rocked my world and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little jealous. To be fair, I do get to sleep in my comfy sweat groutfit every night but I've never been brave enough to wear the pants past the threshold of my apartment. 

Dinner was heart-shaped Gusta pizza and Gelateria Santa Trinita so it was a good night! 

The walk home wound past the Uffizi, Piazza della Signoria, and the Badia Fiorentina. I realized how lucky I am to be here but also how hard it's going to be to leave. I wish I was here for longer than just one semester.