Sono Contenta

Ciao a tutti!

Just a warning: this post will be all about the most amazing city ever, Firenze.

Yesterday I returned from my 5 day long school trip to Florence, Italia and it was amazing. Even though I have been to Florence before, it was 5 years ago and only for a day. I remember it being amazing last time, but this time around I truly fell in love with it. It is the perfect city! Not too big, not too small. Insanely beautiful. Just perfect. I already decided in college I am going back and studying there for at least a semester...I am sure you love that idea, don't ya Dad? :)

Now more about the actual trip. First of all, I think we covered every square inch of the place. We had 4 days full of museums, churches, etc. It was tiring to say the least. For me, the best (and most funny) part of the whole thing is how much freedom we had. If Patton ever took us on a class trip (ha!) I am sure the experience would be the exact opposite of ours. On this trip we had scheduled appointments as a group at several museums per day, but other than that we were on our own in the city. We could basically do anything we wanted which definitely made the whole experience better. After visiting the museums everyone sort of split up into their own little groups and we went to go eat, sit in a park, or just walk around enjoying the city and the fact that we were not in school while everyone else was. I was already close with several students in my class before the trip, but being with them every second for five days straight made us even closer and I realized how much I really love my friends here! It also wore me out because it was Italian 24/7. It wasn't like at home where there's not always someone to listen to or like at school where I don't have to pay attention in class. By the last day I was responding to everything with "cosa" (what?) even if it was something I really did understand. My brain was just so tired that I couldn't function. However, overall I think it helped me a ton. Even though I didn't speak a ton, just listening to what people say, how they say it, and asking what things mean really made me feel like I made some more improvement in the language department.

Let's see, I'm not really sure what else there is to say. At the moment I can't imagine returning home, no offense to my North Carolina people, but I love everything about my life here and I can only hope the next 3 1/2 months don't fly by too quickly. I just had an amazing 5 days and now I only have the next week-ish at home before I head to Roma! Can't wait.

That's about it for now. Xoxo
Emma