Realizing that I'm actually here to go to school

I've been a little delayed on the blog for a couple of reasons. First of all, the internet here is still awfulllllllllll. They gave us a new router (spaceship?) but it's still pretty unpredictable. It's so frustrating that I can't ask Mom, Dad, Andrew, or Lauren to fix everything when my internet won't start. I feel like I'm living in the Dark Ages.  Classes started this week, which is the other reason that I've waited to post.  I'm taking four classes here: Italian, Renaissance Art, Etruscan Art and Archaeology, and Introduction to Painting.

I'm really excited for the two Art History classes. They both have trips planned for both within Florence and throughout Tuscany. I'm going to get to go to Rome a couple times, once to see Renaissance art and one to see Ancient sites. For my Etruscan class we're even going to a real archaeological dig site. I don't have class until 1:30 on Tuesdays and Thursdays so this Tuesday I got up early and went to the Uffizi Gallery with my roommate Juhea. I really liked seeing all the work I'd learned about in classes (dork.. I know) and it was nice to see art somewhere other than the Met. My Renaissance professor also brought us around the center parts of Florence and we learned about basic history of the city. 

She requires us to go to different parts of Florence each week to do a "looking" assignment so I'll see a lot of Florence when I'm not traveling.

My painting class met for the first time today. We just went to a store and bought supplies but I'm really excited to start using them next week in class. Italian is definitely my least favorite class, especially since I don't get any credit for Colgate for it. The class meets four days a week which is a little excessive, but I think I'll be more motivated to learn it since I'm surrounded by people speaking Italian everyday. It would also be pretty cool to communicate in Italian beyond the basics of "ciao" "grazie" and "va bene" while traveling in Italy and living in Florence.  

Emily and I are trying to plan our trips for the semester. We had a pretty much PERFECT schedule in place but then all of our planned class trips messed that up a little. As of now our spring break is centered around a rave called Sensation White in Belgium on March 12th.  We're thinking of hitting Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Berlin throughout the week. Also on my wish list: Prague, Barcelona, Greece, Switzerland, Copenhagen and Austria. That doesn't include the places in Italy I want to go: Rome, Venice, Pompeii, Sienna, and Pisa. I also want to make sure that I stay in Florence enough to enjoy it. My attempt to fit all of this into one semester should be interesting to say the least.