The Life in the Day

"Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely..."

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:48:47 -0700

“Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time.”

-
The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho

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Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:22:46 -0700

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Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:20:36 -0700

Last Night in Firenze

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:18:54 -0700

So I am counting last night as my last night here, because I am catching a cab at 4:30 am on Saturday morning for my 6:30 am flight which puts a damper on going out on Friday night. But, Thursday night, my last night in Florence, was fantastic. In typical fashion, all of the roommates and I enjoyed a couple-hour dinner over wine and pasta at a new restaurant and found ourselves at a bar talking some more over a couple beers which lead to some karaoke at Red Garter and then dancing at Twice. Now the reason that we didn’t retire in our normal, eighty year old lady fashion (no offense grandma), is because we were determined- finally- to stay out until the “secret bakery” opened.

The secret bakery is something that I heard about my very first week in Florence and cannot believe that I waited until my last night to find it- save the best for last? I was led to believe that it was a hole-in-the-wall bakery that opened for students on their way home from their long nights out, fortifying them with warm croissants and baked goods for only a Euro. I also heard that you had to use a secret knock to find the door for someone to open it for you and out pops a croissant. So after piecing together all semester where the closest one to our house is located, Ali lead us all to one at 2:30 am. We knew we had arrived when we began to smell that oh so distinct scent of freshly baked croissants here in Florence- almost lemony. However, it was far from an old wooden door that you had to use a secret knock- it was the back side of a full on, stainless steel, glass window-lined kitchen that had opened at 2 am to begin baking goods for the next morning.

As the smile grew on my face, one of the two men in baking uniforms came to the open glass door and gave me a “dime” or “tell me” as in “tell me what you would like” in Italian. I asked for “sei corneti, por favore, con coiccolato” and he handed me a bag of six warm, gooey, chocolate croissants in exchange for 6 Euro. We all enjoyed one (we won’t talk about how we all had chocolate all over our faces and Sam refused to deal with it until she got home, and we also won’t talk about how Katherine and I had to enjoy another, immediately, in a nutella, pastry form.) We were all very satiated that we had finally experienced the joy of the secret bakery!

"Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere..."

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 11:50:17 -0700

“Dancing is the loftiest, the most moving, the most beautiful of the arts, because it is not mere translation or abstraction from life; it is life itself.”

- Havelock Ellis

"Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and..."

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:00:14 -0700

“Love is like a friendship caught on fire. In the beginning a flame, very pretty, often hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. As love grows older, our hearts mature and our love becomes as coals, deep-burning and unquenchable.”

-
Bruce Lee

Final Photos for my classical photography class

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 11:55:17 -0700

Final Photos for my classical photography class

USD Memory Book

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 06:16:48 -0700

USD Memory Book:

Here it is! I have been lucky enough to work with Nataly, Jessica, and Marta to bring this book to all of the students studying in Florence this semester from USD- hope it helps everyone remember it forever!

A Closing, Cozy, Rainy Night

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 15:00:16 -0700

There’s just something about that sound of rain outside of your apartment in Florence. Oh wait… haha, goodness, I cannot believe this apartment is only “mine” until Saturday. It has become a home to me, and as I take down the pictures of everyone I love at home that kept me comfort on my bulletin board all semester long, I really cannot grasp that it is almost over. I know, I know, I’ve written nearly 10 “closing” entries- but goodness- have to come down from this experience somehow!

I have been looking forward to this experience since I learned what study abroad was and now I’ve had the experience. I’ve done it! I survived (pretty successfully, if I do say so myself) in Italy and around Europe for the last almost 4 months, okay 3 and a half. I must say that it has become normal to walk everywhere, normal to enjoy lunch at 2 PM and dinner at 9 PM, and normal to order my cappuccino in Italian, although that’s about all I can fluently say in Italian- the important things, right? I can confidently say that I can get myself around town and feed myself- in Italian. I think that means I’ve become some what assimilated into the culture, yeah?

I successfully completed one final today, so that leaves four more before Friday and I am on a flight home. As someone I love very much wished me, “I hope that your lasts are your bests,” I hope that my last few days in Florence help me realize all that I have learned and all that has become part of my person forever more. Get ready America, I’m comin home with lots of Italian flair! …And a bag of my favorite cookies for my family to try!

"When frustrations come your way (according to recent research they are bound to come 23 times a..."

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 07:02:11 -0700

“When frustrations come your way (according to recent research they are bound to come 23 times a day), will you fight or will you dance?”

- The Power of Kindness by Piero Ferrucci

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Mon, 12 Dec 2011 05:45:17 -0700

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Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:49:22 -0700

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQfE2Oi6Wo

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 15:20:36 -0700

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbQfE2Oi6Wo

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Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:27:02 -0700

Last Saturday in Firenze

Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:14:37 -0700

Included:

-Sleeping in

-A trip to the San Lorenzo market where a cappuccino and nutella muffins were enjoyed with Katherine and Sam

-Dried fruit, biscotti, and lemoncello (for the roomies in SD to try and enjoy!) were purchased

-A viewing of Santa Maria Novella Church, finally

-A last lap through the leather market and Christmas market was taken

-A Pino’s panini was enjoyed- tried the veggie- wish I would have tried it sooner!

-Studying for finals begins now…

Bittersweet! Next Saturday I will be home in the AZ! Cannot wait : )

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Sat, 10 Dec 2011 08:06:36 -0700

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Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:23:48 -0700

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Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:22:32 -0700

Pino's Wine Tasting

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:18:49 -0700

Last night we finally had reservations for an infamous wine tasting lead by Pino himself. Now, let me begin by framing Pino for you. Most female students here (oh wait, ALL of the students here are female- Chad, did I mention how happy I am that we are still together? ; ) adore Pino, and some love him, like Katherine. Not for the normal reasons of him being a slightly older, good-looking Italian man on top of being, sweet, and mindful and constantly full of reminders of how beautiful you are, but rather because he makes arguarably the best panini’s in the world. Hence, why Katherine thinks he would make a really great husband. Pino’s panini’s everyday for the rest of your life? I think its grounds for love. I really cannot believe I haven’t told you all about Pino and his sandwiches in the last 3 months of being here.

Lunch at Pino’s Salumeria Verde shop usually works a little something like this: you push open the door to be overcome by delcious aromas while throwing out a “Ciao Pino” where he immediately looks up from whatever he’s doing and greets you with a smile, a “Ciao Bella,” and then proceedes to remember your exact order- nearly every time and immediately starts preparing your panini on the spot. Although he traditionally moves at a glacial Italian pace, I am willing to wait because made-to-order grilled eggplant, roasted bell peppers, sauteed spinach, Italian cheese, freshly-sliced turkey, and homemade pesto all served on the best focaccia that is hand sliced and spritzed with extra virgin olive oil is something that you wait for. And then you pay your 3.50 Euro(so cheap!) to Pino’s father who works the register and speaks zero english, and your lunch is a little slice of heaven, which is why we frequent Pino’s shop so often during our afternoons here.

However, last night was not about panini’s but rather Pino’s wine. Pino has another location around the corner that was once a dungeon-tunnel that lead to the place where criminals would be tortured in ancient Florentine times now turned beautiful wine cellar. It was here down in this beautifully restored basement that Katherine, Ali, Sam, Lauren, Kelsey, Karly, Kylie, Libby, Christina and me all enjoyed one of the best wine tastings yet during my short 21 years, and technically not even a full year of legally drinking, of life. We began with delicious parmesan cheese and typical Italian (saltless-I’m finally getting used to it right in time to leave!) bread accompanied by some 12 year-aged balsamic (it was so sweet and so delicious!) and fancy, extra-virgin, DOC grade olive oil. I learned that to receive all of the health benefits of olive oil (it cleanses your liver is mainly what I heard) you must consume it within a year of buying it- and buy the best possible grade you can so that the olives don’t touch the ground but are rather hand picked and caught on nets to avoid the dirt. Apparently it really makes a difference and the taste is so much better! We all laughed as it tasted nothing like the store-brand olive oil we’ve been buying at the grocery market all semseter. Except for the little bottles of the fancy stuff that Katherine and I have picked up along the way- mainly because my mom told me to buy the good stuff while she was here a couple months ago. See- I listen to you momma.

Then came the first glass to taste- a delicious chardonnay. Pino, in Italian, taught us three ways to assess the wine before drinking it. We looked at it (apparently if you can read the time on your watch through your white wine it means its free of pollutants), smelled the bouquet and named all of the aromas, and then finally-after what seemed like eternity of not being able to drink it- tasted it with all parts of our mouths. Delicious prosciutto followed before we had our next round of a glass of chianti sangiovese and two types of some tasty salami. At this point we were all having a pretty good time down in that wine cellar. When the third glass of red hit the table, I believe it was a cabernet?- the names and technicalities became a little less important at this point-we were having a ball. Pino gave us his untraditional drunk test of standing on one leg, while holding the other leg bent, off of the ground while connecting your nose to your right thumb with your hand spread so that your right pinky contacted your left thumb where your left pinky finally touched your bent, suspended knee. Good thing I do yoga- because I wouldn’t have passed without all of that warrior position practice! After a couple photos, we thanked Pino with a “Graziemille!” and headed to Grom for a cone of gelato. Thanks everyone for coming last night and enjoying one of our last nights in Florence in such an Italian fashion! Salute!

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Wed, 07 Dec 2011 02:31:22 -0700