There wasn't anything interesting on the walk this morning. It was a bit cooler this morning than it has been, but it eventually warmed up! I did see the weird truck with the signs again, but didn't get a good picture...and then i saw it again this afternoon. Perhaps it isn't as weird as I thought?!?!? When I got to school I sat down and looked over some of the irregular passato prossimo verbs and reviewed some other things.
The test wasn't too bad...it was a paragraph and we had to conjugate the verbs and then answer some questions about what we had read. I made stupid mistakes, but whatever. I dont need a grade...and she didn't grade them right then...she corrected them and we went over it. After we did this, we had our break. I was STARVING at this point so I ran to the "bar" and got a special K bar and a small kit-kat, and small twix for Fiona and I to have as a treat. Now, let me take a minute to explain their candy bars here. When I say I bought a Kit-Kat and Twix, I mean that they are the size of our Halloween Candy portions. The twix is a little longer than that, but the Kit-Kat is pretty much our Halloween candy. Anyway, I just thought it would be a nice gesture and I wanted to share....plus, the test really was frustrating in the end...and what's the cure to that?!?!?!? Apparently, chocolate! ;) The rest of class was really frustrating. I had that, "I want to be anywhere but here" feeling again. Mostly, I was dreading the History of Art class that I would have to suffer through for an hour and a half... during THAT time I made my list of what I needed to take to Rome with me, what I want to see in Rome...and I made plans to potentially skip class NEXT Friday and go to Venice on Friday and return to Florence on Saturday. Then, that Sunday we have a trip to Chianti. Then...I thought that the last Tuesday that I am here I could skip class that day and go to Sienna or Lucca. THEN the last Thursday of classes I am going to skip the art history class and go climb the Duomo. I am saving this for last so that i can see as much of the city on foot before I get a "bird's eye" view. P.S. I also plan to skip the art history class tomorrow because it literally is a WASTE of my time...she is talking about things that I wouldn't even understand in English, much less Italian! I barely catch a word here and there...literally, today the only reason I knew we were still talking about relatively the same thing from beginning to end was because she kept saying, "Michelangelo". So, I think my time would be better spent going to take pictures of something and then coming home early to pack for Rome and write my blog and rest up for Rome (because I am taking the 7 a.m. train on Saturday morning).
After quite possibly the longest hour and a half EVER...I was starving and went to the restaurant to eat. I have the same waiter almost every time and he is so sweet. However, he wants me to eat more food than I can stand. Today, he insisted that I have the grilled vegetables to start with and the pasta of the day (which had eggplant and bacon in it). The weirdest thing was that when I sat down I noticed this lady at another table just a few tables away from mine that I recognized. It took me a few minutes to think of where I would even know her from (it's not like I know people in Florence), but then I realized that it was the SUPER nice lady from TIM that finally helped me get my phone straightened out. I thought that it was so weird that I saw her again! So when my pasta came, I was a little afraid of how it was going to taste. I wasn't crazy about it...like I would never order it again, but I ate some of it. I mean, at this point it was this or go pay for something! However, I'm glad I gave it a shot. The eggplant just tasted funny...not at all like the eggplant parmesean or anything I have had before. Oh well, so after that I went to walk around. OOOOh and the lady sitting at the table next to me was eating a steak that I literally think I heard it "mooing"...it was DISGUSTING...like the outside was brown, then a layer of pink, and then literally raw meat with blood running everywhere...YUCK!!!!!!!
I had decided that I was going to go back to Piazza della Signoria and take some pictures! Then I walked inside the big castle building (Palazzo Vecchio) to take some pictures.
Then, I walked through the Galleria degli Uffizi. I have walked into all of these places, but hadn't taken good pictures...today I tried to do better...some of my pictures look like they are coming out crooked and I am NOT happy about this!!! The strangest thing happened though in the Galleria. There are these men (kind of like in NYC) who hang out on the streets selling fake watches, purses, etc., but in the Galleria they have these pictures laying on the ground. Something happened and 3 of them swiped all of the pictures up (they had a quick way of doing it) and they ran off. Then i saw other men running as well, but I never saw any policemen or anything...it was VERY strange.
Then i went and stood at the river (the Ponte Vecchio to my right) and across the river and up the hill I could see the Piazzale Michelangelo. It was a beautiful time of day to be standing at the river. The sun was out and providing some warmth, but it wasn't hot. THe sun was reflecting off of the water...it was just beautiful. There was this girl, who I took a picture of in front of the Palazzo Vecchio because she had on an AWESOME houndstooth skirt, was caring flowers, and had a crown of leaves on. She was now down by the river and I so badly wanted to ask why she was wearing that...well thankfully I heard someone else ask...she had graduated from a University today and apparently this was the thing to do. It was pretty cool...though on Dec. 17th i will not be walking around with a crown of leaf thingys on my head...but houndstooth skirt would be nice though!! Oooh if only other people truly understood the value of houndstooth!!!
SO then I walked towards the Ponte Vecchio and there are these places where people have put a lot of locks on the bars. I want to know the significance...here is a picture so that you can see what I am talking about. I saw a couple putting another lock on, but they weren't speaking English and I dont think it was Italian either, so I didn't ask. Plus, I figure you can google anything... and here is what google said, http://www.firenzealbergo.it/EN/Experience-Florence/romantic-getaway/pages/leggende-amore-ponte-vecchio.aspx
Interesting...well, that explains it!! SO then I started making my way back to the apartment. My knees have been bothering me ever since I booked it to and from the train station in Pisa. I did stop in some stores along the way: H&M, ZARA, and some others. Then I ran into the Orsanmichele by accident. It was beautiful from the outside, so I went inside. It was gorgeous...very "simple" by the standards of the other churches I have seen, but beautiful nonetheless. I took the opportunity just to sit there and pray for a few minutes! I have so much to be thankful for that it seems as though I cannot thank God enough...plus, I need to be conscience of stopping more throughout my day to talk to God.
Side story: Erin's facebook status this morning really got me thinking...though she has had this verse up in her apartment, and I've seen it elsewhere a million times...it really stood out today!
Anyway, so it made me think. There are quite a few of you reading the words that I spend time writing every day. I need to be conscience of the things I do because I am going to write about them...then my words can either be good and helpful and/or an encouragement, or they might not be. I will be making a conscience effort every day for these words to be good, helpful, and encouragement rather than destructive or abusive in any way. THe first thing that came to mind was my rant about the guy in my class...Elmo...while it REALLY bugs me when he talks over me or the teacher or answers for us....that's no reason for me to rant about him. He really is a nice person and though I can't communicate well with him, he has been very kind.
After the church, i just kept walking to the apartment. I stopped in a store here and there to look at a dress or a pair of shoes...i even looked to see if anyone had a cannoli I could try. I dont know why today I decided I might need to try one, but I was unsuccessful. That was fine because I've probably had waaaayyy too many calories today as it is...plus, i was hoping that Signora Gabriella would offer me some tea when I got home because tea sounded amazing. When I first walked through the door, the first thing she did was offer me tea!! YAY!!! It was really good...she put some lemon in it, but it was still really good and perfect. We talked a little bit and drank our tea. Then I decided to take a nap! The nap was only about 45 minutes,but it was perfect. Really I was just glad I was able to sleep because today of all days the people above us had someone banging metal pipes/tools together. That was the best nap though...I did NOT want to get up. However, i wanted to write my blog, put some more pictures on facebook (i put a few before I slept), plan Rome, write some emails, and start the second week of mine and Erin's Bible study...and then later start packing for Rome. Man, even my "rest" time isn't restful.
I am wondering what we are having for dinner...hopefully it doesn't involve too many carbohydrates....ughh...
Dinner was okay...I started (had to start) with spaghetti con pesto. it's good...I just didn't want so many carbs! :( Then we had prosciutto with cooked carrots adn something green...they were okay, but kind of bland...the prosciutto was not for me...not this kind...and not alone! Then I had one of the tangerines! Yay I remembered the word....FINALLY!!
I will spend the rest of the evening planning Rome...this will be hard to do as I have 36 hours in Rome and I'll have to sleep at some point...and I'll have to eat...and I'll have to not be out at midnight!!! Ughh HOW WILL I EVER DO IT ALL!?!?!?
OOOOh this morning I took some pictures of the school to show you...it's not inside our area (classrooms, etc), but it's the building that the school is in (we're on the 2nd floor...which is technically the 3rd floor in America).
Blogger is being weird...so I'm not going to be able to label any of the pictures! 
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