When in Rome...

Rome. Rome. Rome. This weekend we went on a fieldtrip to Rome with the school. It was quite a fun weekend. Rome is very much a modern city with lots of old ruins and history at its center. It’s one of those places you always hear about and then you visit it and think: I don’t know if this is exactly what I imagined but it’s REALLY cool (I guess a lot of things in life are like that huh). We left super early on Saturday morning (4.30 ekkk) and met the tour bus at Piazza Independeza. We had a little excitement bright and early when we got chased by a drunk/drugged up man with a panini in his hand. There was really no reason to be scared (It was 8 against 1) but when a sketchy drugged up man chases you screaming with a sandwich in his hand, you will run! I was in the back of the group of course but after a minute he left us alone! The bus ride was also an adventure. Italians are not the best drivers and there were a couple of times I about fell out of my seat. We got to Rome early and immediately went and saw the Colosseum. It was so nice to be given a tour of the area and not have to worry about transportation to and from sights. After the Colosseum we had a lunch break and then went on a three hour tour of the Vatican. The tour was long and our tour guide was quite the character. I learned a fair amount, but more than anything I just loved the unbelievable paintings in every room we entered! Our whole tour was leading up to the Sistine Chapel and St. Peters. The Sistine Chapel was pretty amazing. There were tons of tourists but I tried to imagine what it would be like in the Chapel when a new Pope was selected and the white smoke was released. I stared at the ceiling for a while. It was the feeling again of “I’ve heard about this place 1000000 times and now I’m here!” I tried to take a picture and about got in trouble with a security guard. We went to St. Peters Basilica next. I have NO idea how people could ever create a church as grand as St. Peters. I added one more unbelievable church to the list of many that I have seen in the last couple of weeks. Although the tour was long and crammed full of random information, I did learn some interesting things about Catholicism. We walked past the crypts of the dead Popes on the way to the Basilica and I was intrigued with the crowds and emotions. Made me want to know more. By the end of tour we were all drained. While waiting for the group we saw a couple get engaged! I was literally standing RIGHT beside them, but it wasn’t until people started clapping and I looked down, that I saw them kneeled on the ground. It was precious. I tried to capture the moment for my photo project but lo’ wasn’t quite fast enough to capture a worthwhile shot. We left Vatican City and headed towards our hotel!


I love hotels. I no longer take for granted rooms where you have your own key and can comfortably leave your stuff in the room. It was super nice and Hil, Melis, and I couldn’t have been happier! We rested, explored, had a snack and McDonalds, and went to dinner with the UNC group! I loved getting to spend time with all the kids on our program! They’re awesome! I’m excited for the Nice and French Rivera trip with the group. We went to bed early and woke up to a HUGE FREE BREAKFAST!!! Sunday was a wonderful day. The sun was shining as we visited the Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and the Forum. The dome in the Pantheon was breathtaking and I made a couple wishes at the Trevi Fountain! I enjoyed listening to our teachers/ tour guides and getting to know a little bit more about their lives. A four course typical Roman lunch was included with our program. Lots and lots of pasta and wine. Before heading back to Florence we visited the Catacombs. I didn’t really know much about the Catacombs before our visit, but I thoroughly enjoyed the tour through the tombs. We felt like we were on a ride in Disney World. When our slightly freaky tour guide whispered “come closer”, Hil and I were cracking up/ somewhat scared. It was a great end to our busy day! I slept most of way to Florence and thankfully we didn’t get chased by panini man on our walk back to the apartment. I’m very thankful I choose Rome as one of my school trips. I now feel like I know a lot more about the Vatican and ancient Rome!





Other things from the week.

*Last week I got an e-mail about my language partner. Before I left NC I signed up for a language partner {they pair you with an Italian student who you can talk with}. It sounded like a neat opportunity but once I got here and realized how HORRIBLE I am at speaking Italian, I’m pretty sure I would never have signed up. Anyway, I got the e-mail and I met my partner for first time last Thursday! Her name is Chiara, she’s 23, and one of the first things she asked me was if I watched Dawson’s Creek. We were meant to be friends. I really enjoy hanging out with her, even if my Italian is horrific. She is basically fluent in English. She has taken English since elementary school but rarely speaks it. We are supposed to speak half the time in Italian and half in English. She is super nice and is very patient with me! I’m very thankful that I signed up before I left!

*I’m getting surprisingly good at being creepy while taking pictures. Practice makes perfect. I normally go out on Monday afternoon and sit in a piazza and click away. This week I brought out my telephoto lens {super zoom} and got some really funny shots. It’s always awkward when you can see people looking back at you through your lens. My new motto is “I’m never going to see these people again what do I have to lose (besides my perfect photo)”. If nothing else, my photo assignments make me think of day to day scenes as pictures. I’m continually looking for something worth capturing. This week was “focus your vision”. Very open ended. I decided that I would follow a common theme through all my pictures. I choose companionship. My teacher was more positive this week. Here are a few shots from the week.




*My friends in my cooking class told me about a bakery with normal coffee, muffins and cake. I found it on Monday {and my friends just happened to be in there}. It was great fun and a super cute bakery! We also found a Mexican restaurant close to our apartment. A break from pasta is nice every once in a while! Went to Beatles cover band last week. I enjoyed it. Cool atmosphere.

*It’s getting warmer. Makes me excited for spring! I’m trying to jog more.

The weeks continue to fly by. I think is partly because we have been traveling so much and my days are always slammed packed. My favorite day is always Thursday because not only is it the beginning of the weekend but cooking class day! My teacher plays Michael Buble when we cook. She’s so cool and intense.

I miss and love y’all very much. Wing wing. Meow meow.
Prayers and hugs,
Bec

Does a spring of water bubble out with both fresh water and bitter water? Does a fig tree produce olives, or a grapevine produce figs? No, and you can’t draw fresh water from a salty spring. – James 3:11-12

Holy Smokes

I LOVE SWITZERLAND! I believe the areas around Interlaken, Lauterbrunnen Valley and Grindelwald are some of the most beautiful in the world! One of my favorite quotes from the weekend came from Melis when she was looking up in the Lauterbrunnen Valley and exclaimed “Holy smokes Lord you are incredible.” I could’t have said it better myself. I thought that a lot this weekend.

We left on Thursday night and rode a tour bus to Interlaken. We ended up going with “Bus 2 Alps”, a tour service catered to study abroad students. After our learning weekend in Venice, I was very thankful for our transportation and hostel to be taken care of. The drive took about 9 hours but I managed to sleep and listen to my ipod for most of it. I really enjoyed the drive and it snowed on the way there! We got stopped at the Swiss border for about an hour and our bus got checked. We arrived to Balmers around 3AM and snuggled into our little room. We woke up pretty early on Friday to reserve our paragliding/skiing spots, ate free hostel breakfast, and headed to Lauterbrunnen Valley for the day.

Lauterbrunnen was incredible! I felt like I was in a movie. We walked down a little road through the town and the country side for almost 3 hours. Just walking, taking pictures, ice skating, and falling down. I would move there. Open a little bakery, live in a log cabin, and have a couple cows and chickens. No kidding, it’s unreal. One of those places I will always long to go back to, and will forever remember as a magical town. In Lauterbrunnen we ate lunch at a little café called Airtime. The lady who owned it was super nice and managed to sell us tomato soup and brownies. We hung out there for a while, eating and looking out the windows. It was a great day in a winter wonderland! Friday night we hung out around Interlaken and went to bed pretty early so we would be ready for paragliding! Note about paragliding: I HAD NO IDEA WHAT I WAS GETTING MYSELF INTO. I decided I didn’t want to ski because I’m not a very good skier and I wanted to have time to explore Grindelwald, so paragliding seemed like a logical option. While walking in Lauterbrunnen I happen to spot a paraglide just coming off the mountain. Hil was cracking up, but honestly I didn’t have a clue I would be up that high. I was legitimately nervous. All that said, going to bed Friday night I was quite apprehensive about our paragliding adventure in the morning!



We got picked up for paragliding around 10. Melis and Em went skiing, while Rach, Hil, and I went paragliding. Obviously I didn’t really know what paragliding was at this point but I was praying that I wouldn’t have to run off a mountain (my other friend Haley who came with us went skydiving…I’m not that crazy) . We went to the paragliding office and picked up our guides. The guides were really funny and cute! That made everything better of course. We drove up to the top of a mountain and hiked up a bit to some random cottages back yard. Thankfully I didn’t have to run off a mountain, just run down it with a guide strapped to my back! Paragliding is just like flying a kite except you are attached to the kite. I LOVED IT! I was not scared once. It was unbelievable and the view was awesome. I didn’t even have time to be scared because I was constantly looking around and gawking at the alps and town below. It was quite chilly and I was thankful for the boots and pants the paragliding guides had provided. If you go to Interlaken pleaseee paraglide (and request Dominick as your guide). After paragliding we went to went to the grocery store and got some soup. Our hostel was so homey and nice. It even had a kitchen which was useful for preparing some cheap meals. Another great part of the weekend was the Swiss Franc. The euro is stronger than the franc so everything seemed a lot cheaper in Switzerland. We stocked up on chocolate, oatmeal, and the some of the best bread I have ever had! So many reasons to love Switzerland.

After lunch on Saturday I went to explore Grindelwald. Jerm had told me that’s where Pop’s tree was located and I wanted to find it! It was about a 45 minute train ride through the alps, and then I arrived in the town of Grindelwald. Everyone in Grindelwald was either on skis or riding a sled! It was the quaintest little ski town. I explored for a bit and then asked a lady where Terrassenweg road was located. She told me to keep walking straight. I walked straight for quite some time. Straight and uphill, but the view was impeccable. I just kept following Terrassenweg and prayed that I would see the tree! When I got to the ski school I knew I was close. The tree wasn’t hard to spot. There were skiers everywhere, but I trekked in my rain boots to take a picture and stand under it like Pops had many years before (too bad I didn’t have on skis like he did)! It was a really cool experience, one of my favorite from the weekend. I wandered around the ski school for a while, set on a bench, admired the 3 year old pro skiers, and God’s unbelievable creation. I love Grindelwald and I now think every Troxler should go take a picture under the “Troxler Tree” :)! I got slightly lost on the train ride home, but obviously I made in back to Balmers in one piece! We had a fun night eating Swiss fondue and hanging out at the hostel!












Sunday we explored Interlaken a little more and then had an eight hour drive back to Florence. It was Valentine ’s Day so we all ate A LOT of chocolate! Fun times! This week has been the first week of quizzes. It’s hard to make myself study, but I still enjoy the material for each class. I finally went inside the church of Santa Croce with my Renaissance class this week. After walking by it about 1000 times, it is nice to know what it looks like inside! Hopefully we will go to the Duomo in the next few days! The weather has been really nice lately.

Other random things from my week:

-I went jogging on the Arno today wearing my UNC shirt and some old man yelled “Go Tarheels”. It was pleasant surprise! There are Tarheels all over the world!

-Our beloved dog Chip died this weekend. I got an e-mail from Al when I came home from Switzerland. Her words summed Chips life up best: “The lady up the road doesn't know yet, she cried just telling Mom he needed to go to the vet...she said that Chip was the best dog she ever loved..that he was a "pure bred"..that he loved everyone :) Chip was good dog. Dad and I sat around and laughed at him tonight. About him running on the basketball court and softball fields. About him running/swimming after the boat at the lake. We laughed at him trying to jump on the truck and never being about to handle fireworks....It was fun thinking about how he had been there through all these funny moments. Made me smile and think about how blessed I am.” I know Chip was just a dog but I loved that dog. He grew up with us. Makes me realize how fast time moves, but also how blessed I am with family, memories, and friends! There will never be another Chipper.

-my “feel the world around you” photo assignment turned out ok. It was A LOT harder than I thought it was going to be. I’m a pretty good creeper but people get freaked out when you are taking random pictures of them. I posted two of my favorites. My teacher gave me a lot of helpful feedback so my next assignment “focus your vision” will be better!



















-I managed to capture a picture of one of the little produce trucks Dad. It’s not a great one, but maybe you can get the feel of what they look like.It only has 3 wheels. You need one!

Headed to Rome with school on Saturday! I'm excited!

I love and miss you all very much. Some days I feel a little homesick but I quickly remind myself I’m in Florence and I have to love everyday where I’m at! BS still has a huge part of my heart (and Raleigh and CH too)!
Love. Wing. Meow.
Bec

A Venice Fish

This past weekend Hil, Melis, and I went to Venice for Carinvale. We left early Friday morning and got to Venice around noon. After two weekends of trains and buses, we are finally getting the hang of traveling. Our only glitch came when we forgot that we had to validate our tickets downstairs and almost missed the train…but we made it! Good thing we all like to run! Venice was the most unique city I have ever been to. Besides the lack of cars, and plethora of gondolas, Venice had the coolest streets and shops. There were 100000 different masks for Carnivale and more blown glass from Murano (an Island really close to Venice) than I could have ever imagined. It is a really cool city, but this weekend was not all peaches and cream. Arriving in Venice we set out to find our hostel. It wasn’t tough to find,but when we walked in I was a little apprehensive. I knew that it wasn’t going to be the nicest hostel (it was the only one we could find in Venice for the weekend of Carnivale…never a good sign), but I think I may have been spoiled from Siena. It wasn’t horrible but I defiantly did not want to stay in “A Venice Fish” more than I had to. After we left sketch hostel we headed into Venice. I had been reading Rick Steves on the train and it was pretty clear that Venice was a city that did not really use road names, but landmarks to figure out where you are located. We figured we would just walk around, get lost, and look at signs to find St. Marks Basilica. Our plan worked after about 3 hours. It was pouring rain and the signs proved to be very tricky. We wondered around, went in stores, and really anything that was free. It was fun but the rain made things more complicated.

When we went inside St. Marks Basilica my eyes goggled at everything. I love the intricacy of every church we go into. You could stay in St. Marks for hours and never get tired of looking at the walls, ceilings, windows… Almost everything in St. Marks is a mosaic, so if you look carefully you can see all the little tiles that make the whole pictures. Everything was gold. We stayed for a while inside the dry warmth of the Basilica and then finally ventured out to see the Grand Canal. I loved all the gondolas and funny men who paddled them. Sadly, because of the rain and price, we opted out of riding on a gondola, but if I ever go back on a warm sunny day, I WILL ride in a gondola! The rest of the day we spent wondering around, exploring all the many bridges, and eating Nutella crepes!We went back to “A Venice Fish” around 7. They provided free dinner at 8:30 and by 7 we were so drained I didn’t care how sketchy it was, we needed a place to sit down. We stayed in a four person room, so we only had one girl we didn’t knowwith us. She was extremely nice. Everything was going great (besides the fact that we had to pay 5 euro for sheets), until our new roommate informed us that she had read/heard that this hostel was known for bed bugs and that is why she had brought all her own linens. Greaaaat. I’m laughing just thinking about what our faces must have looked like when she told us this.I thought of what my dad always says “don’t let the bed bugs bite”, and how he would most likely respond in this situation (“a few bed bugs never hurt anybody”). We toughed it out, but I only slept on the clean sheets we had paid for. I was freezing during the night so Melis and I ended up snuggling in a twin size bed for warmth. It was a night to remember. Woke up early the next morning, ate the free hostel breakfast, and said CIAO to “A Venice Fish”!






Saturday was a much prettier day in Venice. What a difference not having to lug around at umbrella can make! It was also the first official day of Carinvale so the streets were packed with mask and costumes. It was entertaining to walk around and see all the uniquely dressed people. St. Marcos square was teeming with tourist and there was a huge area set up where clowns, entertainers, and musicians were playing! By the end of Saturday I felt like I really knew the streets of Venice. We literally
walked the entire day and probably made at least 5 loops around the city. I can’t deny that I was pretty happy to rest my legs on the train ride back to Firenze. We had our first run in with sketchy Italian men on the train. One man stared at Melis for the last hour of our train ride, it was pretty funny. I slept happily in sweet Bella Rosa Saturday night!


This week has been full of classes and not much sleep. I really enjoy every class but my favorite is photography class (cooking is actually my true favorite of course). My teacher speaks broken English, but I can normally catch the drift of what she is saying. This week we learned about the basic functions of our cameras and about a famous French photographer Henri Cartier- Bresson. He was known for the lines in his photography. These are a couple of his shots that I liked:





Our assignment this week is to “feel the world around you”. We have to take 10 pictures of what we “feel” in the world around us (following Bresson’s example of lines and emotions). Should be interesting. Maybe next week I’ll post my “feel the world around you” photos!


Other Fun facts and quotes from the week:

-on my way to class I discovered a coffee vending machine. It .50 Euro and it gives you a little to go cup and then you choose what kind of coffee, cream, and sugar you want. It also makes hot chocolate. I’ve never seen one of these machines in America (they probably have them in big cities) but I’m thinking if I put one of these in the middle of CH I will make bank next year.

-Italians dress their dogs in little coats.

-“Photography is not just the party for Facebook” – my photo. Professor.
-"I'd rather be with Jesus in the rowboat in the middle of the storm, than standing in the sun on shore without Him.” – M’er via e-mail

-“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like the stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life- in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.” – Philippians 2: 14-16

-“ If we were willing to endure so much sweat and labor in order to raise our bodies a little closer to heaven, how can a soul struggling toward God, up the steps of human pride and mortal destiny, fear any cross or prison or sting of fortune?” – Petrarca (read in The Ascent of Mt. Ventoux in my Renaissance class)
We tried out another church this week! It was great. There were mainly study abroad kids since the service was in English and it was run by two missionary couples from Finland. One of the couples had two little girls and it made me realize how much I miss being around little kids. Can’t wait to come home and see all my little cousins (especially my newest little cousin Della Sharron!).

This weekend we are headed to Interlaken Switzerland. Don’t know if I’ll ski, but it will be fun to play in the snow!

Love and miss y’all.
Wing Wing. Meow Meow. Love Love
Bec

OMG

The title of this post is OMG because that is what my little friend at the market yells at us every day as we pass by his stand. He knows very little English so he uses OMG and provocative song lyrics he has memorized to “attract” people to his leather stand. Obviously we haven’t stopped, but I always giggle when I walk past OMG man. I heard it twice today. Good day. Honestly today has been one of my favorite days in Florence. Besides it being Thursday (our last day of classes), I also had my very first cooking class and went to the most incredible chocolate festival! Good day.

This week we started real classes. I have 18 hours but 6 of those hours are photography and food and wine pairing. Overall I think I’m really going to enjoy every class I have. Even my Italian class is entertaining and not nearly as intimidating as precession. It’s at 8AM, which makes for an early morning, but there are only 6 girls in my class and they are all on the same level as me! Most of the girls are studying in Firenze for a whole year so they are very helpful and fun to talk to! One of them is from Scotland and another lives in Turkey. I love listening and talking with them. After Italian I either have Renaissance Civilization and Culture or 14th Century Italian Literature. These are my two core classes, so they are only with UNC kids. The Renaissance class is very engaging because almost everything we talk about is located in Florence. It’s always more motivating to learn about things that you can actually go see! I also have Italian philosophy on Mondays and Wednesday. I can already tell that philosophy is going to be interesting. I’m excited. My favorite two classes are obviously photography and cooking. Photography is a six hour long class on Tuesday night. While six hours is a reallllly long time, I’m pretty sure half the class is spent going out and practicing the techniques we learn. This week we filled out “get to know you” questionnaires and made collages that describe us. I’m such a little kid because I LOVED making the collage! I’m very proud of it, even though it’s quite random and took me two hours. It was fun to hear about everyone’s collage and entertaining to see how different everyone’s was! Maybe by May I’ll know how to properly work my camera and can take legit engagement pictures of Al and FiFi :)



Wednesday night Hil and I cooked great potato soup! Thank you grandma Johnson for your yummy recipe! We’re trying to cook a variety of things and we have done better this week. Grilled Chicken, Salad, Potato and Veggie Soup, getting better every day! Tonight I had my cooking class at 3-5:30. I absolutely loved my teacher. She told us about her life and background in Italian cooking. Her family has always been cooks and I could tell that she was passionate about cooking. She believed the best way to learn was simply to cook and experiment; she didn’t seem too strict on rules. I loved that she took us on a walk around town and pointed out all the places we had to go. She told us the history of the market, where to get the freshest ingredients, and of course all the best restaurants/ gelatarias. When we got back to class we made a quick and easy pasta dish (all I had to do was mince garlic and my hands still smell). On a normal week we make three dishes and pair them with two wines. It made me sooo excited for every Thursday to come! After class I met Hil at Santa Croce for the chocolate festival. We had heard that we HAD to go to the chocolate festival and since it was about 3 minutes from our apartment we decided to give it a shot. I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MUCH CHOCOLATE! Chocolate shaped tools, coffee cups, literally everything you could imagine. In Italy they have great hot chocolate, it’s more like a melted chocolate bar. After we walked around for a while and scoped out all the yummy stuff I decided that the “white hot chocolate” looked the best to me. Little did I know that it wasn’t hot chocolate but some nasty bready drink with alcohol in it (or so I think). I couldn’t drink it. Out of all the amazing things at a chocolate festival I would get the one thing that I dislike. It turned out ok though b/c Hil and I ended up splitting a wonderfully rich piece of chocolate cake and REAL hot chocolate. The chocolate festival redeemed itself. We went on a run around the Arno after. It hasn’t been too cold this week, so I’ve ran a couple times. Hopefully the closer it gets to spring, the more we can run! It couldn’t have been a better first week of classes! Venice tomorrow!





Interesting things to note:
- There are these little trucks here (not exactly trucks though because they only have three wheels) that I think Dad could really use for the garden and carting veggies. They are super cute and have a huge cab for hauling things. I need to capture a picture so y’all can understand. I call them produce trucks and I want one.
- Italians normally buy their veggies, milk and bread fresh- 2 or 3 times a week.
- Hil and I can’t read labels. I accidently bought whole milk and she bought fizzy water. We’re learning.

Miss and love y’all,
Bec

I think i'll name my child Siena...

I should probably write more than once a week Because when I finally take the time to sit down and think about what I want to say, I do not even know where to begin! This week was our last week of intensive Italian and I can not say I'm sad for it to be over. We had our final on Friday. It was not too bad. I'm a lot better at writing than speaking. We went to Fiesole with the school this week. The view was amazing. It was about a 25 minute bus ride from school and then we could see over all of Florence. It was beautiful, I'll def. be going back. Other highlights of the week included: going to my first Italian nightclubs, trying two of the best ice cream places in town (Grom and Vivoli), and falling down multiple times on the stone roads. I'm a fan of ice cream. Hil still prefers yopo, but I think I'll take ice cream. It is kind of expensive but we found a place close to our house for 1 euro. It's fun to explore all the different places and flavors (my favorites so far are black cherry and white chocolate). The weeks literally fly by. We never feel like we have enough time in the day to do all we want to. This week we are finally making time to climb to the top of the Duomo and find the Academia where Michelangelo's David is housed. Cooking is going well. We eat a lot of soup (from these little packets) and Stand bread. We plan to branch out this week and try out some homemade pasta sauce-we'll see how that goes! I'm really excited for our classes to start this week. As much as I enjoy 5 hours of English every day, it will be a nice change to learn about art and literature! Ok enough about the week, on to the fun weekend trip!

This weekend we went to San Gimignano and Siena. We left on Saturday morning and caught the 9:30 bus to San Gimignano. We had to change buses at Cold Werid little sleep, and would have missed our bus to San Gimignano if it had not been for a really nice woman who told us the bus was about to leave us. No kidding, God watches over us. Everywhere we go we meet extremely nice people who help us. We made the bus and got to S.G. Around 11:30 or so. Before coming to Italy multiple people had warned me that: A. it was going to be cold and B. it rained a lot. So far neither of these things have really been an issue in Florence. It has not rained Once and while it is cold, it's totally bearable. When we got to S.G. It was drizzling and very chilly. The town is known for its medieval towers and beautiful views of the Tuscan countryside. The rain held off and we managed to climb around the tower / walls and see all the breathtaking beauty of San Gimignano. Literally as soon as we made it back inside the town it started to rain. We got pizza and ice cream (surprise surprise) and waited an hour or so for a bus to Sienna. One interesting thing we learned this weekend is that Italians must eat and walk, Because every place we went to charged extra to sit down, or had no sitting area at all. Be prepared to eat ice cream outside ... it's worth it. We were thrilled to get on the nice warm bus and when we finally made it to Sienna, we all would not have minded 1 more hour of rest on the cozy bus. When we got off the bus we were kinda in that disorientated "Where in the heck did we just get dropped off at" feel. It did not help that it was pouring rain and freezing. We found the first coffee shop (with seats) and sat for a little while to get our bearings. It's amazing what a little coffee, bathroom, and warmth can do for you! Sienna We headed into our hostel and called just to check it. The hostel lady could speak zero English so we ended up having to go straight to the hostel Because she kept screaming at us over the phone (we were a little scared). Finally found the hostel, got yelled at by hostel lady on the phone for a couple more minutes (she kept asking "where are you" in Italian ... we are standing right outside of the door but she just could not get it .. . showed me how poorly I speak Ital), and somehow managed to get settled into our extremely nice rooms. This was my first hostel experience and it could not have been better. We stayed at Casa di Antonella and it was really just a nice apartment with rooms they rented out. We got lucky. Dropped off our stuff and headed back into the heart of Siena to explore.



I loved Siena. I have really loved all the little Tuscan towns, but I really loved Sienna. The Streets were unreal. At one point we got a little lost while looking for a dinner spot but managed to see the coolest, steepest, winding streets. I loved all the people in "The Champ" (the main square), and the little kids that Chased around the pigeons. I especially loved the Duomo in Sienna. Unreal. The outside was beautiful in itself, but the inside was indescribable. Every part of the cathedral was striking. The details are what amazed me. Whether it was the floor, the striped marble columns, the ceiling, or (my favorite) the stained glass windows, I gawked at everything! I can not help but think "how in the world did anyone ever build this? We had a nice dinner Saturday night at a place Rick Steve's suggested. It was great. I tried some kind of Duck Sauce b / c that's what Siena is famous for. We went to bed early, but by 10 I do not think I could have seen much more. There was not a cloud in the sky on Sunday. We had the best time exploring St. Catharine's Church (Church of San. Dominico) . Her head and thumb are still preserved here, weird I know. "Once again, I could not get over the stained glass. We did random things like go to our favorite store "everything / everything .99 euros" and took pictures at the camp until 1: 30 when we could finally go into the cathedral. If you ever go to Siena, go inside the Dome. Favorite part of the weekend for sure. We managed to find the train station and got back to Florence around 5. It was a great weekend.



A couple things I learned from the weekend:
- Wear hats, they keep you A LOT warmer and you do not have to shower b / c no one can see your hair;)
- Be prepared for rain. Have an idea of where your hostel is located, and make sure you know the #.
- When trying to speak Ital take your time and use the words you know. Do not feel discouraged when someone looks at you like you are an idiot.
- Wear lots of socks.

Overall I could not have asked for a better weekend. It was good weekend to learn a few things before Hil, Melis, and I venture to Venice for Carnivale next weekend! The whole weekend Continually I thought about how beautiful God's creation is and how blessed I am to see it (and with some of my very best buddies). God is good. Whether in Florence, Brown Summit, Chapel Hill, or Haiti. He is the same, even if I'm not. We went to worship at Pepperdine yesterday, loved it for the 2nd time. Tonight we have LDM welcome dinner. Should be fun. Promise to write more than once a week. Love y'all.

meow meow,
Bec

Scusi, é questo treno per Firenze?

So much to tell. I’ll start with one of my favorite things we have done this past week- cook. We have pre-session Italian for two weeks and during this time LDM offers us fun little programs to do after school. Some are kinda lame, but this Wednesday they offered a cooking class. Most of us went expecting a short lesson on Italian cooking and maybe a free pastry. Italians like to cook and eat- they are my kind of people. We were split into two groups and given jobs. Hil and I were in charge of the homemade dough for these little veggie wrap/pasta things. We had to knead it, roll it out, and make it into the pasta strips! The other group was working on pesto and spinach ravioli, some kind of yummy spinach “torta”, and apple tarts. After cooking for around an hour we all sat down and had one of the best meals I have had in Italy! It was sooo great, and made me SUPER pumped for my cooking class that starts in February. The man teaching us is also a teacher for many of LDM’s cooking classes, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed I get him (he was great)!

This past week has been a lot of Italian. A LOT! Although I would LOVE to know Italian, I just really have a hard time with foreign language. Not one of my many gifts. We went to the University of Firenze on Friday with our class, don’t worry Hil and I maybe said 5 words. Our class is made up of kids who have taken all different levels of Italian, and we are def. at the very bottom. Some of them are basically fluent. It’s rough, but the more I hear the more I understand. I just need some confidence in my speaking ability. On a happier note, I got mistaken for a legitimate Italian yesterday. A woman asked ME for directions in Italian- HA. After class on Friday the girls went to go explore Boboli gardens but I was napping so I stayed back. After waking up I decided to explore by myself for a bit. It felt so weird being alone for the first time in a week. I have literally had someone with me 24/7, and while I have loved every minute of it, being alone made me realize how much I depend on others to lead me. I explored the Ponte Vecchio with all its cool jewelry, and then poked around the Uffizi museum. I enjoyed the Uffizi and am excited to go back once I know a little bit more about what I’m looking at. On the way home I managed to follow the map to “the best” gelato shop but lo’ it was closed. But I found it, and will find it again. I really like the area around Santa Croce which is extremely close to our apartment. Next week I will explore further.

Today (Saturday) we went on our first train trip. First of many. All the kids in our program day tripped to Pisa and Lucca. The trip was about an hour from Florence and extremely easy (well at least getting there). We got to Pisa around 11 and explored. Pisa is a neat town but really the only thing it is known for is….the leaning tower! The area around the leaning tower was beautiful and it was extremely odd to actually be looking at “the leaning tower of Pisa”. We had a yummy sandwich for lunch and took about 1000 pictures with the leaning tower. We left for Lucca around 2:30. I LOVED Lucca! Everything about Lucca was quaint and fun. From the streets filled with shops and people, to the yummy pastries we ate, Lucca is defiantly worth retuning to! My favorite part of Lucca was biking! My handy dandy Italy book told us that Lucca was known for its biking. It advised us to rent cheap bikes and ride around the outer walls that surround the city. I’m so glad we listened to the Italy book! We rode around the walls in the late afternoon and I felt like we were in a movie. Our bikes even had little bells! We had such a good time riding around and laughing at Melissa and Monique on the tandem. Can’t wait to go back and ride bikes in the spring!


Ok now for the truly funny story of the day. We (the 7 girls that went biking) made it back to the train station. We got our return ticket for Firenze and waited for our 6:25 train home. Long story short we accidently got on the wrong train. We got on the train that was at our platform but it was too early, so we ended up going towards the mountains. We would NEVER have realized this unless another random American girl heard us talking and asked me if we were going to Florence. She informed us that we had all gotten on the wrong train (her group had gotten confused too). Thank goodness for nice Americans. I’m not joking we would still be on some sketchy train in the Italian hills, listening to our ipods and asleep. We almost got off at a deserted train station, jumped back on, and then got off at another sketchy train station with our new friends from Michigan. Thank you Michigan friends. We finally made it back to Lucca, sprinted to the next platform and barely caught the next train to Florence! It was quite the adventure, but hey we made new friends and learned a lesson! Our first day traveling was wonderful and I don’t think I would even change us getting lost on the train, it just added to the day! Next weekend = Sienna.

All my love from “the cage” in Italia,
Bec

*Make sure you always validate your train ticket at the yellow boxes before getting on the train.
*PDA is very common in Italy. We still don't know how we feel about that...

“My eyes are small but they have seen the beauty of enormous things…”

Ciao man

Tonight I write from the comfort of my twin/ queen bed. Our apartment gets very chilly at night, so I either hide out in the cage or under my newly clean covers! Since I last blogged I have seen a lot more of Florence and started classes! I’ll start with the basics of Florence…

First off everywhere we go I see something that makes me stop and stare. And it’s even better if I see it at night because then when I pass by it in day light it’s like seeing a whole new beauty. Take the Ponte Vecchio for example; we have seen it twice at night so far but today was the first time I saw it in the light. Unbelievable. We walked up to the top of Pizzale di Michelangelo to see over the top of Florence at sunset and I have never seen anything quite like it. All I kept thinking was “how in the world did people build this city?” I really do love Florence.




Hil and I are starting to get into the routine of day to day living. Classes start and 9 so we start trekking over to LDM around 8:40. I never mind the walk because there is always something to gawk at. Italian class was not so horrible today. Most of you reading this know how much I looove foreign language, but I guess learning Italian in Italy has its perks. I can defiantly apply what I learn, even if the man at the gelato place still looks at me like I’m crazy and immediately starts to speak English  Hey, at least I’m trying. We ventured to the market today. I loved the market. Dad you would appreciate the market. Tons of little men at stands selling fresh produce and weird parts of animals. Our favorite thing was the dried fruit. I especially loved the Kiwi. I just might have to swing by tomorrow and get some more! Hil and I cooked chicken and veggie stir fry tonight. It was really good, and I was very happy to finally get some fresh veggies after eating lots of carbs for the past few days. Italy truly is the home of pizza and pasta. Everyday there is something new. Something new to see, to eat, talk about, and most importantly learn!



One of the coolest things that has happened so far is our adventure on Sunday night. We rested and explored most of Sunday but wanted to try and find some kind of church service. I had researched online and the only thing I found in English was a service located at Pepperdine University’s study abroad location. We found it on the map and even though it was far, and we had no idea where in the heck we were going, five of us set out to find “chiesa”. I shouldn’t be left in charge because smart me forget the address to where we were going (we didn’t realize this until we are half way there). All we had was a map I had highlighted and name of the street we were supposed to end up on. We managed to follow the map to the street, and then began the aimless walk up and down the Via, praying that we would somehow know where this church was located. I was feeling very dumb at this point and kind of bad for making the girls walk 2 miles to a dead end. But like always, God showed up and a gold plated Pepperdine sign and Hilary’s good eyes led us to the door. After ringing the door bell 7 times and begging God again to open the door, a really nice girl came to the door. We found out worship didn’t start until 9:00 and the internet site was way outdated so it was normally only Pepperdine kids at worship, but he invited us to come anyway! It was so great. The worship reminded me a lot of a thing I do back in Chapel Hill called Tuesday Night Worship, and the speaker talked about not knowing what you wanted to do in the future (quite applicable to my life). God is good and he looked after us. Little things like that remind me of how truly taken care of I am, and how faithful God is. After worship we met some really sweet girls, so now we have a few more friends in Firenze. It’s cool to think about how big the body of Christ is and that even in Florence, Italy, we can worship together with complete strangers because we serve the same God! Pretty neat.
It has been an awesome couple of days, but I am still very tired. Hopefully I will nap a little more in the coming week. Continue to pray for my Italian accent and our time here. Love you all and miss you more.
All my love from Italia,
Bec
Just a few fun things:
*Last night Hilary about got ran over by a car while taking out the trash. Like, legit, almost got killed. Also Italians do not approve of putting your feet on bus seats.
*When in doubt of where to go, follow local Italians. We followed a woman with a rug to the IKEA bus. We had to run through about 5 lanes of crazy traffic but we caught the bus! Thank you IKEA rug lady.