This is frightening.
It seems like time has moved so fast. It feels like I've been here longer than just eight days. And not because I am perfectly well adjusted or have completely learned my way around. I am not, and I haven't. But I definitely have started to get the vibe of what it is to live here. I am slowly but surely carving out a place for myself here, a norm, a routine. Once the semester starts in a few weeks, I will have to readjust again. When I take a class at the University of Florence (which I will this semester), that will be another readjustment. As long as I am able to successfully adjust when necessary, I will be okay.
This whole year will be a series of readjustments, and thus it will be a test of my adaptability, fluidity, inner stability and self confidence. So far, I've done okay. I've done more than okay. But the road ahead is long, winding, uncertain- but exciting.
We took a trip with our art history professor to San Miniato on Thursday. San Miniato is a church in Florence, high up on a hill, with a beautiful view. I feel so lucky to be in a place where the art that I am studying is readily accessible, especially churches. Churches for me are special enough for religious reasons, but my understanding of how religion, history, art and culture all come together has really grown from being in Florence. And I still have a lot of learning to do in that respect, which I am looking forward to.
Part of orientation involves going "in giro" around Firenze with a friendly and lively woman named Costanza. She has a striking and funky haircut that is impossible to miss, and Converses with spikes. She is awesome. In the spring semester, she will be teaching a course at the Smith center on the history of costume and fashion (for which I am VERY excited). For these three weeks, however, she is showing us some important sights around Florence. On our first little expedition, she took us to Santa Croce (a very famous church which I have yet to enter, but I promise you I will!), and to the train station. Yesterday, she took us to some of the buildings of the University of Florence. Let's just say that it is a lot...different...than Smith. Or than most colleges or universities back home. Disorganized, a little run down, all in all not very professional looking. I saw a lot of dreadlocks, baggy clothes, and even saw one girl wearing a shirt that said "Support The Animal Liberation Front", which I'm fairly certain is an actual eco-terrorist organization. As if taking college level courses in Italian isn't intimidating enough, I am now terrified that I will not fit in at the University at all. I'll let you know how it goes.
Today, we went to the Giardino di Boboli, or the Boboli Gardens, which is located at Palazzo Pitti, where the Medici family resided. It was hot, and mostly an uphill walk, but enjoyable and beautiful nonetheless. It really made me want a palace.
I've had some down time this week, and some welcomed alone time, which opened me up to thinking about home, about Smith, and all the people back in the States whom I love very much. Casually chatting with friends at other colleges is not so easy with a six hour time difference. Every day I see things that remind me of people from home, or I see things that I think they would appreciate. I miss a lot of people very much. But knowing that they are just as excited for me as I am for myself is helpful and comforting.
A very important person wrote a song for me this summer- something I am very grateful for. When I am missing him, I sing it quietly to myself, often right before I go to sleep. It helps me feel close to him, to the time we spent together this summer, which I hold very near and dear to my heart and think about daily. But it also, unexpectedly, helps me feel connected to my whole summer, which I spent with some of my closest and most important friends. I was happy all summer, and I'm finding ways to help extend that happiness into fall.
I've also been writing again, and more than just this blog. In high school I did a lot of writing, for myself and by myself, but more or less stopped after my first semester at Smith. I started again this summer, thanks to that same important person, and also thanks to recently reading my friend Gus' blog, and I've been continuing here. (Digression: I guess this is as good of a time as any for his inevitable shout-out on this blog. He's one of those friends that I actually wouldn't survive without). Some of it is cheesy, a lot of it not very good, but all of it therapeutic nonetheless. None of it, at least so far, has anything to do with the theme of this blog, so don't expect to see it here!
I have a fun weekend ahead of me. Tomorrow I am going to two different museums. Not any of the world famous art museums or galleries, and not history museums. I am going to the Salvatore Ferragamo museum and the Gucci museum! Provided these institutions permit photographs, I will share them here soon.
Buona fine settimana a tutti!
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