First Post

Now that I've paid more than my life is worth to have internet at home ("so I can apply for internships"), I've decided to start a blog. Because you're all dying to know what I'm doing with my life (classes, food, more classes, grocery shopping...it's very glamorous). And also because I don't want Matt showing me up.

To bring you up to date, I've been here a month now. I'm living with a French singer, a Hungarian singer, and a Hungarian violinist. I don't think they really liked me until I cleaned the bathroom, at which point they became very friendly. The Hungarian violinist, actually, is always friendly. And always here. She doesn't have a job or take classes, as far as I can tell, and I'm not sure whether she has friends, either. I never see the other two. The apartment is nice, except there's no oven, and no George Foreman Grill, so all of the sudden I have to learn how to cook different stuff. I eat lots of Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches (I brought my own Peanut Butter, since I'm very picky about my Peanut Butter), and my roommates think this is odd. The first time I made one, they thought it was dessert. Then they assumed it was breakfast. When I told them it was lunch, they thought I was mixing up the words for breakfast and lunch. The other day the Hungarian violinist asked whether they ever give me stomachaches. I don't know why they would.

I've climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa, seen Venice during Carnivale, and visited Brussels.

Atop the Leaning Tower of Pisa

Wearing my long-awaited Venetian mask on the train back from Venice (because that's what the locals do, right?)

With my "O'Hara's Celtic Stout" at Delirium (the bar with 2004 beers) in Brussels

Classes started yesterday. I was sick. I went to class and snarfled and sniffed for four hours (2 of Medieval History and then 2 of Eighteenth Century Italian Theater, back to back but in different places in the city. You thought a walk from St. Mary's to the Car Barn was bad! These buildings are spread out all over Florence. I imagine it's something like NYU.), and didn't make any immediate best friends. I hope they were thinking, "Ew, she looks contagious. We won't sit next to her" instead of "Ew. She looks American. We won't sit next to her." Today I bought cold medicine before I went to class, and still sniffled, but it must not have been as bad, because instead of giving me the evil eye, someone offered me a tissue. Someone else asked me where I got the syllabus (not a real syllabus. The professor said, "The American students here will know that American professors have a day-by-day plan of what they'll be doing. I think this is a very good idea, but I haven't printed them out for all of you, because it would have created a scandal." They try to be very eco-friendly here in Florence.), and later someone asked me if the professor had told us what books we'd need for the class. I felt very popular, even though I managed to make a fool of myself each time by not understanding what they were saying.

Off to go make dinner on my stove. Does anyone know how to cook veal?