This month we loved the way current ISI student Emily Burnette is using a travel blog, on TravelPod.com, to write about her experience here in Florence this 2013 spring term. An informative tool for all future students. Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Emily!
Read an extract from the blog: Shopping in Firenze, Sunday, January 13, 2013.
This is honestly the coolest place ever. Food is better, clothes are better, buildings are prettier, and it’s cleaner, too! We slept in a lot today (until noon at least). We wanted to go to church at the Duomo, but we didn’t wake up in time. Oops. The bells are so loud all the time, but they add to the culture here. I’m trying to sleep, and then at 6am DINNGGGG DING DONG DONG DINGDINGDING (lasting for an entire minute). I have a love hate relationship with the bell tower, currently. We decided just walk around and shop today. FINALLY! Italians NEVER eat as they walk, but I really like this part of the culture. When it comes to coffee, they are especially particular. They usually drink espresso or cappuccino (my favorite). A lot of the Americans in our program can be sort of rude and are not willing to adapt to this new culture at all. A girl in my class refused to have anything except “American coffee”, which basically means watered down nothing. Also, she kept asking for it “to go”. Guess what! Italians don’t do that. Frequently before my Foods class, I sip on my cappuccino at the bar with my Foods professor before class. He is very informative, and I actually feel like I am absorbing the culture pretty quickly.
The leather market was so cool. The leather was so soft and smelled so strong of genuine leather. I am resisting the urge to make purchases because I have the gift of time. But believe me; I will be making some purchases for sure. It was so exciting to me that I almost used my Italian phone for the first time to text my mom to tell her about it (I couldn’t figure out T9 again). We went to this coffee shop that is a bar and restaurant too. The owners were so nice and talked to us for a while. They told us we could have discounts whenever we come! When it gets nicer (March) we can go eat outside on that patio. They had blankets on the chairs since it was cold, which I thought was very interesting and something you would probably never see in the US. Italian culture at its finest. So far loving life. Ciao!
P.S. Will someone please go show this to Grandma?? Grazie!
Emily Burnette, Penn State
Read more: http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/emily.louise/1/tpod.html