Comforts of Home

I wrapped up my first week of classes on Wednesday afternoon.  Its kind of crazy that I have more "weekend" days than I have "class" days this semester.  We were all talking that at school we always have work to occupy our time.  Here, we have hours of free time to do what we so choose.  Filling the free time has been our only challenge.

Last night, JD cooked us a nice pasta dinner (with country music included).  Afterwards, we went out for our first Wednesday night.  It was Club 21's opening night so we put on our court party attitude and danced our hearts out.  Nice way to celebrate my first week of class.

While most of my friends had class today, I was footloose and fancy free.  One of my guilt pleasures at home is getting my nails done.  After the copious amount of walking we've been doing in the last 2 weeks, my poor feet (and shoes!) have suffered the brunt of it.  Keena eyed a nice looking spa and this morning, we took the plunge.  It many not be the chinese women and my student discount, but Italians can give a pedicure.  Afterwards, Caroline and I made some lunch and took a nap before going to a "Making Gelato" class at a Gelateria 2 blocks away. Detrimental to my physique. But, even across an ocean, I managed to fine peanut butter gelato making my flavor choice an easy one.

We had seen a ton of cute shops and markets around the city but we haven't really been in the mood/had the time to devote to shopping, believe it or not.  In my day of guilty pleasures, I made my first Florentine purchases.  I came home with a sweater poncho wrap, 2 snakeskin bracelets, and 5 pashmina scarves.  It may not have been Gucci or Prada, but my purchases made my day. AND tonight I still have a lot to look forward to.  We're headed over to an American restraunt for a burger and draft beer.  Talk about containing my excitement.  If only American football was on.

I don't know what I was thinking before heading here.  I must've thought I was heading to a third word country without nail polish remover or Diet Coke.  It may be 5 Euro for a "Coca-Cola Light", but the comforts of  home indeed exist in this ancient city.  Since the mosquitos have evacuated and we can open our huge windows, I'm not missing AC nearly as much these days with the temperatures down in the lower 80s.  Tomorrow, we're headed on a train ride to Viareggio, the closest beach directly west of Florence, to soak up some end-of-season rays before hiking Cinque Terre on Saturday.