First Day of School

     Yesterday was not your typical first day of school. I mean how many people can say they had their first day of school at a language school in one of the busiest parts of Florence (and this whole city is always busy)?? It was an amazing day. Mostly because I finally got out and met some new people outside my two roommates (don't get me wrong they're great but sheesh I needed some girlfriends). I started the day with a workout...the beginning of a LOT of walking. Francesco has a little workout room in the apartment and I got on the bike for a bit. Oooh I am out of shape. I knew that but jeeeez. Oh well with all the stairs I'll be climbing that will soon change. Showered and left for my school at 8:45 for a 9 am start. Got to the office and was directed downstairs to a table of 10 other equally nervous looking girls. YAY! We're a mix. Most of us are American but we do have a girl from England, who I ended up spending most of the day with along with a few others, and a girl from Puerto Rico who studies in the States. Awesome. We got checked in and got our notebook and books (thank goodness they gave us books) and were sent right away to our first lesson with Elisabetta. She's our morning teacher and later I found out she's my roommate Omer's afternoon teacher. Cool! She's hilarious. Native Florentine and you can just tell she has a real passion for teaching her language. Which is totally awesome.
     The best part of it all? 10 of the 11 of us are all in the beginner's course. Boy did I feel better about that. I was so nervous that everyone else would be fluent and I would be sitting there with no one. And as the day went by, the Italian that I learned my first semester of college (fall 2006!!! eeeek) slowly came back and I was understanding it so well. I'm sure by later today I'll reach the point of where everything is new (we move fast...it's only a 3 week course with TWO books). I just kept getting more excited as the day went by. Mainly because of my new classmates. I seriously love them already. By the end of the night (which was literally the end of the night...I got home at 1 am) 5 of us commented on how it felt like we had known each other forever, definitely not less than 24 hours. We had a morning break and headed across the street to get a quick snack (well I got water) and then back til 12:30. By then I was hungryyyy. Slice of the most flavorful pizza later on the lawn of the Stazione Santa Maria Novella with Jasmine and Mary Ellen and I was set.
     In the afternoon, we have our lesson with Luigi and two other students, one girl from Brazil and a guy from Switzerland. Poor guy was in a room with 11 girls and one male teacher (note the sarcasm? haha). No but he's a really nice guy. Shy but we're all so not shy so he'll come out of his shell by oh today. Luigi is another amazing teacher. I love the teaching style of this school. Because we have such a small group, it's all about interaction. Most of the time we are going around the room asking our neighbor a question (in Italian of course) and answering to each other. Great way to learn the language AND learn about each other. The second best way is when we leave the classroom and (try to) speak it to the locals, trying to find out way around Florence. We all know "dove de la...." ( where is the...) VERY well already haha. And scusa (excuse me) because man is this place crowded. And it's only the beginning of June, barely into tourist season and summer abroad programs. I saw and heard SO many Americans yesterday, mostly students, which is cool.
      After our lesson ended with Luigi (1:15 to 2:45....my shortest school day since like kindergarten), Jasmine, Mary Ellen and I headed back to my apartment for a little rest and to drop off our heavy books, because we wanted to explore. But first we had to meet with our social coordinator, Cassandra and our internship organizer, Anna. After that meeting I am STOKED on this summer. In addition to the day "field trips" that Linguaviva has planned for us, Global Experiences has 3 weekend trips and two socials (apertivo, the Italian style happy hour and the end of the summer goodbye dinner). So with Linguaviva, I am heading to Lucca on Wednesday (tomorrow or domani) because it is the Festa della Repubblica, which is the celebration day of Italy's unity. Lucca is supposed to be gorgeous. And Saturday, with GE, we're touring the Salvatore Feragammo factory (Italian SHOES!) to see how it all happens. Seriously can't wait. There's more but I don't have the schedule in front of me.
     And that was my first day of school. I'll leave the afternoon adventures for a separate post or this one would be longer than long. Plus I have to get ready for another fun day =). Miss you all so, so much and wish you were here with me. Ciao e bacci a tutti.