6 Days left in Firenze!

Ciao! Today was a beautiful day in Florence! Normally, the weather has been cold, wet and a little windy. BUT, today was generally sunny and warm, so I decided to start my "last" adventures. I went to my favorite spot in Florence, that I've spoken about numerous times, that all of you loyal readers should know by now, Piazza Michaelangelo. By far the most beautiful view of Florence, especially when the sun is out, and the sky is blue...LOVE IT! I just sat on the steps and sat for about an hour, brought my trusty journal and my ipod and just took it in, especially since this could be the last nice day to make it up there. It's across the Arno river and up about 400 steps, so it's not a trip we make every day to say the least! Normally the steps are full of people eating, drinking wine and just sitting, but today there were only about five of us, so it was even more peaceful than normal! During the Christmas season, I'm guessing it doesn't get too busy up there because everyone is doing their shopping and holiday celebrating in Piazza Republica, Ponte Vecchio and places close to the Duomo. The streets are SO BUSY on the weekends, because everyone is out feelin' the Christmas spirit in Florence. I've seen about two Santa Clauses, both of which were drinking beers, and no children asking for gifts in sight...it must be an American thing, haha.

So, it was more of a quiet weekend. My roommates and I made dinner on Friday night, which was DELICIOUS. And...there was no pasta at all, weird huh? We made chicken, potatoes, salad and bought bread from our favorite, The Forno, right downstairs. It was delicious and a lot of fun to cook together. It was a pretty quiet weekend besides that. We've all got finals to study for, and we're all getting ready to leave. It's so weird because I won't be home for three weeks still, but I have to leave here on Saturday! I'm SO excited for Scotland though, and really excited to celebrate Christmas with my friends from home. From what they've saying, Christmas and New Year's is a pretty big deal there, so I'm really excited! There's going to be lots of Christmas markets, and ice rink and a big carnival that we'll get to go to. I think we're going to go to a midnight Christmas Eve service and Christmas Day celebrations are still in the process of being planned. Two days before Christmas, we'll be going to a town called Aviemore, which is supposed to be a really beautiful town in Scotland, and we'll be staying in a cute little bunkhouse. We're all getting really excited to see each other, and getting excited to go home! It keeps me up at night, for real. I was telling my dad the other day that I have insomnia. I go to bed and I lay awake FOREVER because I can't stop thinking! I think about Scotland, about home, and about having to leave Florence, just SO MUCH AND IT NEVER GOES AWAY! Lately, all my roommates and I have been sleeping until noon or 1 o'clock on the weekends because we're all in that mode...I have not slept that late since freshman year, SO CRAZY!

So, only six more days to be in Firenze, my home away from home, literally. I can't believe I have lived here for four months! It'll be strange leaving it, because it all feels so normal to me, and I'm so used to the way of life here. I'm almost afraid going home will be more of a shock than coming here! I'm going to miss so much of the culture and the way of living here, it'll be an adjustment coming home. Not in a bad way, just in small ways that set living in Italy apart from Minnesota. There are just so many cute shops owned by the cutest Italian men, our favorites being the bakeries, gelaterias, and paint shops :) Italy is kind of like Minnesota, in the sense that everyone says hi to each other, but instead of "hi" we say "ciao" and it's so fun! I'm really going to miss saying that back in the states. It's probably good that I'm going to Scotland before going back home, because I'll probably treat everyone like I do in Italy, by saying "ciao" "grazie" and numbers and simple questions...it'll be a strange adjustment! It's just been so fascinating living in a culture with a foreign language, living in it definitely helps you learn it more, it's really fun. Not only do I hear Italian, I hear so many other languages as well from people all over the world. Europe is so awesome in that aspect. So many Europeans travel around and if I have any advice for anyone is would be...GET OUT AND SEE THE WORLD AND ALL OF GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CREATION!! I've seriously been so amazed by all the places I've visited and have just realized how much more I want to travel and see other countries. So yeah...I have this feeling that Italy will always be with me, just because it has truly opened my eyes to so many new places and adventures and although it is cliche to say, it has definitely been life-changing experience. Needless to say however, I am excited and ready to be home! I have a really good feeling about this next year and I'm excited to get back and see where life takes me! See you all soon!

Cute men and even cuter dogs

Ciao. So...something I'm really going to miss are all the cute men and cute dogs, and all the cute men who have the cute dogs. I'm not talking about the super attractive 20-some year olds who are gorgeous and fashionable (although they will be missed), I'm talking about the cute little old men, who play violins and walk their dogs. Example: every day on my way to school there is this little art shop, where a cute little man paints. He has the cutest dog ever who follows him around the shop, that is full of all of his paintings. SOMETIMES, we're lucky enough to walk by when he is playing the violin inside and make sure to slow down and listen in on the goods :) It's just fun because everyone here has a dog and they take them EVERYWHERE. Inside stores, inside the grocery stores, into clothing stores...everywhere, so fun. Anyways, it's just another piece of Italy I'm taking home with me and less than three weeks until Scotland! Ciao Ciao!

ONLY THREE WEEKS LEFT!

As of this last Saturday, I will only be in Florence for three more weeks! That is so crazy! I feel like it was just yesterday that it was the day before I left and I was rushing all around Edina getting stuff for my trip and saying good-bye to Bethel the night before. These three weeks will go extremely fast, and this is why: I have a seven page paper to write for Friday, so I'll be doin that all week, I have a project due next week that I'll be doing all weekend, and then it's finals and packing the last week! It's nuts! Having final papers and tests really sucks in the last weeks here!! But, I will work my butt off to be able to do my favorite things before I leave, believe me!

Well, Thanksgiving was last Thursday, obviously, and since the Italians don't quite celebrate it, it was a quiet day. A lot of people had classes during the day, so my roommates and I went out to dinner to our favorite restaurant down the street called "El Gato e la Vope" (the cat and the fox), and it was soooo good. We definitely stuffed ourselves, but this time with Italian food :) I got an order of bruschetta and one of my favorite pastas, pasta carbonara, YUM! After dinner, we made our way back to the apartment because we all wanted to talk with our families, which was SOOOO GOOD!!! I got to talk FOR FREE on skype with Brendon and Emily who were celebrating in Pittsburgh with friends, and I haven't spoken with them over the phone this whole time! It was so so so good! I also got to speak with dad and Linds earlier, before dinner, and dad and Nance were getting ready for hosting at our house and Linds was on her way to the Pietrini's; man us Kirkbrides are just all over the WORLD! I definitely missed being together though, it'll just make next year's holidays that much better. THEN, to top it all off, I got to talk with the Andersons! I got to say hi to grandma and grandpa, almost all the aunties and of course, uncle joe :) It was just sooo sooo good! Love them so much and can't wait to see them when I get home.

This weekend was very wet and has not stopped raining since Friday morning. Rain boots would be nice to have. tThe sweet Puma's I got before I left are nice, but the "breathable" material on the shoe does NOT help in the rain :) Haha, it wouldn't be a problem, but today I had to walk 20 minutes in the rain/hail after class, it was nuts! Hopefully the weather gets brighter because I don't know how much more rain I can handle these next three weeks! I'm getting excited because this Wednesday they open the German markets in the piazza by my apartment, and it will be so fun and so Christmasy, and hopefully start making it feel like the holidays over here. Also, the lights I talked about that they were putting up like two weeks ago, are FINALLY ON! It's really fun walking the streets when they're on, so pretty! Well, it's like one o'clock in the morning here, I should probably go to bed. I've been having a hard time falling asleep lately because when I decide to go to bed is when my mind decides to day dream-about coming home, going back to Bethel, seeing dad and Nancy, seeing family and friends...it's all starting to seem bittersweet, because I can't wait to be home, but I'm getting really sad to think about leaving Florence after it being my HOME for four months. Anyways...lots of thoughts on that, so I'll cut it short for now. Ciao ciao!!!