Monday, May 17th finally arrived after which felt like years of waiting for it. It didn't hit me that I was really leaving until my mom dropped Alex and I off at the Philly airport. We breezed through check in and security and had time to kill so we ended up going to Chickie and Pete's for our last american meal and last american beers for awhile. Traveling was so much easier than I expected! Neither of my flights luckily were affected by the volcano as well on time. When we arrived at the airport we met up with a lot of the other JMU students however, two of the students luggage didn't arrive with them! After finishing up some paperwork we were on our way to our homestays! The taxi ride was crazy. I thought driving in Philly was bad but it is nothing compared to Firenze, the lines on the street are more like "guidelines" and it's every man for himself.
The driver literally just dropped us at the curb and left us to find our way to our homestay's flat. We actually ended up walking into a hostel unsure of where we were since none of us can speak italian. However, Mama Lo to the rescue! Mama Lo is our house man or Lori Trapman. She must have heard us lugging all our luggage up the flights of stairs and showed up the way to her flat. The inside is amazing! It's something out of a movie. Everything room is brightly colored with huge windows that remain open during the day. Since me Alex, and Matt (our only boy roommate haha) arrived first we were able to pick which bedroom we would like to live in. Alex and my room is huge and decorated so awesome! The only thing better than the flat is our house mom. She is super artsy and so sweet. I definitely could not have asked for a better person to stay with. We are fortunate though. She is originally from England so unlike the majority of the other homestays we do not have to worry about the language barrier which makes things alot more comfortable.
After we unpacked and settled in we took naps since we were all so jetlagged before showering. Once all five us had arrived we decided to walk through town and find Palazzo Capponi which is JMU's study center and the British Institute where our classes will be held. As soon as we returned it was time for dinner. It was amazing! Mama Lo cooked up pasta with pesto, a salad and chicken with capers in lemon. One of the best meals I have ever had! Though we were all tired we decided to meet up with some of the other students to get a drink to toast off the trip. We decided on a little place in Palazzo Santo Spirito called Popcafe. It was nice to finally be able to relax. While we we're getting ready to head home the night life in Firenze was just beginning! People don't go out here until 1130 or 12 when the discotecas open. However, since traveling got the best of us we decided after a few drinks it was time to call it a night.
We woke up bright and early for our first full day in Firenze. However, it wasn't too bright out. We had our orientation then the walking tour. It poured and thundered the entire time! We ended up heading back early after visiting a few palazzo's. We grabbed some pizza and a wine juice box on the walk home for lunch! It's 2:15 here now which is crazy because that makes it only 8:15 at home! We still have some orientation things to do today and we'll see what the night brings. I am already falling in love with this city and can't wait to experience all it has to offer!
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