ink_n_imp | I have been a bad bad Nella: First update from Italy.

It has definitely taken me longer to get around to doing this then I would have liked. I arrived in Florence (or Firenze, as I’ll probably call it from now on) on August 31. Since then, I’ve hiked up hills, stairs, across piazzas, and across the Arno. I’ve had a week of classes, three of which have field trips of some sorts. I’ve visited two nearby towns-- Fiesole and Lucca—and miracle of miracles, I’ve actually got pictures so far of my adventures here.

I’ve completely lucked out roommate wise, but I have a suspicion that’s so just because we’re in Italy and that makes people a lot less bitchy than they could be. I walk outside of my apartment and the Duomo is to my left, only a block away and framed by the other apartments. On that note, the entirety of my apartment is IKEA-tastic, which is wonderful. Me gusta IKEA. My RA is Italian, named Nicola, the most laid back RA I’ve had the pleasure yet to meet. He uses “what the fuck man?” like a solemn pledge, and describes in great detail the places in Firenze you only go to late at night if you want to “be assassinated”. I fear his ways are lost in the transcribing, but he it totally awesome and yes, worthy of fangirling.

The only channel I get in English is CNN, and lest I become completely morose because of CONSTANT NEWS, I’ve had to suck it up with Italian MTV and sports channels. Every once in a while, I come across a dub on TV, or I-MTV’s anime week, where I get to watch anime I’ve NEVER heard of before, and that I can barely understand. Which is actually a lot of fun. I’m not going to lie.

I have awesome classes and awesome teachers, most notably Prof. Mussolin, Prof. Ewell and Dr. Alan. Mussolin because he is a half inch shorter than I am (ah, Italy and it’s refreshing shortness) but you just want to hug the fuck out of him, he’s that cute in a short older stocky Italian way. He spends most of his class about Florentine High Renaissance Art groping for the right words with a “come sei dici…” and on class trips you get to run through museums and leapt down stairs in a desperate attempt to keep up with him. The man would give Miss Ouland a run for her money.

Ewell is a classics archaeologist, and much to my heart’s content, we are going on several field trips to Etruscan archaeological sites in Tuscany.

SQUEE!!!

Dr. Alan, who teaches Renaissance Apprenticeship, is a diva in a bitter, funny way. He insisted on being addressed as “Dr.” because as he says it he wasted 10 years of his life in art history to get that fucking title and he’s going to fucking use it. However, he also wants us to use his first name, because “Dr. Pacuzzi” is too formal. So, Dr. Alan is it, with the idea that the formal and the informal negate each other.

I’ve already lost one roommate to another study aboard program in Siena because she was from Williams College and she wasn’t comfortable living in the city center of Firenze. A tear is shed for her, cause she was really cool and down to earth. I miss Katie.

Also, for all of Firenze’s kickass-ness and refreshing environment, I am plagued by NYU stupidity. There are a lot of stupid NYU fucktards here, who decided the study abroad is their chance to get wasted every night and go absolutely batshit insane. For example, some of the guys on the floor above me go to Santa Croce at night to buy hash, which is:

a) dangerous cause it’s a dangerous area at night and you may get “assassinated” as Nicola would say and
b) buying and selling drugs is really, really illegal here in Italy too, ya know! This isn’t Amsterdam you FUCKERS. If the polizia get you, you’re ass is in an Italian jail. Which is less than you would deserve. Stupid fucker.

Also, Firenze is up the wahooze in Americans. It’s sometimes hard to find Italians. You really have to search. Which can be disheartening at times. Luckily, roommate Elizabeth is really devoted to getting out and finding them goddamnit, so, we get to wander around Florence on our holy quest for Italians.

All in all, so far it’s been a lot of good, a far amount of bad, and a whole shit load of “WOOHOO I’M FINALLY IN ITALIA!!!!”

I bought a lj paid account in the hopes of using the LJ photo archive page. I’ll see if I can master it and get some pics up. Stay tuned miei amici!

A piu` tardi!!