Spain/Espania

Okay... so since I haven't updated my blog since forever (last month), I am going to try to talk about a couple weeks at a time. The first thing that happened right after our school trip to Rome, which of course was incredibly fun (I couldn't believe my dream of being in Rome was finally coming true!).

Anyways, so we came back from Rome, and we had two weeks of normal classes, and some day trips around the Florence area as well, no complains... just living the dream in Italy!

After those two weeks, it was time for spring break shenanigans! Justin (my roommate) and I had made plans to go to Spain and visit our great dude, Parker Phillips... so we were super pumped to get to Spain and see old faces. The game plan was to fly to take the train from Florence to Pisa, and fly to Valencia from there. I would be staying with my brother's great friend, Victor, and Justin would be staying with Parker's host family.

So the fun begun, and Justin and I packed as light as possible ( I have to give Justin credit for teaching me how to pack lightly, he is awesome at it!... I always take too many unnecessary things with me)... we left super early in the morning of March 17th. the train and the flight went just fine besides the fact that I could not sleep more than 20 minutes, and Justin is a pro at free-style sleeping... the kid will fall asleep on command wherever he wants to!

So we flew into Valencia at around 4 pm, finally! and Victor, my friend, was already there waiting for us... so it was super nice that we did not have to take a bus or anything like that, plus Victor has a mini cooper, which is awesome. Victor showed us a little bit around the city of Valencia and he described pretty much everything important thing that we saw. Also, the fiestas de fallas were taking place at the moment, and this was the last week, so we were getting ready for a super fun time in Valencia.
(((if you wanna know what the fiestas de fallas is, I suggest you google it, otherwise I'll get a fact or two wrong and you will think I'm a big liar!))) but basically it consists of huge and incredible sculptures made of paper mache, super loud fireworks and in the last day... madness! the sculptures are all burnt to the ground and the fireworks do not stop for the whole day... millions of people come to Valencia just for this week, so it's a great time!

When Justin, Victor and I had met Parker at his host parents' place and all hugged happily, Victor and I took off to go home and meet his family. The first one I met is his mom... super nice lady! they received me like I was part of their family, and in a matter of minutes I was truly part of the family! then his Dad and brothers (Pablo and Ricardo) came home and they all greeted me with mexicans sayings! haha I was already having a great time.

That night, the whole gang (Justin, Victor, Parker and I) walked around the super packed city and saw a bunch of the fallas (huge sculptures) in the city center... of course we had some churros on the street. The night was very relaxing and we got to meet Victor's friend's and went out with them... it was surprising to see how Spanish people party!  they don't go out until 1 am or so and they all chill on the streets!... it's almost like there is no police... so crazy.

Anyways, so the next few days were all about sightseeing Valencia, going around and seeing more fallas and listening to super loud fireworks, and of course, people everywhere! My favorite part of Valencia was being in the midst of madness, seeing such enormous structures that looked so beautiful and meeting such nice people! and my least favorite part was... nothing!

On Sunday morning we left for Barcelona, were we would meet with two of our roommates (Matt, Chris) and some company! my friend, Cristina was super nice too and let us stay at her place... she also cooked! We were in Barcelona for a couple of days and we got to see all the free touristy things (we walked sooooo mcuh) and I again fell in love with a spanish city. I loved the feeling that I got in Barcelona. Everything is exciting and you see people from all over the world... really enjoyed the architecture and how neat the city is in itself. Of course the women are stunningly beautiful! I did not even know which way to turn and my neck hurt every single night from all the turning and staring... haha!!

After Barcelona, Justin and took an 8 hour bus trip to Madrid, where we would be staying for around 3 days... I was so tired already but super excited to see another grand city! In Madrid we stayed with my friends Dalia Robles and Manolo Garcia, who are currently living and studying in Madrid right now.
We arrived in Madrid early in the morning and we walked to Dalia's place... of course they were still sleeping. they let us in and since we were super tired too, we decided to take a quick 5 hour nap that turned out to be the most uncomfortable nap I have ever taken. Justin and I shared a 4 ft couch made in the 60's or something... but we didn't mind cause we were so exhausted.

The whole time that we were in Madrid, the weather was not very nice to us. It rained on and off everyday, but we didn't mind... the city was ours to take! Of course we had to do as much free stuff as possible! we went to the Museun of the Reina Sofia and the Prado Museum when they are free to enter (the last two hours, every day). We also walked to the Santiago Bernabeu (just like we walked to the Camp Nou in Barcelona) and visited a bunch of neat and very interesting places! after two and a half days of touring around Madrid like the good poor college kids that we are (eating peanut butter sandwiches all day and staring at the amazing food peple eat in Spanish restaurants) we were almost ready to go back to our beloved city of Florence.

The day we left Madrid, we took another bus to Valencia which was a lot shorter... only four hours! this last day that we would spend in Valencia was a filled with a nostalgic feeling... we had fallen in love with Spain, had met so many cool people, seen so many incredible things... but we wanted to come back to Italy too! as soon as we got back, we met Parker and his uncle who was in town visiting (he took us out for the nicest paella I have ever tasted in my life!! thanks Parker's uncle!!). Later that night we met up with Victor and his friends... overall the night was outstanding!

I was very sad that I was leaving Spain... loved seeing Parkero, Victor ( meeting his family), Cristina, Dalia and Manolo... they all treated us superbly!! After 10 days of traveling thru Spain, it was our time to make our way back to Florence.... but the fun didn't stop there, and it still hasn't!

Tomorrow.. or some other day, more new stories on adventures in Florence, traveling to Greece or something else haha! again... sorry for the super late update!


Ciao!

So sorry!!

My sincere apologies if you have been waiting for an update... it's been more than a month and I literally forgot to give updates.  A big update of the last month is coming soon (either tonight or tomorrow).

Mis sinceras disculpas a los que han estado esperando por actualizaciones y mas historias en este blog... ya paso un mes desde que escribi la ultima actualizacion, pero se me olvido por completo. Voy a publicar nuevas historias y experiencias pronto (ya sea hoy en la noche o maniana).

Ciao!

After Rome/During Mid Terms/Almost time For España!!

It's a Tuesday evening, I'm sitting at home enjoying my after-never-ending-Tuesday gelato... ready for an update after several thousands of years. It's been a while!

Martes por la tarde, de regreso en el departamento disfrutando mi gelato despues de mi Martes sin fin... listo para una actualizacion despues de varios miles de años. Ya paso un buen rato!

Since I wrote last, we were about to leave for Rome, the eternal city. Now after almost two weeks after our trip to the Italian capital, I still cannot believe how wonderful and fascinating the city is. From the Colosseum (the dream finally came true!) to the Vatican, it was incredible. One of the best parts of the trip is that it was almost-all paid for, so we didn't have to worry about paying for hotel, meals and, transportation and so on.

La ultima vez que escribi, estabamos por irnos a Roma, la ciudad eterna. Ahora, casi dos semanas despues de nuestro viaje a la capital italiana, todavia no me la creo lo maravillosa y fascinante que es la ciudad. Desde el Coliseo (ya se me cumplio!) hasta el Vaticano, todo fue impresionante. Una de las mejores partes del viaje fue que no tuvimos que pagar por casi nada, entonces no nos teniamos que preocupar por el hotel, las comidas, el transporte y todo eso.

The day we arrived in Rome, was Friday at around 4 pm after a quick stop at Tivoli's garden palace (I forgot the actual name of the place hehe). Tivoli was a very rustic little town, but the palace that we visited was outstanding! gardens, fountains of all sizes, a big ol' castle and much more... it was a huge place!.
Once we got to our hotel in Rome, a nap was much needed, so we rested until 6:30, right before we had to leave for dinner (pizza). The night was very relaxing, since we were all very tired. The plan was to walk around the city, especially the historic center. We saw the Roman Forum, the Colosseum and other ruins among other amazing monuments.

El dia que llegamos a Roma, fue Viernes a las 4 pm despues de una rapida parada en el palacio de los jardines de Tivoli ( se me olvido el nombre correcto). Tivoli es un pueblo muy chiquito y rustico a las afueras de Roma, pero el palacio que visitamos estaba lleno de historia: cuartos antiguisimos con frescos impresionantes, jardines enormes, fuentes de todos los tamanios, el castillo en si es enorme!
Despues de Tivoli, llegamos a Roma unos 40 minutos despues. Estabamos cansadisimos entonces nos dormimos como hasta las 6 30, casi antes de salir a cenar (pizza). La noche estuvo muy tranquila, porque no teniamos ganas de gastar las energias que acababamos de recuperar. Lo que hicimos fue recorrer el centro historico de la ciudad, como el Coliseo, el Foro Romano y otras ruinas y monumentos de alrededor.


...To be continued, cause I'm lazy and leaving for Spain right now!
... Continuara, porque soy flojo y me voy para España por una semana!

Sickness/Venezia/Birthday/Roma!!

sooooo many things have happened (again!) in such a short time. First of all, it has been already a month, and more, since we all arrived in Florence and started living the dream! I can honestly say that I love every single of my roommates here in Italy. Plus we have met so many awesome dudes and dudettes!

Two Saturdays ago, our good friend and great cook, James Smith decided to make a delicious weekend dinner... he made muscles, rice, and all sorts of goodies for us to enjoy. It was a great dinner, and the night was very fun as well! Anyways, the next day, in my hungry little head, I decided to eat a day-old muscle that had been sitting outside in the kitchen for quite a while, what was I thinking! when I was reaching for the 2nd once (since the first one tasted alright) my friend, Matt asked me if I was thinking of what I was actually doing. Immediately I caught up... one day muscles can't be very healthy, specially when they have been sitting around in the kitchen. Monday and Tuesday went by, I thought I was just getting a normal cold, so I didn't think anything of it.
Come Wednesday night, everything was alright, I was a little tired and had a slight fever, but I wasn't too worried about it. Then, around midnight, the headache turned worse, I started shivering and a very strong stomach ache took over me! the pain just kept worse and worse all night long and I don't remember sleeping more than 20 minutes, I was so scared! Anyways, in the morning the pain had not left and I wasn't feeling any better, so we went to the hospital to see what was going on with me.
As we arrive in the hospital, this lady who didn't seem very glad she was working at the moment took me in, asked me to lay on one of those hospital beds.  they checked my basic information.. heart rate, temperature and so on and gave me some pills... I fell asleep and I think it was around 10 30 am. I woke up at 1 pm... connected to an IV and in a room with a bunch of people who I had never seen in my life. Good news is that the pain was gone and I was feeling much better. minutes turned into minutes and I started getting very impatient. No one would come to ask me how I was doing! so I started asking for information about my situation, and a not so nice nurse told me to go back to my bed and wait until I was next in line for my "ultra sound"... I didn't know I was pregnant! well, time kept on rolling and nothing happened so I was a little upset, I understand the emergency room is very concurred but, leaving someone for hours without attention is something you don't see very often in a hospital. So I asked for my friends who I'm sure were waiting to hear news about me outside in the waiting room.
My attitude turned a little more demanding, and although the staff of the hospital was a little upset with how I was behaving, they finally paid attention to me. They did the studies they had to do, checked my blood, ultra sounded my stomach to check for anything abnormal and nothing,... everything was fine.
After 6.5 hours of being in a terribly managed emergency room, I got my prescriptions and I was out the door... I guess emergencies are free in Italy... Thank God!
The medicines helped me a lot, and I was feeling a lot better by Friday morning. A huge thank you to Saki Armenis, Chava Rivas and Chris Wetmore for being there for me!

So Friday came, and since I was feeling a lot better, I thought my health was good enough for me to take a little trip with the friends to the mystical city of VENEZIA! The plan had been a little shaken by my previous visit to the hospital, but the doc said that if I took it easy with drinks and food I should be fine.
The train for Venice left at 1 30 pm from the station in Florence. It took us 3.5 beautiful hours to arrive in Venice... the ride was very comfortable too.
As soon as we walked out of the train station and started walking around the city, it hit me. We actually were in of the most famous cities in the whole wide world! it was a little cold and cloudy but we didn't care. Needless to say, everything is very expensive, even the water-bus! 6.50 for any trip around the city which is of course, very necessary. The first night, we were a little tired so our hotel room seemed like the best place to be was our hotel room, relaxing for the first night. We went out for dinner and walked around the island of Lido. We called it a night early in the night to wake up early Friday morning to soak all of Venice up in one day!
We arrived at the main island around 11 am... and we let the exploring begin. It was unbelievable to see so many people in such a small place, that didn't seem so small at the time... piazza san marco was full of life an pigeons all over the place! we walked around for hours.. went over 56 bridges in a little more than 26 hours and saw a lot of good looking people in costumes. Sadly, carnevale is not as amazing as they say it is, just a bunch of people dressed up, a small concert in piazza san marco and thousands of people... but I'm not saying I didn't have a great time, the city was totally incredible!
Unfortunately, the night of Saturday, three of us did not have a hotel room booked, so our mission was to make it through the night without going indoors nor sleeping, such a hard task to accomplish! since the night life in Venice is a little slow, and everything closes at around 2 am... all we could do was walk all the way to the train station and wait there until our 1 pm train ride back to Florence. It was such a hard time trying to stay warm or somwhat comfortable in a station that does not do justice to the caliber of a city that is Venice. One way or the other, we got through it and at 1 pm we headed back to Florence on the freezing cold and wet Sunday afternoon.

And then, I turned 22 on Tuesday March 1st! can't believe it. I still remember when I turned 10 years old and I was so proud of myself for using every single one of my fingers to count how many years I've lived. I am so lucky and blessed for being able to spend such a special day in such a magical city with amazing people around me! thank you so much to everyone who remembered me, and for the ones who didn't .. it's okay! it was such a good time, once my longest day of the week (Tuesday) was over with. I am so grateful for what I have and what I have been able to see, hear and enjoy in my short life so far.

Tomorrow we leave for the eternal city ( Roma) at 6 am! I cannot believe this is happening to me... been waiting to see the vatican, the COLOSSEUM, the ruins, the fontana di trevi... everything.... I am going to be so amazed and happy... I might cry.

So much typing, so many things to say... so little time.

Love you all... I promise to update this thing more often!

Perdon por no traducir a espaniol para aquellos que no sean angloparlante completamente... perdon mama!! por ahi dicen que hay traductores muy baratos jajaj.... o despues hago una version de esto en espanol

Vineyard, karaoke and sick days/Vinedo, karaoke, y dias enfermos

Here I am again, updating this little blog business of mine, I hope some people actially read this thing, otherwise I'm gonna blow up!

Aqui estoy otravez, acutalizando esta cosita del blog, espero que por lo menos algunas personas esten leyendolo, o al contrario voy a explotar!

Well, last weekend was a lot of fun again! we went to a vineyard 40 minutes outside of Florence... it completely went over my expectations. The bus left at 11 am from piazza della independenza, and off we were to the Chianti Tour. We arrived at the vineyard at around 12 pm.... and the fun begun! the tour was a lot of fun since the vineyard is located around a castle which was built in the 1200s! Anyways, the tour lasted for about an hour... I wish I had paid more attention to the tour lady, the castle and the scenery took over my attention and the chit chat with the friends was too much for me to pay attention. After the tour, they gave us an awesome lunch (cheese, different types of bread, meat, and all sorts of other little things) and a lot of wine to taste and enjoy! Anyways, we had a great time, met some new friends and drank a lot of wine at an awesome place... we came back to the apartment at around 4 pm... it was time for a very well deserved friday workout.

Bueno, pues el fin de semana pasado estuvo divertidisimo! el viernes fuimos a un viniedo que esta a 40 minutos de Florencia... sobrepaso mis expectativas completamente. El autobus salio a las 11 am de la piazza della independenza, y de ahi salimos para el tour de Chianti. Llegamos al viniedo a las 12 pm... y empezo la diversion! el tour estuvo super bien porque el viniedo fue establecido en un castillo que se construyo por ahi del anio 1200! pero bueno, el tour duro como una hora.. ojala le hubiera puesto mas atencion a la seniora que estaba hablando acerca del viniedo, el castillo y el paisaje eran demasiado como para que yo le pusiera atencion. Despues del tour, nos dieron un super lunch (queso, diferentes panes, carnes y todo tipo de cositas) y mucho vino para probar y disfrutar! Nos divertimos mucho, conocimos a mucha gente y tomamos mucho vino en un lugar super especial... regreamos al departamente como a las 4 pm... era hora de hacer ejercicio.

Saturday we went out to walk around the town with some friends who were visiting, we went to piazza de michelangelo (where you can see the whole city from) and all over the beautiful city of Florence. At night we went to a bar called The Old Stove where we sang karaoke and had a ton of fun!

Sundays are always slow, I don't like them! Even when I want to go out and explore... it's Sunday and nothing happens on Sundays.

El Sabado nos fuimos a caminar por toda la ciudad con amigos que vinieron de visitas, fuimos a la piazza de Michelangelo (de donde se puede ver toda la ciudad) y por toda la hermosa ciudad de Florencia. En la nochefuimos a un bar que se llama The Old Stove donde cantamos karaoke y nos la pasamos super bien!

Los domingos son medio lentos, no me gustan! aunque quiera salir a explorar nuevas cosas... es Domingo, y nada pasa en Domingo.

I feel a little sick today... maybe a cold? gotta get some sleep!
Estoy un poco enfermo  hoy.... talvez un resfriado? necesito dormir!

Calcio finalmente!

so finally we have made it to a calcio game here in Florence. Last night, Saki, Matt, Chava and I paid 22 euros each for some pretty good tickets for the Fiorentina - Inter di Milano game.

Finalmente pudimos ir a un partido de calcio aqui en Florencia. anoche, Saki, Matt, Chava y yo pagamos 22 euros cada uno por unos muy buenos boletos para ver a la Fiorentina contra el Inter de Milan

We walked all the way to the stadium with a couple that we met along the way, they were really nice to us and told us how the deal is around the staidum... all the do's and don't's.

Caminamos hasta el estadio, que esta como a 30 minutos con una pareja que conocimos en el camino. Se portaron super buena onda y nos explicaron como esta la onda en el estadio, que hacer y que no hacer por supuesto.

We arrived at the stadium at around 6:15... 15 minutes before the game started so we were ready to go in.However, our friend Matt did not have a ticket yet, so he had to go get in line and buy it. Needless to say, there were a bunch of late italians trying to buy their tickets too! so it took him around 25 minutes to come back... I was very upset, to say the least since the game was on the 12th minute and Inter was up 1 - 0 by the time we went in... but whatever, we were there.

Llegamos al estadio a las 6 15... 15 minutos antes de que empezara el partido, y ya queriamos entrar para ver todo!. Sin embargo, nuestro amiguito Matt no tenia boleto para el partido todavia, entonces tuvo que formarse con un monton de italianos tardios (como el) para comprarlo. Le tomo aprox 25 minutos en regresar con su boleto... yo estaba algo molesto, porque cuando entramos al estadio, el partido ya estaba en el minuto 12 y el Inter ya iba ganando 1 - 0! pero pues ya no importaba, estabamos ahi a fin de cuentas.

The game wasn't as flashy and full of great plays as everyone was expecting it to be; the cold rain was making it a little hard for everyone on the pitch and on the stands, but we still enjoyed it so much!
Watching Fiorentina score the equalizer in the dying part of the first half was incredible, the whole stadium blew up in cheers and chants.. it was so crazy!! they almost scored the 2nd one before the end of the first half. Unfortunately, Inter's playmakers came through on the 2nd half, and a poisonous cross by Eto'o was the pass for Pazzini to put them ahead 2 - 1 over the Viola.. the rest of the game was all about Fiore trying to score another equalizer. Sadly, the Viola could not score again.

El partido no fue tan emocionante o espectacular como todos esperaban; el frio y la lluvia hizo las cosas dificiles para todos, en la cancha y en el estadio, pero de todos modos lo disfrutamos muchisimo!
Ver a la Fiore anotar el empate en la ultima parte del primer tiempo fue increible, todo el estadio se volvio loco y los cantos y sonrisas sobresalieron immediatamente... hermoso! casi anotaron el 2do gol antes de que se terminara el 1er tiempo, pero no Montolivo no pudo concretar. Desafortunadamente, los cracks del inter hicieron su trabajo en el 2do tiempo y Eto'o dio el pase para el gol en la mitad del 2do tiempo. El resto del partido fue totalmente de la Fiorentina, trataron de armar juego siempre y tirar de todos lados, pero ninguno de los intentos se acerco.

We left the game with a smile on our faces, cause we had just watched our first Serie A match, and because we had another awesome match to watch on tv... Arsenal - Barcelona... so we power-walked for about 30 minutes to get to the bar all cold and wet. One of the best nights here in Italy so far for sure!!

Nos fuimos del partido super felices al final, ya que acababamos de haber visto nuestro primer partido de Serie A, y porque teniamos otro increible partido por ver en television... Arsenal - Barcelona... entonces caminamos lo mas rapido que pudimos por 30 minutos para llegar al bar todos mojados y frios. una de las mejores noches desde que he llegado aqui a Florencia!!

Next possible matches to attend to:
Proximos juegos a los que podemos ir:

Fiore - Roma, AC Milan, Juventus!

It feels good to be in a place where soccer is more than a passion again... it makes me so happy!
se siente tan bien estar en un lugar donde el futbol es mucho mas que una pasion... me hace super contento!

Actualizacion/Update

Hola a todos! Les escribo desde la comodidad de mi cama… ya que no me puedo dormer y maniana me tengo que levanter a las 7 para preparar todo e ir a clase a las 9. Ojala escribiendo se me canse la vista y por fin me pueda dormir después de un fin de semana tan divertido y lleno de emoción.

Por supuesto, aun no tenemos internet en el departamento, pero seguimos con los puntos aleatorios donde ciertas computadoras si reciben senial de internet. Ya nos urge nuestro querido internet para poder estar en contacto con nuestras familias y amigos!

La semana fue muy eventual, esta fue la segunda semana de clases, con largas caminatas, mas spaghetti, un viaje a un outlet super chafisima y otras cosas por ahí. Se me hace tan raro y un poco innecesario que tengamos una clase solo una vez a la semana pero por mas de 5 horas… pero que se le va a hacer, asi es como le hacen aquí en Italia.

Justin y yo ya compramos nuestros boletos para ir a visitar a Parker en Valencia, y también vamos a ir a Barcelona a mediados de Marzo que es cuando tenemos nuestras vacaciones de spring break. Llegaremos a Valencia para los últimos días de la fiesta de Fallas, que emoción!!

Como les comente, tuvimos una no muy grata visita a un outlet localizado a menos de una hora de la ciudad de Florencia este pasado Viernes. Lo único bueno acerca de este viajesito es que era gratis, entonces pues no estuvo tan tan mal verdad? Resulta que todas las tiendas eran de ropa muy cara, ya saben, diseniadores europeos y todos esos menesteres. Graciosamente, nuestro grupo de 6 amigos era el único grupo de hombres, en medio de mas de 40 mujeres que también me imagino no estaban muy contentas con la calidad del outlet…. En pocas palabras, tiendas que no me gustaban, mas precios nada accesibles resulto en un dia casi desperdiciado. La semana que viene hay otro viajesin que ojala este mucho mejor que el del pasado viernes. Luego les cuento bien de que se trata!

En otras noticias, hemos estado conociendo gente de todas partes de Estados Unidos y del mundo… me encanta estar aquí. Aun no me la creo que estoy en Italia con amigos nuevos y viejos, explorando y divirtiéndonos como nunca. Cada dia me asombra mas la belleza de la ciudad de Florencia. Ya se me mover como si llevara años viviendo aquí, claro aunque hay muchas calles o lugares con los que aun no me familiarizo muy bien. Tantas cosas han pasado en apenas 3 semanas que hemos estado aquí… parece que el tiempo se nos va a ir súper rápido!

Quiero también mencionar que en el departamento tenemos a nuestros dos reconocidos chefs, Saki y James que nos cocinan y nos alimentan cada noche! También quiero dar reconocimiento a nuestra “mama” , Chris, que también nos cuida mucho y nos da consejos cuando estamos en un dilema.

Por ahora eso es todo, es hora de tratar de dormir para ir a clase mañana. Tal vez el problema es que estoy tratando de dormir… para dormir no se debe de tratar, solo se debe descansar!

Buenas noches a todos, los extraño! 

Packers make Green Bay so proud! / We miss our internet!

Great times here in Florence! The weather is warmer, the town is more familiar, and we are just soaking up! The first week of classes is over and it went pretty well. Although all of my classes are spread around the city, they are surprisingly easy to find. I am taking Watercolor, printmaking, photography, History of the mafia and Italian… how sweet is that!? However, I am not a big fan of the lab fees and the cost of all the supplies I have to buy for the class, especially if I am not taking most of that stuff back home with me.

Buenos tiempos aquie en Florencia! el clima esta mas calido, la ciudad ya se nos hace mas familiar, y a nosotros nos encanta todo. La primera semana de clases se acaba de terminar y todo fue de maravilla. Aunque algunas de mis clases estan super separadas en la ciudad, son sorprendentemente faciles de encontrar. Estoy tomando Acuarela, imprenta intermedia, fotografia, historia de la mafia e italiano, que tal eh!? Sin embargo, no soy super fan de los pagos que tenemos que hacer para las clases y los materiales que tenemos que comprar, especialmente si la mayoria de esas cosas no me las voy a llevar a EUA o Mexico conmigo.

We have been digging the streets, stores and museums all around. Our rhythm of life is somewhat settled now that classes started and schedules are figured. It’s kind of a bummer that I have class even on Fridays and everyone else is done on Thursday, but that’s okay! 

Hemos estado explorando las calles, tiendas, museos por todos lados. Nuestro ritmo de vida ya es mas normal por ahora que las clases ya han empezado. El unico problema es que tengo clases los Viernes y todos los demas acaban los Jueves en la tarde, pero ya veremos.

Our internet broke on Tuesday (I think?) and it has not come back yet; No clue what happened to it! For some reason, some of the roomies get internet on their beds, but not our room! Hopefully we will get it back on Monday. 

Se nos fue el Internet el martes (pasado, creo?) y no ha regresado (estoy en la escuela escribiendo esto), ni idea de que le haya pasado pero ya nos urge tener internet de nuevo! Lo mas chistoso es que algunos de mis companieros de cuarto si tienen senial de internet en sus camas jaja, pero en cualquier otra parte del cuarto no! Esperemos que el internet regrese el Lunes o lo mas pronto posible

----- A few days later - unos dias despues

So, the packers won the Super Bowl on Sunday night (Monday morning here in Florence)!! all the roommates and friends that we have met so far got together to watch the game in a "private room" at a bar called The Clubhouse. We had such a great time, the game was Super Bowl worthy and the packers brought their best to the field. Everyone in the room paid around 25 euro and we got hot dogs, hamburgers, buffalo wings, and plenty of drinks to enjoy the game. We all went to bed at around 5 am on Monday, with a big smile on our faces, which kinda disappeared when we realized we had class in 4 hours hehe.

Los Packers ganaron el Super Bowl el Domingo por la noche (Lunes en la manana en Florencia)!! todos los companieros de cuarto y amigos que hemos conocido hasta ahora nos juntamos para ver el partido en un "cuarto privado" en un bar que se llama The Clubhouse. Nos la pasamos increible, el partido fue de nivel de super bowl y los empacadores llegaron con todo contra los acereros. Cada quien en el cuerto pago 25 euros y en toda la noche no pararon de traernos hot dogs, hamburguesas, alitas de buffalo y suficientes bebidas para mantenernos entretenidos. Nos fuimos a dormir a las 5 am del Lunes, con una enorme sonrisa, la cual desaparecio por un momento al saber que teniamos clases en 4 horas.

So many things have happened, we have been to so many places around Florence and our feet are hurting so much... thanks mom for the insoles you just sent me with Chava (who arrived in Florence almost a week ago!). 

Tantas cosas nos han pasado, hemos ido a tantos lugares aqui en Florencia y nuestros pies nos han dolido tanto... por eso, gracias madre por las plantillas que me mandaste con Chava! quien acaba de llegar a Florencia hace menos de una semana!

**Look, I even customized the Favre jersey that Justin brought for me from the US into a #44 Starks jersey!

**Vean, hasta modifique el jersey que Justin me trajo de EUA para que fuera el numero 44 de Starks!

Congrats packers!!

Pretty David/David el guapo

As the Sunday afternoon rain fell and we put our shoes on to go for an unplanned walk, I wondered what was going to be in front of my eyes in the next hour or so.

La lluvia de la tarde dominguera caia, y nosotros nos poniamos nuestros zapatos para ir a caminar sin tener ningun plan. Yo me preguntaba que iba a estar en frente de mis ojos en las siguientes horas

Not knowing what to do, someone mention the idea of going to see Michelangelo's David. The thought of seeing such a historic piece of art with my own eyes seemed to good to be true... but it was about to become true (6.5 euros for admission!? anytime!)

Sin saber que hacer, alguien del grupo menciono la idea de ir a ver al David de Michelangelo. El pensamiento de ver a tal pieza tan historica con mis propios ojos parecia muy buena como para ser verdadera... pero estaba por hacerse realidad (6.5 euros por la entrada!? cuando quieras!?)

Obviously, there are many works of art at the Galleria dell'Accademia. Every sculpture or painting was better than the one before... then we passed to the hall where the unfinished sculptures by Michelangelo are. It was hard to focus on anything but that huge piece of marble in the middle of the room... it was David finally!


Obviamente, hay muchas obras de arte en la Galleria dell'Accademia. Cada escultura o pintura era mejor que la pasada... luego pasamos al cuarto donde se encuentran las esculturas sin terminar de Michelangelo. Era dificilisimo concentrarse en nada que no fuera esa semejante pieza de marmol en medio del cuarto... finalmente, ahi estaba David!


Needless to say, we stared, studied, pondered and admired the huge masterpiece. Its resemblance to a huge human being is just stunning. I could not get enough of it. After looking at him for more than I have ever analyzed any other piece of art, everything else that crossed my sight was almost a joke... Wish I could touch those 500 years of world history on his surface.


Claro, vimos, estudiamos y obvservamos admirados la inmensa obra de arte maestra. Su semejanza a un enorme humano es simplemente impresionante. No nos cansabamos de su perfeccion. Despues de verlo por mas tiempo del que he tratado de analizar y entender una obra, todo lo que vi despues de eso parecia casi una broma... ojala pudiera tocar esos 500 anios de historia mundial que se encuentran en su piel de marmol.


Gonna sleep well tonight, school starts tomorrow!


Voy a dormir muy bien esta noche, a la escuela maniana!








----of course, we had to break the rules and snap some "prohibited" pics!
----- Claro, teniamos que romper las reglas y tomar fotos "prohibidisimas"!

------

no big deal/no gran cosa

So, yesterday we stumbled upon an exhibition... Damien Hirst's "For the Love of God"! The 8 Euro we paid to get in, see the skull and also get a complete tour of the Palazzo Vecchio was worth every single cent.

For the ones who don't know, this piece of art is worth 50 million Euro. No big deal right!? and we were inches away for its shininess!  we will go back and try to take a picture of it.. or even a video (Ocean's eleven style!)

Like I've mentioned before... the city just keeps getting better and better. The adventure has just begun and I feel like time is flying by already! Gotta go to bed cause I have not gotten adjusted to the European time still.

----

Ayer nos encontramos una exibicion... "For the Love of God" de Damien Hirst. Los 8 euros que pagamos para entrar, ver la pieza de arte y ademas dar un tour por todo el Palazzo Vecchio (donde esta la exibicion) valieron cada centavo.

Para los que no saben, esta pieza de arte esta valuada en 50 millones de euros... no gran cosa, verdad? y estuvimos a pulgadas de todo su brillo! vamos a regresar un dia de estos para tomarle foto o video.. al estilo Ocean's Eleven.

Como dije anteriormente... la ciudad solo se pone mejor cada dia! La aventura acaba de empezar y parece que el tiempo ya se nos esta yendo tan rapido! Me tengo que ir a dormir porque aun no me acostumbro al horario de aca y ya es tarde.

Ciao!!

For The Love Of God-----

The first few days/Los primeros dias

We have been in Florence for roughly three days and everything is going just fine for us. We are still suffering a little bit from the jet lag, but are working on the adjustment.

The program that we are with here in Florence is so sweet, it's called Study Abroad Italy and the people who work there have treated us super nice. Their buildings are scattered all throughout the city, which can be a little demanding with all the walking that we have to do but it's totally worth it. Also, out of 220 or so exchange students that came thru SAI, 90% are girls, so the 10% of boys do not have any complaints about that!

We had a cool reception at this very sophisticated and vintage place, it looked like we went back to the 1800s and the food was very different, had a really good time meeting new people and having a free dinner. Later that night (Wednesday) we went out to celebrate our roommate, Evan's birthday, it was a blast!

More orientation meetings and more exploring Florence today!

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Hemos estado en Florencia por alrededor de tres dias y todo va muy hasta ahora. Todavia estamos sufriendo estragos del cambio de horarios, pero pronto ya estaremos adaptados muy bien.
El programa con el que estamos aqui en Florencia esta super bien, se llama Study Abroad Italy y la gente que trabaja ahi nos ha tratado de maravilla. Los edificios de la escuela estan regados por toda la ciudad de Florencia, lo cual puede ser un poco duro debido a toda la caminada que nos echamos pero vale muchisimo la pena. Tambien, el 90% de los estudiantes de intercambio aqui son mujeres, el restante 10% (los hombres) no tenemos de que quejarnos, por supuesto!

Tuvimos una recepcion super agusto en un lugar muy sofisticado y "oldie", parecia que nos regresamos a 1800 y la comida era super diferente, nos divertimos mucho conociendo nueva gente y ademas la comida fue gratis! Despues esa noche del miercoles, todos nos fuimos de fiesta prara celebrar a nuestro companiero de departamento, Evan, estuvo a todas margaritas!

Mas juntas de orientacion  y mas exploraciones en Florencia hoy!





SAI staff-------------

Arrived.. finally!

We are finally here! All the times that we said that we were coming to Florence seemed so far away. Now it is a reality and I’m so happy, this city is amazing!

The flight from Rome to Florence was pretty uneventful and short… with no drinks offered!? What is up with that Alitalia?? Not even a cup of water for these hungry and thirsty young travelers?

We arrived in Florence at around 11 am. Surprisingly enough, Delta airlines did a good job overall and I got my one bag that I checked in all intact and safe. I was the only boy amidst around 20 or so girls… needless to say, I felt very fortunate but lonely at the same time. The mini vans from the school that is receiving us arrived and loaded all our things on the vans.  After 20 minutes of hectic driving around the city, the chauffeur found the school so we could register.

After registering, filling out papers and getting our phones, we got dropped off at our respective apartments… Again, I was the only guy. Surrounded by nothing but girls and immense and countless suitcases (which obviously belonged to the females), before getting on the van to go to my new apartment where I would be meeting up with my roommates, I finally met a couple of really nice guys.

Anyways, despite the reckless driving, road blocking and dangerous crossing, we arrived at my destination. Vian San Zanobi, 37. It was 1 30 pm when I came into the room. It was a little confusing to guess which door was the one to our apartment since some of them had no number nor name; so I took a shot, and guessed right on the first try.

To my surprise, I was the first guy to arrive at the apartment. Being used to arriving late at places where there already a bunch of people who have lit the place up with life and movement, I did not know what to do. The room resembled a maze from Alice in wonderland. Doors here, doors there and little rooms everywhere. Everything Is so small and rustic, but it is a spacious enough apartment for 7 people. As I waited for my house mates to arrive, I sat down to relax for a little bit and recognize the place. After 20 minutes or so, the first of them arrived.. James, from Washington. We started talking about our experiencies, background and all the possible small talk questions you can think of. We were both exhausted, and it wasn’t long before we were snoring in front of a small t.v.

After a very necessary nap, the other guys started to arrive. Matt from Washington, Saki from Massachusetts, Justin, Chris from Rhode Island and Evan from California… it was around 6 30 when we were all in the apartment and ready to go out and get something to eat.

Of coure, we had to stop at a pizza place to start getting acclimated to our new town. Then we came back to our apartment and started arranging everything the way we want it.

This city is seriously awesome. It’s full of tradition, history, people from everywhere and countless possible activities. I love it!   Tomorrow in the morning we have orientation stuff at 9 am, so we have to walk a little bit since it is somewhat far away from our apartment.

Can’t believe that we are actually in Florence now, Yeyeah!! 

----- Nice way to enjoy a flight, huh!?

Rome!

No clue what time it might be, but I am in Rome now! I barely got any battery but I wanted to update… actually, it might be around 7:30 am.

After 9 hours of miraculously flying through the air over the ocean, I have made it to the old continent for the first time in my first 21 years of life. All it took for me to get here was:

-4 heineken beers. 2 cups of orange juice, a banana, two sandwiches, a place of chicken and rice, crackers, cheese, a muffin, water, a whole dinner, three movies and a few shows from random series which I don’t really care about.

The flight was surprisingly “fast” and comfortable.. I was very glad that everything was pretty much for free so I could get as buzzed as I wanted but it wouldn’t be so much fun while sitting by myself on the plane.  If my luggage makes it all the way to Florence without me having to get pissed and call the airline, they will have redeem themselves after losing both my bags last year when I went home for xmas.

Is it weird to say that I don’t feel tired after almost a day of traveling and not sleeping almost at all? Hopefully I’ll stay up until it gets dark tonight in Florence and then sleep like a rock and hopefully avoid the jet lag effect.

Already met people (all girls) from different parts of the US who are also going to FUA. Sweet to know new friends.

Also, I saw the most amazing sunshine that I have witnessed in a looong time… majestic!

Flying!

It is exactly 11:36 am…. And my plane seat is 11 D.. although I changed to 10 A due to some seats being open… just for me!

Well, supposedly the flight is a little late so I hope I am not late for my flight to Rome. The lady who was sitting next to me before was super nice, she had a one and a half year old boy who looked like Diego from Dora the exploring… just checking the whole airplane out and loving it. We talked for a little bit about out destinations and background; she was so jealous to learn that I’m going to Italy.

I was super impressed to know that there would be wi-fi even on the darn plane! Next thing you know even donkeys and trees will have wi-fi (fingers crossed). Super pumped to go online and brag about being online while flying miraculously through the airs, I opened my computer and tried to open my home page (goal.com). Right away I found out that the promotion/offer had ended two weeks ago… Liars!!! Haha whatever.. I got more time to doodle and admire the clouds.

I’m hungry… bring me food, lady-who-works-for-Delta!

Son exactamente las 11:36 am… y mi asiento en el avion es el 11 D.. aunque  me cambie al 10 A debido a que unos asientos estaban solos… nomas para mi!

Supuestamente el vuelo salió un poco tarde, ojala no sea muy tarde para conectar mi vuelo a Roma. La dama que estaba sentada al lado de mi en mi asiento anterior era super buena onda. Con un terremotito de anio y medio que parecía Diego de Dora la Exploradora. Platicamos un ratito acerca de nuestras vidas, a donde vamos y porque. Estaba super celosa porque voy a Italia… muy linda la senito.

Estaba super emocionado porque vi que hasta en el avión hay internet gratis! La próxima vez, hasta los burros y los arboles van a tener conexión de internet grrratis o algo asi. Ya bien contento yo de que me iba aponer a presumirle a todo mundo que estaba en un avión y navegando la inmensidad de la web, abri mi compu. Inmediatamente me entere de que era una promoción que termino hace dos semanas… mentirosos!!! No le hace.. tengo mas tiempo para admirar las nubecitas y babosear un rato…

Tengo hambre, tráigame arta comida seniora de Delta!

About To Leave/Apunto De Salir

Well, the adeventure is about to really begin... I'm sitting in the San Antonio airport and as I was reading a a book I heard a little secret voice saying that they offer free wi-fi, which I had never heard of. I thought I'd write a little note just to give this thing a little more life.

Can't believe that my dream of finally visiting Italy is coming true... I had even forgotten that it was one of my dreams since it seemed so unreachable. You know, just one of things you'd like to do someday but you really don't think about seriously. Well, it's happening now and I am so happy!

I met a new friend, Andres Castro, who lived in Florence for three years. He gave me a lot of tips and names of people he knows who will be willing to help me out once I am there... pretty cool guy eh!?

Gotta go, the plane calls... Bye!

---

Bueno, la aventura esta por empezar ahora si... estoy sentado en el aeropuerto de san antonio y estaba leyendo un libro escuche una vocesita secreta que me dijo que ofrecen conexion de internet gratis aqui en el aeropuerto, jamas habia oido de eso en un aeropuerto.. a todo dar! entonces pense en entrar aqui a escribir un poco y darle un poco mas de vida a este desmadre.

No puedo creer que mi suenio de visitar Italia se va a hacer realidad finalmente... ya hasta se me habia olvidado que era uno de mis suenios porque parecia tan lejano e imposible. Ya sabes, una de esas cosas que dices que te gustaria hacer pero que nunca lo tomas muy en serio. Bueno, pues ahora se va a realizar y estoy super contento!

Conoci a un nuevo amigo anoche, Andres Castro (primo de Fabian Hdez). El me dio muchisimos tips y consejos para cuando llegue a Florencia. Tambien conoce mucha gente que me va a poder ayudar si me meto en algun problemilla o cualquier cosa... a toda madre este cuate no!?

Bueno, ya me tengo que subir al avion... bye!

 RAJI!!!!

Super Bowl!

What  a better way to start  this blog-thingy than a celebration line:

"The packers are super bowl bound after kickin' the bears' rear end!"

Watching the big game in Florence will be awesome... I'm guessing it won't be easy to find a place to watch it, but we'll figure it out.

Flying out of San Antonio tomorrow morning to Atlanta. then Rome, then Florence... it's gonna be a loooong day. Can't wait to be there! A big thanks to Fabian Hernandez and his uncles here in San Antonio for receiving such a stranger like me and being so nice.

----

Que mejor manera de empezar cone esta cosa del blog que una frase para celebrar:

"Los packers van al Super Bowl despues de darle en la torre a los Osos!"

Ver el gran juego en Florencia va a estar de poca madre... Ojala podamos encontrar un lugar para verlo. Me imagino que en Italia no todo mundo esta enteradisimo de lo que es un touchdown o una intercepcion.
Estoy emocionadisimo por llegar  a Italia. vuelo de San Antonio maniana en la maniana para Atlanta. Despues, Roma y luego Florencia! Mil gracias a Fabian Hdez  y sus tios aqui en San antonio por recibir  a un extranio como yo y ser tan buena onda.


Ciao!