Enculturation

Greetings from Firenze, Italia

My first impression of Florence: I was just taken aback. It is so strikingly unreal.
When I arrived to my apartment, I found out that it is right outside the Piazza Santa Croce. A huge cathedral with a beautiful facade. Walking everyday past historical architecture, and piazzas, and sculptures. At first, I was so overwhelmed, my mind could not handle the excitement that I was experiencing. But after a couple weeks, I would walk passed these beautiful scenery's everyday and consider it the norm; to be in the same town where Giotto, Leonardo Da Vinci, and many other well-known artists, geniuses, and intellectuals came from. 

After almost a month and a half, I have to admit, I have been starting to take advantage of my time here. I am just walking past the sculptures and beautiful cathedrals without really absorbing them in. However, I have become aware of this terrible (Jasmine Jones' favorite word) behavior. I find myself late for class, and pushing through the tourist-filled piazza, trying to make it on time.

On the other hand, a lot of other times, when walking back to my apartment, I find myself going to sit in the Piazza Signoria or walking around the Duomo, just trying to soak it all up and (most importantly) doing some people-watching; that expression on the tourists' face as they look probably for their first time at these spectacular architecture and artworks.

From going to museums & exhibitions, to trips on the weekend, to assignments in class & sketching at café's, here is a selection of some photos: 

Exhibition at the Boboli Gardens

Boboli Gardens

Pompeii

Capri

Florentine window bars (Photo Assignment - shadows)

Dante - Dali exhibition at the Medici Ricardi Palace

Madeline and Dali-Dante

Night Photography Class - Light/Painting Photography (The lovely Louise as the model)

Charity Run for Breast Cancer - Captured Moment

Boboli Gardens

Lisa and her beautiful Tapestry, bought at the Marine de Pisa Beach

Journal entry after a day in the Stibbert Museum, working with Angeli Del Bello

Duomo drawn from a rooftop Cafe in the PIazza della Repubblica

At the Duomo

At the Duomo

And to end, In 1953, John Steinbeck says these beautiful words about Positano, Italy in Harper's Bazaar, but honestly, I think it can speak for all of Italy:

"Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn't quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone".

-Diana Abouchacra

A Fan Letter to Pesto

I cannot believe it has been five weeks since I left JFK airport to go to Florence. The time is racing by and I am trying to grasp every last second. From walking to class, or sitting on the steps of Santa Croce, I want to absorb all Florence has to offer. The opportunity to be here is still mind blowing.  It is the greatest experience I could have ever asks for and I am thankful for everyday I have here.

Although I am not in my home state of New York, Florence sure does make up for it. New York City in the fall is one of my favorite places to go. It’s hard not being there during the beautiful weather. Although there is not a Starbucks on every street to find a pumpkin spice latte on, I love the cappuccino here.  While I do miss my friends, family and my best friend (my dog Hank), I think Florence is truly wonderful.

I am currently enrolled in the International Students Institute in Florence, Italy. I enjoy taking class field trips around the historical city. We have sketched in the Pitti Palace, toured cathedrals, and walked around the central market. Having class around the city has made me more aware of my surroundings. I have learned so much about the city during my classes.

One thing I have had hard time learning is  languages. Throughout middle school and high school I was required to take Spanish. You can say speaking Spanish is not my life calling.  Rolling my rs and conjugations never stuck with me. Learning Italian has been similar to my Spanish experience. The constant use of vowels is something im starting to learn. I try to practice my Italian when I am ordering a Panini. When I try to speak, the person behind the counter ends up speaking in English. My language barrier is something I will have to work on as the weeks roll by.

My number one favorite thing about this city is the wonderful selection of food. Although sometimes I do miss sushi, the food is incredible here. I have never had so many choices of pasta in my life. From pear ravioli to the truffle sauce spaghetti, I have a hard time choosing. I usually end up ordering everything with pesto. If I am cooking in the apartment, my meal will consist of spoon full of pesto. I always loved pesto at home although my love has turned into an obsession. I crave it all the time!

Overall the experience of being here is more than I could have ever dreamed of. It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity that I will never forget. I look forward to my weeks to come.  Hopefully I will be eating more pesto and learning the Italian language! 

I Feel Like a Local

By Lisa Silberkleit

As I finish up week five in Florence, I must say that I feel like a local. Maybe I don't always dress the part, and maybe I'm not fluent in the language, but if someone were to ask me where I live, I would say Florence, no hesitation. Every morning I am lucky enough to wake up and remember that I'm here and that truly is a beautiful thing.

What I would like to focus this post on is not just life in this breath-taking and historical city, but also on travel and the experience that comes with that. My journey here was a long one and I don't even know where or how to begin. I have never flown without my parents before coming here and I must say that getting around on my own is very liberating and makes me realize that I can count on myself to figure out a lot more than I had suspected. It's scary to really be on your own. At UConn, my mom is an hour drive away, plus campus is just that-- CAMPUS. Going to school in a city is a huge adjustment to make from UConn, and I am proud to say that I have passed that test with flying colors.

After learning how to transition from Connecticut living to Italian living, I found that I could finally begin to experience the culture and Italy itself. My first euphoric experience since landing here was my trip down to the Amalfi Coast. I signed up with one of the many student travel agencies in Florence, and I can honestly say that I have never gotten so much out of three days in my entire life. It was rich and packed with beautiful sights, historical landmarks, and so much fun. First, we spent Friday on a boat tour around the island of Capri, and then went into Capritown to grab lunch. This was followed by a beautiful and relaxing beach day on Saturday in Positano. Then, the highlight of my weekend: hiking Mt. Vesuvius and touring the ruins of Pompeii. This has to be one of the most enriching experiences of my life (so far). Walking through Pompeii felt like walking through a ghost town in the most real sense. I couldn't have predicted a more eerie, intense feeling than what I felt while standing, pressed up against the gate that separated tourists from recovered artifacts and bodies. Yes, bodies. Real people who were really preserved for 2000 years under 125 feet of ash.

I am so thankful for the chance to see all of the historical pieces that make-up Italy, and the many more things in Europe as a whole that are to come. These five weeks have made for the most unreal, life-changing moments that I've ever been able to experience and I think that's the key to studying abroad. I'm sure that if you read up and down this entire blog, not one post doesn't contain the word "experience". And that's all that I can hope for in the weeks to come. More experiences that can turn into more stories for me to share.

A City Filled With Interesting People.

When thinking about the city of Florence before I had personally been there, I thought of the very small and pretty town filled with lots of rich history and amazing food as this is all I had heard from those that had been there for a week or less. After arriving and living here for around a month now I can say that these thoughts have been proven true. But one thing that I did not expect would be the very diverse amount of people throughout the city apart from strictly Italians that were not talked about. When walking down the narrow roadways to school it's easy to spot out people of many varying backgrounds. I really enjoy talking photos of people, as well as drawing them, so this was a great place for me to expand on this ongoing project of mine. The people here all have different interpretations of what's cool for clothing, haircuts, etc... so this was a great change from the typical American style. Also as a side note, the difference in the amount of people of smoke is quite the change as well. Along with the size of the cars.

To talk about my experience so far in terms of adjusting to the new lifestyle and becoming accustomed to the changes, I think I'm doing well as of right now. Moving into an apartment with people I hadn't met before was a little nerve racking but exciting at the same time. We all became great friends within the first few days and we still prefer to go out and participate in activities as a group. I feel like this helped a lot with the sense of culture shock in the beginning as I wasn't experiencing all this on my own. If one of us became lost, or needed help with anything, we would figure out a way to get the job done. I still become nervous in public sometimes as I am still learning the basics of the Italian language, and don't want to make myself like a fool. But most of the people that I've met in the city have been very nice for the most part. One thing that annoys me though are the "gypsies" of the town. Earlier today I had seen a man sitting by himself looking at something on his phone, and a gypsy woman walked right by him grabbing his phone from his hand. Luckily he managed to grip it correctly and not let her take it, but acts such as this really bother me.

I'm extremely excited for what's to come next in this adventure, and I can't wait to share the experience with others.

Allora, Parliamo

*Christy posting from Madeline's

 Four weeks in to my stay,  I'm reflecting on what my expectations were before leaving home compared to what studying abroad and living in Florence is really like. I wasn't expecting the adjustment to city life; the cramped sidewalks, the lack of nature. I wasn't expecting the lovely combination of homesickness and physical sickness that happened within my first week. I wasn't expecting to feel so lost sometimes. 

If you couldn't tell, this is my first time abroad and my first time away from home for a long stretch of time. I've always been the one out of my friends to write letters for their plane rides and to like every one of their photos depicting their travels. Now instead of living vicariously through them, I'm seeing things for myself. They were excited for me and I finally received plane letters in return.

 My friend Abby who studied abroad in Madrid wrote, " I think it's so great that you will actually be bored one day. While it feels like a vacation and there's so much to explore, you're really going to just LIVE in Italy. So Casual!" When I read this at the beginning of my trip I didn't fully understand and I definitely didn't ever want to feel bored. The first few weeks I would get upset if I ever thought I was taking the experience for granted. I tried to resist feelings of discomfort or sadness and make myself fully appreciate every moment. 

I'm glad that my view has shifted and I now understand what she was saying. I will never have the romantic view of Florence which people who see it for a few days have but that's not a bad thing. Instead, I'll have a deeper appreciation for it. I will have felt at home here. I will have repeatedly done all of the little things that tourists don't get the chance to do. These simple moments include sitting in the Mercato Centrale for hours, sketching and sipping a cappuccino, walking down the Arno River on my commute to class, having friends over for dinner, and leaving this city for a weekend trip and then returning home to Florence. 

Now the pressure of my own expectations is off and I can take this experience for what it is, along with all the struggles and all the beauty. 

ITALY IS EATILY!

We are officially done with our fourth week of classes here in Florence and I must say it has been an interesting journey already! From figuring out which is the best grocery store, to figuring out directions from one building to the other, to communicating with an Italian hairdresser on how to cut your hair.  These are the little things on our trip that contribute to our incredible study abroad experience.

The program has a unique set up, which allows you to learn in a completely different way than we are used to back home. Many, if not all, of our classes are on-site. We have had maybe one drawing/painting class in the studio! In Photography and Art History, we visit museums, squares and different streets in Florence one day of the week and the other day, we are in the classroom. The classes here really incorporate the Italian lifestyle, which helps you immerse with Italian culture.

All that I have seen in textbooks of the architecture in Italy does not even compare with seeing it in person. The buildings, cathedrals and statues amaze me each day I pass them. Even being here for almost 4 weeks, I feel like I keep discovering new things. Since texting and walking is not common here, you have the chance to really observe and notice new things, even when walking the same route every day.

“Italy is Eatily”. Of all my experiences, this sentence sums it up the best. I can’t get over how incredible the food is here. Gelato, croissants, pizza, the cappuccinos! Shopping for fruits and vegetables in the markets might just actually be on my top 5 favorite activities to do in Florence. The variety is amazing, but the taste is even better! However, buying groceries every day here has definitely been something I have been getting used to.

Although I am very excited to be here, I feel like it is going by so fast! My teachers have already all distributed the format for midterms, which means it is almost half way! I am looking forward to learning all that I can while I am here, as well as traveling as much as possible in the time that is left. I can’t wait to reflect on my experience in my next blog post. Ciao for now!

Peggy Guggenheim Museum in Venice, Italy

Jackson Pollack's paint brushes and paint cans on display

St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy 

San Gimignano 

Sketching in Boboli Gardens  

Studying with a beautiful view of the Duomo in Biblioteca delle Oblate

EXCUSE MY ITALIAN

To  kick off the Florence 2015 blog, I will start off by saying Florence is unlike any place I’ve been before. I am extremely grateful this trip was made possible because I‘ve already learned so many new things here and this city continues to amaze me. We have been here for over three weeks now and I’m slowly adjusting the the new lifestyle that has little in common with Storrs, Connecticut. I admit to having the absolute worst sense of direction ever. So, navigating my way through Florence has been undeniably overwhelming. However, I’ve slowly started to get to know my way around, prioritizing my route to the grocery store and gelato of course. It shouldn’t be a surprise that food has been a major theme during my travels in Italy. I’m thankful to take a break from the dining halls for a semester, and have a kitchen to cook food we buy fresh everyday.

Tasting great food was a big expectation I had before moving in. However, there are other aspects of daily life here that I couldn’t have clearly predicted. Street etiquette is one thing that labeled me as an American. When to cross, where to walk, and how to swiftly maneuver around speeding mopeds and cars is something that took a little getting used to. Similarly to walking on the street, grocery shopping was a sport within itself, fighting through small isles and realizing that it is rude to touch produce without a plastic glove! These are small lessons that took some trial and error, but I can happily say that I am now getting the hang of things.

Besides a couple of clumsy weeks of trying to fit in, I have been constantly amazed by my new home. I heard all the stories and saw all the pictures but I really was not expecting Florence to be THIS incredible. Everything here is so quaint and picturesque that I cannot stop snapping pictures. So the food is delicious, the streets are beautiful, but the most unbelievable thing so far has been seeing art history come to life. My first week here I was very lost and unexpectedly popped out in front of the Santa Maria Novella. Cheesy as it may be, the sight took my breath away. I studied this church in Art History last semester, and seeing it in the flesh was so exciting.  I feel so fortunate to be able to live in a city with so much history and life. I definitely need to work on my Italian a little (a lot), but I am so thrilled to get this opportunity, and I cannot wait for these next couple of months.

Small Selection of 100 FACES 100 PLACES Assignment

Santa Maria Novella

Saturated Living

Buonasera amici!

Tutti e molta bene qui a Firenze! Our third week of classes is winding down as is our fourth week, that makes a month! My goal coming here was to tell myself to drink in everything that Florence has to offer. During the summer, I studied Renaissance art history so I would better appreciate what I saw here. Those moments of recognition have been incredible. But what was not written in those books was the richness that completely surrounds you. It strikes me every day (even we got immensely lost our first two weeks here!) in what history we live. For example, we learned through our art history reading this week that Brunelleschi designed the Piazza Annuziata that lies 1000ft outside our door! And our street is named after Gino Capponni, whose memorial alter I saw in the Santa Croce.
Florence is saturated. What a gift to be able to come through a wonderful art program to study in the densest area, quite possibly, in the entire world. My favorite moments here (besides speaking Italian with Florentines) are when we venture out at night to the Piazzas to sketch. What captures me these past weeks were the textures of the city and, of course, the human form through sculpture.
We are protected from the wind by Arnolfo di Cambio, sitting next to Giambologna's thoughts carved in stone, attending lezioni in a pallazzo designed by Alberti in the 15th century. Our teachers provide us with feet-propelled classes guiding us to living history and revolution. Looking below and above, I think of whose historic shoes also touched these streets that our Nikes are touching now. I haven't yearned for home, but what does leave me sad is the thought that I will not be able to comprehend all that lies before us. Even now, I find myself caught up in this thought. But I firmly believe our teachers are providing a prolific depth of knowledge to us; we then can adeptly venture on our own. Our life here is completely consuming. To have such depth of passion gushing from every crevice of cobblestone and curve of sculpture wakes you with such vigor in the morning living goes beyond living.
What more can you ask for in life?