local happenings. and faux pas.

this week was full of festivities.

TUESDAY we went to classes and then on a whim decided to try to get tickets to the Italia-Slovenia futbol game (supporting the national soccer team=total local move)

our whole group went (after waiting in the ticket line for an hour and a half and then struggling to hail taxis for about an hour...we are so dedicated.) to cheer on the team!

i conveniently wore blue...the team color! once again, total local move.

 stadium

 with caroline!

 sweet friends!

attempting to be artsy with grace's european shoes and my converse...i think the band-aid really ads a lot.

yay italy! (notice the flag waving. thought it was pretty cool. these people love their team. kind of like memphis--go grizzlies!) they won! 1-0. they scored in the last 5 minutes. very exciting. it was definitely an experience worth all the waiting in lines!!!

WEDNESDAY, i got up and went to class. it was a usual day in italian class (i think...it was actually only our second day and we were going on a field trip. so maybe not so normal? i'll keep ya posted.) and we were walking to the market to do some action research on useful italian words (i.e. those used to order and buy food. very important to italians. and to us. we've gotta eat! and usually we want to eat things that are delicious. this market was full of these things). i was toward the back of the group wearing my brand new burlap toms (which i love but are not quite broken in). now as i have mentioned before, the sidewalks are very uneven. at the exact moment that i attempted to place my foot on the sidewalk to take a step forward, there happened to be a raised stone in the sidewalk. the result of this unfortunate timing and placement of my step was a great fall. a tumble. a slow-motion face-plant/volleyball-inspired roll/crash to the ground. i went down hard. but laughing the whole way. luckily my battle scars were minor. only my pride was bruised.

i am now a member of a very exclusive club. i can now say that i have fallen on a flat sidewalk while wearing flat shoes. it's really quite impressive, right? hmmm....maybe? hopefully it at least provided you some entertainment, as it did for my peers.

the rest of the day was less eventful. except for a LANTERN FESTIVAL that night. it's a florentine tradition celebrating the birthday of the virgin mary and is basically a huge procession of people with beautiful paper lanterns through the city of florence. (it's also a tradition for kids to spit spitballs at the lanterns from the sidewalks...strange, right? luckily we dodged those) we just kind of tagged along in the processional. so local of us. then we ate gelato. surprise!

THURSDAY:
art class--sketching in the boboli gardens, nbd. this was so fun, so artsy. my sketches are a little rough but excited to improve and experience art in a new way (cheese-fest, sorry). but seriously, this was one of my favorite experiences yet. so fun. so relaxing. so peaceful.
medici class--marcello, my professor, is HI-larious. when i told him i was from memphis, tennessee, he asked if i wore a cowgirl outfit...i should be offended i guess? mostly i just laughed. he has so much knowledge and also loves to joke. i love him.

we had apartment dinner tonight with our italian roommate, elisa. we made ratatouille (love the movie. had never tried the food.) and gnocchi (which i had never had either). also, i say "we" and really i mean annie. she is one of my roommates and is a master chef and baker. she was the mastermind. but we all contributed! margaret made delicious cheese with herbs for an appetizer. i chopped some vegetables.

it was a delicious and fun dinner!

kara (not to be confused with a tourist) showing off the ratatouille! she arranged the vegetables in the pan very systematically--beautiful!

 gnocchi! delicious with pesto, as are most things, i've found...

then we ate cannoli(s) for dessert! these were the touristy kind (the cannoli is a traditional sicilian food. and we were not in sicily or in the know about a sicilian bakery...), but we decided they were necessary. once again, delicious.

turned in early(ish) to rest up for our early morning departure for ravenna, our first excursion outside of firenze. so exciting! can't wait to explore more of this wonderful place!