Today was my first day of class, and I'm not sure that I've ever had another first day of class quite like it. Also this post is different than my others so just prepare yourselves. That sounds weird or like I'm talking about something bad. I'm not. You know what, just keep reading.
First up was Holocaust at 9. Woke up on time, left with plenty of time only to get lost trying to find the classroom. Luckily, with both me and Liz trying to find the building, we managed to finally find it tucked away and only made it a couple of minutes late. It definitely seems like it will be an interesting class, and since it will be focusing mostly on Italy, it will be a nice complement to the class I already took at UNC. Today was mostly introduction and all that jazz but we did do something cool. We walked over to the church Orsanmichele to see an inscription on a statue there and learn about what transpired. In 1493, after the Spanish Inquisition, Jews came to Florence and the story goes that one day, a Jew got into a fight with a local and in the rumble or as aftermath, a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus was damaged with a metal rod. So, the Church, taking the rational path, decided to (and this is kind of gross so read fast) cart the Jew around from church to church removing one body part at each stop. Luckily for the Jew, that didn't happen. At the first church, Orsanmichele, he was attacked and killed by the mob. So the inscription on the statue reads something like "Here a Jew attacked this figure with a metal rod and was killed and torn apart." Or something like that. It's a pretty gruesome story but it's also important to set up how Jews were viewed in Europe prior to WWII.
It's also really nice to be able to hear about these things and then go see them. I really like that part. Hopefully my art class will be more of the same.
Next was Italian. Nothing too dramatic here, just same old same old. Definitely one of the more advanced students in the class, so that's nice. The teacher also seems really nice so I'm sure I won't have any problems.
After morning classes, I went to the market (score), got some cooking done for this week and had lunch. Then I had my cooking class.
Our actual teacher wasn't there today and the sub was the cooking instructor I had for the presession, so it was nice to see a familiar face. After a lot of (sometimes unnecessary) talking, we did get to cook and we made Vegetable Camponata, Spaghetti al Pomodoro, Pork Masala and Rice Cake. I don't have any pictures because we were literally rushing around trying to get everything done and cleaned up. We made everything in 50 minutes, which is unheard of for a cooking class. My group worked on the veggies, which was fairly easy to do, probably not something I'll replicate but who knows. The funny parts: I had to teach the boys in my group what a colander was and what fresh basil looked like. Oh goody, this promises to be interesting. It's hard to believe that you could live twenty years and not know what a colander was or how to distinguish basil from rosemary. Sigh. But of course, the food was amazing and I'm really excited for the class.
Anyways, after cooking class, I took a quick nap because I was exhausted and then rallied myself for our dinner at a palace. Yeah, you read that right. Okay, I also don't have any pictures because we were rushing and I forgot my camera...oops. I'm tagged in some on Facebook though, if you can figure out how to work it. Anyway, it was just buffet style food so it wasn't anything spectacular but it was nice to see all the UNC people again and sort of build more connections with people. And of course, the palaces was incredibly beautiful. It's Palazzo Borghese if you can find any pictures on the Internet. We got back around 10:30 and have sort of been discussing trip plans since then.
Two of the roommates are already booked for a trip to Interlaken, a town in Switzerland basically known for extreme sports. The rest of the roommates are also talking about going but haven't booked yet and I'm a little conflicted. First of all, it's going to cost 200 euro for transportation, accommodation and a possible day trip to Bern. And then, you have to add in the cost of the sports. If I lived in an ideal world, I would go skydiving which at the cheapest is about 400 USD, and even though I loved skydiving and definitely want to do it again (up to the point where I actually want to learn to do it myself), I'm not sure that that is what I want to spend my money on here. It's a weird feeling for me, I don't know. I could go paragliding for like 200 dollars but again, I just don't know. I just feel like there is so much to do here besides extreme sports that it kind of seems like a waste. And I'm not sure if there's things to do in Interlaken that aren't extreme sports. I think it's probably beautiful and worth going to, I'm just not sure if this is the time to go. But on the other hand, I don't want to be left out of what my roommates are doing or miss out on quality bonding time with them. And I would like to go to Bern. So I don't know. Tomorrow I'll have all my syllabuses and can finally start sitting down and really thinking about where I want to go.
The other problem is just traveling in general. It's hard for me to figure out where I want to go during the semester versus where I want to go during my three weeks. On the one hand, I'm trying to be money conscious so saving my big trips for my three weeks seems like a good idea. On the other hand, both Liz and Jessica don't have a lot of time after the program ends - Liz is flying back right away and Jessica's family is coming so she'll be staying in Italy. So they're trying to get big trips in during the semester, which is sort of at odds with what I want to do. I also worry that if I rush and put everything in the semester with Liz and Jessica, then I'll throw off my travel plans for my three weeks. For example, Liz wants to go to Barcelona, which we would do during the semester. So if we do go, should I still go back during my three weeks? I guess it's also partially guilt for wanting to go back to places I love instead of going to new places. And then money factors in again to all of that and wow, it makes my head hurt.
I guess I hope that I'll be back in Europe at some point during my life and that I can go to the places I wasn't able to go to this time around. So maybe I should just screw it and go where I want to go during my three weeks even if that means going to Barcelona, Paris, etc. multiple times before I come home. Ughhhhhhh this is stressful. It's a good kind of stressful I guess, but still stressful.
Oh, I just don't know. Hopefully things will be clearer in the morning. Any advice you guys have, I would definitely appreciate.
Also, I have an 8 page paper due Friday. Ick. Also I fell outside my apartment today. It was more embarrassing than anything else (because it consisted of me falling twice against the door and making a loud noise). I did kind of bang up my knee though. It hurts. And I know it's going to be sore in the morning.
Anyways, sorry this post is...different but like I've said before, I'm way too lazy to keep a diary and a blog and this whole trip business is really weighing heavily in my mind right now. So Mom, when you read this, I want your advice. And Dad's. And Lincoln's. And Bullet and Sophie's (though their advice will probably be "How about dinner?"). And anyone else you can think of that might have some helpful advice. Tell people they can email me or reply here or Facebook me. Yeah, I'm officially activating the Adams Family/Friends Advice Tree. Oh boy.
Ciao!!
P.S. Also, this might make it sound like I'm having a bad time. I'm not. I promise. I'm stressed. That's different. I knew starting school would be stressful and I was right. And I don't like it. But I really do love it here and I'm feeling more and more comfortable every day. If I'm unhappy, you'll know. I'm also a bit homesick (again though, more for the ease of things not really Chapel Hill, though I do miss the campus sometimes) (oh and of course for my family duh) and today when I was walking around, I walked past something that smelled exactly like the sunburn spray from the beach smells and I got really nostalgic for the beach. I haven't been in forever, and I'm really looking forward to going this year. Anyways, now I'm actually going to go sleep. I'll feel better in the morning.
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