Ciao de Firenze!

Greetings from Florence! I am in Florence now and in SUCH a good mood all of the sudden because I just received an email telling me that Nancy Bean, the BYU travel agent, thinks that they found my Luggage untagged in Rome. HOORAY!!!!! Oh I hope that's it! But let me back up a bit since I'm a little behind.
We left Napoli (Naples) and had about an 8 hour bus trip to get here to Firenze (Florence). The only eventful thing that happened was when we stopped at a rest stop/gas station (they had them all along the way and we stopped at them several times. They are a lot like American gas stations in the middle of no-where with souvenirs, overpriced food and snacks and nasty bathrooms. The difference is, you are expected to tip the man or woman who cleans the bathrooms... it's kinda weird. Also, bathroooms are not always divided by gender, sometimes there is just one for whoever...) Anyway, this particular time that we stopped, there just happened to be a bus full of Italian boys and they took a great interest. I think that I had one boy tell me he loved me and would wait for me in heaven or something ridiculous like that. He was just making hand gestures through a window, so it was hard to be sure. But as usual, Krista was the center of their attention. They even came on the bus at one point and asked if any of us spoke Italian and when they were off the bus, they kept trying to get Krista to come out to them. Everyone thought it was a good joke, but were really creeped out and we were all glad when Marco chased them off and shut the door so all they could do was blow kisses through the window... It was an interesting experience to say the least. I don't think I enjoyed it that much to be honest, but it does make a good story...
We got to Florence and Marco dropped us off just down the street from the school. Everyone was sad that we were losing our bus driver, but he thinks he will be our bus driver for the rest of the trip (when we leave Florence in a month) so that was happy. We had a quick welcome and contract signing at the school and then we went to see our new apartments. Our apartments are fantastic! Mine is on the 3rd floor in the swanky part of town and it's amazing. It is about 10 times as big as my Glenwood apartment. There are 9 rooms and all of them are pretty big. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a dinning room, a living room and a smaller utilities room in the back with our refrigerator, washer and a utility sink. The showers don't work right now, and neither does the washer, but everything else is great! It's all furnished including dishes and sheets and things and we even have a tiny little balcony with a clothesline. I'll have to get pictures as soon as I have my luggage to charge my camera with...
The other girls all have neat apartments too. The thing about these apartments is that they are not cookie-cutter molded apartments like we have in the US. Each bed is different; we all have fantastic antique wardrobes and tables and furnature. Even the apartment across the hall from us is completely different. Most of us are on the 3rd or 4th floors though and have nice views out the window. I have already spent about three nights reading next to an open window with the shutters flung open. I have the mosquito bites to prove it too... the mosquitos are supposed to be awful, but currently they are only mildly annoying since there has been an almost constant downpour since we've been here.
Classes don't start until monday, so we have been exploring Florence ever since. It has been raining like mad the whole time we've been here which I don't mind. Big cities in Italy are really funny because the streets are so narrow and buildings are so close togther and everything looks so much the same and all the sudden you will turn a corner and there is the Duomo in all it's splendor and glory crammed between two apartment buildings. You would expect all these buildings to have a wide open space around them and maybe a grassy field, but they are practically hidden between thousands of other buildings. And even the small space around them is usually filled with vending stalls. People selling purses and watches and shoes and jackets to vendors. It's hard to explain... I really will have to take tons of pictures and pass them along. The streets are a complete maze too! Every time the street changes directions, it gets a new name and so each street is like a block long... and grid is definitely a foreign word to these people. I'm excited to be exploring the Duomo and the museums more closely too. We got our museum cards yesterday and that means we get into ALL state-run museums in Florence AND we get to skip the lines (in the case of the Ufizzi, that's like an hour and a half wait). I'm soooo excited for that. We should get to see some pretty amazing things including both Michaelangelo's and Donatello's Davids. Pretty much I'm totally stoked.
Our first night in Florence we went out to eat for Morgan's birthday and I got a tortellini in a Medici sauce that was amazing . We all tasted everyone else's meal at our table and the consensus was that mine was the best although all of them were really good! Then we had the best gelatto yet that night. Amy, I ate a coconut one just for you... well it was coconut and a chocolate one too, but it was sooooo good. They use fresh ingredients in all their food. That's why it tastes so much better. I had pinapple yogurt in Napoli and it definately had large chunks of fresh pinapple in it. When people go shopping, they don't buy food for a month or even a week, they usually buy food for a couple of days and just go to the store or the market on a regular basis. We went to the San Lorenzo market for produce yesterday and it was so awesome! It is an unfinished church I think that has two floors. On the bottom floor is the meat market. They sell everything from huge slabs of beef and pork to whole rabbits, sting rays, octapus, eel and squid. Then upstairs they sell all of the most beautiful fruits and vegetables. One of the girls I was with got in trouble for picking up some bannanas and not buying them. In Italy you do not inspect the produce, you ask them for how much you want, they give it to you and you buy it. It's like a mark of trust. I bought carrots (they are sweet and good, so fresh they sell them with the green stocks and roots still attached), an artichoke and some blood oranges. Blood oranges are what they sell as normal oranges around here and they are my favorite. All the orange juice is a bright red color and tastes delicious. Everyone goes to the bakery for fresh bread too. Things taste a lot more bland too since it's not all packaged with sodium preservatives and salt.
I've been having an exciting time trying to figure out this cooking pasta thing. I have some Tagliettelli noodles and a tomato and red pepper sauce that is delicious. I have eaten a TON of fresh bread and pesto as well. Pretty much I'm adicted. Another big thing here is Nutella. You can buy Nutella almost anywhere. Which I really feel okay about.
Last night we had a traditional Italian meal as a welcome to the school dinner. It was so good, but it was 5 courses long and I was sooo full by the end. While we waited for our food, we ate some delicious bread, then we had an amazing appetizer with fresh tomatoes on bread and a mushroom filled pastry that was to die for. Then they brought us two kinds of pasta and served a third after that. Then we had potatoes and stuffed chicken. Then came the most amazing strawberry (fragola) dessert. It was soooo good!
Regular shops and stores are different here too. There are not really department stores or supermarkets in the sense that we think of them. All the stores are specialized. They have watch and clock stores and dress shops, shoe shops, purse and bag shops, electronics shops, and postcard stands. There is nothing like Walmart where you do all your shopping in one place at one time. People usually walk everywhere here too. The streets are small and narrow and the city center is not very big, so walking is really the most convenient way to get around. All the stores look small from the outside and many of them are still small on the inside, but some look small because you can only see one rooom and in the very back of that room there will be a small doorway leading into another room and that room leads to another all sortof ambling maze-like through a building. It was as if each was intended to be a different shop, but one person bought them all and made them into one store. You learn quickly not to shop in stores on main streets or near main piazzas (squares) since everything is more expensive there. Sidestreets are the best places to get things. Especially gelatto... it can be up to 2 Euros less for the same amount near a big piazza. It's crazy!
I'm really excited for classes to start on Monday. We bought some of our supplies today and I'll be buying my paints next week. It should be amazingly fun!
Pretty much I'm in love with Florence. Some couple on the street today almost took my roomate and I for Italians. Our flip-flops gave us away though. I thought it was funny and kinda flattering. Makes me feel like I don't quite stick out as much as I thought. Maybe I'll get some Italian shoes and then no one will be able to pick me out of an Italian crowd...
Oh, if I've promised to send you a postcard or to eat a gelatto for you, remind me so I don't forget anyone. I'm missin' y'all like crazy. The only way this trip could get any better is if some of you were out here with me... okay and it will probably be a little better once my luggage comes...
I miss you all and I love you!