February 6, 2009
rode Nadia's bike to the market at Piazza Ghiberti. I bought a sweater that was supposed to be ten euro. As I was paying, the man started talking to me about where I was from. He didn't know very much English, so I had a hard time figuring out what he was asking me some of the time, but he seemed excited to talk to someone from the states and at the end of our conversation he gave me a euro back to go get myself a caffe. I don't like coffee so I didn't buy the caffe, but I thought it was really nice of the man to give me a discount especially knowing that I'm a tourist.
rode around a little more. Riding a bike through the city is kind of fun, but it's SCARY. People, cars, bikes, and vespas are absolutely everywhere so you have to be able to swerve all over the place. I was glad her seat is fairly low because there were many times I had to stop and put my feet down to avoid running into people. Only the really main streets have real sidewalks; all the rest just have tiny little strips about two feet wide, so most of the time I had to bike in the street. Bikes and vespas usually zigzag all over the street in between the cars, but there doesn't seem to be any sort of consensus of which side of the street you should be on to make a turn, so that's confusing. I'm definitely glad I won't be driving a car or vespa around here.
February 5, 2009
visited the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata and the Spedale Degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) in my Architecture in Italy class. It was really neat to see the Foundling Hospital, and how, even now, everything function the building houses has to do with children. There's a school and a library (with children's books and books about children's rights), conference rooms and lecture rooms (that are only used for conferences and lectures whose topics relate to children and/or children's rights), UNICEF offices, and a bunch of other stuff all aimed at improving children's lives.
visited Piazza Ghiberti (the site of our studio project) in studio. We also got to walk around the architecture school that faces the piazza since part of our project is to design a new entrance for the school. We didn't really get to see any classrooms or studio, but from the multiple courtyards we walked through, their school looks really nice.
had family dinner in our room. Afterwards I went to a bar/cafe with Katie C (the only non-RWU archie), Christine, and Karen for cake tasting. We each got to try a couple pieces of cake for free, including me, even though I didn't order anything. Then we headed over to the Joshua Tree to meet up some of the others because Liz and Margaret were dj-ing.
visited the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata and the Spedale Degli Innocenti (Foundling Hospital) in my Architecture in Italy class. It was really neat to see the Foundling Hospital, and how, even now, everything function the building houses has to do with children. There's a school and a library (with children's books and books about children's rights), conference rooms and lecture rooms (that are only used for conferences and lectures whose topics relate to children and/or children's rights), UNICEF offices, and a bunch of other stuff all aimed at improving children's lives.
visited Piazza Ghiberti (the site of our studio project) in studio. We also got to walk around the architecture school that faces the piazza since part of our project is to design a new entrance for the school. We didn't really get to see any classrooms or studio, but from the multiple courtyards we walked through, their school looks really nice.
had family dinner in our room. Afterwards I went to a bar/cafe with Katie C (the only non-RWU archie), Christine, and Karen for cake tasting. We each got to try a couple pieces of cake for free, including me, even though I didn't order anything. Then we headed over to the Joshua Tree to meet up some of the others because Liz and Margaret were dj-ing.
February 4, 2009
went to the Serial Killer Museum with Nadia, Pat, and Nikul. I was kind of freaked out at first, thinking that things might pop out and scare me, but once we realized that it really is just a museum, it was pretty interesting. We saw the guy who inspired the Blue Beard legends and a woman from Transylvania who had vampirism and of course Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, and the other usuals. They had little scenes with a wax figure of each killer. When you go in, you get headphones to listen to a recording that walks you through the museum. Some of the information was pretty gruesome but it was still really interesting.
went to an movie in Italian at the movie theater across the street from my window. The movie was called "Happy Go Lucky" which is a British film without any real plot, so it wasn't the best choice of movie to watch in a foreign language, but the theater only plays one movie at a time. Even though the movie was mostly dialogue with no plot to follow, we were still able to understand the general gist of the movie. I definitely did not understand even a quarter of the conversations, but I was happy just to catch a word here or there.
went to the Serial Killer Museum with Nadia, Pat, and Nikul. I was kind of freaked out at first, thinking that things might pop out and scare me, but once we realized that it really is just a museum, it was pretty interesting. We saw the guy who inspired the Blue Beard legends and a woman from Transylvania who had vampirism and of course Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy, and the other usuals. They had little scenes with a wax figure of each killer. When you go in, you get headphones to listen to a recording that walks you through the museum. Some of the information was pretty gruesome but it was still really interesting.
went to an movie in Italian at the movie theater across the street from my window. The movie was called "Happy Go Lucky" which is a British film without any real plot, so it wasn't the best choice of movie to watch in a foreign language, but the theater only plays one movie at a time. Even though the movie was mostly dialogue with no plot to follow, we were still able to understand the general gist of the movie. I definitely did not understand even a quarter of the conversations, but I was happy just to catch a word here or there.
February 2, 2009
didn't have Italian class because our teacher was sick. Another Italian teacher was sick, too, so I really do think they take sick days much more easily than we do. Since I didn't have to go to Italian, I had from 1:00 to 5:30 free. Nikul, Pat, Nadia, and I wandered around the city for awhile and got gelato.
didn't have Italian class because our teacher was sick. Another Italian teacher was sick, too, so I really do think they take sick days much more easily than we do. Since I didn't have to go to Italian, I had from 1:00 to 5:30 free. Nikul, Pat, Nadia, and I wandered around the city for awhile and got gelato.
February 1, 2009
went to mass at Santo Spirito with Pat. Santo Spirito seems more like a parish church than any of the other ones I've gone to so far. They still had security guards at the entrance and certain times for tours to come, but the people going into to mass greeted each other and the guards as if they knew each other. There was only one priest, but that's part of what made it feel like a regular mass instead of sort of a tourist attraction. They also had song books which I haven't seen at any of the others. I was really glad they did, because I could actually participate in at least part of the mass when I had something to read from. I feel like I understand more and more of the mass each time I go. It helps that so much is similar to either Latin or Spanish. I always try to say the responses to the responsorial psalm and the general intercessions. I don't get every word, but at least I mange to catch a few.
went to studio to do my assignment due Tuesday. Jarrod (my partner on this assignment) and I finished the whole project by about 4, so I decided to wander around Florence on my way home. Although I usually end up at the same sites I've seen before on all my wanderings, I almost always get there a new way, which is pretty cool. I went down streets I've never been down before and saw different neat little places.
went to mass at Santo Spirito with Pat. Santo Spirito seems more like a parish church than any of the other ones I've gone to so far. They still had security guards at the entrance and certain times for tours to come, but the people going into to mass greeted each other and the guards as if they knew each other. There was only one priest, but that's part of what made it feel like a regular mass instead of sort of a tourist attraction. They also had song books which I haven't seen at any of the others. I was really glad they did, because I could actually participate in at least part of the mass when I had something to read from. I feel like I understand more and more of the mass each time I go. It helps that so much is similar to either Latin or Spanish. I always try to say the responses to the responsorial psalm and the general intercessions. I don't get every word, but at least I mange to catch a few.
went to studio to do my assignment due Tuesday. Jarrod (my partner on this assignment) and I finished the whole project by about 4, so I decided to wander around Florence on my way home. Although I usually end up at the same sites I've seen before on all my wanderings, I almost always get there a new way, which is pretty cool. I went down streets I've never been down before and saw different neat little places.
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