First Week of Class!

Sunday, Kate and I went out in the drizzly rain and walked to the Duomo. It's only a minute or two from our room. We went inside when it opened at 1:30. We didn't climb the dome inside this time, but we might come back sometime and do that. It costs a few dollars but it would be cool to see.

The front of the church

(Part of) the inside of the dome

When we left the Duomo we walked down to the river again and found where the Uffizi Museum is. We're going to buy a pass there that will get us into all of the state-owned Florence museums for free and discounts at many other places. On the way back home, we found the Chanel store!

If only I had the money...

We considered getting gelato for what would have been the third day in a row but decided we wanted real food instead. Back at the apartment I made pasta with pesto and parmesan for lunch. It was delicious. The rest of Sunday we didn't really do anything, just took naps and tried to plan out where we want to go on different weekends this semester.

Monday, I got up early and went to see my advisor about switching one of my classes. I wanted to drop the literature class. I was only taking it because I needed a lit class for Truman, but Truman changed the requirements so I actually didn't need to take that. I switched it to a wine-tasting class called Wines of Italy, instead. I'm excited to learn all about different types of wine, because I know absolutely nothing about it as of now.

Late morning and early afternoon I spent shopping with one of my roommates, Meghan. I made my first non-edible purchase: a scarf. Yes, I already have a million of them at home, but I could only bring a few with me, so I figured it was necessary. After shopping, I made some lunch around 3 and then decided to nap until 4:30. I'd be up in time for my Jewelry Making class at 5. Being the very punctual person that I am, I even woke up before my alarm to get ready.

I grabbed my things to go to class and glanced at my schedule to see where I needed to go. It was then that I realized the class actually started at 3. Shoot. I practically ran to the building. I walked in. Luckily, it was a class of only about 10 people. They were all working on their projects, and the teacher was in the corner helping someone. When he saw me, he came over to show me what I had missed. I apologized several times. I really am NEVER late. I still can't believe that happened!

The teacher was nice about it because it was the first day. I got caught up pretty quickly. Our first project will take us the first four weeks to complete. It's a silver ring with a stone. It is hard work. We have to cut the silver to the exact right length, bending it with our tools to get it perfectly round. Then we have to solder it and put it in a pickling solution and then put it on a steel rod to hammer it into a perfect circle. It's fun, though! At the end of the course we will have completed a ring, earrings, and I think either a bracelet or a necklace. The only problem with the class is that it is from 3 to 8:30-- 5 and a half hours! There is one break from 5:30 to 6, but still. It's a long time.

This morning I had The Architecture of Florence. That class will be interesting because we get to take field trips each week during the last part of class to look at the things we just learned. This class is just 2 and a half hours long. The teacher is very nice. She said before the midterm and the final she will tell us what is on the test to study. We have a couple of papers to write for that class, but they shouldn't be terrible.

I have my first Italian language class today! I'm very excited. Maybe in my next post I can teach you all some words.

One more thing! If any of you would like to send me any mail, my address is:

Katie Sommerer

C/O ISTITUTO LORENZO DE' MEDICI

Via DEL MELARANCIO 6/r

50123 Firenze, ITALIA

Regular mail takes 8-10 days. Packages take 10-20 days if sent Airmail, 60-90 days if sent Surface rate. Express mail (Fed-Ex or DHL) takes 3-4 days, and UPS is not recommended.