Writings from a Wanderer: 2/6/11

I've now been in Italy for two full weeks. Two weeks that have absolutely flown by. I'm continuing to pick up on some more Italian, but I wish I knew more at this point. Communication has been manageable, but I want to really utilize my time here, and return feeling like I learned as much Italian as possible. I'm still learning the city and the customs, but for the most part it still feels like vacation. Every day is a new adventure, but I feel as though I'm wandering through this experience completely clueless.

I'm trying to get out as much as possible, but I'm really having trouble grasping this concept called 'free time.' I don't really how I feel about it yet. Although I do enjoy not living in a constant state of stress, I can't help but think that I'm not learning enough, or I'm not going to be prepared for my future job/the transition back to the states. My roommate Teal was reminding me that I am learning things--I'm learning life lessons, I'm broadening my horizons, etc, but I just can't shake the feeling that I'm being lazy. It's hard for me to understand that being a student and having spare time do not have to be mutually exclusive, and that contrary to my beliefs, I do not have to be productive everyday. Gosh, this is so much harder than I expected.

Everyday life in Firenze is awesome. Living here definitely confirms that I want to live in a city after I graduate. I love having the ability to walk everywhere, to interact with people different than me, and experience new things because I happened to walk past them. I swear, everyday there are more and more tourists here. I'm hesitant to take pictures for my photography class for fear of looking like a tourist, and being a target for creepy men who try to get my attention by saying 'I love you' or referring to my two roommates and I as 'Charlie's Angels' as we walk to class. I normally try to be really stoic when things like this happen, but sometimes I can't help but laugh.

I've tried to spend a good amount of time just wandering around, getting accustomed to the city and the people. We haven't made it to too many of the touristy locations yet, but we did go into the Uffizi museum, which was amazing. It was so big that we didn't even finish looking, but we plan to go back soon. A few days ago we climbed what seemed like a million steps to the piazza michelangelo which overlooks the Arno and the entire city. We sat there and watched the sunset, and to this day I don't think I've experienced anything like it. I still can't get it through my head that I live in the city that da Vinci called his home, that Michelangelo worked in, and that Brunelleschi made history in by building the duomo. There is so much history here, and I am so blessed to experience it every day.

Check out a few of my shots of everyday life in Florence.