number two

BUONGIORNO!!

after 12 hours on `air `france, a completely ridiculous conversation with a classic old `french lady, and the craziest cab drive ever, `i have made it safely to `italy! `florence is beautiful and amazing and wet. quite wet. `the cabbie dropped me off in the `piazza san giovanni and said, "ok, your place is on the left". ok vague, on the left?! so i trucked all my luggage (thank god `i only have one bag) around the piazza looking for my number saying scuzi! to just about everyone i ran into on the tiny sidewalks. `my apartment shares an entry with a restaurant, which is really awesome. and you cant even imagine the view from our 3rd story living room. it looks directly out onto the Duomo! holy moley. so whenever my housemates and i get lost in the city, we just look for the dome and head home!

`i have three housemates, one of which is also my roommate. `they are all from the east coast. `winnie, my roommate goes to school at `parsons in `n`y, `katie goes to `mica in `baltimore, and `malinda goes to `skidmore (also in `n`y). `they are all really nice and i instantly knew katie and i would get along fabulously.

`my "group" of friends though are the two kids i met on our flight over from `l`a. `they are both from the west coast, `james is from la, although he goes to school at `skidmore, and `megan goes to `san `diego `state. `they are so fun to hang out with and their other housemate `justin is from `malta. `he went here last semester so he knows all of the great spots. last night we went to the "most romantic place in florence" armed with jackets, wine, and a pineapple (his name is `billy and he will be accompanying us on all of our adventures from now on). it really was the most romantic spot. we climbed tons of stairs, up up up this hill that looked over the city from the other side of the river. the lights were smoldering under a light fog that looked curiously like smog, but it was mysterious and so perfectly "european city at night".

I'll post some pictures later, i need to upload them from my camera. today we are signing up for studio class times and taking a tour of the city for places to buy supplies and books.
the previous student in our house left us a list of things we `m`u`s`t do in italy before we leave. so tonight we are going to search for the secret bakeries! italian bakers are only allowed to sell pastry during certain times in the morning, but there are bakeries that break that law and sell after time to avoid paying tax...we have to go out around 4 in the morning and follow our noses.

`ciao for now!