OOC

Right now, it’s snowing in Firenze. It was not supposed to snow in Firenze. It seems you can take the girl out of Buffalo, but inclement weather will just follow her to Europe anyway. It’s really not all that bad though. It’s the kind of snow you see on, oh, April 25th where it just spits down from the sky and doesn’t actually stick to anything, but kills your plants because in the 60 degree heat wave of the previous week, you (wrongly) assumed you were safe from winter and worked in your garden.

But because it is snowing, my usual Thursday activity (getting lost on the outskirts of town) is unappealing*, so I have absolutely nothing to do other than relate the more mundane activities of my life here. Not that anything is mundane, but some things are less worthy of sharing than others.

Like classes.

History of Prostitution: Usually shortened to ‘Prostitution’ in my agenda, harhar. So far this class is really interesting, even though some of the claims in the reading seem a little judgmental. But this is made up the fact that Nana, a novel by Emile Zola is on the reading list. Allow me explain why this is exciting. Last spring, I wrote a sixteen page paper using almost twenty secondary sources on Germinal, another Zola novel. This novel was AMAZING. So amazing, my next cat may be named Zola. So, to an English/women’s studies enthusiast like me, Zola plus women’s studies is like, the best thing since chocolate cake.

Beginner Italian: This class has very few redeeming qualities, because all I do is pronounce everything wrong in French and conjugate things in Latin on accident.

Renaissance Theory of Love: “What the hell is that?” you’re probably thinking, which is exactly what I thought when I saw this class in the catalogue, and exactly why I took the class. So far, it seems to be an explanation of the resurrection of the Platonic theory of love in the Renaissance, and its resultant effect on society. So far, it’s been a very thought provoking class, and I will probably be spewing anecdotes about it when I return for a while, so be warned, and don’t mention Plato or Finicio near me unless you want to be regaled.

Quarters of Florence: This may be my favourite class, but I’m not sure yet. Basically, I learn tons and tons and TONS of everything about Florence, and then, my professor takes us on walks through the city to see the things he talks about. It is amazing. I knew, obviously, that Florence was a city with a rich past, that was like only spotting the tip of an iceberg. If any of you should come to visit (that’s you, Mum and Dad!) I’ll be the most informed tour guide ever.

Italian Literature: I’m not exactly sure how I feel about this class thus far, as we haven’t read any literature yet. My professor seems as keen to introduce us to the lives of the authors and history of literature in Italy as to the literature itself. But, as it is an English class, I’m pretty certain I will like it. Today, my professor took us on a tour of Dante, and I saw the church where he and Beatrice supposedly met. She’s buried there as well. I’m going to have to go back with my camera in tow!

The Cafeteria: No, this is not a class. Rather, it is the place where Monday through Thursday I go to drink a cappuccino roughly the size of my face for the stellar price of 1.50 euro. And the name cafeteria is misleading as well, because I when I think ‘cafeteria’ I think of snorting milk out of my nose and sitting at the manners table cafeteria of my youth. This is more like a café, and I’m pretty sure it’s run by the same gentleman who teaches the cooking courses here. Sitting here for an hour (or however long I have to sit there before the heat turns on in my apartment) guarantees that I’ll run into almost everyone I know. It’s like the student union at UB, only it’s about the size of Jamba Juice, and there’s no signs soliciting people for blood drives every two feet.

And those are my classes!

This weekend, I don't plan on leaving Florence at all, and I'm, actually looking forward to it. January/February is one of two Florentine sale months, and pretty much nothing else is on sale outside of those time periods. So, I realized that if I’m to do any shopping while I’m now, now it the moment to seize the day! I already caved and bought myself a giant 50% reduced sweater (if I tell you it looks like a snuggie clearly not worn as a sleeved blanket, only 100x more fashionable, you will still think it looks like a snuggie, but the truth is inevitable) and I hope to hunt down many other bargains. I’ll probably also go to the market central (as awesome as the chocolate festival) and a museum or two. We’ll see where my fancy takes me. I’m not known for my zealous planning anymore these days!


In other related news, I did my first load of laundry ever today, at the ripe old age of nearly twenty-one, and as an additional bonus, I burned a towel in the microwave! This weekend is already so exciting, I don't know if I handle the rest of it.

*


This is where I got lost last week. It looks much better from afar.