So I've officially been here for more than a week - but it feels like I've been here for weeks! I've now had all of my classes, and still don't know what to do. I am taking Italian 4 (yikes!), Practice of Eros (which is a class all about sexuality and marriage), Classical Mythology, Antiquity to Michalangelo, and Family and Gender in the Italy. We took a diagnostic test in Italian yesterday and I had to leave half of it blank, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do there yet. I'm going to talk to my professor today about whether I should stay in it or audit a lower level. If I stay in Italian 4 I am going to drop Classical Mythology (I don't really want to take 5 classes. Antiquity to Michelangelo is an art history course - we have lectures on Tuesdays and then we go on site visits each Thursday. I am actually not a fan at all of Family and Gender, but its a sociology course, so its the only class I can't drop. The Practice of Eros class seems super interesting, so I'm really excited for it.

So, now about my host family: I love them - I have a host mom and dad, and a 10 year old sister and a 16 year old brother. They speak some English, but I'm hoping they begin speaking more Italian so I can learn more! I have met a lot of people, and am starting to settle in. The food here is delicious. My host mom makes amazing pasta, and the dad made homemade gelato the other night! They have had guests over 3 times so far - 1 was a family friend and his wife, one was the mom's sister, and the other was a colleague of the mom. We love when guests come because then we get full 3 course meals (including dessert!!). Otherwise, we normally don't get dessert, so I have been going into my secret stash of hershey kisses and famous amos chocolate chip cookies. They eat so much here - so I try to pace myself each night at dinner. However my host mom is really worried and thinks I don't eat enough since I only have one helping of each course. (When I do push myself and have 2, she usually misses it and then still worries that I'm not eating!) The other night she compared me to a little bird who only eats a little food. The worst was the first night we were here, and my host dad served us these HUGE bowls of pasta with meat sauce. I couldn't even finish all the pasta, and then he brought out the chicken and vegetables! It was crazy! Luckily now they let us serve ourselves so I don't have to leave food on my plate! I'm enjoying have delicious Italian wine every night with dinner.

Last weekend (my first weekend here), my friends and I explored on Saturday, and then on Sunday my host parents took me and my roommate to Greve of Chianti. It was absolutely freezing out, so we didn't spend as much time outside as we had hoped. Greve is located about 30 minutes outside of Florence in the mountains, and it was a gorgeous ride. It was a cute little town with one piazza, that was pretty much deserted since it was a Sunday. We went to a little restaurant and I had a salami sandwich on typical Tuscan bread. I was also forced to try chicken liver, which I took a tiny bite of and have vowed to never eat it again. But, it made my host mom happy that I tried it!

This weekend I took two day trips with school - Friday we traveled to Assisi and on Saturday we went to Ravenna. Assisi was a 2 hour bus ride from Florence, and it was absolutely gorgeous. I would move there in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity. We spent about 2 hours in the Church of St. Francis (the second picture) and then had time to walk through the town for 3 hours. I went to lunch with a few people I had just met, and we had amazing food. I had pizza, and of course we ordered wine! We then climbed to the top of this tower/fortress and we were able to experience the amazing view of Assisi and Perugia. (Yes, Perugia is where the Amanda Knox murder took place). Assisi is built on a hill, and therefore my legs have been hurting for the last 2 days from all the hiking! A few of my friends and I were craving gelato, and we stopped in every gelateria that we saw in Assisi, but each store owner told us the same thing "Troppo Fredo" - meaning too cold for gelato. That didn't stop us though - the fifth and final gelato place we stopped into had gelato, and it was perfect! After traveling to Assisi, Ravenna was a huge dissapointment. I think it was partly because it was FREEZING- about 28 degrees? And we spent the whole day walking around and standing in churches. I know what you're thinking - the churches should have been warm! Nope!! The churches were actually colder than the outside!! Ravenna is famous for its Mosaics, and I believe it was the capital of Italy at one point. (I stopped listening at some point to the tour guide because I was focusing on staying warm). I did see where Dante is buried which was pretty cool. I had another huge lunch - Ravenna is famous for its tortallini and ravioli, so I had ravioli in a butter sauce, which was probably one of the best meals I've had so far in Italy. I even splurged and had chocolate torte for dessert, which was wonderful as well. When we got back Florence my friend Rebecca and I went on the search at 9pm for dinner - which was surprisingly hard to find!! The only places open were super expensive restaurants, when all we wanted was a sandwich! We of course then got gelato after dinner! My new goal is to try every gelato place in Florence! Lets see how well that goes!

Today wasn't too exciting - I slept late (which was wonderful since I had to be up at 6:30 and 7 on Friday and Saturday). I then went to find a cafe with my friend Peter...which was just as hard today as it was last night, since everything is closed on Sundays! I then proceeded to get Gelato for the 3rd time in 3 days - good thing I've been doing a lot of walking!!!

Well, thats all for now! I miss you all! I will try to start updating this more often!

Ciao!