hello all,
a recent discovery this weekend was no more wireless internet. Now we must pay 96 euros a month for wireless, which i refuse to pay. This is ridiculous and unheard of in the US so currently I am out of contact. This will definitely effect my blog posts. Perhaps I can get it sorted out soon, but until then....
ciao.

Ciao! We were all so excited to see the SUN today! It was the first non rainy day since I have been here. It made exploring so much more fun. Today however was a class + shopping day! Everything went on sale this morning and was marked 30-50% off. quite some deals. Despite being on a tight budget I went along to just "look". However, I keep finding myself in stationary stores and it is difficult to resist. Most of the stores were closed between 2-4pm (lunch-time). Dinner is usually around 8-9pm and Italians tend to linger afterwards. Its nice to see people taking their time and not rushing on to the next destination like us Americans. 

We had the day off from class because of the holiday Epiphany. From what I understood it celebrates the day the three kings visited the newborn baby Jesus. While out exploring we stumbled upon a huge celebration parade that reenacted the kings journey to Joseph and Mary. The parade stopped at the Duomo with a ceremony and continued across the Ponte Vecchio to the Pitti Palace (I think the Medici lived here at one point). The whole event took several hours. We explored the Ponte Vecchio where all the gold workshops are. The jewelry was beautiful and extremely pricey. Mid-way across the bridge there is a large collection of locks chained to the posts. Couples write their initials on a lock and chain it to the metal fence declaring that their love will never break. It is a very cute tradition and hundreds of locks remain.

I had my very first Italian class today. My instructor Elizabeta is awesome. She speaks English, French and Italian yet manages to get the pronunciation and accents down perfectly. Today we learned how to conjugate verbs and pronounce letters of the alphabet. Once again the poor "j" is unused, darn. Well the sound is used but not the letter. Once again my name will confuse people (a flash back to Argentina). Waking up early was pretty tough, but a cappucino made it easier. I love cappucino but here you will get strange looks if you order it in the afternoon.

Tomorrow is the Epiphany = day off. I am hoping it finally stops raining. I have never been so damp and cold in my life! Plus I realized how to convert the degrees (silly me) and it is supposed to feel like 70 in my apartment.... but its definitely 45. 

I experienced some culture shock today at the post office where I unfortunately teared up when some documents were rejected (the school is helping me). Also the grocery store was a bit of a nightmare when I forgot to weigh my fruit- I got a little bit in trouble. I wish I was able to communicate more and not just stare like a deer. Soon I hope!
Bunoa notte. 

Ciao! I have never blogged before but I will give it a shot! Today was my second day in Frienze, Italia (and also my 22nd birthday). I was lucky to meet some fantastic new friends at my school Istituto Europeo who helped me celebrate with wine, pasta and of course gelato. I even had some lovely expresso. Today was a great relief to me in comparison to yesterday where embarrassingly enough I was sobbing my eyes out! After a long day of travel I arrived in Italy to find my luggage lost and a deserted apartment with a vacationing landlord. Today however I find the apartment charming (even with its various sizes of confusing outlets) and the city is amazingly beautiful. I have been attempting to use my tiny knowledge of Italian vocab to get by but I can't wait to start class tomorrow. I can't believe how blessed I am to be here.
~Ciao!