Athena Blogs

The beautiful chirstmas tree in front of the Duomo!

Wow! I cannot believe in just 48 hours, I will be back in America! This past week has been full of my friends and I saying "Oo! We have to go to that place one last time!" and "Shoot, we haven't been to that museum yet!", as well as, of course, "Um…we should probably go to the library and study for finals".

We all are feeling that sense of the clock ticking. Many of my friends are ready to go home--they miss their families and America. While I miss my family and friends, I can't help but think about what I could do with a couple more weeks (or…years?) in Europe. There are so many places I now know I have to visit, or visit again, and I view my time abroad as a jumping off point.

Making fresh pasta with Kirsten

Busy busy busy week! The past couple days have been full of presentations, reading assignments, and research paper submissions. I scrambled all week to get everything done--but I finally did! On Wednesday I presented my research paper for Art History.

I had done it on a work called The Ecstasy of St. Teresa, by Gianlorenzo Bernini. Last week in Rome, I dragged my sister and friend to go see it in real life! Seeing it right in front of me, after studying and researching it for weeks, was so special. I used the pictures I took last weekend in my power point! Not many art history students in America can say that!

Nicole and I in front of the Trevi fountain

As my sister's graduation present, my parents flew her to Florence to spend nine days with me! Charlotte got in last Friday, and on Saturday we boarded the 4:25am train to Verona. I didn't know much about it, except it was where Romeo and Juliet too place. We both love that play, so we figured it would be cool to check it out! After getting a little lost on the walk from the train station to our hostel, we finally settled down, took a power nap, and set out to explore the city.

Verona is beautiful, but unfortunately it was rainy and cold the two days we were there. That did not dampen our spirits--we still saw a lot of the sights! My favorite thing we went to was the Roman amphitheatre. It was amazing to think about how many people, though so many centuries, has sat in the exact spot I sat in. The unknown history blows my mind.

At the soccer game!

These past two weeks have been school school school! Since I am in three geography classes and an art history class, each requires one big research paper. The deadlines for the papers are coming up, so I have been working my butt off in the library trying to get them done. My sister is coming to visit in a few days, so I don't want to have to worry about papers while she is here!

This weekend I hung around Florence. Sometimes it's nice to have a relaxing weekend without having to worry about transportation and sleeping arrangements and all of that. On Saturday night, a couple of my friends and I went to a Florentina soccer game! Soccer is HUGE in Italy, and Florentines have a lot of pride in their team. Florence ended up winning 1-0, and it was great to celebrate with the locals--jumping up and down, high-fiving, and screaming things you don't know the meaning of!

Mint tea on the roof of a indigionous moroccan family's home...is this real life?

Just a few short days after fall break, it was off to AFRICA! My friends and I planned a trip to Marrakesh, Morocco with a travel group. We figured it would be better if we went with a group on our first trip outside of Europe—and our parents were happy for it! We all had a GREAT time!! I think it is my favorite weekend to date—and it’s up against some pretty stiff competition.

My long weekend in Morocco was jam packed with activities that helped me gain a real sense of the Moroccan culture. We had three local guides, Hannan, Abdul, and Simo. They were awesome and SO funny — and our age, so we could really relate to them. It was so nice to talk to them about their life and culture, and realize how similar we all really are. That weekend I learned so much about the religion of Islam and the customs of Muslim people! We were able to see the inside of a traditional Moroccan home—a small house made out of stones and mud—with a cow mooing right at the doorway of the kitchen! It was amazing to see people living happily without any of the “necessities” we feel are indispensable in our lives.

Being mature in the Boboli gardens in Florence

Whew—so much to report! First we can start off with midterms week. All of my midterms were challenging, but I think I studied enough to do well! Studying for Art History was rough…I made a timeline of all the works, dates, artists, and descriptions, and it was 11 pages long! Yikes. Even though that class requires so much studying, it is still my favorite class. I never liked going to museums or appreciated art, but since taking this class, I've realized I haven't liked it because I just don't know anything about it. Going to museums around Florence has become a lot more fun since taking this class!

For my fall break, my parents came to visit. My friends all went to London, Dublin, and Paris for the week—and had so much fun! It was my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, and they had their honeymoon in Italy, so visiting me was perfect timing! I was really excited to see them…and for my mom to bring me peanut butter!! It is about 5 euro (around $6.75) for a small jar in Italy—it seems like Italians just stick to Nutella! Anyway, we spent a few days in Florence, going to museums and eating DELICIOUS food, then drove into Tuscany.

Weeks keep flying by! This Tuesday, my friends and I went to see Eat, Pray, Love (or, Mangia Prega Ama) in a beautiful old Italian theatre. After, we all went out to gelato (a very common way we end our nights)!

This weekend, we ventured to Perugia to go to the Eurochocolate Festival!

View from our hostel balcony

One day this week my Environmental Issues class went to the Florence Water Purification Center. It was really interesting to see how the (rather green) water of the Arno river turns into the clean tap water I drink every day! Later that day, my friends and I went on a quest to find "Vivoli—the best gelato in Florence". My club advisor told me "once you eat their chocolate gelato, you can die happy". And let me tell you, I can die happy! Their gelato was AMAZING. My friends and I seriously considered getting right back in line after we finished out cones!

This week went by super fast, and before I knew it, it was 3:30am on Friday morning and my friends and I were standing outside the train station waiting to begin our journey to Barcelona, Spain! After a bus ride, a plane ride, and another bus ride, we were finally in Barcelona.

Beautiful Tuscany

As I write this, I am munching on Swiss chocolate my friend brought me back from her trip to Switzerland….ahh, life is good today. This week has been pretty calm—not too much reading for my classes and a nice relaxing weekend! This week, I went to visit Santa Croche (a beautiful church on top of a hill overlooking Florence) as a field trip with my Art History class. It still amazes me that a lot of the art I've learned about in class I have actually seen in real life!

On Wednesday, I had my first meeting of Tasting Tuscany. It meets a couple times a month, and we learn (and taste!) an assortment of local wines. It is really fun, and I've met a lot of cool people.

My roommates about to enter the Blue Caves in Capri

A word of advice to anyone thinking of studying abroad: STUDY ABROAD. I am having the time of my life here. Multiple times a day I stop and think…how did I ever get THIS lucky?!

Two weekends ago, I went on LdM's trip to Pompeii and Capri. Pompeii was incredibly interesting. It was mind blowing to think about how old everything was. The next day, we took a boat to Capri, a picturesque little island off the coast of Italy. The first thing we did was enter The Blue Caves through a tiny opening in the side of the island. Inside, the sun from outside the cave reflects off the white stone of the ocean floor, invading the cave with an effervescent blue glow. SO PRETTY. After the boat tour was over, we went into the town of Capri, and I had the best gelato I have had thus far—in a cone that was so fresh it was still warm. This, again, was another time I asked myself, HOW did I get this lucky? The rest of the day my friends and I just walked around the town and swam at the beach.