I am here in Firenze!

Hello to all! I am here in Florence, day number two! I arrived yesterday around 3 in the afternoon, after a 5 hour layover in Switzerland and a short flight into Florence. I met two roommates of mine in the airport in Switzerland so we were able to get really excited together before boarding our flight. When the plane landed we all shreaked in excitement, it was a beautiful warm day with big puffy white clouds and the sun shinning!

When we got into the airport, we collected the millions of pounds of luggage that all of us girls traveled with and went outside to board the bus. There wasn't enough room for all the students, so four of us got into a little VW van taxi and drove to the SAI (Study Abroad Italy) office to get keys and check in. We also recieved our cell phones, so feel free to call and say hi every once in a while, i would love it!

After check in, we loaded our luggage into another taxi and went to the apartment. It is sooo cute! And really big, actually. (Pictures to follow in another blog, i havn't taken any yet) There are two bathrooms, instead of the one we thought we had, and there are three showers total, so that was a relief! My roommate is really nice, and we were able to set up the room pretty easily with no issues on space for clothes and shoes, so that was nice.

After we got setled, we had to fill out paperwork for out residency permits, which was challenging because they were written in Italian! But we managed!

Dinner was a bit of an excursion because by this time it was dark, and we really didn't pay much attention while in the taxi. We found a little pizzeria around the corner from our house and ate there. It was very yummy!

Today was the first day of orientation. I woke up this morning feeling pretty refreshed as I had slept almost 12 hours! :) We all got dressed and ventured out to find the supermarcado. (Store) We only had one roll of toilet paper, so we needed to get the basics. I bought some produce and risotto so that I would have some things to eat at the house. The market was amazing, tons of fresh food everywhere, and massive amounts of meats and cheeses. (Pictures to follow as well!)

Now I am just relaxing a little, I am going to Venice this weekend with my roommate and her father to check out the city. I am pretty excited! Tomorrow we have another orientation where we pay our school fees and get supplies. I heard word that we are getting new chef coats, and new knives! I am very excited for that!!

Keep me in your prayers as I continue to find my way around the city!! I don't have Internet in the house yet, so I will try and get on the computer again soon. Love you all! Ciao Bella