Hello all

I officially have a cold and am trying to nurse myself back to health before I party hard this weekend in Venice for Carnival. The partying of course is in the name of lent ;]

In other news, I went to the Bologna art fair this past Friday and it was completely overwhelming and exciting. It was interesting to see all the galleries set up in order to sell the work rather then display it, creating an entirely different feeling. The whole experience had a very relaxed vibe. Some very famous artwork was casually hanging amongst all the rest in a large exhibition center completely filled to the brim with pieces.

Hello everyone

Quick little fun fact about my neighborhood I live in; evidently it used to be the red light district of Florence. The street right out my front door was lined entirely with brothels up until as late as the 50s. My design professor recently moved in a few apartments down from mine and she said it was the first time her mother had ever walked down that street because when she was growing up in was not proper for ladies to go near that area. My professor even found a hidden inappropriate fresco behind a wall while renovating.

heh, who knew?

Reality of it all

Living and studying in Italy is a bazaar mix of the decadence I fantasized about and the mundane.

I am sitting in a large and beautiful apartment in the center of the city.

Filled with uncomfortable furniture that appears to be left over from the past semesters.

Sketching with my fellow artist and studying for class,

Avoiding work I do not wish to do, as usual.

And sipping on a glass of wine.

A special deal found at a corner store, 4 bottles for 10 euro.

The River

My friend Carly took this photo of me on one of the bridges yesterday. It is a beautiful spot and probably one of my new favorites. To top it off its awesome-ness it is also where a ton of crews row by which is always fun to watch.

Update of the last two weeks

I realized that I have not sat down and typed out a very lengthy post about what I am actually up to so here is the last two weeks in summary...

Italians
We have definitely experienced the results of many Italians believing a unflattering American stereotype. Junior high students have mocked us, people on the street have yelled "Bush" at us and men have harassed my friends and I for blocks. However, many of the Italians I see and interact with everyday have been incredibly kind and patient with the language barrier that most SACI students experience here (we are not required to take Italian and most students do not know it). There is an incredibly kind man who works at the snack bar across the street from my house and my goal is to be able to hold a basic conversation with him by the end of the semester. What is lovely to see is that most SACI students, myself included, are a bit more motivated now to learn Italian.

School
Classes have been great so far. I have gone to at least one session of all of my courses except for museology, which I have tonight. My photo professor is amazing and I have learned so much already from him. I think my photo especially will gain a huge improvement from the time at this school. Silk screening is exciting and I am hoping to continue it with an independent study once I get back. Contemporary art history seems interesting and graphic design will provide decent practice with the programs if nothing else.

Roomates
My housemates/roomate are all sweet girls. We seem to get along well and have similar living styles which makes having so many communal spaces easier.

American style bars
Are in odd abundance here, probably because of the amount of American students and tourists. We go there when we miss home or want a beer. Italians don't really drink beer at a bar all that often.

The Duomo
Has quickly become a major landmark for getting myself un-lost and is almost becoming a piece of everyday life, which is a bit odd. It is like seeing store 24 on the corner and knowing I am close to Clark campus. "Oh look! The largest cathedral in Florence, I am almost back"

Free field trips
Oh you read correctly, all of the SACI class field trips are free and you can tag along if there is room. So I am hoping to take advantage of this and get to see a lot of Italy.

Well that is most of what I can think of off the top of my head. More updates to come later.

The apartment

The apartment is pretty great. We are right next to school so I can't complain about location at all. (the picture you see below with the view of the garden, is SACI's sculpture garden) The SACI apartments are spread all over town ranging from our building (the closest) to about a 20 minute walk or so. Some students lucked out and have a beautiful view of the Duomo. We don't have that, we did however get this huge front door that looks like a church door. An idea of the scale... the door knobs are about eye level with me.

Standing on top of Florence

Monday morning, my first day of classes, on a whim I decided to climb to the top of the dome of the Duomo (the major cathedral in Florence). Well, I couldn't find the entrance to do that so I opted for the bell tower instead. The view was amazing, as you can experience via the internet below...

January 8 & 9, arrival in Italy

My various flights to Florence were pretty uneventful... except for the ridiculous quarantine situation in Toronto. And thus follows the lengthy tale broken down by the hour or so...

4pm
Arrive in Toronto
5pm
Get through security to international terminal and wait for my flight to Munich
7pm
A bit before the plane is supposed to start boarding we are told there is a medical emergency on the flight arriving at the gate so our flight will be slightly delayed because that is the same jet we will be using
8pm
Medical emergency is still a big mystery and our take off time keeps getting bumped back
9pm
It becomes apparent the medical emergency is in fact 10 quarantined passengers on the previous flight . At this time another passenger tells me they saw officials in hazard suits on the tarmac earlier.
10pm
It is announced that the Canadian government had okay-ed the plane for takeoff, and then changed their minds, and then right when they were about to say it was safe again one of the quarantined passengers used the restroom on the plane and the entire thing was restricted again. We are now in a bit of a limbo because changing planes takes a very long time but so does cleaning and securing this one evidently.
11pm
We have a plane and a gate! But oh wait...the entire crew is now under quarantine as well so we must find a new flight crew before takeoff.
12am
Flight finally takes off to Munich (thankfully on a different plane)

Ridiculous