First Blog in Italia!

So I am starting this blog a little late, i had been keeping journal entries but typing is so much easier than writing! So just going to do a lil recap first and than get up to speed. I got to Firenze about 6 days ago, but feels like i've been here forever already. The city is absolutely gorgeous. Before Firenze I was in Tuscania for 6 days before going to Firenze. We had a school orientation there. The scenery was absolutely amazing, great for going on long runs. The town was very cute, and I was forced to use the very few words of italian i knew such as "Ciao", "Como estai?" (how are you?), "biondo" (blonde) and "molto benne" (very good) haha that was about it. We saw a ton of super cool things in Tuscania such as Viterbo, which is a medieval city, and Villa Lante which was nearby and the most amazing grogeous thing ive ever seen! Villa Lante was like an estate for italian cardinals and important people. They lived in styleeeee. Each one added their own bit to it, so it became huge. There is even a public park in it. Heres some quick snap shots of the area (the pictures don't do it justice, and i have full albums on my facebook im going to see if i can somehow put a link to those on here - still learning how to do this whole blogging thing haha)
Garden in Villa Lante:

Street in Viterbo:

We were given tours of all these areas by a guy who works for LDM. His name was Massimo and he was the cutest lil italian man ever! He called me viking, because he asked about my hair and if i was from norway, so from than on i was Viking! haha We also had an LDM advisor named Mae. She was super nice and was like our mother hen in Tuscania. She would yell at italian men who would say things to all the girls and get us discounts at the nicest restaurants ever. She was awesome, we all wanted to take her with us to Florence. The bentley group we have is really nice, theres about 18 girls and one boy. Everyone got along really well and it was fun to go out at night to the small tuscanian bars and attempt to speak italian to the locals. My vocab has increased a bit since I got to Firenze but not much, considering i just started Italian classes today i'm hoping ill start picking it up a little more easily now. My teachers name is Rossera and shes really nice, we played italian hangman for the first day and learned how to introduce ourselves to people and say what we are studying. Mi chiamo Torre. Sono americana di New York. Ho venti anni. Estudio historia, buissness management (apparently its the same word in italian?), e arte a la escuela de Lorenzo Di Medici. And thats all i got haha but its a start! My first day here i had to ask Anna my host mom for a towel and i looked up the word for it and it was "asciugamano". That was a lil intimidating but i attempted to pronounce and she understood. Thank goodness or drying off after showering would have been difficult haha Anna is super nice and an AMAZING cook. She said im a skinny american and she needs to fatten me up (at least thts wat i got from my attempt to understand her, maybe she was really saying im a fattycake american hahaha), im much obliged to let her do so the italian food is so good. for breakfast we always have these bread cracker things with jelly and a nutella type chocolate spread and coffee. The coffee is amazing but super strong, its definitely an acquired taste. I add a ton of milk to it and i love it. lunch we have to get on our own, but thats not so bad theres a bunch of places that give student discounts. Today went to a cafe and got a delicious ravioli and bread thing for 7 euro. Also went to that same place the other day and they have cheap sandwhiches so thats good. Going to check out the San Lorenzo market tomorrow, apparently they have tons of fresh fruit, veggies, and cheese. YUM. so i may see if i can make a lunch there tomorrow. I have a fridge in my room which is super nice so i can save some stuff for the week from the market. I haven't been to it yet because its only open till 2, so going early tomorrow before class at 3. I also am yet to find a park to go running in, i have tried running a few times around where i live but it gets frustrating because its so crowded and impossible not to run into big tour groups and just traffic. I hear there is one near me to run around in, but i got lost looking for it today. Ill make a second attempt tomorrow haha this time ill bring a map instead of just winging it. I want to join a gym but the one near me is 150 euro to join till december. Thats alot of money but might be worth it, going to check out a few others a lil farther than this one first and than make a decision. Now im just waiting for dinner, its at 8pm monday to friday. They eat so late in italia! bfast is super early, than late lunch like 2ish and than lateeee dinners like 8 or 9. Going out to the clubs and bars is always a late night italians don't get to the clubs till almost midnight! I don't know when they sleep...I dont mind too much though i like being busy all the time. And i have alot of free time during the day to nap and relax and explore the area. Found a 99cent store today that was a great find. it had all sorts of shampoos, soaps etc. and got a bunch of school supplies there so taht was super handy. Im looking forward to all my classes this week and this weekend ill be heading to the amalfi coast to see capri, amalfi coast, and pompeii. Maybe naples if theres time. i leave thursday night so ill have friday, saturday, sunday. Alot of bentley students are going, were doing it through eurotours. Should be alot of fun. Anyways its about dinner time! This post was super long but had a lot to catch up on and theres still more i could say! I am going to try and post everyday. So far i love firenze :)