a series of rather fortunate events

I think I will continue in list form:


1. Thanksgiving Day.
Part One: Thanksgiving started out with a lovely trip to the Uffizi for Art History. We wandered around the huge and overwhelmingly beautiful rooms, each full of art by one particular artist or another. No big deal that we were surrounded by famous works of Michelangelo, Donatello and co. The funny thing was, take this piece for example. 

It's called a tondo and it depicts, obviously, mother Mary with baby Jesus (its real name is Tondo Doni). The idea of these tondos came from something called a desco da parto, otherwise known as the tray for the broth and liquids brought to a mother after she has given birth. Given that trays are only so large, I was imagining that this tondo would be roughly the same size. NOT THE CASE! It was huge! And when I say huge, I mean about 5 feet in diameter. Very big. And very gorgeous. 


Part Two: The rest of the day I spent eating lunch at the sede, sending Thanksgiving e-cards and shopping with my lovely Breana. We decided to stay out in the center the entiiiiire day because we had to be at Giovanna's around 7pm for Thanksgiving dinner, aka we walked for 6 hours....... So finally 7pm rolled around and we (very exhaustedly) arrived at Giovanna's with little gifts in tow. We bought Giovanna and Monica each some green tea and bath fizzies for relaxing and some chocolate with chili peppers to give them a little kick. 

Upon arriving I was embraced by the warm smells of Thanksgiving cooking and the lovely sound of Giovanna's husband playing his violin while Anna played viola. We sang Thanksgiving songs (yes, they exist....) and drank wine, and chatted and ate and enjoyed each other. The best part was that besides Giovanna, Monica and Pam, our old cooking teachers, all of our professors came! They were all dressed up and buzzed and very jolly and excited to be taking part in this weird American holiday. At the end of the night, our art history professor drove Breana and I home which was very much welcomed after our day of walking. 

Unfortunately, having Thanksgiving with everyone from Smith did not prove to be as anti-homesicking as one would think. When I got home, all I wanted was my mom's cranberry sauce and my dad's gravy. They were at a friends house for the night, so I promptly called them and wished everyone a happy Thanksgiving, thus making myself feel much more far away and lonely. But fortunately....


2. Friday rolled around! 
After doing some work, I met Breana and we went to Casa Buonarroti which is the museum of all things Michelangelo. Yet another fantastic experience, getting to see his wax models of now large and very famous sculptures and finally understanding the size of things such as Battaglia dei Centauri (much smaller than I imagined!! Projectors and images from Google just don't cut it!). 


After wandering around and finding some yummy pizza, we returned home. As I was standing in the kitchen, making some tea, I showed my host mamma that I had found some pre-made Ocean Spray cranberry sauce and some molasses. Lorenzo then asked her when I was cooking and she said perhaps Sunday. He then requested we please have stuffing and cranberry sauce that night because he wanted it. So therefore, I made it. We made the stuffing without mushrooms and with less garlic than usual, and I had Lorenzo as my little helper, cutting the prosciutto, toasting the bread, etc. Surprisingly enough, everything turned out rather well. The cranberry sauce that I doctored up tasted somewhat related to that which we make at home, and the stuffing was also pretty darn tasty. And! Everyone ate everything! The stuffing was gone very rapidly and everyone tried the cranberry sauce (the boys ate it without complaints or disgust, and Silvia and Enrico had seconds!) I was one proud mamma hen given that Enrico and the boys, especially Filippo, are veryyyy picky eaters! Successo! 


3. Lovely, lazy, holiday-time Saturdays
This morning I slept in a bit and then spent the day being productive. I ate lunch with my fam (incredible pasta with carrot curry sauce.... yummmm!) and then returned to studying, took a nap and got ready for.....


4. A Special Night Out on the Town

Tonight I got all dolled up, had dinner with my host family and some guests (including an adorable little girl named Marta... babysitting, hmm.... an idea...), and then hopped on the back on Enrico's motorcycle, arriving at Teatro Verdi in minutes. I went up the the ticket counter to pick up my pre-reserved ticket where I was informed that my seat had been changed. When I bought my ticket online, there were 5 seats left and I chose the best of the 5, which was in the second section on the theater, at least 3 rows back. My new seat was in the 4th row. Of the first section. With a perfect view of the orchestra. It was relatively magical. And I teared up... they played some Haydn and Jupiter from Mozart's Planets. It was a gorgeous concert, and since the orchestra was so small (6 first violins, 4 or 5 seconds, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses and very small winds, brass and percussion sections) you could hear everything and it was stunning. I will definitely be tuning in online to listen to their Christmas Eve concert and going to as much as I can when I come back in January! (Which reminds me, Enrico's gym gave him 4-one month passes to give as gifts and he is giving one to me! Pilates, yoga, pool, water aerobics, sauna, spa, hot tub, tanning, and regular gym usage allllll free for one month! A perfect way to avoid the semi-inevitable post-Christmas slump! Thanks host fam!)


Anyway, here I am back from the concert, snuggled into bed, ready for a long night's sleep and a productive day tomorrow, including cookie-baking!! 


Bacione!!

10 things that occur around the holiday season in florence that make life worth living

1. Family Gatherings.
Last night my family got together with Victoria and Chrysanthe's family because my mamma is their father's sister, aka our little sibs are cousins. Yesterday was the nonna's birthday and she came with her sister and her husband. All in all, there were 14 people at my house, eating pizza, drinking Coca Cola and beer and laughing and chatting. I sneakily tried to take some family photos and then just decided to make everyone pose! It was a night full of laughter and sweet grandmotherly moments and love. And pizza covered in sliced hot dogs. It was perfect. 

2. Beautiful Lights. 
I know I have previously mentioned this and I also promised photos, but I haven't actually seen the beautiful lights lit up yet.... well I saw them at 2pm yesterday but I don't think that has quite the same effect as seeing them at night..... Tomorrow I will take pictures! I promise! 




3. Wandering at night.
I love this city at night. During the day.... not so much, but at night, definitely. I love walking home after class in the dusk to dark period, watching parents picking up their children, wandering past the bus stops and enjoying the general happy bustle that exists after the work-day has ended. I also love having that extra 30 minutes of leisurely strolling (well, I power-walk like there's no tomorrow but still....) to think in Italian and enjoy all the Italian-ness that surrounds me.... It's very relaxing and rejuvenating.... 


4. Decorations.
Storefronts, lights, windows.... all been said before, but I still really love it! 




5. Thanksgiving Dinner with Giovanna.
Thursday night. With all 20 girls and our professors. Turkey and gravy, stuffing, salads, corn, squash, pumpkin carpaccio, cranberry sauce, corn bread, pecan pie, apple pie and pumpkin pie.... Mmmm.... Just like home! 




6. Thanksgiving Dinner with the Host Fam 
It has been decided. Sunday night I will be cooking my family's version of stuffing and some cranberry sauce along with some molasses cookies perhaps.... Silvia is getting some kind of turkey or chicken, and we are good to go! The boys probably won't like the cranberry sauce and we'll see about Silvia and Enrico! Wish me luck! 




7. Helping Older Women Cross the Street
I was walking home tonight (enjoying the peaceful darkness, of course) and as I approached a sidewalk, this most adorable older woman reached out and asked me if I would be so kind as to walk her across the street because she was scared of falling. I took her hand and we walked across very, very carefully and very slowly, all the while she was telling me how nice it was to have someone help her. Then she squeezed my hand and said, "Buona sera, signorina!" My hand was glowing with warm, fuzzy feelings for at least 10 minutes, especially because I had just come from....




8. Sitting in with a Group of Grandmothers who Pray Together Every Day. 
After my audited class at the University of Florence (Methodologies of Contemporary Art History.... very, very, very boring...), I decided to spend some time in one of my two favorite churches (that I know of so far, that is!). When I entered, there were hardly any people other than one man who was seemingly very frustrated because the priest was late for confessionals and another man who works at the church and was restocking all the candles available to light. I walked through the church looking at all the small chapels until I found one that for some reason gave me the goosebumps. There was a beautiful fresco unlike all the others. Many were dark and depicted Jesus' sacrifice or other sad Biblical stories. This one instead was the Madonna surrounded by Saints, looking up at the heavens. It was so brightly colored and there were such relaxed, content expressions on each face, that I was immediately struck by its beauty. I lit three candles at this chapel - one each for my grandparents and my uncle. It was a rare moment of strong faith which continued to get stronger as I walked behind the sacristy (completely unlit with only a few candles flickering in the eerie silence) and I realized that I heard prayers. When I walked back out past the altar, I found a group of about seven woman, all much older, praying together. I went and sat down across from them and listened with my eyes closed for about 10 minutes, although they continued easily for another 10 or 15. It was pretty incredible.... and not something I often desire, but it felt good today to be part of a group of people so full of faith....




9. Orchestral Concerts.
Last night I decided I wanted to go to an orchestral concert. It is Christmas and Christmas means music which reminded me how much I miss my viola and orchestra and classical music. Within five minutes of deciding this, I had already found one this Saturday at the Teatro Verdi in Florence. I know have a ticket and I cannot wait!! http://www.teatroverdionline.it/




10. Being Happy.
Although I have now been sick for 30 days, I am extremely happy. I am settled, I am bonding with my host family, I am less stressed, things are going well at school, the boyfriend is just lovely and it is almost Christmas! Although I am pretty excited for Thanksgiving as well! This weekend between going out with the gang and taking myself out for a night, I will just be working, commencing some Christmas shopping and cooking! Sounds like a perfect weekend to me! 


Baci a tutti! And see many of you in less than 4 weeks! AMORE!