Uhmuhgawd firenze and friendsay!

so the past few days have been exhausting but the most amazing/exciting days of my life!! saying goodbye to my family was so difficult and i never wanted the moment to come but i had to do it and get it over with..i felt so much better after just getting it done with..i can't wait for my family and friends to come visit cuz they will loooove it!
Day 1: the plane ride to frankfurt felt like forever..i had so many emotions on that flight and my head was just spinning thinking of all the things i was going to go through these next nine months, but i survived..once i got to frankfurt i realized that i had a four hour layover! soo suckyyyy..so i got out my laptop and watched tv shows and tried to sleep but i never did! i seriously did not sleep for over 27 hours straight! once i got on the flight for florence i was able to sleep for about 15 minutes and then i just got so excited and reality set in that i was actually going to be living in this beautiful country for the next nine months.
after getting my luggage (thank goodness for carts) i had to put on my "big girl pants" as my mom calls it, find my own taxi and tell him to the hostel where i was staying. i stayed with some girls from sonoma for the night. the taxi driver was named lucio and barely spoke any english! i tried to make conversation with him about the weather but it was just not working at all! i was so shocked by the beauty of the city..i had an idea of what the city was like but seeing it in real person was UNBELIEVABLE!! i still just can't believe the beauty of where I am and that i am actually going to be living here!
ok so back to what i have been doing...so i got to the hostel and put all my stuff in the room and just went out and explored..i had to get some pizza for my first meal..it was so exciting to be on my own and walking around and just exploring..
Day 2: the next morning we took a taxi to the Hotel Meridiana which is where everyone is staying..the hotel room is tiny! everything is so small and compact but it has AC so we can't complain..my roommates name is lauren and i love her! we get along so well and i felt like i have known her for years! she reminds me of so many of my friends from home and i am so glad/lucky that i found her! so we put down our stuff and just went out to explore! we found another girl liz who was sitting in the front of the hotel who was in our program and wanted to come explore with us..we walked all over florence! we went to the duomo, santa crocce and everywhere in between! we even found a little shop that has 1 euro glass of spomante! (champagne!) we then had lunch at a super cute cafe and i got a glass of wine and proscutto and melon! sooo good! i felt like julia roberts in eat pray love! but then a fly flew in my glass of wine so i asked if i could get another one and i later found out that they charged me for that! first and last time i got ripped off in florence! we then came back and attempted to have a siesta (to truly get used to the italian time) but lauren and i were just so excited we couldn't even calm down! so then we went out and got some gellato down the street..i got tiramisu for 2 Euros which was delicioso! we came back to the hotel and got ready for dinner..our dinner was so funny..they gave us penne pasta which was good and then french fries and mayonnaise! we think that they thought this was the food that americans ate! so great! that night we got ready and six of us went out, not knowing where we were going to end up but found a bar called Shot Bar..super original name right? the bar was all italians and the bartender barely spoke english..but we were able to buy some drinks..some of the shots that we got were Tequilla Boom Boom! nightmare, sex in a tree, girl scout cookie and sangria..it was such a fun first night out and the group of girls i was with were so much fun!
Day Three: The next day we had orientation bright and early at 9 am..i am super lucky because i never got really was jet lagged and the time change was easy for me to get used to..so we got up and went down to the lobby and met basically everyone in my program..there is a total of 102 people..everyone is super nice and welcoming..we met refugio who is our housing director and he took us to our new school..the walk was about 25 min from our hotel (it will only be 10 from our new house but i will tell you about that later!) we got to our school and sat in a pretty large lecture room and was given information all about the school, rules and regulations and just normal first day of class information..lunch was given to us and also a 2 hour break..we took advantage of that break and went first to the arno river which is about five min from my school and then walked down to santa crocce which i am in LOOOVE with! if you have ever seen Under the Tuscan Sun its in one of the first scenes and gorgeous! we then walked back and had a meeting with a housing agency..they told us all about apartments for rent, what the typical amount to pay is and houses available..we then went on a hunt for the perfect house! we walked for about three hours finding houses, checking them out and seeing if they are right for us..lauren and i decided that we would do a double and three other girls would do a double and a single..so it was perfect...and then we found the PERFECT HOUSE! oh my gooosh it is aaaamazing! like the duomo is our backyard! we are right in the center of the city and everything is soo close. lauren and i got an apartment on the third floor, it has a huge living room (visitors are welcome for the couch!), a cute yellow tiled kitchen and then one room with two (small) beds! the bathroom is even cute with black and white squared tiles...then above us is four of our friends in two singles and one double..and this place has a balcony! we are all really good friends so we are all basically the same house and i will be using that balcony every day! from our balcony we can see the duomo and hear the bells (every hour, which will take time getting used to) but we want to put plants and lights up there! when we left that house we were all saying "we need that house..its the one!" so we ended up going this morning and getting the place! it is sooo exciting and the address is via de cherci 8, florence italy (go to google maps and look it up!) so we were so exhausted after that day but when we were walking home we went through the open market and decided that we had to get some sunglasses! we found out recently that it is illegal to buy these because its run by the mafia so it just made it so exciting! we bargained a lot and got some fake ray ban aviators and they look sooo real! we then found a store that is basically like the dollar store but its one euro..picked up some wine for 1 euro and headed back home..we got some dinner (with more mayonnaise) and then hung out in the lobby and met some great australian people..they were on a tour of all europe and just drinking and having a good time..they were so hilarious and nice! australians are so great! we then just went back to our room and basically passed out because we were so tired!
day four: so this morning we went and put down a deposit on our new house (which is waaay cheaper than sonoma!) and then headed to our school and hung out there for a while and then we wanted to practice our walk to our house from school so we couldn't get lost! it is a beautiful walk and so many shops and open markets where i can pick up some fresh fruit to and from school..i just need to find an espresso place for when i am going to school and its super early and i can just pick one up! we then picked up a panini and stopped by our new place and then ate lunch on the duomo and just people watched for a while..we then walked back to our hotel, i picked up an italian gossip magazine cuz i need to figure out the italian hollywood life! and now i am in our room which is so cold and refreshing having my siesta...i will have dinner at the hotel and then we found a reggae concert in a square that sounds like fun..
so if you have read all of this..i am super impressed and i apologize that i have not updated this in a while and i will try to be better about updating this..i know its not written very well but i just have so many new and exciting things all jumbled in my mind and its hard to remember them and put them in order..but thanks for reading and i will see you all soon!!