Pisa was small and silly and literally just a couple hour stop on our way to Firenze, but was pleasant nonetheless. I bought some gifts and ate at a cute bar. I got to see Nicola Pisano's Pergamo del Battistero di Pisa! I didn't climb the tower cause I wasn't feeling too hot, but that's okay, because I had more time to visit the cathedral and the Camposanto. Tutto e due are beautiful. I got to spend some time with Alex, Ariana and Mary. We shopped and talked and walked. Mary is one of the assistants on the program and she's the sweetest thing. She knows plenty about art and architecture and is excited to share. I'm glad she's here.

Firenze was fantastic. The city is clean and young compared to Genova. Obviously it's a bit more touristy and much less diverse, but it was fantastic to get away for the weekend. We bought too much bread, chocolate, fragole e vino. We watched Jersey Shore in Italian. We took a walk through the city. We shopped at the outdoor market. We ate at small classy place for paninis. I roomed with Alex and Carina (my closest lady friends here) and it was great to all be together for the weekend. We all napped on Saturday afternoon and woke up ready to eat! We ate like kings at Osteria De Pazze. Where the two waiters sing and it's small joint. We all sang insieme. The waiters played jokes. We had literally six plates of antipasta, three types of pasta, vegetables, desert, unending wine and then champagne to top it off. Amazing and fun night. I literally could have cried, because the food was so good. The onions, eggplant, bruschetta, caprese, ravioli... too much, but not enough. I want to return! Sunday Alex, Carina and I went to a small osteria nearby our hotel and halfway through our meal an older gentleman came in and sat next to us. We ended up talking to him for half an hour and it was fantastic. He told us about how the Fiorentines eat their words in their dialect. He said that we cannot be in Italy and not have Italian friends. "Spend only one week and one half con i fiorentini and you can speak like me." It was refreshing and fantastic.

This week has been nice and simpler. I love working with Andrea. I've started to do a lot more on my own in Photoshop. I meet many of his friends. Today I talked to four Italiani other than him. Three of which I'd already met. The other the barista at the bar next door who I'll never really meet. I was able to comprehend a lot more today and chime into conversation even, but I"m still slow as heck. Soon enough!

We have our midterm on Thursday. Joy. But I love learning this language, so it's okay. I just would like to have much more free time instead of having yet another thing to do. Despite my problems with the system of the program here, I love the school we are studying at. I love the structure and the freedom the instructors have. I love their methods. My insegnanti Jean Luca and Francesca are great. They are fun, but good at what they do. Jean Luca is really into listening, conversation and connotation. It is fantastic practice and perfect preparation. We won a game today and the other team had to buy us cafe on our break =) Also, we ran into him the other day with his daughter and she is the cutest thing!

Yesterday we went to a bar on the port to watch the Portuguay/Italia partita. It was great. It'll be more fun when we're farther along. It was a sad reminder however that I don't have enough time to make friends with Italian people and that this program does not foster a real semblance of a life in Italy or support the freedom to go out and really have relationships with people. Hopefully that will change. There was also SUQ, a culture festival, on the port and when we went I bought a strange little mexican mask thing, a scarf and earrings. Woah. I want to return though. It is strange that the things I'm finding in Genova aren't of Genova. It's okay though, it's a good representation of Genova. It is a very diverse place. It is a port town with rich history.

I went to the lavanderia today and the woman was the sweetest thing. We also went to the house of people that are apparently friends of Elisabetta. They are very very wealthy and their house is high up in the city. Genova has an elevator that is a part of public transportation, because the city goes up vertcally very quickly. It is interesante. We took that up to the house and had a miraculous view. We ate a lot! The woman of the house cooked everything. It was delicious and Genovese.

This week I'll go with my boss to his friend's bar for an aperitvo and then we'll watch one of the films that he's assigned to me (There are many films with fantastic cinematography that he says I have to see. I watched one the other night. It's called Jestem. It's great (see it) but I have to watch a couple more times to make sure I'm understanding). It will be great to watch with a fluent speaker, so I know I'm understanding the true meanings.

I will write again tomorrow, because there is probably much more. There are more photos also, but I need to sleep. I don't want to forget things. I want to remember it all, so yes, a domani!

Grazie mille!

-AEP