1. There are pastry shops everywhere. I loveeeee the lil fruit tart cakes things. they are mini cheese cakes with fresh fruit on top with a sugar glaze....AMAZING! (and typically only 1 euro)
2. Almost every night there is a red sky. the setting sun burns these flame colors into the clouds and sky. so so so beautiful!
3. Everything is old and fabulous. such as the movie theater. It has gold trim and marble sculpture and low relief stuff, just uber cool. it is also 3 levels of fabulous, with lil box seats with fancy velvet chairs. yes no more needs to be said on its amazingness.
4. You can get wine for 2 euros and it is good ass wine too. the most expensive is about 10 euros haha, simply amazing once again!
5. When you order drinks at a bar, it is ALL alcohol and a splash of mixer, mainly for color. Which god damn it that is how they are to be made United States bars!! I ordered a White Russian the other night and the bartender told me they do not carry milk but they use bailey's instead, just more alcohol to the great drink it already is.
6. Bartenders give you free drinks all the time. Liz and I like to sit at the bar, so we can talk to the bartenders and also have easy access to order more drinks and as we have come to find out get free shots rather often!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
Days-touch of home
Sooo it has been a while. I wanted to just tell a few of my favorite days. On last tuesday, I had been to class and then dicking around school and got pretty much nothing done. when i got home i sat in my work out clothes for 30 minutes staring at the clock debating if i should go or not. well i decided not. i got my roommate liz to put down her italian homework, we ran to Standa (supermarket) got gelato, and fanta (haha it was "Red Emotion" - blood orange flavor) stuffed them in my purse and ran to the Odeon movie theater to see "the curious case of benjamin button" which is amazing by the way!!! this was our second time at Odeon. it is a beautiful place, they also show opera and orchestra shows here. it is covered in marble and gold trim ceilings, with a glass dome in various shades of green and red, we sat at the very top, right under the movie reel. we were able to look down over most of the people and the screen was huge for us. it was really awesome! we had triple chocolate gelato, we ate almost the whole damn thing. it was a content feeling of chocolate gluttony of the best kind.
then that thursday I had jewelry and finished my first pair of earrings ever! they are baller! copper frames with silver rivets that has cranberry red leather on the inside. then i went to school and finally got my package from home (a week later...thank you italy) inside my family had put valentines candy, work out clothes and other essentials. they even made a card that recorded their voices saying "happy valentines day" and what not. it was awesome to hear all of them, in this little card. and after they were talking the card sang the song " we are family" haha it was a really special moment. i have to admit i cried a little bit. then immediately after that i was starting to make pasta for lunch and liz walked in with sun dried tomatoes and we threw in more pasta, added some dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, and other goodness and made by far one of the best pasta dishes we have had thus far here in italy in 20 minutes before liz had to leave for her next class is was perfect timing! the cosmo all came together in that one moment!
after she left i went to school and got to skype with steve, mary claire and kristi. haha i was in the library (that is the best place to get wireless) so i could not talk back to them, i had to type, but to see their faces was magical for me. after getting my present from home and that great lunch then seeing my friends, as if i was right there with them was a fabulous moment! it was incredible for me! it just felt so nice to get a touch of home!
anyway that was my fab tuesday and thursday. i am running late to sculpture...more to come soon!
then that thursday I had jewelry and finished my first pair of earrings ever! they are baller! copper frames with silver rivets that has cranberry red leather on the inside. then i went to school and finally got my package from home (a week later...thank you italy) inside my family had put valentines candy, work out clothes and other essentials. they even made a card that recorded their voices saying "happy valentines day" and what not. it was awesome to hear all of them, in this little card. and after they were talking the card sang the song " we are family" haha it was a really special moment. i have to admit i cried a little bit. then immediately after that i was starting to make pasta for lunch and liz walked in with sun dried tomatoes and we threw in more pasta, added some dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, and other goodness and made by far one of the best pasta dishes we have had thus far here in italy in 20 minutes before liz had to leave for her next class is was perfect timing! the cosmo all came together in that one moment!
after she left i went to school and got to skype with steve, mary claire and kristi. haha i was in the library (that is the best place to get wireless) so i could not talk back to them, i had to type, but to see their faces was magical for me. after getting my present from home and that great lunch then seeing my friends, as if i was right there with them was a fabulous moment! it was incredible for me! it just felt so nice to get a touch of home!
anyway that was my fab tuesday and thursday. i am running late to sculpture...more to come soon!
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
packages
so if you decide to send me something, please lie and do not put the actually monetary value. or the contents. bc energy bars mean medicine=35 euro to italian customs. and if it is large package=35 euro to fedex italia... so in total 100 US dollars for a package. i do NOT want to pay for presents. just a note of the bullshitness of italy.
Friday, February 13, 2009
things i hate about Italy
1. All men no matter what nationality, because they are in Italy, think it is okay to whoot and holler at women as if they are objects...quite annoying!!
2. Italian women, the younger ones, tend to be bitches with their heads up their own asses. Since they are used to Italian men cat calling them all the damn time they think they are the best brand of women on earth. Get over yourself Italian women!
3. When it rains, people with umbrellas refuse to move from under the awnings on the sidewalks, why i do not know; you already have a damn umbrella! So thus they force you to walk in the rain on the street dodging cars. It is like a big FUCK you American for not carrying an umbrella, which i often retort out load at Italians when they do this to me, which is often, "at least I’m not a bitch"
4. Florence is an expensive tourist trap.
5. Everyone walks INCREIBLY slow, and they don’t walk, they swalk. It is the sway plus the walk, so they swalk slowly so you cannot go around them unless you walk in the street.
6. Nothing works here, and to fix anything takes literally weeks!
7. Technology is literally 3rd world. I am not joking when I say that. It is a huge problem.
8. When you speak Italian to people they speak English back to you. At least the French make you work for it.
9. Because Florence is a tourist city everyone has an angle, hard to find honest people.
10. Always get the damn runaround for everything. It is impossible to find out basic information on the most basic of things. Italy has set up layers of bureaucracy for everything. that is what i love about the states, there is little bullshit, we just give it to ya straight!
2. Italian women, the younger ones, tend to be bitches with their heads up their own asses. Since they are used to Italian men cat calling them all the damn time they think they are the best brand of women on earth. Get over yourself Italian women!
3. When it rains, people with umbrellas refuse to move from under the awnings on the sidewalks, why i do not know; you already have a damn umbrella! So thus they force you to walk in the rain on the street dodging cars. It is like a big FUCK you American for not carrying an umbrella, which i often retort out load at Italians when they do this to me, which is often, "at least I’m not a bitch"
4. Florence is an expensive tourist trap.
5. Everyone walks INCREIBLY slow, and they don’t walk, they swalk. It is the sway plus the walk, so they swalk slowly so you cannot go around them unless you walk in the street.
6. Nothing works here, and to fix anything takes literally weeks!
7. Technology is literally 3rd world. I am not joking when I say that. It is a huge problem.
8. When you speak Italian to people they speak English back to you. At least the French make you work for it.
9. Because Florence is a tourist city everyone has an angle, hard to find honest people.
10. Always get the damn runaround for everything. It is impossible to find out basic information on the most basic of things. Italy has set up layers of bureaucracy for everything. that is what i love about the states, there is little bullshit, we just give it to ya straight!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
cool clothes but people like you and me
so this is awesome clothes by some kids my age who steve is friends with. steve took the pictures!!!! they are awesome shots. the clothes are kickass! check it out!!
www.checkyoursixclothing.com
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
apartment pics
so this is the futon in the family room, it is the first room you walk into and this is what you see from that room...
kitchen, my room is directly to the left of this picture
the room past the kitchen is Liz's room and the bathroom is directly to the right of this pic
Last Night- "what was she wearing?!?!"
So yesterday i did not make it to open drawing, oddly enough i was caught up doing my blog. never would have thought i would be wanting to write in a fucking blog but yeah i could not wait today to put all the dumb shit of my life down so ya'll could read it. so last night i convinced Liz (roommate) to go out with me. a few girls in my diggie class said that they were going to "art bar" and i had always wanted to go. so i got home ate, got ready and of course if you know me, you know i have to get all dressed up to go out. so i put on heels (remember that fact) did my hair and got all gussied up. anyway liz and i walked for an hour looking for art bar, never made it. on our way to art bar we got stopped by a post-bacc girl who liz has fotographia with, she was locked out of her place and needed a credit card or something to get in. so liz gave her a AAA card and we waited as the bouncer of the bar next to post-bacc girls place was calling the fire department to see if they would come, so after standing for 10 minutes liz and i just told them we were going into "Joshua Tree Bar" haha, anyway 20 minutes later she came back and gave liz her AAA card back with many lil cuts.
ANYWHOTS sooo it turned out that joshua tree is the coolest bar ever! it is a total hippie har. laura one of the bartenders has fabulous dreads down to her butt and max the other bartender has skinny dreads that he pulls up into mickey mouse type things. you know those hippie bars you all love so much, with worn down oak tables and stools and painted glass doors, prob done by a random art student. the walls are covered in shit from the bartenders/owners trips around the world and plastered on the walls of this place. they only carry local italian micro brews on tap and the basic important liquors. haha laura made this drink for herself that was lime bright green! so i asked her what it was....kiwi, vodka and some other shit, and she goes "here try it" right from her own glass! i was kinda shocked by her openness, but loved it all the same.
when we first sat down there was maybe 10 people in this bar, the bartenders and bouncer introduced themselves to liz and i and gave us our first shot within 10 minutes of being there. (one thing i do LOVE about italy is they love to give you free shots, serious it is amazing! even at Eby's she gives us free smoothies alchi shots all the time...simply amazing!) anywhots after 30 minutes the bar is starting to get filled with americans, and then of course a drunk loud ass american girl walks in, who literally was screaming, who knows, she was happy about something, but liz and i looked at each other with that "GOD DAMNIT!" look. of course she HAD to be american. then all the other american kids got louder and louder haha laura, max and paolo started making fun of them and giving them shots to keep it going haha it was hilarious. it became clear to liz and i why they loved us...we were chill like all the other people in the bar besides the americans. they gave us more shots hahaha laura gave us two shots from this kids order, he was not paying attention haha love this place. anyway, they told us the amercian kids live near by and come on monday and tuesdays but wednesday and thursday it is chill, euro style and asked us to come back on thursday night! oh i forgot to mention this bar plays GREAT music, very eclectic. everything from aretha franklin to rock songs from when we were in 6th grade. so all and all liz and i decided we would walk the 20 minutes to get to this bar. we love it!
sooooo when we got home (after a stop at eby's-which is on Via dell'Oriuolo open monday-saturday noon till 3am) i looked my the bottom of my feet and noticed i have a blood blister the size of a quarter! when i woke up this morning the ball of my foot was swollen and the blister was of course gross! liz got sick from drinking beer and our other roommate got food poisoning last night from her seafood pizza! haha we are a hot mess! and it is only 1:30pm here!
ANYWHOTS sooo it turned out that joshua tree is the coolest bar ever! it is a total hippie har. laura one of the bartenders has fabulous dreads down to her butt and max the other bartender has skinny dreads that he pulls up into mickey mouse type things. you know those hippie bars you all love so much, with worn down oak tables and stools and painted glass doors, prob done by a random art student. the walls are covered in shit from the bartenders/owners trips around the world and plastered on the walls of this place. they only carry local italian micro brews on tap and the basic important liquors. haha laura made this drink for herself that was lime bright green! so i asked her what it was....kiwi, vodka and some other shit, and she goes "here try it" right from her own glass! i was kinda shocked by her openness, but loved it all the same.
when we first sat down there was maybe 10 people in this bar, the bartenders and bouncer introduced themselves to liz and i and gave us our first shot within 10 minutes of being there. (one thing i do LOVE about italy is they love to give you free shots, serious it is amazing! even at Eby's she gives us free smoothies alchi shots all the time...simply amazing!) anywhots after 30 minutes the bar is starting to get filled with americans, and then of course a drunk loud ass american girl walks in, who literally was screaming, who knows, she was happy about something, but liz and i looked at each other with that "GOD DAMNIT!" look. of course she HAD to be american. then all the other american kids got louder and louder haha laura, max and paolo started making fun of them and giving them shots to keep it going haha it was hilarious. it became clear to liz and i why they loved us...we were chill like all the other people in the bar besides the americans. they gave us more shots hahaha laura gave us two shots from this kids order, he was not paying attention haha love this place. anyway, they told us the amercian kids live near by and come on monday and tuesdays but wednesday and thursday it is chill, euro style and asked us to come back on thursday night! oh i forgot to mention this bar plays GREAT music, very eclectic. everything from aretha franklin to rock songs from when we were in 6th grade. so all and all liz and i decided we would walk the 20 minutes to get to this bar. we love it!
sooooo when we got home (after a stop at eby's-which is on Via dell'Oriuolo open monday-saturday noon till 3am) i looked my the bottom of my feet and noticed i have a blood blister the size of a quarter! when i woke up this morning the ball of my foot was swollen and the blister was of course gross! liz got sick from drinking beer and our other roommate got food poisoning last night from her seafood pizza! haha we are a hot mess! and it is only 1:30pm here!
Monday, February 9, 2009
fabulous florence people
Kass- she is in my digital multimedia class. we are working on a collaborative piece, doing photo emulsion on ceramics...pretty bitchin. she loves to learn and keeps diggin for more. you can tell she always wants to get as much as she can out of a situation. a genuine thirst for knowledge. she is a comforting person to me because she reminds me so much of my friend keeley from home.( both are short, irish, and say funny words like hazzah!) she understands where i am coming from and is easy to talk to and bounce ideas off of. plus she loves dylan and well that alone makes her amazing in my book
Liz- my roommate. she is a hard one not to like. she has one of the best laughes i have ever heard. sometimes it sounds so much like a child, just a very free laugh. she is a hippie child, though she denies it and does not like it, i am trying to get her to accept and love her free spirit hippie side. she is my 80s fashion queen. she rocks leg warmers like no bodies business! she is also a very strong personality and is very outgoing. she knows and trusts herself which is nice to be around. there is a comfort in being around someone who is so self assured. hahaha liz is also the loudest talker i have ever known. hahaha sometimes it is embarrassing, and she knows it, and does not care, but you have to love her for it haha amazing!
Emily-she is also in my digital multimedia class. she is a painter, who wears all black and only a few splashes of color every once and a while. she is eclectic, most of her clothing looks like it is from a fancy vintage store or just fabulous old designer clothes and she is from OHIO!! she gets it. you know those people who just get it...she is one of them! she genuinely wants to hear what you have to say and she has a way to make you feel special every time she sees you. i do not know her very well yet, but i hope to soon. she seems like a person who would be a lot of fun to go out on the town with.
Iris- haha she is my batik teacher. she is an old english woman with salt and pepper hair and a wonderful old accent. so every monday and wednesday morning i have batik with her and she begins right away by reading the news and telling you everything that is happening in italian and world current affairs. she talks non stop, but it is not annoying it is REALLY enjoyable. i could listen to her all day! she is hilarious too! she makes you laugh all day as well. she is a joy to be around, she actually makes monday mornings fun. she also would do anything for her students. we always take tea breaks mid morning and one time we got ripped off, 1.50 euros for a cup of tea! (hot water and a tea packet!!) well we told iris and she was so upset at the price that she went to the bar and yelled at the man for us haha just love her!
09-02-2009
WTF these are not where i want them....ahhh fucking technology, i have no idea how to move these pics. i thought they were in the right spot but no.......argh
So this is my first blog ever. i used to be against blogs but i have come to the conclusion that this is going to be the easiest way for people to see what is going on with my life here in italy for a few months. so i have already been here for 6 weeks now...i think...and things are going well. i share my room with a girl named erin, she is a senior at duke and is very nice. my other roommate is liz, she is a 4th year at cleveland art institute. she is hilarious and fun to be around. we live near santa croce...kinda... and unfortunately right next to the busiest dance club in florence. which we have yet to go to haha sad but true. we should go considering we hear it from 10pm-4:30am everynight. we have a fabulous Ecuadorian restaurant close to us and we have become friends with the lady who runs it. turns out she came to italy for art restoration and ended up loving it and opened up her fabulous restaurant called "Eby's" i highly suggest going. the best sangria i have ever had and 4 euro burritos!!
on mondays and wednesday i go from 9-7:30. I have batik in the morning (that is silk painting and wax resist dying)my teacher is this fabulous old english woman named iris, she makes my mornings!! in the afternoon i have sculpture (which today my teacher told me i am a very good student however i need to slow down, and take in my pieces better...) then at night i have digital multimedia (in which i am already working on two independent projects for his class. one i am doing interventions in the florence underpass of the train station, coming soon, and the other is photo emulsion onto ceramics which i am working on with a girl in the class). on tuesday and thursday i have jewelry design from 9-12 and friday are FREE!!!
the weather is cosi cosi here, it rains most days but it is around 40-50 degrees. today is a beautiful day the sun has been out all day. i have not explored much of the city since i was fortunate enough to see it 2 years ago with my dad. thus i have been able to go on a lot of the school art history trips to ravenna, pisa, lucca, siena, san gimignano and in two weeks liz and i are going to venice for carnival.
i do not go out much since it is expensive and i am trying to save my money for trips. so i have been out once and that was not a pleasant experience. had an italian creepo all over me, was not a highlight of italy. but i dont really mind not going out, i have become a certified nerd, i read most nights and work on sudoku. i know so grandma but i get home and then go work out around 830 till 10 and then i shower and by then it is 1030/1045 and i have to get up at 8 anyway, so hopefully this weekend we will go out and see the night life.
i need to explore the city more and i know it. even though i have been here for a while i still kinda feel like i am skimming on the top not really belonging to the city. at times i do but other times no. it is odd i have never really felt a need to be so connected to a city but all my teachers harp on the fact we REALLY know florence and KNOW the life here and experience it. so maybe i dont feel it now but maybe i am and just dont know it. ahhh anywhots.
oh hahaha so i am i think one of the only people who wears studio clothes most days. i know people want to fit into the culture and not stand out like typical americans, so you do not get singled out, but honestly. i am always in studio clothes and i dont get bothered..probably because i look nasty haha. yeah it is entertaining to me to see what lengths some girls go to at my school to look like an italian to fit in. oh well, it is their choice. haha maybe i should try more but hey this is me, covered in plaster and paint and everything else.
going to try to go to open model tonight, i need to draw from the model more and plus billy ray would be proud. (drawing teacher from undergrad)so that is the goal for today, remember open drawing!!
So this is my first blog ever. i used to be against blogs but i have come to the conclusion that this is going to be the easiest way for people to see what is going on with my life here in italy for a few months. so i have already been here for 6 weeks now...i think...and things are going well. i share my room with a girl named erin, she is a senior at duke and is very nice. my other roommate is liz, she is a 4th year at cleveland art institute. she is hilarious and fun to be around. we live near santa croce...kinda... and unfortunately right next to the busiest dance club in florence. which we have yet to go to haha sad but true. we should go considering we hear it from 10pm-4:30am everynight. we have a fabulous Ecuadorian restaurant close to us and we have become friends with the lady who runs it. turns out she came to italy for art restoration and ended up loving it and opened up her fabulous restaurant called "Eby's" i highly suggest going. the best sangria i have ever had and 4 euro burritos!!
on mondays and wednesday i go from 9-7:30. I have batik in the morning (that is silk painting and wax resist dying)my teacher is this fabulous old english woman named iris, she makes my mornings!! in the afternoon i have sculpture (which today my teacher told me i am a very good student however i need to slow down, and take in my pieces better...) then at night i have digital multimedia (in which i am already working on two independent projects for his class. one i am doing interventions in the florence underpass of the train station, coming soon, and the other is photo emulsion onto ceramics which i am working on with a girl in the class). on tuesday and thursday i have jewelry design from 9-12 and friday are FREE!!!
the weather is cosi cosi here, it rains most days but it is around 40-50 degrees. today is a beautiful day the sun has been out all day. i have not explored much of the city since i was fortunate enough to see it 2 years ago with my dad. thus i have been able to go on a lot of the school art history trips to ravenna, pisa, lucca, siena, san gimignano and in two weeks liz and i are going to venice for carnival.
i do not go out much since it is expensive and i am trying to save my money for trips. so i have been out once and that was not a pleasant experience. had an italian creepo all over me, was not a highlight of italy. but i dont really mind not going out, i have become a certified nerd, i read most nights and work on sudoku. i know so grandma but i get home and then go work out around 830 till 10 and then i shower and by then it is 1030/1045 and i have to get up at 8 anyway, so hopefully this weekend we will go out and see the night life.
i need to explore the city more and i know it. even though i have been here for a while i still kinda feel like i am skimming on the top not really belonging to the city. at times i do but other times no. it is odd i have never really felt a need to be so connected to a city but all my teachers harp on the fact we REALLY know florence and KNOW the life here and experience it. so maybe i dont feel it now but maybe i am and just dont know it. ahhh anywhots.
oh hahaha so i am i think one of the only people who wears studio clothes most days. i know people want to fit into the culture and not stand out like typical americans, so you do not get singled out, but honestly. i am always in studio clothes and i dont get bothered..probably because i look nasty haha. yeah it is entertaining to me to see what lengths some girls go to at my school to look like an italian to fit in. oh well, it is their choice. haha maybe i should try more but hey this is me, covered in plaster and paint and everything else.
going to try to go to open model tonight, i need to draw from the model more and plus billy ray would be proud. (drawing teacher from undergrad)so that is the goal for today, remember open drawing!!
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