Just the average day in Florence

Ciao! Today class went very well, I am remembering everything which makes me hopeful that I am going to have a very strong base going into Rome! During our coffee break we went to our coffee shop down the road from school and for the first time I ordered everything in Italian and he understood me! I felt so accomplished and a lot of the students who don't yet know Italian were asking me for help! After our classes today we went and got a quick lunch at a pizza and pasta restaurant where when we tried to order in Italian, the owner helped us make sure our pronunciation was correct. He was extremely helpful and we were all so thankful! He taught us how to say "vorrele" which means "I want" and helped us roll our r's when we said it! After our lunch we had an academic meeting where we made sure we all had the right classes for Rome. They also told us about textbooks and trips with our classes and other important information that we will need once we get to Rome! The meeting did not last long and then we had the whole afternoon to ourselves. We were able to do shopping over on the left side of the river where our school is, across the Ponte Vecchio, then over to the center of town and back towards our hotel on the right side of the river! The shops ranged from the owners speaking fluent English to none at all. There were American stores like H&M, European stores like my favorite, ZARA, and then local Florence shops, mostly carrying shoes or leather purses and bags. On the Ponte Vecchio there is mostly jewelry! Over by school it was more local shops, but as we got into the center of town it became larger stores with bigger selections and more popular. We were on the hunt for shoes for Justine because her sole literally fell off her shoe a few days ago... she is in some desperate need of shoes, especially because we head to Siena for a day trip tomorrow!! We were unlucky with the shoe hunt, but we did score some new shirts and pants to wear on our trip tomorrow! I absolutely love all the stores here, most carry the same sort of goods because I haven't ventured away from the main areas for shopping yet, but it is still so amazing to see the European culture in them. I also, after 30 minutes of trying out different ones with the sweetest and most patient sales man, picked out the Louis that I want hehe... I searched throughout the leather market but since I have had my eye on it for so long, nothing could take my brain away from it so I had to at least pick it out! We have had a lot of trouble with the maids stealing stuff though so I am not going to actually get it until we are about to leave for Rome where I can safely keep it in my apartment when I am not

using it! One girl got two credit cards stolen out of the wallet she left in her hotel room... and Alexa walked in on a maid going through her suitcase! I have kept all my valuables in my carry on suitcase safety locked but things of mine have definitely been moved around... unfortunately the maids do not speak English so we cannot personally yell at them. Y'all know how badly I want to tell one of them off. We told the front desk because they will talk to them which will hopefully calm them down at least until we leave. Other than that slight issue, the hotel has been amazing. It is nice and away from the center of town so it is quite peaceful out here. After our shopping adventures we headed back to the hotel where we had dinner, did homework, chit chatted for a few hours, then headed to bed! Today was not very exciting for those of you at home reading this right now, but lemme tell ya... we shopped until we dropped and I am just as tired as climbing the equivalent of 33 or so flights of stairs yesterday! Florence sure does win in my book!