Yesterday, as usual, I had my intensive Italian class in the morning. We learned about gestures again and went over some common ones that we would see people using and ones not to use. Then I went to St. Catherine's Basilica to see St. Catherine's head and finger (what is left of her today). It was a little creepy to see them, but also kind of cool. It's remarkable that they have managed to preserve her head for so many years. The basilica was gorgeous and just amazing to see in person. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, so I can't show you how cool it was unfortunately.
Today, I went on a tour of the aqueduct underneath the city. It's called the bottini because it is shaped like a bottle. This is how people get water to their house. It goes underground through the aqueduct and then branches off to houses, companies, churches, etc. It was cool to see what it looked like and see something that most people in Siena haven't seen.
There is supposed to be a big snow storm here in Siena, which is rare. Siena rarely gets snow, so this is kind of a big deal. Class might be cancelled tomorrow since it is supposed to snow throughout the night. We'll see. It's weird that Ithaca has really nice weather, while Siena is getting snow. It should be the other way around!
People are starting to figure out what they want to do for spring break and are researching where to stay and flights and what not. It's so overwhelming, but once that stuff is finished I will feel a lot better. So far, I'm thinking of Barcelona, Amsterdam, Prague, and Budapest. Hopefully it all works out! Wish me luck!
Buonanotte :) 

 This is the view that I get to walk past every day to get to class. This is a bit higher than where we walk, but the view is pretty much the same. It never gets old either. Every time we walk past it, all of us look and love it even more each time.

 Look at all these gelato flavors! This isn't even all of them! And the gelato is AMAZING! I'm going to try every flavor while I'm here :) So far, the ones I've had are very good!

 This is the view from the top of the "torre di mangia" that we climbed up yesterday. I can't even say anything about it other than BEAUTIFUL. 

These are some of the girls in my program. I figured I would put up a picture of some of us instead of just food and scenery :) There are about 24 of us, with two of them being guys. We are in front of the IES center where we take all our classes.
Today was just a chill out day. I walked to the train station outside the walled city, which was cool to see some of those parts of the city. Other than that, I did my Italian homework and did some laundry. Pretty uneventful day, so I decided to put some pictures up from the previous couple of days. Buonanotte!

Permesso di soggiorno

Let's see. Where did I leave off last time?
Yesterday I had my intensive Italian class again, and our teacher spent some time teaching us some hand gestures. She taught us the difference between the way you do some. There's one gesture that has two different meanings depending on how you do it. It could mean "buon fortuna" (good luck) or it could mean that someone is cheating on another person. I'll have to make sure I do the "buon fortuna" one! She showed us a few others which were pretty helpful. So far, I'm really liking my Italian class. It's difficult, but I feel like I'm learning a lot. When we ask what something is, she will try to explain it in Italian with words that we know, which is nice I think.
On Friday's there's also an organic market right behind our apartment. We went yesterday, but there wasn't much there. We went towards the end of the time that it was open and it wasn't that great of a day. So I'm hoping that there will be more stuff next Friday. I tried some honey and it was delicious! The lady had some hazelnut honey, which is more like a nutella. It was so good! I almost bought it, but decided against it. Maybe next week.
Today, we went to the post office to get our "permesso di soggiorno" (permission to stay). So, now I think I'm a resident of Siena! I was up bright and early for our appointment at 8:30. It was a struggle haha. But I took a nap once I got home, which was really nice. Then I went to the "torre di mangia" which is the big tower right next to the piazza al campo. It was AMAZING! The view from the top is priceless. Once I upload my pictures tomorrow I will post some on here for you guys to see. :) I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful views before! It doesn't get much better than that!
Tomorrow is our chill out day. We don't have anything scheduled that we have to do, so I think I'm just going to do my homework, relax, read a little, and maybe walk around Siena a bit more trying to find all the fountains for the contradas. Buonasera!

I'm in Love

I still can't believe this is real and that I'm actually here. I am so lucky to be in such a beautiful place experiencing such a wonderful culture! We had another orientation session today to go over some logistical stuff and things to be aware of. Afterwards I went to the market near the IES center which happens every Wednesday. It's absolutely amazing! It's huge and there's so much stuff to get for pretty cheap prices. I got a nice bag for 20 euro, which compared to other places is very good. I walked around to try to see everything, but I know I didn't. Apparently there was food somewhere, but I never saw it. I walked around Siena for a bit afterwards and stumbled upon the most amazing view ever! I took a couple of pictures with my phone, so once I upload them onto my computer, I will upload them for you all to see :) I ate lunch at my apartment for the first time and then had to head back to the IES center for an "interview" with one of the Italian professors. Apparently I am in the intermediate Italian class, which is cool. Tomorrow we will start our language intensive courses, which I am really excited for because then I will get to learn a bit more Italian and possibly start to communicate a bit better with people. Tonight the whole group of us (24 in all I think) split in two to go to dinner. I don't remember the name of the place we went, but it was amazing! I got bruschetta for an appetizer and then pasta al formaggio (basically a fancier mac and cheese). So good! And the portion sizes are just right. I wasn't extremely full afterwards, but it filled me up. We also got some wine to go around the table and I have to say it was pretty good. It was the first time I have had wine here and I was pleasantly surprised. It was a Chianti wine, so obviously it was good. I also ended up getting an Italian phone here since it was easier than using my grandmother's cousins extra phone. It will be easier to text or call everyone since we basically all have the same type of phone and texting is free. Anyways, hopefully this weekend I will be able to relax a bit more and maybe read a little :) Buonanotte!

Exploring

Today was a busy day. First we had an orientation session this morning for 2 1/2 hours. Then a group of us went to get lunch. We found this cute little caffe on some random side street that we somehow managed to stumble upon. The 2 guys working were very nice and spoke some English. I had a variety of stuff - eggplant parmesan (so good!), pesto pasta (also good), bruschetta, and some mixed veggies. So far the food I've had here is delicious! About an hour later, we went on a 2 hour walking tour of Siena. It was great! We got to see where the post office, supermarket, the police station, and parts of the University of Siena to name a few. Not that I remember where most of those places are... After that, we went to the supermarket to get some food to cook at our apartments. We got some one euro wine, so we're hoping that it actually tastes good. We went to dinner at like 8ish and had these huge slices of pizza. Then we walked around a little to find some dessert and ended up stumbling into some other people from our program, so we all just went to a restaurant/bar. That's where I got the nutella, mascarpone pizza that could have fed 5 of us (the top picture). Thank god we could take it home (even though the waitress looked a little annoyed at us for asking for boxes...). The other pics up are just from the walking tour and some of the views I saw that were absolutely amazing! Whew! I'm exhausted! Buonanotte!!

SIENA!!!

I'M FINALLY HERE!!!! I arrived in Florence today at about 11ish and then got a ride from Guenter down to Siena. It was a beautiful drive and Siena is absolutely gorgeous. I am super excited to be here and already I'm loving it! My apartment was much bigger than I was expecting. We have a nice little foyer, a pretty big living room, 2 decent sized bedrooms, a bathroom, and a decent sized kitchen, with lots of seating. I just explored a little around Il Campo (a cobblestone plaza) with 2 of my roommates (one is from NH, the other from New Orleans). We have an Italian roommate, but we haven't met her yet because she has classes. There are so many more stores than I was expecting and so many neat little stores and caffe's that I'm sure I will be frequenting them a lot on my way to class. I can't wait to explore more and figure out all the treasures of Siena! I am loving my life right now and feel like I am living the dream and I haven't even been here for a day! :)

Waiting is the Hardest Part

I head out tomorrow for good old Italia! I can't wait! Making sure I have everything and getting the last couple of things packed. What I've been waiting for about 3 or 4 years now is finally here! Gahhhhhhh!!! (Let's see how many exclamation points I can use haha) I'm so excited to go and experience Italian culture in every possible way! Is this real life??
Hopefully I will be able to keep up with this blog and keep everyone updated who is following it. Until next time :)