I never want to leave

I finally have access to internet for a moment - my roomate, Kate, from Russia, is letting me borrow her laptop so I can update my blog. I have been taking tons of pictures but I can't post them because I didn't bring the cable with me, and all I have is a SIM card. Suggestions? I can't get over how awesome it is here. So far the only things I don't like are the humidity and the liver paste my host mom gave me to try. This week has been a blur. Orientations, meetings, neighborhood walks, permisso di soggiorno, and moving in with italian strangers. I have unpacked and finally I don't feel as dizzy today. It's saturday afternoon and soon my host family will take us out to get some comfortable shoes and show us the town. I'm tired because I stayed up almost all of last night. Jane, Kate, Mark, Mark (yeah there are like 5 guys named mark in the syracuse program) all went to the Duomo and out to the bars. I wore my cute heals and got some attention from the locals, but nothing creepy. It has been amazing. I got home around 3am to moonlight streeming onto my bed from the skylight and slept in till 10am this morning. Who knows where today will take me. Classes start on monday and I can't wait. Ciao!

In Florence!

I have arrived! After 30 hours of travel with maybe 3 hours of sleep, I am here. It is absolutely beautiful. I wish I could appreciate it more at this point, but the jet lag is really bad. I had no idea it would be this unbearable. My head is swimming and it is hard to stand because I am so tired. But that aside, I have never felt so free before. The flight on Lufthansa was the best I've ever had - great food, cartoons, pillows, leg room. The orientation was overwhelming; it took every bit of my concentration to just fill out the forms for my permisso di soggiorgno (permit of stay). The thing I'm looking forward to the most is just sleeping, sleeping. I don't even care about food or anything else at this point, I'm just overwhelmed with exhaustion. The temperature is a hot 80F, with humidity and my clothes are gross from not changing or showering for so long. There are palm trees and vespas and every building is more interesting than any I have ever seen in the US up to this point. I can't wait to start my adventure. Cheers!

Brooklyn, NY - the night before my flight

So tonight is Juve, a holiday in Brooklyn, NY that celebrates the people and culture of the West Indies. I'm staying up way too late ( it's like 2am here), hanging out with Hannah and Evan and going outside where the streets are filled with thousands of young people, playing music and cooking food. NY is so culturally rich, interesting and beautiful. It just makes me want to learn about people even more, and figure out what gives them great architecture. It's amazing. I wish I had that much cultural history. One native Haitian gave me his own Haitian flag - what an honor. I feel so rich and excited to get on the plane tomorrow afternoon and head to Florence. Man life is so great.