Ciao

Hey everyone,

So this will be my last post until I get back to Lafayette and what better way to start it off than with a thank you to everyone who has been following my blog. I also want to extend this thanks to everyone who made this trip possible and the ones that kept in contact with me these past 6 weeks. I would have never made it through without you guys.

Enough with the tears now and on to more serious things. In these past 6 weeks I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and business compared to how we do things in America. The Italian culture is much more laid back and nothing seems to bother a business owner. Many of the businesses do not have business hours because the owner decides when to open and close at his or her own discretion. When looking at the restaurant business you can easily see the service is terrible. This is due to the fact that in the Italian culture no one tips for service. If you have ever worked in the restaurant industry you will know that this must be a terrible place to work because even though they are getting paid more here you make more when leaving it up to the customer to tip you.

The Italians are also very friendly toward their own women and American women. All you have to do is walk into a coffee shop or pretty much any business where there is a man and woman working and you will eventually see the guy touching on his female co-worker. In a normal business back home this would be considered harassment or in some cases wouldn't actually be done in front of the customer. It seems as though there is no human resource departments at many of the businesses here. I believe the main reason for this is because many of the businesses here are owned by family's so the kids and relatives work at the businesses so it is a lot more unprofessional. I am anxious to see what I notice about different aspects of business when I get home in Lafayette and how I apply the business practices Italians use here that seem to work, most of the time.

Since my homework assignment is complete I might as well tell you guys about our last couple of days in Florence. Sunday we woke up to go see some things we weren't able to see in the past 6 weeks. After touring the inside of the Duomo and the museum behind it I had to come back home and sleep because, of course, after 6 weeks I would get sick in Italy on the past couple of days. The rest of the day was wasted with me drugged up in bed. Yesterday we packed and started cleaning our apartment until our farewell dinner. We all met up as a group and had a nice last dinner with our fellow students and teachers. George, the leader of the trip from UL, said a few words that had everyone laughing and made us all wish we wouldn't have to leave so soon. After dinner everyone headed to the grand opening of the Hard Rock Cafe Firenze. We all watched the band for a little while then went to one of the apartments and hung out until we decided to go out to a bar. On the way there I decided I would be smart and come home and sleep because I still felt like I was going to die in Italy.


Today is our last day in Italy and we are cleaning up the rest of our apartment and are going to have dinner one last time with the group. We have to be at the airport at 4:30 in the morning which should be so much fun. Wish me luck that these flights go as planned and I will be back in Lafayette at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow.... Get ready guys because it will never be the same.

Mrs. Vanessa's Final Project

The Practice of Sustainability and Recycling in Italy

            The minute you arrive in Florence, Italy you get a sense of a laid back slow moving culture, except for the people on Vespas. One thing that the Italians are not laid back about though is their will to keep their city clean and free from trash. With the amount of people who travel to the historic district of Florence, not keeping up with the cleaning would turn this beautiful town into a slum. 

• ·         The first thing I noticed about the cleaning practices is the street sweepers that are constantly going up and down every street all day. Every so often the driver will get out and sweep the sidewalk off before continuing his duties. This eliminates the great amount of cigarette butts and debris that tourists clutter the streets with.

• ·         Right behind the street sweeper is something we are very familiar with and that is the trash truck. This truck travels the streets of Italy all day every day picking up the bins of trash that line the streets. I couldn’t imagine having to carry my trash to my local trash bin rather than putting it out in my own bin in front of my house. Most of the streets have these bins very close together but I have seen a few streets that have none and it is a good walk to the nearest one.

• ·         Right next to these garbage bins are a different lighter blue bin. These bins are made for people to put their glass bottles in such as all the wine bottles we have drank so far in Italy. These bins also allow for you to put your plastic bottles into. The truck that picks these up lifts them into the sky over the back of the truck and opens a chute on the bottom which allows for everything to fall straight into the truck. Watching this was awesome; to bad I forgot my camera at home.

• ·         The next big recycling move the city takes that we do not see every day in the states is recycling of boxes. As you are walking down the streets in the late afternoon on certain days you will find that in front of every business there are piles of cardboard boxes. If you were to wait around you will eventually see a truck that is similar to the trash truck come around the corner and a guy following it throwing these boxes into the back. This practice shows that not one piece of cardboard is left behind.

• ·         Recently we traveled outside of Florence to the valleys of Chianti to see how wine is produced. Many of us went into this trip thinking that wine was easy to make and it is a get rich quick job if you are in the right area. We were all proven wrong as soon as we stepped foot off of the bus. The first vineyard we toured used regular practices of wine making such a pesticides and produced 25 million bottles of wine a year.

The second wine vineyard we went to practiced sustainability when it produced its wine and used the acts of nature instead of the hurtful practices of man. Our tour guide explained to us that no harmful pesticides are used on any of the plants. Instead they use the elements of the land such as planting non harmful bugs that will eat the harmful bugs. They also plant certain grasses in between each row that add nutrients to the soil that helps the grapes grow. This vineyard relies on the natural weather to grown its crop instead of adding their own water. 

After comparing these two wine vineyards we can see that the second one cares more about the future and sustainability of the land rather than making a perfect crop every year. 

The last thing we learned is that just because a wine is organically made does not mean it is better than a wine made using pesticides but you will always feel better when drinking the organic wine.

• ·         There are a couple of other small practices that make a difference in Italy that could also help the United States with its recycling problem. When going to the supermarket or other stores you must pay 10 to 20 cents per bag you use. This forces people to use their book sacks or reusable bags so plastic does not get eaten by the environment and harm anyone.

• ·         Another practice I only read about but never got to see up close was the use of the brown bins you see on the streets. These bins were put into place to collect organic kitchen waste along with leaves and grass.  

       As you can see Italy has many practices that support recycling but it still isn’t where the Florentine government wants it. Their goal is to have 40% of material being recycled but they are at about 27.5%. It would be interesting to see how the USA compares to the amount of recycling done here as compared to there. So when you see piece of trash laying on the sidewalk next to the trashcan join the Italians on their fight for cleanliness and pick it up. 

http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=4944&browse-by=BeGreen

What a week....

Hello everybody,

So it's been a few days but this is due to the crazy week we had. The group made it back to Florence at 7 in the morning Monday and had to rush to Italian class. We were supposed to have our final test but they failed to tell us it got pushed back a week. We weren't to happy because we could've skipped class and got some sleep but at least we had another week to "study".

Tuesday we took our last trip as a whole group together to Siena and San Gimignano. After a short bus ride to Siena we were greeted by our tour guides who took us for a short walk through the city. Our tour guide was a native to the city and pointed out the most important sites of the city. The city is divided into 3 different mountains and 17 districts. The district you are born is is your district for life no matter if you move into a different district. The people of Siena take their status very seriously and they hold it with a high prestige.

Another interesting thing that happens twice a year in Siena is the historical horseraces. This horse race happens in the citys center piazza. It looks like a bowl and at least 20,000 people fill in the center and the horses race around the circle. Sometimes horses and even the jockeys die because of the tight corners.

After a quick lunch we went off to San Gimignano. It was a small town and we went to "The World's Greatest Gelato Shop" which wasn't to bad but they mostly all taste the same after a while.

We were all way to tired by the end of this. We came home and rested up for our wine tour the next morning. It was a pretty successful day.

Can I get some damn service?

Being from a place that believes that time is everything and you must not waste a minute on anything, Firenze can be a horrible place to live. Just when you think you will lose your mind at how slow the service can be one day you open your eyes and realize that maybe this is the right way to do things. From the restaurants, to the supermarkets you can bet you will be waiting at least 30 minutes when you ask for the check or a drink or your food. The Italian culture is very laid back. They believe that they should work to pay their bills and necessities and have enough for a small vacation. Many businesses do not put business hours on the door because they open and close whenever they feel like it which can make things difficult when you are looking for something.

The restaurants hire servers and pay them minimum wage, sometimes even more. The result of this means that the Italians do not tip when they go to a restaurant but instead pay a service charge which is around 1 euro per person at the table. This is completely opposite from how we do it in the states because as a server you rely on your tips. The better service you give to a customer the better the tip is. In Italy this means that since the server is not getting tipped they only have to do the minimum to get by because they are getting paid regardless. The average American sees this as being a terrible business model but after living here for over a month we see that the average business owner and it's employees are perfectly content. I noticed that all of the servers help each other out because you do not have 1 server but numerous ones who take your order and bring out the drinks and food.

So when you are out and about at your local restaurant remember, if your server takes a few minutes to bring your drink it could be worse so just deal with it. Oh and if you ain't tipping you ain't sipping as we say in the bar industry.

Paris Part Deux

Hey guys, this will be a short one because I just got internet and it is about 2 in the morning in Paris. We are all having a great time. The group got to see the Louvre which was awesome. For anyone who has ever read the Davinci Code or has any bit of education you will understand why this is an amazing thing for someone to see. When I came to Paris there was two things I wanted to see: The Eiffel Tower and The Louvre. I was able to see both of them so that was two checks off of my bucket list. Hopefully once my camera decides to work I will upload the pictures to this blog and the previous one.

Oh and P.S. the metro wasn't so bad out here which kind of makes up for the 12 hour train ride gone wrong.

The life of public transportation part deux/Paris minus the pictures

Hey guys, it's Friday night and I just wanted to check in and let everyone know how Paris is going. Wednesday night we had our movie night for our management classes. It was pretty fun especially knowing that we were leaving for Paris right after. After the movie was over we rushed home and grabbed our bags and after talking with the kebab guys and waiting 30 minutes for a taxi we were finally off to the La Stazione de Firenze. Our train had a slight 10 minute delay and at around 10:30 we left the station for Paris. The group found our cars and made friends with our new bunk buddies for the next "12" hours.

We finally fell asleep and woke up around 8:00. We were all excited until we realized that the stops were running late but figured it wouldn't be more than an hour of a delay. Yeah well after about 5 hours of a delay we finally arrived in Paris. Our train was supposed to get there at 10:15 but when we checked our watches it was about 3:00. Once again the train failed us, but we were just glad we had finally made it.

The group immediately rushed to the hotel and dropped our bags off and went walk around the city to get our bearings. After grabbing dinner we decided it would be a perfect night to go see the Eiffel Tower. I must say that the amount of money I have spent on this trip was well worth being able to see the sights I have seen so far including the Eiffel Tower.

We found us a place on the grass and planned on staying until the sun went down and it lit up. Some gypsies were running around selling bottles of wine and champagne so we all hustled them and each bought our own bottle of wine. Little did we know the sun does not set until 11:00 P.M. in Italy. The four hours of sitting down drinking wine was well worth it once the tower lit up. After watching it for a few minutes the wine finally wore off and we were all freezing which meant it was time to head home back to the hotel.

I will edit the blog with pictures so check back later tomorrow.

2 weeks to go...

Hey guys this will be a short one because no much has happened this week. We got back at about 12 Sunday from the Amalfi Coast. Monday morning we had Italian class and our management class. I realized in class that I have learned more about Ethics and Economics in this one semester than I have learned my last three years at UL. It is weird that when you come to a new country it is easier to learn things taught in a classroom. The reason for this is because the course is designed to be taught with examples in everyday Italian life.

Monday night we went to a Mexican restaurant. Who would have thought it would be some of the best Mexican food we had. Last night we had Sushi at Mr. Sushi which was not bad.

You would think we would be eating all Italian but it gets a little old having it every day and night. Plus the best pizza I have eaten in my life is probably back home in Louisiana haha.

I'll be in Paris for the next 4 days so I will probably not be able to talk to anyone so see you guys Monday morning at 7.

"Wait, your out of internet?" Welcome to Sorrento

Sorry I am so late Mrs. Pat but we literally just got back into Florence a few minutes ago.

Continuing from the other post, we met Florence4Fun at the train station and after traveling all day we boarded another bus for a 7 hour trip to the Amalfi Coast. On the way there we came to the realization that we were probably the most mature people on the trip. Most of the "kids" were aggravating but I won't go into detail because we are trying to forget them. This bus trip was the most grueling 7 hours of our lives but we kept a smile on our faces and we finally made it to the hotel at 3:00 in the morning. The best part about this was we had to wake up in 4 hours to eat breakfast then board the bus for the Island of Capri. It was pretty amazing especially the Blue Grotto

The Blue Grotto is a cave on the shore of the island that only has two sources of light which lights the water up, the entrance and from the a whole in the bottom. We had to board a different smaller boat that we were on and lay down in it so we could get pulled through this small hole. It was definitely an unforgettable experience.

The next day arrived and we were well rested and off to the beach town of Positano. The group had a free day of shopping and beach time and by the end of it we were all ready to get back to the hotel so we could get ready to go out in Sorrento. They took us to the heart of Sorrento which looked like an upscale Bourbon Street. We all hung out at a bar called the English Inn which was awesome except for the Italians creeping on the American girls. A few drinks and shots later it was time to head home.

Today was our last day and we were headed to Pompeli. The story behind the city is very interesting. In the year 79 AD it was a thriving Roman city. One day out of nowhere the famous Mt. Vesuvius volcano exploded. The smoke, ash, and gas flooded the city within hours and the city was buried under 9 ft. volcanic ash. The city was found by archiologists and was excavated and they found that almost the whole city was preserved including humans and pets. This is a must see for anyone traveling to Europe.

The weekend finally came to an end and we were on our way HOME once again.

(Sorry for any misspelling. Been up for way to long.)

Pisa and Lucca... Minus Lucca

Hey guys, so Thursday we woke up early and headed to the train station so we could bored the bus with our class and go see the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa. After a rocky bus ride there we finally arrived. The outside of the city did not look to pleasing, but when we got inside of the walls we all took a breath of relief. The tour guide grabbed us and instantly we were off. She explained to us that the tower is not the only thing in the square of importance although most people think it is.

The square also has a baptistry, church, and mausoleum. This was interesting because she explained that it symbolized a circle of life where Pisians are baptized, live life, and die all in one central place. The way of life here is very interesting because the Tuscan region often views the people of Pisa as though they are mean and arrogant. Our tour guide was definitely a very sweet lady and she has lived in Pisa her whole life. By the time the tour was over it was time for the "four best friends that anyone can have" <hangover> to leave the group and head back to Florence so we could get ready to leave again and head for the Amalfi Coast.

The Day of the Creatures

So it has been a couple of days since my last blog post and that is due to the busy schedules we have had. Monday and Tuesday were filled with classes and more classes which were actually full of new ideas that can be used in the every day world. I want to take the time to compliment our teachers, Vanessa and Patricia, on overcoming the task of teaching "boring" things and actually taking the information and pairing them up with examples that we are learning in our everyday lives in Florence. OK, now I gave them their 10 seconds of fame on my blog so I will move on to other things, me. Today has been a long day and still isn't over with. We woke up at 6:00 this morning to go to the train station to book our tickets for Paris. Immediately after we came home and finally found 2 hotels after 2 weeks of searching. We were all ecstatic because it was starting to look like Paris would never get to see these 6 crazy Cajuns.

After this we went off to Italian language class and learned our numbers and ABC's, well not really, it just sounded good. It felt like kindergarten all over again. Right after this we went take a tour of the Ufizzi which contained many famous works of Michelangelo. Our tour guide was amazing and even called an Asian man a "creature" as she said it. We had a last laugh with her and by this time we were starving. We decided it was time to go get a Kebab from our favorite shop Mesopotamia Kebabs. Do not let the name fool you because the owners Mustafa, Billy, and Tommy give you dinner and a show. After three weeks they know our names, somewhat, and pretty much everything about us.

The next thing on the list was a speaker from the American Consulate who taught us about what she does. She basically works here in Italy and works with American companies who want to export internationally. It was interesting to find out that only 1% of US companies export internationally and of that 58% goes to Mexico and Canada. These numbers are crazy when you think about how much we import.

Tonight we have cooking class and I do believe it will be an early night because tomorrows schedule goes like this:

• Train for Pisa at 8
• Pisa until about 3
• Train back to Florence
• Pack
• Bus to Amalfi Coast at 6
• Sleep

Now before I go I want have a very difficult homework assignment that I have to do for Mrs. Pat. Some of this will not make any sense to the average reader because you are not in our class so I will try to make it easy to read. So here's to you men haters out there. I will start off by quoting Mrs. Pat when she said in her blog "love conquers all". This being said I must write a job analysis on my spouse I want to one day have. I could probably go on for days about this and probably make a few have the "she man women hater's club" out to get me so I will keep it short.

For all of you who do not know what a job analysis is; it is a procedure that involves identifying every aspect of how a job is done by interviewing and observing someone doing that job. Now to some of you a relationship/marriage can be a job in itself but when in reality I do not believe this should be the case. People who feel this way probably aren't happy and the relationship/marriage probably will not work. Anyway let me get down to my analysis of my spouse.

I believe that the absolute most important thing my spouse should be able to do is make me laugh and make me happy. As a 21 year old guy looks can be very important right now but as I have learned looks don't mean anything. I say you should find someone who is pretty much your "type" so I don't think I have anything to worry about in the looks department because I mean come on what can I say, hahaha. OK I will get serious because this is a "homework assignment" and I do not want to look like the cynical guy.

My spouse should be someone of intelligence with a brain somewhat bigger than that of a "squirrel". She needs to be able to support our family in case something would happen to me because I do believe I will be able to support the family. Now before all you men haters start getting your horses in an uproar, I am not saying women cannot support a family, I just come from a background of believing that the man should support his family and not have his wife work so hard. I must say though I know many women who support themselves and their kids alone so kudos to you, but I do know many who sit at home and do absolutely nothing. I'm digging myself deeper aren't I.

I look at life this way, and I do own this quote. "If you want something, why not go out and get it. Do not think twice about it and nothing is never impossible. Even if you cannot afford it or it seems physically impossible, there is always a way around it, and if you do not seize the opportunity one day you will look back and regret not doing it." That being said my spouse must have this outlook on life and never be scared to try new things and worry about the consequences later because I tell you what, I have done more things in my life that some people will never do in their life and I owe this all to my family supporting me, although it takes a little bit of convincing sometimes. 

In a nutshell I want that sweet, loving, caring, intelligent, never scared, blonde hair, blue eyes wife that everyone dreams of having. OK so the last two are only additives to the rest, but do not have to come with the package.

By all means please do not hate me or think I am cynical in any way ladies. I will be taking applications at anytime so include your resume and I will start the "recruitment process" and then move on to "orientation". This was for you Mrs. Pat.

Once again "love conquers all"...

I am finally done, thanks for bearing with me....

Home Sweet Home- In Florence That Is

Home sweet home is not a mistake guys. Florence is really beginning to feel like our new home because every time we go away for a couple of days and get back it is like a sigh of relief. I know you guys are thinking, "Is he crazy, he was in Rome why would he be happy to be back in Florence.". I will try to explain. After only 2 and a half weeks in Florence we pretty much know the streets, neighbors, and the shop owners making it feel like we have been here forever. When we leave on the weekends we are going to a new city/country and we know absolutely nothing about it so it takes almost the whole time we are there to get used of it, therefore we enjoy it for a couple of days then you are ready to leave and head home

I left off yesterday just waking up from a nap and going to grab a bite to eat. Some of us decided to go get a bottle of wine then eat and on the way out some other UL students told us about a pub crawl that was taking place at 9. None of the roommates wanted to go.... Needless to say I skipped dinner and joined the pub crawlers and I have to say this was no mistake. We all had the greatest time. The first bar we went to we had an open bar and after an hour and a half we were headed to the next bar and feeling great. The group had to take a bus to the next bar which ended up being 30 minutes of mayhem and just plain fun. We knew it was time to leave when a certain someone (not gonna say any names because I am sure our wonderful teachers are gonna read this) decided he was going to accidentally throw a glass down, but it was not that serious. We all looked at each other, laughed, and headed for the exit. This was probably the funniest moment of the trip. We headed to the next bar where we stayed for 20 minutes got our T-Shirt and headed back to the hotel.


This morning my roommates decided it was a great idea to wake up at 7:30 and go on an adventure around Rome. I am glad they drugged me out of bed because the Pantheon was amazing. We got there and had five minutes to look around before they kicked everyone out to set up for the mass. Next on our list was the Spanish steps which we climbed up and took pictures from the top. We then went eat lunch and headed back to the hotel because by 1 we were ready for a bed but had to wait. The group just got back and I must say that Rome was amazing but when we got off of the train in Florence everyone had a smile on their face because all we wanted was food, wine, and Our Home.

By the way, Mrs. Pat this is for you and all those times you hassled me ;)

Roma

So today is Saturday and we are in Rome. We arrived in Rome yesterday around 10:30, dropped our bags off at the hotel, and went straight to the Vatican. From there we got lunch before starting our 4 hour tour, which was terrible, by the way. The whole tour was amazing and words will not do any justice to how great this place was. I do not even think the pictures will do the justice. It is something that you guys will have to come out and experience in person. After our tour we went to get a "quick" dinner and drink which turned into 3 and a half hours of hanging out with the coolest waiter we have had so far and quite a hefty bill due to the Budweiser's and Corona's that we ran them out of. It was definitely a night to remember. This morning we had to wake up and be ready for 7:45 which was not to fun but everyone was excited to see the Coliseum. Once again the pictures will do no justice. It's crazy to think how the Roman Empire built something so amazing and huge. It was a site I will never forget. I'll be updating you guys tomorrow on our night tonight. ciao

Happy Happy Birthday

So we are in the second full week of being in Florence and things are going great. After finally getting some sleep Monday night it felt good to be back home at 119 Ghibellina. Nothing really exciting happened this week besides last night. It was Alex Simm's 21st birthday and I must say it seemed like everyone thought it was their birthdays last night.

We all had a blast and it was the first time that almost everyone went out to the same place together. We ended up going to Space which was pretty legit, except for the fact that the laws for bars are completely different here than back in the states. In the U.S. you must be 18 to get into most bars and 21 to drink. Here in Italy you have to be at least 16 years old to get in and you are able to purchase alcohol in some of them. It is really weird that 16 is the legal age around here. Being that I work in a bar I know the major laws that protect innocent bystanders to the immaturity of underage drinking. There are many bars that do not have a "human resource department", but they do have rules and regulations in place that protect the owners and the workers. There are many ways around this for a bartender to be able to sell to his or her underage friends so it comes down to making an ethical decision. Many of the laws in Florence are different especially the traffic laws, in which there seems to be none at all. I plan on keeping my eyes opened for other things that are different and tell you guys about them. We are leaving for Rome tomorrow at 8 in the morning so we decided to take it easy. I will update you guys from Rome.

Welcome to the Life of Public Transportation

Hey guys, just wanted to check in and let you all know about our amazing weekend in Monaco. Thursday night we decided to go have dinner then a couple of drinks. Well as the responsible college students we are a couple turned into a few and we had a blast, except for the fact our train was leaving for Florence at 4:30 a.m.. Needless to say we were in a scramble to pack and make it there on time. We ended up being an hour early and after that hour of searching for the train we found it and we were on our way.

After three trains, nasty train stations, train bathrooms (A.K.A The Keg bathrooms), and no sleep we finally arrived in Monaco at about 4:30. We were greated by a Mercedes-Benz "taxi cab", because obviously the cabbies only drive really expensive cars, and we made it to our hotel. Friday night we ate dinner and went to sleep finally. Saturday was quite the adventure. We went walk around see our future yachts and shop.

We came across this restaurant/bar that overlooked the port and we made it our home from 1-9:30. By the time 9:30 rolled around the bartenders and servers loved us even after breaking a wine glass. We decided it was time to sleep and took the check. The $10 coronas left us with a bill of $316 which we happily paid because it was worth every penny. On the way home we decided it wasn't exactly time to sleep so we grabbed some wine and went relax at the hotel.

The next morning started off great and our first few trains went great, that is until we got on our last one. It was supposed to take us to Pisa Centrale where we would hop on another one to Florence. This wasn't the case obviously because the train stopped in La "something" and the conductor told us we had to get off because it was the last stop. After arguing for a few minutes we were booted off along with some new friends that were also studying abroad and a couple of other random confused people. We ran to another train that was leaving for Pisa and thought it would be fine, until we got to Pisa only to find out there was no more trains, only a bus coming an hour and a half later. The bus ride was TERRIBLE and we never thought we would be so happy to finally arrive back in Florence.

This was definitely a weekend to remember and I can thank Lee, Robert, Allie, and Hailee for making it bearable. Alright guys, hope you all enjoyed this.

Back to school, back to school.......

Hey guys, I know it's been a few days since the last post but that is due to the lack of technology out here in Florence, our internet decided to give out Saturday and well we went crazy without facebook, I mean being able to study. I had a great weekend taking in the sights, shopping, and just hanging out with the new family out here. Friday we went to a bar called Kakulua and made friends with the owners and bartenders. We found out there was a big soccer game Saturday night and decided to reserve a table. It was an amazing experience because everyone appreciates soccer out here and it was really intense, and it was a great night. Monday morning we had to come to realization that we actually had to go to class while we were out here and we had our first Italian language class, which was not to bad and kind of interesting. Yesterday I had the day off from school so we all sat down and planned out our weekend trips. We decided to go to the train station and we bought our first train tickets ever to Monico this weekend, and it should be pretty exciting as we have to leave Friday morning at 4:30. OK time for class, ciao.

Trip to Florence/1st Day Here

Hey guys, just wanted to give y'all an update on what's happened in the past 24 + hours. After a short 4 hour drive to the Houston airport we got through the 10 lines pretty quickly and waved goodbye to America for 6 weeks. The flight to Paris was long and grueling as h***. When we landed everyone was happy only to come to the realization that we had a 3 hour wait in the airport until our hour and thirty minute flight to Florence. The Paris airport was pretty legit being they served coffee and beer in the same place. Needless to say for once in my life I stuck to coffee and saved the beer till after the flight, but for the record some of the guys in our group did have a beer or a few at 8:30 in the morning, meaning I found my new friends. When we arrived in Florence we were greeted by the AIFS staff as they shoved us into a taxi after we found out who our roommates were, who btw are Rob and Lee. The drive to the apartment was full of looking at each other trying to figure out who was going to die first, us or a pedestrian. I have never experienced driving like that and will stick to walking most of the trip avoiding the taxis as much as possible. We were greeted by another AIFS staff member who showed us to our room, which I must say, are again, pretty legit. We seem to have one of the best apartments out of the group. After unpacking we met up with some friends in the group of walked around Florence. Finally after grabbing something to eat, taking hundreds of pictures, almost getting run over, getting called a (blank) American, buying wine, and just taking it all in we are finally going get some rest for tomorrows long day. Hope y'all doing good back in ole Louisiana. Goodnight

P.S., you can find my photos updated hopefully daily starting tomorrow at flickr.com. Search nicktoonsitaly

The Journey Begins

Finally, after 5 months of planning and preparing it is finally here. In the matter of 14 hours I will be departing Lafayette on (hopefully) a coach bus headed to Houston leaving all the stress of preparing behind. Our group will be leaving the Houston airport at 4:30 p.m.. We will then fly from Houston to Paris, then an hour and a half layover, and then we depart Paris and fly directly into Florence. We are going to arrive at about 2:05 P.M. Italian time and I am hoping for no jet lag. I will be constantly updating my blog with, hopefully, at least one post a day but we all know how that can go. Please keep up with me and I promise I will post a lot of pictures. I will have an Italian number that I will post so you guys can text or call as much as your heart desires. See you guys in a month. Let's do this!