Saturday

A phrase has emerged in our group. Whenever something goes wrong or someone realizes that they shouldn't have done something, you are bound to hear:

“It's spring break!!”

For example:
"All I've eaten today is gelato and a cappuccino! Pssssh...who cares. It's spring break!"

The boys say things like:
"Oh, I think I was wearing these underwear yesterday....*shoulder shrug* It's spring break!"

Here are a few other observations of my trip so far:

-Even students at HUF can't fully escape the caf. They use the same plastic cups.
-All of the cars in Florence are tiny and compact, most with hatchbacks
-Italian words all seem to end in vowels, especially 'A,' 'O' and 'I.'
-Personal bubbles of space don't exist, among people or in traffic
-You must know how to parallel park
-You don't need to be 5 feet from the walls/road barriers/other vehicles as you cruise down the street—6 or so inches is sufficient.
-Vespas don't need lanes—they are content to drive on the lane lines, between cars

I've had such a good day. Today the weather was gorgeous, with a perfect mix of sunshine and a cold breeze. We spent the morning at the villa and then went to Mario's, where I had my first Italian cappuccino. :) There was a toast between HUF and a city official who deals with economics. Then we went to the Scandicci market where my partner and I covered a story and did some shopping. We had the rest of the afternoon to ourselves since people were off covering different stories, so two other girls and I hung out. We got free gelato and then went into Florence to walk around and go to the market there. There was lots of girl talk and good bonding time.

When we came back to the Bible school to work on our stories, we were locked out...which left us a little frustrated. One of our girls scaled the wall, climbed onto the balcony and tried to get in through the window, but it was locked. We decided to kill time by sitting in a coffee shop.

Once we finally got into the building, it was time to head back out again for dinner. A group of us went to ZaZas, an excellent Italian restaurant. I ordered fettuccine in a walnut sauce (fantastic choice) and grilled chicken with potatoes. The waitress completely forgot about my second course, and by the time it came, the rest of our group had finished eating. Thankfully, the chicken and potatoes were delicious and soothed any anger I had toward the waitress for forgetting it in the first place.

Now it's time for bed. Even though our room is freezing cold, I think I'm tired enough to sleep through just about anything.