Ciao.

Hey lovers.

As I had hoped, I am able to get back on here with ample time to update.

It's beginning to settle in that yes, I am here for the next few months. I can't wait to start school though; it'll be amazing to get back into some kind of studio to work on art. I miss talking to art people; it's strange to realize that that's what's been missing. Like Kelsey and I talked about one day, we question if we could even communicate with people outside of the CFA hahah.

First pizza dinner!

First bottle of wine!

Colosseum tour!

Colosseum with Elise

Roommates at the Forum
Fountain.

New friends?

Some church candles

Normal Roman traffic

My most favorite statue. Ever. It was like seeing a celebrity. I am completely in love with this statue.

St. Peter's square.

Best friend picture?

Drunk food of Italy (I WASN'T DRUNK)

Trevi Fountain; soooo beautiful at night.

Gelatos! (Elise in the background) Baby cone. I think it was 3 Euro.

Just my walk to class. nbd.

"The Gates of Paradise" by Ghiberti! The flood from about 50 years ago damaged the original so they restored it and put it in the church.

The top of Piazzle Michelangelo, overlooking the entirety of Florence.

Parking in Italy; nbd.

Johnna and me; some club called 21. Dumb name but fun as shit.

I've met a lot of people so far; I'm excited to get to meet people who have more similar interests to me. Everyone's been really nice and open to being friends. This is the great thing about studying abroad; everyone is open to forging long-term relationships.

It's also been fabulous having Elise on this trip with me :)

In terms of the social culture, the men are the interesting part. I don't really find many (if at all) Italian men to be attractive to me, but they are relentless. At the club, they groped the shit out of me and I had my ass grabbed several times in minutes. And then walking back tonight, I had a guy say "excuse me, you dropped something. My heart." What the hell does that even mean? hahah it'd be flattering if I didn't know that they've probably said that to 6 other women before me. Hahah that's the culture.

Italian women are beautiful. That is all. Hahaha. All the women on the ISA staff are beautiful. I feel like I can match their personalities to those of people I know from home, which is funny. The men on the ISA staff are very nice. The whole staff is extremely helpful and make it abundantly clear that they're here to help at any hour. I love that. This is why I paid so much.

My tuition was more than most programs but it comes with so many tours, providing tour guides and hotels and dinners/breakfasts. It was completely worth it.

Italy is covered in lattice and filigree motifs that I would LOVE to incorporate into my work in metals. I love that detail. Check out this post for my pictures!

It's only been a week and I've done so much.