First Day of Class

Our dinner on Saturday night ended up being a success and the food was delicious. We decided that we are going to cook dinners from the market alot. On Sunday we basically relaxed all day and hung out with some friends from the program. It was sad to not be home and celebrating July 4th. I did get to skype mom and dad though and that was hilarious as mom was freaking out that she would somehow have to pay for it. Dad also kept poking his head in front of the screen and saying "look who is in the box now" haha. It was good to see them face to face though!

Today was our first day of classes in Florence. Isabelle, Maggie, and I went to World of Museums at 9 am. We found that we would be attending a lot of field trips to museums, but there was also a lot of work associated with it. We went to our advisors to see if we could switch into a food and wine pairing class. However, this class is not approved by the UNC system, so we would not receive credit for it. I do not need the credit hours, so I am waiting to hear from my advisor in the Chapel Hill to see if I can take that class. Its really frustrating because she is on holiday for July 4th today, so we have to wait until tomorrow. As of right now, the three of us switched into an introductory sculpture class that apparently there are a lot of UNC students already in. They told us that the class this morning was really fun and would not be hard at all. So hopefully, if we cannot get into the cooking class, the sculpture one will be a lot better than the museum class. After our morning class fiasco, Isabelle and I walked around the markets for a little bit and then grabbed a quick lunch before heading to our Italian class. It is all UNC students in that class because we are the only school here that requires it to be taken. However, the class wasnt too bad and the professor seems really nice. It is so similiar to spanish it is going to be hard to differentiate between the two. The class is also 2 hours and 15 minutes long so it makes for a really long day. Tonight we are going to go a restaurant off of Abbys recommendations with about 8 girls and they are supposed to give us free wine, tshirts, and hats so it should be pretty fun.
Isabelle has been planning our weekend excursions all day yesterday and this afternoon. It has been near impossible to find a place to stay in Cinque Terra. All of the hotels in the fifth town require a two night minimum and they are all booked for the next two weekends. We did find a hostel in the first town that our friend stayed in this summer and he said it wasnt bad at all. So as of right now Isabelle, Sarah, and I are going to Venice on Friday and spending the night there. On Saturday morning we are taking a train and meeting Maggie in Cinque Terra around 1 pm. We will then spend Saturday night in Cinque Terra and leave Sunday evening. I am really excited about this, and it should be really fun! Hope all is well at home and everyone had a good 4th!