I've been hearing some people wanted to see photos or see if I'm alive. As for the latter part, well, here I am! I actually meant to update as soon as I got back from Tuscany last week but the midterms hit... and the spring break planning got me carried away... and then even more midterms... and some other personal stuff on top of that. yeah. It's been a really stressful week.
BUT I have persevered and by next week, I'll be able to relax 100% because by then, I'd be entering SPRING BREAK! How about that?! But first things first: Tuscany.
So from February 21st through the 23rd, the API group went to Tuscany. Tuscany is a region, NOT a city. The region is named after a city called Toscana for those wondering. We visited the beautiful towns of Arezzo and Siena, spending one night in each.
We first went to Arezzo to see a farm that grew olives for olive oil and a bit of wine. But it focused on olive oil. We did an olive oil "tasting", that was interesting in the way that the historian showed us how to warm the little cup of olive oil we were given in our hands and by doing so, we were able to smell every single spice that was in it. We were given a tour of the place and background history. Afterwards we had a "light" lunch but everyone else and me were starving so we piled up like two plates each, haha. It was full of cheeses, crackers drizzled with olive oil, pasta with pesto, prosciutto, and salami... and of course wine. They also had a spa inside this place that had reasonable prices. We didn't go though because we had a special treat in Siena the next day!
Arezzo was really pretty and I didn't really want to leave. My last views from the town was over the edge of the hill to overlook the wide plains of another part of Arezzo. But then it was time to go. We checked in a highway hotel Park Hotel - Arezzo.
The next morning we departed to Siena. We received a guided tour of the town and then had about 30 minutes to ourselves. I got pizza and this amazing delectation called frittelle sevilli that was basically a fried rice ball with orange inside of it. Initially it didn't sound too good but I decided to give it a try. I was so surprised because it was mind-bogglingly good! I wish I had more and I miss it now. I would go back just for those.
We departed Siena for the baths. That's right, baths. We were all looking forwards to this part of the trip! We had the amazing opportunity to visit a spa/mineral-thermal bath outside Siena. It was a really nice treat especially to be able to relax before what would be for me a really stressful week!
I didn't really take pictures since I was busy the entire time! We only had three hours at the bath so I tried to use my time wisely. I booked a massage (€40 extra) for 30 minutes and then ducked in the thermal bath! The massage was way too short for my liking but it worked even though I wished the masseuse focused more on my shoulders. Once entering the baths room (there's an indoor and outdoor one) I was bombarded by the stench of sulfur. The smell of sulfur was so overpowering - it's like being a room full of eggs. But it was really nice and I am so glad I got a last-minute bathing suit the day before I left on this trip.
Speaking of, did you know that bathing suits are only found in lingerie stores? I was lucky enough to find one out of season and get help from a nice employee (Italian shop workers are usually known for rudeness but that wasn't the case for me).
I smelled like sulfur after leaving the baths. Not even a quick rinse in the locker room helped. It lingered until the next day! So then we all left the baths and headed back to Rome and watched the sun sink behind the hills of Tuscany.
As I said before, the week was really stressful for me. Classes were harder. My professor for financial accounting had to take a leave for pregnancy (she was pregnant??? I didn't see a bump! she's so thin! I guess it's Italian culture to take long leaves.) and another professor stepped in. He was nice but he had a different approach to teaching and was really hard. But he's pretty cool because he's like a hard-rock biker and not your stereotypical financial accounting professor. He had tattoos all up his arms and was clearly a member of the Hell's Angels (Italia Chapter) since he wore leather jacket with it and had other sweatshirts too.
And then midterms hit and I struggled during reviews because it was hard to keep up and know what's going on. But I finished management midterm exam on Thursday and I feel good about it! I'll be concerned about financial accounting and art history that's upcoming. And philosophy but we'll see how that goes. Drawing midterm should be alright - we might be drawing something particular for that midterm.
And then I tried to plan spring break! I found a person to go with and we planned everything right down to the budget. We were going to go to 4 countries in 9 days. Unfortunately, because of a student that died the previous weekend in Rome, their parents could not let them go. Which is understandable but really, the student died because of alcohol. He was drinking at the bar and his friends left him there. He ended up inside of a train tunnel and probably got run over. It was alcohol related and at the cause of irresponsible friends. Not travel related! It is fact that 99% of the problems that occur while abroad are alcohol related.
I was really upset and struggled to find someone - anyone but I realized how many people I knew (a lot) and how many I really knew (not very much). But eventually I figured out a new plan! And its with the best person in the world: Taylor. :) We decided to go on weekends to places. I will talk about my spring break plans in a later post!
Today is the last day of February: February 28th. It's another reminder how quickly time is flying. I miss home and all the people I know but I know I will miss being here the moment I step on the plane back to Boston. I really want to love every single minute. I realized how important it is to make the most of my time being here. Even so, I feel incredibly guilty for traveling to so many places (in March, I am going somewhere every weekend!). But my amazing parents insist on making the best of it. I couldn't do this without them and I appreciate them so much for letting me have this opportunity.
Today, I had a mandatory field trip for my art history class. Where you ask? Pompeii! I'll post about that next week along with the upcoming trip this week which is...
Athens! Tomorrow morning Taylor and I are leaving for an overnight in Athens, Greece! Initially it was for two nights but I forgot about the Pompeii trip so I had to change flights and cancel a night for the hostel. No big deal! If anything, everything is cheaper now. I have been dubbing this trip "24 Hours in Athens" because we're literally gonna be there from 2pm Saturday and 2pm Sunday.
Next weekend is the weekend trip to Interlaken, Switzerland where I'll be jumping off cliffs paragliding! The bus is a 9 hour drive and we'd arrive in Switzerland at 4 AM. Hope I didn't give you people who are reading this heart attacks! :)
I'm exhausted and I need to pack for Athens! So buonanotte. :)