Internship and Spazio

First of all, last night I was up til 2:30 doing homework. That might be the latest I've been up since I've been here. But midterms are two weeks away and I'm freaking out. And I'm freaking out about this weekend with Sam. Cue nervous break down. Hannah thinks I'm being ridiculous, which, of course I am!


Needless to say that when my alarm went off this morning for my run, I hit snooze and slept in til 9. Today I went to school early (to finish the damn homework) with Hannah. I only had a short Italian class today, but I was due at Palazzo Vecchio for my internship at 3, so I hiked over there after class (and did some more homework while I was waiting for Gaiele to be ready for me). I expected to be at the museum for about half an hour, and then ended up being there for and hour and a half. But I was ok

Piazza Signoria, where you'll find Palazzo Vecchio

with it, Gaiele (who's like my go-to person at my internship) took me through the secret passage ways of the castle. It was pretty really awesomely cool. For some of the tours, they dress up as duchesses and dukes and other historical figures, and the costumes are GORGEOUS and super authentic looking ("based on the true designs" according to Gaiele). She appraised me and said I would probably be perfect for Vasari's wife, who had long curly blonde hair and who was Botticelli inspiration for his Birth of Venus. UM OK NICEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER SAID TO ME since the Birth of Venus is MY painting and MY FAVORITE in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD. I died. I didn't ask if I'd be giving a character tour. But trust me, I will let you know if I do.

Speaking of character tours, I'm looking into applying for an internship with Disney this summer. That application is currently in progress.

After Palazzo Vecchio I went back to school for Spazio Conversazione, a program run by the Italian department where Italians come to talk to American students to practice their English, and for us to

I walk by Ospedale Innocenti, the first Renaissance building, everyday to school

practice our Italian. It's held every Tuesday from 5-7, and Hannah and I tried to go last week but couldn't find it. She was the one who was really harping to go so she could work on her Italian, but I was the one who left absolutely LOVING it. I had a blast. The two Italians I was speaking to, one a 16 yr old girl who's grandma is a host for two SUF girls, and one who is a student at the Florentine University, starting talking about the student strikes going on here. Ummm what? Apparently the govt is cutting off money to the public schools (which have really strong programs) to help the private schools get better (which aren't as strong as the public schools. Some are, but some suck). In order to change this they're cutting spending in education so programs and professors are being cut, and students are revolting and protesting, at every level from high school to the university. Fascinating. For a while it was really helping my Italian, then things got heated and they just started speaking way too fast in Italian so the Americans (me and two other girls at the 101 level) got completely lost. But it was a great experience!