IT'S DECEMBER 1st.....

DAMN. It's December. Since when?

so since I'm a Grinch (thanks to a birthday that is always overshadowed by the holiday seasons) but I still love the month of December, I figured a good way to keep me in check of the reality that I leave on December 17th is to improve upon the 25 days of xmas and have a 17 days of studying abroad. (You'll have to deal with the daily posts, but I pretty much post daily as is).

So what does the 17 days of studying abroad mean you ask? I'm going to finish off my last 17 days with recapping 17 moments/things/days/trips/people that helped define my studying abroad experience and how it has influenced me as a person.

On the 17th day of Abroading, Europe gave to meeee

(It's going backwards, so work with me, I get it doesn't make complete sense)

#17- GELATO.

Now why not I say Italian food in general? Well gelato deserves a category all on its own. Considering I have 3 favorite gelateria's (Grom, Gelatissimo, and Festival del Gelato) that should say something in itself. Grom was the first Italian gelato I had and there was no going back from there, it was a necessity of life. Gelatissimo gives the best portions for price, not to mention I have a loyalty card and get free gelato.. and the workers there are so peppy and friendly (which is the most rare in Italia). Then Festival has over 50+ flavors to choose from, most of which I cannot get at other places. So my vice is gelato. Yes, Italian food is bomb and has forever ruined pasta and pizza for me in America, but considering the ratio of meals I made myself to meals I ate out, I barely ate actual Italian food BUT I did eat a lot of Italian gelato. Need a pick me up? Gelato. Want to casually go out with a few friends after doing something? Gelato. Feeling like a fat ass walking to class? Gelato. Not sure what to do? Oh let's go get some gelato. Gelato solves any and all problems.

Sidenote Favorite flavors: TIRAMISU, Caffe, Limone, 5 Cereali, Mint, Espresso, Cantaloupe 

THANKSGIVING IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

It was the first time I could utilize the fact that I don't have class on Thursday to leave early as I was traveling by myself for the first time, to get back to one of my obsessions... FRANCE! I don't even have to explain how much I love France, the language, the food, the nice people, so it was so nice to be able to see a completely different part of it than Paris (though still would die to go to Paris again and again).

Start off my morning early to catch a train to Pisa, have a complete running after train just as its leaving moment, but I woke up early for this reason to be at least 2 hours early to Pisa Aeroporto, so didn't matter I was still really early. Made progress on reading The Last Lecture (stolen from a London hostel, very useful to killing time while traveling as my Soduko book is getting old). Ate a sandwich in the airport (that's major progress, still hate sandwiches). Then it's on a small jet ready to arrive in my layover at Charles de Gaule in Paris... oh but wait there's fog over Paris jk Pisa you're gonna now be delayed for a half hour, oh you only have 45 minutes to make it to your layover terminal that's so far away it requires a bus? So yeah it did not even matter that I was full blown Amazing Race style lunatic sprinting through the airport to get to my terminal, I wasn't going to make it. They apparently knew the delay screwed me over and automatically put me on the next flight to Nice...which was 3 and a half hours later WOO. So I got to spend my Thanksgiving dinner eating a vouchered sandwich and soda from Air France. Then after finally landing in Nice (I see palm trees WHAT?) I get there too late for a direct bus to Cannes so I have to take the city bus which takes twice as long, so my entire Thursday was shot by traveling for 12 hours, but I was happy because I was finally there and not worried because I knew I would get there eventually, hassles and bad travel karma or not, and I was in friggin' France! (Thanks in large part to my two sisters and two of my aunts for helping me out, no 21st birthday gifts or xmas gifts for me, but I'm perfectly okay with that, I'm in Europe)

It sucked missing Melissa's program's dinner, they all dressed up like Indians and pilgrims, but it was all good. We relaxed and then went out with a few of her friends in her program to their favorite place to go out, an Irish bar called Morrisons. Hey Strongbow, I missed you.

The next day she had class, I deal with the rude French people that work at her college that were psychhhhoooo, then we head to Nice for the day and night. I was pumped to be able to city another city in France, and it was very close to Cannes (wish I had another day there otherwise we would have gone the extra 20 minutes to see Monaco). 

The view from Melissa's dorm room

Random xmas festival being set up in Nice

Nice beach

Yes, this is real.

In Nice we explored a little, saw the city, climbed up a lot of stairs to see the panoramic view of the city and see this man made waterfall that overlooked the city.

Melissa and I + Nice

The waterfall, clearly.

Are you so filthy rich you don't know what to do with your money, oh well buy an enormous yacht and then park it in Nice

Chilling with some palm trees in the end of November

Dinner at a random French cafe, Espresso, a sugar crepe and then a FRESH LEMON CREPE!? yup I was in heaven. Oh and then there was bread too, om nom nom.

The streets of Nice at night

So the next day I went with Melissa and a bunch of people in her program to go olive picking, something she thought was only going to be in the morning followed with a free Provencial lunch, but then we found out the hard way that was false and worked for a few hours after gorging ourselves with the free food, but it was still a really nice day and who can say they went olive picking in the French hills? I can. Damn the amount of work that goes into getting olives for olive oil is insaneeee.

Can't eat these kind, not that I would either way

Me with this weird olive picking tool that vibrates and pokes at the tree to get the olives off to catch them on the nets below.

Sifting the olives, juice be all over your hands.

The family was most def rich and richie rich.

The sunset was the most beautiful

Yeah we got McDonalds, it was so damn worth it. Though not to self, find out French translation for Sweet + Sour Sauce cause that worker looked at me like I had a second head, but he understood Ketchup. Oh I need fast food back in my life STAT.

We explored Cannes a bit at night, I saw where they host the Cannes Film Festival and all the crazy celebrities and artsy film directors romp around.

Drinks that glow in the dark? CHECK.

Melissa was determined to get me to a gay club, seeing as Cannes is the gay capital of France, but alas yet again shit happens, don't feel like paying annoying cover charges, people bail, and Melissa nearly flips a shit but I was still having a damn fun night, it wasn't on my priority list anymore. I'm perfectly happy still figuring my own shit out, but damn did the place we stayed at have some weird ass music videos being played that did not correspond with the bomb music that was being played.

Wake up and see the Cannes beaches, or what's left of them after the storm that washed them out a month or two ago. Runners and bikers were everywhere, yet another reason I love France. I'd run while there constantly if I lived there, well run even more than usual.

I want a boulangerie put in the atrium next to Dunkin AS SOON AS POSSIBLE Stonehill please and thank you. Croissants and pain au chocolates all day errday

We climbed to the top of Cannes to see the views from there, still unreal.

Overall was an extremely successful and great last trip outside of the country. I have Rome this weekend, but to end my not real life travels abroad in France I am very happy with that. This sunset that I viewed on my flight home to Pisa was INSANE, best sunset I have ever viewed in my life. Oh yeah and I ran like a lunatic in Charles de Gaule to catch my layover flight back but luckily there wasn't any delays or other numerous things that were out of my control impeding my travels so I made it with a half hour to spare (made it to a complete other terminal, bused it, made it past security, shouted excuse-moi like 4 or 5 times, and all in a matter of twenty minutes. SUCK ON THAT AMAZING RACE. I have fully decided that I never ever ever ever ever want to be on the Amazing Race, love the show and I have always wanted to be on a classy CBS Reality Competition but damn do I hate traveling because so much of it is out of my control. Not to mention I don't think I could find a partner that is so impatience, competitive, and has the stamina to keep up with my running and stubborn tendencies. To each their own, next flight I get on is heading home to Boston with a layover in Switzerland. So weird.

SAD REALITY

So I'll get to posting about my amazing weekend in Southern France with Melissa soon enough but I just realized that...


I have 20 days left abroad.... TWENTY. WHAT?


That means I turn 21 in 22 days and I will inevitably being doing my last moments in Florence so soon. Last Gusta Pizza, last Tijuana Thursday, last time photobombing hundreds of tourists photos of the Duomo, last time walking up Strozzi's 96 steps to class (though not so sad about that one). etc etc you get the picture I am just not okay with lasts. This weekend was potentially the last time I would be in France... SO not okay with that one.


What can you get done in 20 days?
Without me even thinking for more than 2 minutes within the immediate future I am going to an Italian Opera (wouldn't if it wasn't for free and when else can I say I went to an Italian opera?), a weekend in Rome, an art history presentation IN the Uffizi, and now Elyse is visiting Florence my last weekend here? Life is grand, but this is still not real life. The reality is setting in that fake abroad life is ending and I must accept it's shelf life.


twenty frigging days.... I can't get over it. I remember when I was thinking oh I have 67 days left this is going to be forever. WELP life moves on a lot quicker than expected.

DAVID MEETS THE REAL DAVID

It finally happened this past weekend, no morose feelings coming from me despite yet another walking tour guide (thank god to the one I don't believe in LAST ONE...well til maybe roma). Woke up ridiculously early for a saturday to go to the Accademia and see Michelangelo's David. The fake Daves don't even remotely compare to the real one, it is massive, pristine, beautiful, stoic, strong, and the museum definitely knows how to bring a person's attention to a statue with this structural white dome accenting it.


Here is where I would showcase a not real life photo of it from my perspective but oh wait NO FOTO in the museo. Italians don't want you average 1,350,000 visitors ruining this masterpiece with your inability to turn your camera on museum mode or oh wait turn the flash off... silly tourists, trix are for kids.

THE CLASS ABROAD THAT HAS CHANGED MY PERSPECTIVE ON LIFE

What's one class you have taken in your life that you think changed your life? Can you think of it? Well I didn't really feel like I have had a class that has had such a profound spark of interest and impact on me until my Business Psychology class. It's official title is Workplace Psychology: Building Effective Managers, but it's more than business class and more than a typical psychological approach in a class. First off, my professor I think is more than half the reason I love the class so much. I pegged that Stefano had to be gay, and then 10 minutes after the thought crossed my mind he told our class, but that has nothing to do with it, he has such an interest approach to teaching the class to get all of us involved and appreciative of the lessons we are learning, while he is learning from us too.


The first week we learned some simple breathing technique to manage our stress and center ourselves, yeah I know what you are thinking, that's wicked weird, but this isn't a yoga class, it was actually really helpful. Since then we have exercises in the class to help us better understand ourselves and others in regards to being a leader. The style of his teaching is very give and take. I have had discussion based classes before but his approach is different, I actually care because I respect what he has to say about the material through his ability to make the material directly relate to us through how we shape it. 


A lesson that I think has forever changed my perspective on life is a lesson we had about "Emotional Intelligence" which in lamens terms is defined through these 5 points:
-Knowing one's emotions
-Managing emotions
-Motivating oneself
-Recognizing emotions in others (aka empathy)
-Handling relationships


Ignore the fact that I'm being a total nerd excited over a class, but it pretty much explains for emotional intelligence is really important to have to develop skills like these


-Identifying, expressing, and managing feelings
-Impulse control and delay gratification
-Handling stress and anxiety
-Difference between feelings and actions
-Identifying alternate consequences
-Reading social and emotional cues
-Active listening
-Resist negative influences
-Taking other's perspective 
-Understanding what behavior is acceptable


I feel like learning about this I have realized how much emotional intelligence I do truly have. I am so self aware, probably too self aware sometimes, but I know my core true self and who I am, I always have. I need to stop trying to deal with other people's lack of emotional intelligence and controlling situations/people that I can't, I can only control how I react to those people and situations. 


Emotional intelligence was actually an essay question for my midterm in this class, and he wanted us to use personal examples in answering all of the questions, this was without a doubt the easiest 96 I got an a midterm ever (but I did slave over studying a freaked out a little). My professor actually wrote on my exam in reference to this topic something like it takes two conscious men to develop a productive, comfortable, and worthy relationship. keep growing and surround yourself with people who have a capacity of emotional intelligence (Idk what he said verbatim due to the Italian law that professors have to keep exams for whatever reason who knows).


My main epiphany with this topic is this, I have realized while abroad that the people that want to be in your life make the damn effort to do so. Don't waste your time trying to be friends with or trying to be more than friends with someone who doesn't find the time of effort in their end to get to know you. Allowing yourself to be treated less than your deserve just isn't worth the energy. I think I have enough life experience (though far more to come) to know my true morals and character. Life happens, I'm done wasting any of thoughts on my frustrations with different people. They are the ones lost in the world, not me. 


The people who have put in the effort and reached out to me while I have been gone in a foreign country for 3 months are the people I should surround myself with. They matter to me. I am not going to waste any of my time back at Stonehill, I will enjoy every unplanned 4 hour dinners with friends laughing so hard loosing track of time, every inevitably lame weekend night at the courts that turns into something so much more fun without even trying, every moment passing by a friend as I am walking ridiculously fast with ipod in off to class, every time that I stop to think about how much I love and appreciate Stonehill that much more now.


I will miss these ridiculous not real life moments abroad, but I am definitely going to be comparing every moment at Stonehill to it, abroad life is not the real world. You have to enjoy life as is without reservations and besides no one's life is like this, you are delusional if you think otherwise. With a month left I can already see the finish line of abroad, though I don't want this to end I have to come back to reality in America. Knowing how much time is lacking left for me abroad, I am excited to prove to myself and others how much I have grown abroad when I get back home. 

WHATS SONGS MAKE YOU HAPPY?

Okay yeah so I post a lot about songs, my mind is constantly on shuffle when it comes to music, deal.


So I have this playlist called Happy on my iTunes, shockingly so its a bunch of songs that no matter what mood I am in it brings my mood up. I'm sitting here avoiding yet another paper, listening to it thinking I wonder what songs my friends listen to in the process of cheering up. 


So here's just a sample of the music that get's my serotonin kicking.




Third Eye Blind - Semi-Charmed Life
an extremely rated R type of song, but it ALWAYS gets me in a good mood

Gloriana - Wild At Heart
country can be happy too you know

Jimmy Eat World - The Middle
my old school poser emo phase days, yeah I saw them in concert

Michael Buble - Haven't Met You Yet
you cannot deny the power that is Michael Buble

Little Jackie - The World Should Revolve Around Me
No one really knows this song, but it's damn good

Andy Grammer - Keep Your Head Up
Recent addition to the playlist

THE INEVITABLE AND UNWANTED COUNTDOWN

The dreaded fact that I have less than a month left abroad has happened. I have exactly 4 weeks left in Florence, and in Europe, for a long, long time (if ever again). I know so many people say they'll come back to where they studied abroad and visit all those same places again, but I'm a realist and there is a ZERO possibility of me affording to come back to Europe for a damn long time, that is unless I find my dream Australian lawyer and marry rich early on.


With that mindset I don't have time to do anything but live in the moment, cherish the past I have already garnered abroad, and look forward to what I have left in store for abroad (and yes I know that's contradictory to the purpose of "living in the moment"). I was reading one of my friend's abroad blog (another shout out to one of my 2 PM patnahs Tara) and something she mentioned that we discussed one night we were out to dinner when she visited struck me, we were in the same exact spot our current senior friends were a year ago, but these were our memories now. They had their time, it's ours now and we shape these places around us as they shape us.


I can't help but be nostalgic for the fact that 2 months ago I absolutely despised Florence. I hated Italy, I did not feel comfortable here by any means, I didn't feel like myself. I truly was not homesick, I came abroad not only to get this once in a lifetime experience but to pry myself away from Stonehill, a place that I call home, a place where I found my lifelong friends and came into my own, a place that I knew I needed to get time away from to come back and appreciate it that much more. It took the last straw of my macbook deciding to temporarily die the week Steve Jobs dies (convinced his spirit lived in my laptop) for me to have had a full breakdown. I am beyond self aware and while other's will hide their insecure and less than pleasant moments abroad underneath sparknote versions of their amazing time abroad, I can say yeah, I frigging hated being abroad in Italy for almost a month, but it made me a stronger person and I am grateful for it. 


I would have never got that staying at Stonehill in my bubble of constant happiness. I think the culture shock here was just so unnerving (and after visiting other countries I know the culture shock is harsher here in Italy, don't bother debating me) and with the fact Florence wasn't my first, not even my second choice to go abroad to I never really felt extreme excitement to be in Italy, more excitement I was in Europe and able to travel, it was hard for me. My entire life I had my heart set on studying abroad in Australia, it was a dream I had to let die due to a number of reasons, but if everything happens for a reason I got to see far many more different places here in Europe and I have grown to love Florence (though not Italy as a whole, but I'm okay with that).


The main point to my train of thought right now is this thought: I haven't changed while being abroad, I have just matured greatly and become more of the person I intend to be. I have missed friends back in America, but I have seen SO many friends here in Europe, casually of course. I somewhat feel as if life back in America has been put on pause, I know that people are changing and growing back home, but I feel like it does not compare to the whirlwind of life experience I have gained abroad. I am more independent of a person and damn content with my decisions in life. 


So with 4 weeks left abroad I can only imagine how much more I will grow, but one thing I do know, I do not plan on going back into any form of a complacent nature back at Stonehill.
There is so much more to life and I don't want to waste any of it putting up with any bullshit I allowed myself to deal with at Stonehill. It is weird to think that I never got the transition from underclassmen to upperclassmen at Stonehill, I will get back and have to figure my life out REAL QUICK, but who damn well gives a shit I had the time of my damn life and I still have 4 weeks left to continue it.




There's Gotta Be More To Life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUOcQnWbk_U&ob=av3n

WEEKEND IN VENEZIA

My weekend in Venice was so refreshing, Venice is one of those places you see featured in a ton of movies and tv shows, but to actually be there was surreal. The usual nice 2 hour train ride nap and I'm in sunny beautiful Venice (which was a miracle considering the time of year we were there Venice should be constantly raining and flooded, but it has only rained 4 days out of the whole time I have been abroad and that includes a full week in Ireland, score)

Yet again another GSE hotel hookup with the free excursion, queen sized bed and free breakfast? check!

Canals be errwhere

Venetian ambulance, I would not want to get sick if I lived in Venice

I'M ON A BOAT... in Venice on the Grand Canal for 40 minutes seeing the whole massive city

casual Lengel mirror shot, loving the face

Adding to our long list of different forms of transportation taken while abroad, gondola!

Clock in Piazza San Marco

Snuck a photo that I wasn't supposed to take inside a Venice museum, such a bad ass. naht.

Glass blowing demonstration 

Those chandeliers equal my tuition money, who needs money for college when you could buy Venetian glass chandeliers?

I ate a sandwich... If you know me you know I don't like sandwiches, yeah I'm weird I don't like most things that go in sandwiches and just not a fan all around, I love bread on it's own it doesn't need useless crap.

Piazza San Marco at night

Smurf gelato? Okay I feel you Venezia.

Penis shaped pasta: HISTORICAL NOT SEXY

Alex and I with our free 3 course dinner, things got weird that night starting during that dinner. We attempted to go out in Venice the night we were there but damn does Venice not have a nightlife, and the one we found was so not worth the walk.

Photo we took during second part of the walking tour which we got sassed at for "not paying attention". calm down lady, we're college students we multitask

If you have ever had the not so pleasure of watching the movie "The Tourist" this building was in the main scene with the huge ball that Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp's characters attended... but seriously don't ever see that movie.

Found pizza for lunch? om nom nom

Postcard worthy gondolas

Then we took an hour boat ride to the island Burano near Venice which was famous for all of it's colored houses, it was very relaxing there was barely any tourists. 

Me with my program advisor Chiara. We have this trick for pictures down where when we face the sun we close our eyes and after the count of three open them to have the photo taken, fortunately enough Katie took the photo to early so we get this funny photo instead

And a sunset in Venice and it's Ciao Ciao.

THAT TIME I SAW A MOVIE IN ITALY

Strangest movie experience I have ever had.

For starters it probably didn't help I was going to see Breaking Dawn, despite the fact that I despise the twilight series I have seen every movie in theaters (I can thank Melissa Zambito for 1-3). I find them so incredibly bad that I cannot hold back laughter at the horrible acting of Taylor Lautner and his whining, the complete lack of plot, or Kristen Stewart's constant "I think I might be constipated" look on her face for two hours.

So a few of us get dinner at Gusta Pizza, then we meet up with some more friends and we head to the movies. We run into our program advisor Chiara on her bike headed to a friends house, we're kind of obsessed with her, she's amazing. Then we run into Hazel who was leaving the movie theater having just seen it. We head in and the movie theater is one semi big room, no raised seating and one small white screen attached to the wall. So no previews (disappointing, I love previews and was hoping to see some with Italian subtitles) and the movie starts.

The movie did not disappoint for being completely and utterly horrible. It had a few this is so bad I can't help but chuckle moments, but hands down the best part aside from reading the Italian subtitles for time when Kristen Stewart said ....whatever.. or that's totally cool, was the intermission! Right as Jacob had another I'm a baby boy still going through puberty and here is where I auspiciously storm out of a room moment, BOOM INTERMISSION.... WHAT?? So then we had twenty minutes while some Italians got their gross smoking fix to dissect how ridiculous this movie was and then resume to it's ridiculousness.

So I got to have an abroad movie watching experience, it was worth the 6 euro ticket and 5 euro large popcorn (I cant deny my need for movie popcorn... it's bad).

HOUSE MUSIC OF THE WEEK

So I'll get to my Venice post eventually, uploading photos with Italian internet is naht fun.


So here's your weekly dose of beat the beat songs, go grab some glowsticks and party like it's 1999.


Inna - Sun Is Up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNfFTuIk-dQ&ob=av3e


deadmau5 - Some Chords
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__2ABJjxzNo


Avicii - Fade Into Darkness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yg3dLEDWqs&ob=av2e


Afrojack and Steve Aoki - No Beef
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSZky8U3hrE


Haddaway - What is Love
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_U6mWu1XQA

Had to throw that last one in there, ENJOY THE WEEKEND

TARA AND AMY VISIT FIRENZE

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