Holy mother of gelato

So today was spent doing all the logistical bidness for my semester in Florence. I clambered out of bed at a respectful 12:30 and got dressed in time to catch the bus to campus, in the rain. I had honestly forgotten how rough rain can be in a city. On campus I went to a meeting for work study jobs and then an info session on the La Pietra Dialogues, which I will hopefully be working with. I'm interviewing for that next week. After that I schlepped through the rain back to my dorm to get my book lists, and went to the Paperback Exchange bookstore, which sells a lot of English titles and serves as our university bookstore here.

My roommate Laura and I successfully spoiled our dinners getting gelato ice cream sandwiches. Laura's much superior (to my nonexistent) Italian allowed her to communicate our desire for "pane e gelato" and it was one of the most delicious things I've had here.

nomnomnom

After our late afternoon dessert, we got ready and went out with the rest of our roommates to a Florence for Fun (a tour/trip group based here in Florence) Welcome Dinner. We enjoyed appetizers, 3 different kinds of pasta (I opted out of the one type with meat in it, but the other two were delicious), tiramisu, and of course, unlimited wine.

After dinner we all went to a bar called the Lion's Fountain, which is the most American I think we're going to get here. The ceiling is plastered with various American college t-shirts, and American hits from the early 2000s are playing. Then, we trickled off to Space, a discotheque here, which was less than thrilling but night clubs always are. I danced on a lit up platform with some of my roommates, so if nothing else I've got that peachy venture, eh?

I am going to make an effort this week to be better at taking pictures. I've been overwhelmed with everything else so far, but it all changes soon. The beautiful town of Firenze is forthcoming, I promise!