Mondays in Florence!

So yesterday was awesome (after class of course).
BJ and I got home around 1PM, we stopped and got stuff to make cheeseburgers, greatest idea yet! LOL I know we are surrounded by the best pasta, bread, pizza, focaccia paninis, etc...but, just like you crave a bowl of pasta every once in awhile in the states, we were craving a burger! (we weren't the only ones, very jealous students and teachers at the school when they heard that we were doing that) :)
So that was delicious, then Pat came home and we all went to Indiana Jones movie. the new one. Professor Treuthart (director of the program) was SOOO great to us. She got us a student discount on the tickets and organized a group to go, almost everyone from the program was there! The movie was fun, it was cool to see an American film in an Italian theater! Very different experience, first of all..us dumb Americans did the typical, fill up a water bottle with booze and sneak it in, or a beer, or a juice box of wine (yes they have juice box wines, like the little juice boxes with the straws glued to it, they sell those with wine here, genius!)
But once we got there we realized the theater has a full bar. ha. So, we saved money though. It was fun to drink a beer in a movie and not be sneaky about it. So we all got a little 'lit up' during the movie.
It was really cool too, apparently in Italy they put in an intermission. So, even though it was only like 1:45 minutes long, there was an intermission, which is great for people like me who like to stretch, pee a lot, and take another trip to the bar, lol!
here are pics from the movie outing...









SO, after the movie we all went to Professor Treuthart's apartment! Her, Professor Ballard and Professor Farid went to the store and bought 10 bottles of wine, tons of cheese, meats, crackers, etc! It was great!
Her apartment was amazing, top floor, awesome view of Florence. Here are pics from the post movie wine and cheese party :)
(Thanks again treuthart, ballard and farid for setting that up..especially Treuthart, it takes a brave person to let all of us rummage around their place) Plus your stories last night were phenomenal! It takes a lot to make me blush ... it was nice to know that I can share anything with you...the unshockable Professor Treuthart! :)














At 10 we got kicked out and almost everyone came back to our complex, where there are three units taken by GU Law study abroad students. So we bounced around from apartment to apartment drinking and chatting. At some point Lindsey and I went out to the street so she could buy some more wine, we tried to bargain with the illegal fake sellers, I always wanted to know how low I could go with them, after a few bottles of wine I maybe was a little too cocky with how low I could go. lol! I was with Lindsey and was bargaining for her for this Luis Vuitton bag, I started at 10 and wouldn't budge...he wasn't having it. lol! But this other guy chased us down this alley and tried to sell her this fake Fendi bag for 10 euro. We said no. lol He goes "how much then" and I go "get us that Luis bag from the other guy for 10 euro and we'll talk."
We then proceeded to the wine place, so Lindsey could get some fancy 5 euro bottles of wine! The place was shut down and the dude was just locking the front door and Lindsey pleaded with him to let her buy one thing, in typical Italian fashion the guy was nice and let us in and turned everything back on....so that was nice of him.
We came back...

There was some vodka involved somewhere and possibly Jaegermeister, LOL! So, I """fell asleep""", BJ ""fell asleep"" fully clothed,,,,I somehow got a shower in!
Pat, Lindsey and Jennifer's friend from out of town decided to go out wandering the streets. They wanted Kebabs (my new favorite 'fast' food), so Lindsey remembered she had a business card in her purse from this Kebab place we went to on Sunday, so she called the number thinking it was a business number. Well, the creepy guy behind the counter answered and it was his cell phone apparently. So they asked if the kebab place was open, he said no but asked where they were because he knew of some that were. They were near the duomo, so he came up in his vespa and Lindsey apparently jumped on! LOL
He led them to a kebab place and they came home. Keep in mind this was all told to me by Jennifer's friend, because I was not there and all Pat remembers is leaving the apartment to go walking, doesn't remember any details after that but when he woke up he could still taste the kebab in his mouth. So he knew they got food. lol!

oh well :) fun times had by all. here are the pics from last night..post movie, post wine/cheese party...







So, today we had class, it was my turn to lead the class discussion, I think I did good ... talked to fast, but that could be attributed to the Red Bull I had :)
Here are some random pics from class, it is nice that our class with Professor Ballard only has like 10 students! It is great....




We are going to see the Duomo and climb to the top of it here in about 30 minutes. We were doing a wine tasting through the school, but it got postponed. So we are not sure what we are doing after Duomo, probably studying diligently :)
The kids from Barry Law, who live in our apartment complex, wanted to get on this weekly dinner thing. But thought combining three apartments would be too much of a strain on the hosting party. So we are doing a pot luck instead. I think the Barry kids are doing sangria and something else, the girls are bringing pasta al pesto. I'm not sure what we are doing yet...maybe some bread and a salad.

So, I'm sure the pics from the duomo and pot luck will be up later! Ciao!!!!

Randoms & Candids....

Festival of the Republic

Today is a national holiday in Italy! The town is basically shut down, the undergrad study abroad has the day off, the law school???? Damn American Bar Association and their classroom-minutes requirements!
We have class....they had to bring in some special lady to open the school up for us, she was not happy. lol

oh well, tonight we are all going as a big group to see Indiana Jones, heard seeing an American movie in Italy is pretty fun. They got us very cheap tickets, plus afterwards the director and professor of the program, Mary Pat Truethart, will be having us all over to her place for wine and cheese following the film!

fun.

okay, off to the first class of the day, Happy Festival of the Republic!

Answers

So some of the Polls we did for the trip on the right hand side have already expired, in the sense that the answer has already passed...so I am closing those and giving you the answer to what happened....

What we will get annoyed with first on the trip?
Your guys' choice: First-Exchange Rate Second-Eachother
Answer: EXCHANGE RATE!

What are not going to miss when studying abroad?
Your guys split nearly evenly on all of them.
Answer: ALL OF THEM :)

What are we going to miss when we are studying abroad?
You guys split between Jack and Dans and Family!
Answer: ...obviously Family! (close with friends)

Who is likely to get hurt physically?
Your guys answer: Overwhelmingly went to BJ
Answer: PAT! In Rome...two famous quotes from the next morning "I broke my face" and "My Kidneys hurt" ON A SIDE NOTE, This may not be fair because the jet lag kicked BJ's ass and he stayed in bed the first night we hit it party-time hard in Rome, so....Pat may have got this because of circumstances beyond his control, who knows...after a pub crawl BJ could have been claiming his face was broken the next morning :) But for the record books, PAT.

How likely is it Sean will get kicked out of the Vatican?
Your guys' answer: Somewhat Likely tied with They Wont Let Him In
Answer: Neither!! I got in and did not get kicked out, I was 'hurting' a little bit that day so maybe it was simply the fact that I was not in typical Sean form. But maybe being at the most holy sites in the Catholic religion, it was good that I was not in typical Sean form :)

Will BJ make it to his Bday?
Your guys answer: Anything is likely
Answer: He did :) what a trooper! Could have been attributed to Pat holding his hair back the night before in some corner of Cinque Terre as he got ..umm..motion sickness??? :) But he survived!! Thank God.

Who will be the first person to cry?
Your guys answer: Even tie between all three
Answer: No one...yet!!! So that one will remain posted.

Okay, off to bed. I removed the polls, and will supplement them with new ones soon.

Ciao!

BJ's first time!!!!!!! (and it is on camera)

Much to nearly everyone's shock and disgust, we had realized 2 1/2 weeks into the trip that BJ had never tried Gelato!!! (For those who haven't tried it, it is a denser and much more creamier and flavorful version of Ice Cream)
They have Gelato stores on nearly every single block, many with multiple stores!

So tonight, during a study break Pat and I drug BJ out to get some. (BJ is not a big ice cream guy, so he was not super pumped)

He got mint chocolate chip, Pat got an Nuetella flavored one and I think an espresso or tiramisu, something like that....I got a caramel one, oh God mine was good!! :)
We took some pics, because that is what I do.

Enjoy, we sure did...congrats BJ for joining our club of Gelato eaters!

Studying!

So, for all the parents out there we wanted to post these pictures of us studying! Today Pat, myself and Lindsey Wehmeyer took to the steps of the Basilica of Santa Croce today to do our reading for class....then the girls joined us at the school to print off some articles and cases for an upcoming paper, and we joined BJ later today at the apartment for some more studying! :) we are diligent students!

Piazzale Del Michelangelo

Yesterday me and the boys went here, it looks over the entire city of florence and is just awesome! It is an amazing view, really gorgeous walk, you can bus it but if you are capable of the walk, it is well worth it! Here are some pics we took up there...








On our walk up and back we walked along the Arno river, that passes through Florence. We live a few blocks north of the river, so it is very close and really pretty on a sunny day.

Sunday in Florence

Today is our big study day!

We have outlines due tomorrow for our paper. Which means most of our research should be done, so that is how we will be spending today.

Last night was fun, for the last two nights we have sort of split up all going in different directions and hanging out with different crews. For no bad reason, just all wanted to do different things,,,,IE, hanging out chill, going to dance clubs, american pub, etc. So that has sort of been fun, exploring the city alone..well., not always.but you get the idea.

The piazzas are PACKED during the nights, like last night Pat was saying at 4AM Piazza Santa Croce was totally packed with people drinking beers on the steps, kids playing football in the square, etc... Pretty cool scene,...

I took these pics of the churches and statues as I was walking back last night...pretty cool and sort of creepy in some of the quieter piazzas, like Piazza Signoria, all alone essentially with these thousand year old statues all seeming to look at you, lol!

sad and good

mixed emotions, had to spend some money today on a camera. do not really have the money, but had to get one, this is the trip of a lifetime and it would really be horrible if I couldn't document it.
If you remember my camera is in a Taxi cab in Rome. (I'm still thinking the cabby jacked it). He took pictures of us with it outside of the Coliseum on the way back and my theory is he gave Pat his camera back and then kept mine. ass.

Pat's camera lens is broken, it is stuck in between being out and closed in. So Jaunessa took it back to the states to get it fixed under its warranty.

So I had to buy a new one. It was the cheapest in the store, but is really nice! 8.2 mega pixels, takes video, is compact.
Oh well, things could definitely be worse.

We all passed first year of law school. YES! lol

BJ is Accounted For!

We are all here, we are all alive, we all passed.................

Grades

Well, they got posted today!

Pat and I are totally content with the outcome, ummmm. BJ has yet to come back home yet, it is 3:30AM, I am sure he is fine, I just hope he has a key so we are not all awoken by him ringing the bell :)

I am sure BJ is wonderful grade wise, he always seems to pull it out (ha)..............

Jaunessa is leaving Saturday morning Italy Time, at around 8:30AM :(
I love her..........I will miss her............. *tear*

goodnight, from Italy!!!

Today (Friday)

So today was a wonderfully calm day! The 90 degree sweat inducing heat of the last three days subsided and turned into some cool showery weather, which was perfect for today since our plans were to spend the whole day studying and working on our 20 page paper that is due in a week and a half, and an outline is due on Monday.

I stayed at the apartment since my computer is connected to the internet and it also served as a good way to get some time apart from the guys, don't get me wrong...we're getting along, just some alone time was nice. BJ and Pat went to the library, Jaunessa walked around Florence and ran errands.

I worked on my paper and hit some Gold Mines of information, so my outline is almost done. BJ and Pat are struggling a little bit, just hard to narrow down a topic. We get to chose a topic we want to compare between two countries and things can be so big it would impossible to cover in 20 pages, so that is part of challenge.

Monday BJ has to lead a class discussion, Tuesday I lead a class discussion, then the following week we all have to a 20 minute presentation of our paper topic that we are working on now, plus a final exam for our other class....lots of work.

While I was here working today, I took the opportunity to take all our towels down to the washer and wash them. No one (we don't even think the PM) in Italy has a dryer, so we are learning the art of drying our clothes on a line! It is great.
So I washed all our towels, cleaned the floors and our kitchenette!

So the place looks great.

Tonight is Jaunessa's last night here which would lead one to think, Friday night her last night..party time! But, her train leaves tomorrow at 8:25AM, and she is smart enough to know hangovers are not good for a two train ride trek back to Rome Airport, a flight to London and a flight home...

So, we're not sure what is in store for tonight, we might all split up and do our own thing, we might do what we did last night and just hangout at the apartment. But that would suck because we canceled going to Venice so we could enjoy one party weekend in Florence. So, we'll see...money is always a constant concern and so is us being productive for our papers tomorrow, so going party time tonight might hinder all of that.

Okay, BJ just showered, Pat and Jaunessa should be coming back from shoe shopping for Jaunessa, so I should go get changed for dinner.

Miss you guys!

I forgot

I forgot to mention how nice it was that the girls in the apartments below us made a wonderful dinner for us on Tuesday night. If you remember the first week we were here in Florence, I made the girls pesto pasta, salad and chocolate covered strawberries, well this week it was their turn and they made us a great Mexican feast! We were a little worried too, lol, but they found a little market to get ground beef and random mexican products!
So just wanted to thank them..mainly because they read the blog and I will get in trouble if I forget to mention it :)

ha.

BJ sent this to me just a few minutes ago while we were working on our papers....

thought I would post it up here to enrage my sister :)

Bloating.....

Well, we were warned by Megan New, but the bloating feet have begun....NOT so much with us guys, ours are just a little bloated.
But, some of the girls, especially Lindsey Wehmeyer are getting huge fatty feet! LOL Professor Ballard said that Lindsey had elephantitis lol (which is actually pronounced/and spelled, elephantias) .... elephantitis is a common misspelling, :)
I digress.
So, yeah, Lindsey's feet and ankles are soooo swollen! Her shoes barely fit! And another girl, Natalie LaPorte, was diagnosed by the roaming school doctor with strep throat and a sinus infection! Roaming school doctor...take the diagnosis with a grain of salt, but either way, she can barely talk and does not look healthy!
So we are keeping our distance from the girl's apartment tonight.

on a side note, while typing this a HUGE thunder and lightening storm is moving over us! The rain and hail was so loud and hard I thought the air conditioners in our unit were malfunctioning!

hmm, what else?

We went to dinner tonight with Professor Ballard. Her, me, BJ, Jaunessa and Pat. We went to La Spada, a restaurant that the former director of the Gonzaga undergrad in Florence Program LOVED and always visited with students. His name was Bruno, so they named a special for him and if you are GU student you can get order it...it is amazing.
11 Euro and you get a huge multi course meal! Pasta course had three pastas, penne and tuna, tortellini with ham, and fussilli with eggplant. Then you get a massive plate of potatoes and different meats......beef, game hen, tarp, pork, etc. It was awesome!!!! Us five could not finish any of the courses.

We are staying in tonight...even though we have no class tomorrow. Being good.

BJ is listening to Garth Brooks "Thunder Rolls" as the storm is now moving on...he is a dork.

As a little TMI, us guys are rocking some nice Chaffing/Rashes! :) Baby powder time tonight.

okay, it is nearing midnight. shower time, sleepy time, night cap time.

Representing the USA, Nights out in Florence Take 2

Nights out in Florence Take 1

We wear our sunglasses at night!

zzzzzzzzzzzz

Horay! We are half way through the school portion of the trip!!

Two more weeks...one big final..one big paper and we're off :)

Thursdays are our Fridays and BJ and I are done as it is 2:30PM here now...so to celebrate the weekend, we are napping! LOL

we are pretty crazy, I know!!

When I get up I will post pictures from the last couple nights out, plus some good stories!!

Yo yo!

Okay,,,,,,,,,so, to start, here is a little shock and awe! After I had left my camera (the theory is starting to point that the cabby stole it) in Rome, now..yesterday Pat's camera's lens is all messed up, so I may have to buy a new digital camera. I hope I can find a decent, but not amazingly expensive one, for less than 100 euro!!!
We are having the times of our life!!!! It needs to be documented, especially once we split from the groups and do our two weeks.....Germany, Ireland, Amsterdam and London trips :

Besides all that drama, things here are AMAZING! I cant believe there are people in this world that have died and not seen Florence! Do not take that as a snotty comment, take it as a GET THE HELL IN FLORENCE comment! You have to see this stuff, it is beyond amazing. I can't believe in the last week I have seen the original DAVID sculpture, the birth of venus painting, the sistene chapel, the Raphael rooms in the vatican (still, in my opinion the most stunning thing I have seen art wise in my entire life!!!)

Oh yeah, how about the 2,000 year old Coliseum and also being cheesy and '''''holding''''' up the leaning tower of Pisa ... ya know, that is almost 2,000 year old too! :) wow and wow.

what a couple weeks!!!

I love it beyond belief, still getting used to some things, like... the traffic (which is working itself out), Italian language (which is getting better for me!!!) and some of the options for food....which is beyond amazing and also a big miss :(

okay, sleepy time...........we love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
there is some dirt going down right now regarding tonight, will share that later :)