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Monday, June 14

Yesterday was Sunday, and we went to church in Florence again. It's kinda hard sitting through any long sermon, but it's ten times worse when the sermon is in a foreign language. Oh well, it was fun to try and sing the songs. That afternoon we had classes--yuck--so we didn't get to do anything exciting that day. In the evening we just sort of rested and did homework.

Today, though, was really neat. During one of our classes this morning we all went out to a nearby villa to talk with some Italians. They had lived in this area all their lives and had a lot to say about what it was like before Harding was here. They had some interesting WWII stories, too; such as when he had to hide in the attic for ~six months~ so the Germans living nearby wouldn't conscript him into doing labor for them. But they only spoke Italian, so we didn't get to talk about a whole lot during only one class period. The villa there was ~huge~ and we learned that Harding almost bought that one instead. That made us all upset because that one was so much bigger and prettier, but it would have taken years to fix up. Oh well.

Then after lunch we had a class project. In a group of eight, we went around through Florence on a sort of video scavenger hunt. It was fun, though not tremendously so. Mostly, it was just long. We tried to be creative and funny, but it just wasn't flowing today for some reason. It was close to five hours from the time we left to the time we returned. We did see some parts of Florence that we hadn't been to before, but none of it was really all that amazing. We have to present it in class on Friday, so I'll try to remember to let you know how that goes.

Then even later tonight, the Scandicci Jazz Band came to the villa for a concert! It was really, really enjoyable. They played big band and jazz and a few other kinds, and it was all stuff that we knew to some degree. A few of the other students had a blast trying to dance swing-style, including one girl who got dropped no less than ~three~ times. But that was just a great way to end a long and tiring day.

Tomorrow we have an early wake up call because we're going to Siena and some other place. So off to bed with me!

--Angelique

 
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