I almost forgot to tell everybody about the Iggy Pop concert that was here a couple of weeks ago. You think you've been to a crazy concert (I'm talking to you hardcore-rock listeners)? Well, let me tell you that a true European concert is something like no other. But before I go into detail, to the left is a picture of some friends that I've met. (From left to right) There's Jess from South Carolina, Amy from Wisconsin, and Emily who is also from Wisconsin. So as you can see, there is quite a diverse group of American students who are abroad! We all laugh at one another because we each have our own dialect and accents of the American English language.
To start off, the picture you see here was taken by another individual of whom I cannot find, so they will remain unknown. But this is not my picture. However,if you look at the little yellow box highlighted, that is the general area in which I was. The concert was held by the Hard Rock Cafe of Firenze, Italia (Yes, they have a Hard Rock Cafe out here). The organization held a competition for local bands and artists to play and open for Iggy Pop, so they opened up. Everybody (well maybe not everybody, but 90%) had a bottle of wine, beer, a smoke (or 10) and some other drugs that should not be mentioned. Hearing the crowds scream and yellow in the Italian language was beautiful, interesting, and confusing. However, Amy (the middle girl in the first picture) was a dare devil and decided to see how far she could get us to the front of the stage! Wow, I would have to say that she was braver than I was this night. However, it got a little too rowdy for us, so we broke for gelato.
As times have been passing recently, I'm starting to feel more "at home." There's been a number of times where somebody has asked me for directions to somewhere or had me help them order something (or purchase). Good news for me, right? Sure, I haven't been able to explore many parts outside of Florence, Italy before, but I've seen many parts of Italy. I have had fun every single day I've been here, even if it's just a lazy day at the flat.
I've been getting a lot of questioning on why I haven't traveled that much outside of the city. My reason is the same for everyone: I want to know the culture, the lifestyle, and figure out how different it is from ours. I'm more interested to see cultural differences and similarities between not only Americans and Italians, but all of the other abroad students who have come from other parts of the world. Not only that, I will become a master of the city! (hehe). Don't worry, I have plenty of trips coming up including: Siena, Assisi, Rome, Krakow (Poland), Auschwitz (Poland), and in 2 weeks, Barcelona (Spain) to visit Cameron!
As the Fall season starts to kick in, the first thing I notice is that Italy does not promote the season and holidays like America does. For example, I'm sure that stores (and some people) have already started putting out Thanksgiving toys, Halloween decorations, and maybe even some Christmas already! However, there's not a single sign of anything Fall here. There's no pumpkins, leaves, flannel, hot cocoa, apple festivals, or anything! It makes me miss home all the more, alas, I still have many many things that are unanswered here!
I know that for a fact when I come home,
I'll have a different perspective of the world. And maybe not only the world, but certain values (being family, friends, and work). These things are very important to the Italians. In addition to being able to make room for all of these activities, they make sure that life is not rushed. Time is not wasted here. Time is not valued as something that will never happen again. Sure, once time is gone, it's gone; However that doesn't make it the end of the world now, does it?
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