Abbie Abroad

Graduation???

March 4th 2020: Hallmark moment??? I went out with a very nice guy from Berlin. In true Italian style, we got gelato and then walked 6 miles to the Piazzale Michelangelo which has a beautiful view of the city! It has rained all week but luckily it stopped so I was able to get the above photo!

March 5th 2020: I have officially moved to level 2! both my conversation and grammar classes are both in this level so I am really progressing! I should have celebrated the same way I did high school…Pad Thai! Today in conversation class, I wrote and then read a murder mystery to the class and then as a group we read a section from a real book and had to solve it. I was the first person to figure it out, I guess all that Hawaii Five-0 was good for something! It is absolutely astonishing how much I have learned. I went from being able to greet someone to reading and comprehending!

Today I went with two of my classmates to a bar during our break to get a coffee. (Here a bar is where you go to get a hot drink and a pastry!) I got a caffe latte to go for 2 euro while at home, a large mocha maple macchiato espresso pumpkin spice latte caramel cappuccino grande is like 6$. (Can you tell I’m a coffee person and totally know what all those things are??) In Vermont, my classmates would get a coffee every morning on their way to school and this was shocking to me. Granted that could be my background in financial literacy (thanks parents!!) but it seemed crazy to me to spend 30$ a week on coffee! Here, it is part of the day to stop at the bar, put down a euro and drink your espresso. The whole thing takes about 2 minutes and then you are on your way!

Another component of my school that I really like is the diversity. In my nearly three weeks I have learned with people from Ireland, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Macao, Turkey, Austria, Germany, Mexico and Portugal. A big part of what we do in class is talk about our homes so I have learned about each of these places in a new way. It is very interesting for me to hear all these people’s perspectives on different topics. As you can imagine, they vary greatly. American politics and the current election cycle is something we discuss quite frequently but I expected that. Yesterday we had a really shocking conversation about Armenia and it was not something I had thought I would be trying to talk about in a language I don’t fully understand. People’s thoughts on this subject were so so so diverse and it was pretty hard for me to comprehend.

Big win for me today! I went to the gluten free bakery, they have a little gluten free market where I wanted to buy GF flour. I asked the people (IN ITALIAN!!!) which flour would be better to make Bechamel sauce and then ordered a strawberry tart and finally wished them a good day! Super proud of myself and I can’t wait to be able to speak more.

In other news: a man in my class showed me a photo of his yard with an inch of snow and asked me if that was like living in the Northeast. I said pretty much and showed him a picture of my yard with the car completely snowed in and he couldn’t believe it!

Foody Farm

March 3rd 2020: Gluten Free heaven! I met a friend at this restaurant and it was absolutely amazing!! Because of the weather and fears of the virus, the place was not busy at all. We got an amazing table in the window right next to the Arno. The menu had farm to table ingredients and showcased street food from around the world. Also they labeled for you what had no gluten so there was no worry of contamination! Best of all: all of their desserts are gluten free!! all of them! I had tiramisu (Alice!) for the first time in 3 years and I couldn’t have been happier! We stayed there drinking coffee and chatting for hours and it was absolutely lovely!

School has been going really well; I’m beginning to find my way in that advanced conversation class!

I can’t wait to continue to find new places like Foody Farm! I will definitely be going back!

In other news: I wore a t-shirt to school today and the teachers teased me mercilessly about being from Vermont and not feeling the cold. My classmates at Hartford would have been wearing shorts!

Level 2???

March 1st 2020: Cinghiale is the best!! Nonna’s friends from Syracuse arrived at the end of last week so we got together for a fun lunch. I haven’t seen them in years so it was fun to catch up, and the food was amazing! My go to order in an Italian restaurant you ask?? Since I was 9, I have been a HUGE fan of cinghiale…wild boar! I had always had it served on pasta, and not all restaurants serve gluten free pasta so I have been making it at home. There are jars of cinghiale sauce that you can buy in the grocery store that are delicious. At the restaurant yesterday, I had cinghiale with fried polenta and it was amazing! So in summary, eat cinghiale if you ever have the chance!

(I just played a game of how many times I could say cinghiale in one story, I hope you enjoyed it!)

March 2nd 2020: Passato Prossimo on steroids. Sadly all my friends in my class left; the Argentinians went home as planned, and the woman from Macao had to go back. But, I’m no longer a full fledged level zero! One new person joined my grammar class today, so it was just the two of us. He’s a nice guy from Germany who also finds the prepositions to be crazy! But since he is only doing grammar class, I was alone for conversation. And while many people have told me that I am a great talker, it’s hard to carry on a conversation in a new language with yourself! The school’s admin had me join a different class so I could actually engage but they wouldn’t be my level. So today I went wayyyy outside the comfort zone and joined a level 2 class. They know three more tenses than me, and are all 15+ years older and yet I was able to communicate my thoughts!!!!! no worries, we stayed on brand: everyone still thinks Vermont is too rural and is shocked there aren’t discotecas everywhere but I did it! Only slightly terrified for tomorrow when they know another tense but it’ll all work out, it’s only two hours right??

In other news, a taxi drove on the sidewalk today to avoid a bicyclist that was riding with their umbrella up…I love Florence!

Corona and School

(Week of..) February 24th, 2020: School is still amazing! This week we had a different grammar teacher but kept the same conversation guru. It is insane how much I have learned!! I now know two tenses (present and present perfect) and will be starting the past and future this week! It is crazy! My class was much smaller this week, just the three girls from Argentina, a woman from Macao and me! We had lots of laughs over mispronunciations, governments of different countries, and our lacking vocabularies. The low of the school week was learning prepositions, obviously we need to know them but it was a struggle to stay awake during that lesson. If that is my hardest class while I’m here, I think I’ll be okay 🙂 To my father’s dismay, the highlight was learning one simple phrase: “I love you” we spent loads of time perfecting this phrase. It’s as if they know we are here for all the hallmark moments. Lesson time: Ti voglio bene can be used for family, friends, and coworkers but only use Ti amo with one person….it could get pretty complicated if not and that is not how hallmark works!

It’s a tough week for my dad, not only did I learn love, I also discovered the 100% gluten free bakery right around the corner from my school. Sorry bank account. The people at Starbene are absolutely amazing and when I go in, I attempt to use what I learned that day. Also the food is incredible and that makes the embarrassing encounter worth it. After class Friday, I stopped by the bakery and got a quick snack and then walked further downtown to go to Perchè No. On my way, I just happened to pass by my favorite building on the planet which is pictured above. If anyone wants/needs to hear a recitation of the Medici family history just let me know.

On to the Coronavirus. The outbreak has spread to Northern Italy and there are many cases up there. It has been interesting to see how the government and people are reacting. Several soccer matches are being played in closed door stadiums, including Fiorentina’s game today. The mayor of Florence has decided to make several museums free for a couple of days to try to maintain normal life…guess who is going to the Palazzo Vecchio for free???? A woman from my school is thinking about cutting her vacation short two weeks so she has time to be quarantined before returning to work while another person is extending their vacation by two weeks to hopefully avoid being quarantined before returning to work.

In other news: I am now a master chef and will accept challengers for when I get home in July.

Forza Viola!

February 22nd 2020: Go team! My uncle arrived Friday evening and after a quick stop for gelato, we were off to the races! With 3 Koff’s in town, the Florentines had no chance! Saturday night was the big game! Fiorentina against AC Milan…(be prepared, going full soccer nerd) Obviously we are HUGE Fiorentina fans, and not just because they have the prettiest purple uniforms! For anyone who isn’t a follower of the Serie A, Fiorentina has not been doing so great lately. And Milan has one of the biggest soccer names in the world: Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Getting to see him play in person was pretty incredible, he doesn’t run or move much at all but still dominates the field. His ability to obliterate Florentine players with three steps was both awesome and terrifying! For some reason, my conversation class at school didn’t fully prepare me for the game. New words and songs reverberated through the stadium directed at the away fans who are walled in with plexiglass. The final score was 1-1 despite the game being pretty terrible for both sides. Zlatan scored in the first half but a controversial VAR call reversed the decision…still waiting for Hartford to invest in this technology! The photo above is Nonna and I prior to the game. She was too angry for a photo after but not to fear, she expressed her feelings loudly and clearly to the opposing fans!

February 23rd 2020: The excitement of Saturday night spilled into Sunday. I was literally thrown into the deep end with my Italian AND I survived! My uncle was here for the weekend and we went to lunch with some of his friends and dinner with others. The conversation around me was all in Italian and I was able to understand a lot of it! The two topics that were easiest for me, no surprise here, were American politics and soccer. I could piece together what was being said and even formulate a response! Most of the other topics I could understand but lacked the vocabulary to respond. Dinner was at an Egyptian-Italian Pizzeria and I got a risotto with tomato and burrata that was amazing!!

In other news, at school today my class made the instagram so that was exciting!

Busy Busy Busy!

February 20th, 2020: Ciao ragazzi! The last few days have been crazy packed! School, food, and immigration work has been filling up my time.

School: It is absolutely astounding how much I am learning! It has only been a couple of days but I’ve learned so much. For example, yesterday in class we learned: days of the week, months of the year, seasons, irregular verb conjugations, telling time, greetings by time of day, and plural possessives. Every day when I get home Nonna says: “You learned ALL that today???” I think tomorrow will be my first field trip and I am very excited! In just a week my classmates have changed so much, everyone is here for different periods of time so several people have already left for their homes.

Food: I love food! I have been eating so well here! Lots of people were worried about the options I would find but there are plenty!! Lunch and dinner (il pranzo e la cena) are two plate meals that normally consist of a pasta or rice dish as a first and then a meat or fish with salad. Fruit and gelato are plentiful!

Immigration: This has been the most interesting part of my experience so far! Some miscommunications and a disconnect of information led to Nonna and I running all over the city. We waited in line at the Questura for 4 1/2 hours starting at 630 in morning, but when we got to the front of the line, the man told us we didn’t have to be there. Next we were sent to the Post Office for an appointment but they told us they don’t give out appointments! After that I went to my school and luckily they helped me to fill out an application! It did take us a couple of days to return the application because we waited in line at the Post Office just to find out they don’t accept applications at that post office. The next one was closed in the afternoon but luckily we went to one the following morning and were second in line!

This weekend is going to be pretty exciting! There is a chocolate festival near my school and some other events happening around!

First Day of School!

February 17th 2020: And I thought I loved school in the US?!?!? This place is amazing!! I learned so much (io vengo dagli USA, mi piace Mamma Mia! e cibo senze glutine) and the teacher was great. There are 8 students in my class, ages from 16-56 and from 5 different countries! There are 3 people from Argentina and then 1 one each from Germany, Brazil, and Colombia.

Our teacher is so much fun. He is from Florence and was really great to talk with. Despite him speaking in Italian from the beginning, I was able to understand him! When I wasn’t sure how to say something, I said it in Spanish and normally it was right or really close!

Ciao!

The Arrival!!

February 16th, 2020: Ciao a Firenze!! Nonna met me at the airport and then I followed the Koff Law of beating jet lag: lunch, 1 1/2 hour nap, long walk! Our walk today was 6 miles of uneven cobblestones and crazy bicyclists but it was amazing! The first stop is pictured above; the best gelato in all of Florence and probably the world. Pro tip: go as much as possible and order a small cup with either limone e fragola or stracciatella e coffee crunch. The women behind the counter recognized me right away and asked where the rest of my family was…we’re regulars!

The next stop on our walkabout was my school. It is not too far from the apartment and it is located in a great part of the city with lots of restaurants and shops around it! School starts tomorrow so there will be definitely be an update coming about that!!!

Our final stop was the Palazzo Vecchio. Mine and Nonna’s favorite building in the world! The architecture, history, and cultural significance is astounding! Don’t worry, there will be plenty more updates on the ‘Old Palace’ as it is a spot I will be at alllll the time!!

If you are on Instagram, abba_abroad has more photos!

Leaving on a Jet Plane

February 15th, 2020: Peter, Paul, and Mary said it….about me! Today I flew out of Montreal and did a tour of airports. I went to Chicago, Madrid and then Florence. Unfortunately, no hallmark moments with seat mates (school starts on Monday so there is hope!!)

I tried to use my Spanish at the airport, but the stress of finding my gate got to me! On the return trip though, Spanish will be used!

Above is my farewell in Montreal. We are pretty proud that 4.5 months of stuff fit into one carry-on and a backpack! My dad is an expert packer 🙂

For those who were wondering (Jay) Hallmark and Mamma Mia were not available on the long flight but I did get to watch the Iberia equivalent!

Ciao for now!

The Journey Has Begun

January 6th 2020: Ciao Ragazzi! On this day I got bored during HBlock and downloaded Duolingo to try and get ahead on my Italian. Today, I am on a 25 day streak and can say “io mangio una mela” and “io scrivo nel giornale”. I guess that means I am ready for the markets and to be a journalist. I hope to continue with the daily sessions so I will have a veryyy basic understanding when my class starts.

January 17th 2020: Mission Accomplished!! I graduated early from Hartford High School so that I could take advantage of an opportunity to travel to Florence, Italy. For those wondering, Florence is in the heart of Tuscany, and is often described as the capital of Renaissance art and culture. Also they have a Serie A soccer team; Forza Viola!

January 29th 2020: Practiced my Italian! My parents and I took a trip to the Italian Consulate in Boston. Despite a few hiccups, (namely, I’m a minor) the man who worked with us was very nice. Now, we get to go back down and pick up my Visa next week. It has been very interesting learning about the complexities of studying abroad. I am very excited to use what I have learned in the future for my next study abroad experience.