I’m so sorry to be MIA all week! Everyone has been bugging me to update but I’ve just been so busy! I’ll try to get everything in from the past week but be prepared….this will be long!
Ok, so school was good all week. It consisted mostly of dance rehearsals. Tuesday night we had our dinner with everyone in the program. It was a lot of fun. We ate at a great restaurant down the street from our dorm and it was great food with better company. Wednesday night Paige Short (one of the music teachers) had a party at her house for all of the interns. The food was INCREDIBLE! I can’t even explain how amazing the chicken was so I won’t even try. Just imagine the best chicken you’ve ever had…..but better! We did a little sing-along around the piano (as is tradition with Dr. Robinson around) and that was great fun! We then headed back to the dorms and were faced with much drama. I will not disclose details in this forum but I will say that it was not a pretty sight. Thursday was the dance festival and that was chaos! It started at 9:30am and we were running all over the school all morning trying to make sure everything was in order. Lauren had to get all the music together and we didn’t even have time for a sound check….which is never good. The first group came out to dance, took their places, we hit “play” and nothing happened….awkward! We were trying to figure it out, hitting random buttons, etc until something worked. When it did come on it BLARED out of the speakers. After that it was only minor mistakes (playing the wrong song, not stopping in time, starting the music too early, etc) and we got through the whole thing. In one dance I had to be a boy so I had to scrunch up my dress under my blazer and wear a top-hat and cane. I also towered over the other kids so I didn’t stand out at ALL! Then I had to run outside and be an elegant lady with the 6th graders. In the end it was fun, but hectic. The only problem with it was I had a massive migraine all morning through the whole thing. Carolina said I could have the afternoon off for all the hard work I did and I took her up on that because my migraine was out of control by then. I went home, took my medicine and slept it off. That evening Carolina took Lauren and I out for dinner and drinks at this place called MoMo. Conveniently it was right down the street from our dorm. That was great fun! We ate all kinds of delicious food and had a bottle of sparkling wine. Yum! It was a great stress reliever now that the dance festival was finally over! Friday was fairly easy. We had a few classes and mostly reflected about what the festival meant to them. Monday I get to teach the choir again and Dr. Robinson is observing me: EEK!! :)
After school we went straight the the Roma Termini (big train station downtown). The problem was that public transit decided to go on strike THAT DAY! How annoying! So very few buses were running and we had to take a taxi to the Termini from school. Luckily the trains were still running so we made our train….the problem was that half of our group was meeting us there. We did not have a specified meeting place so we assumed we would find them at the platform. They were not there. We got on the train...not there. The train pulled away...still not there! We were on the fast train so it only took an hour and a half to get to Florence. Once there we got some food and I got on facebook to find out they were on the next train and coming in shortly. We somehow missed them and they missed the first train. In the end it all worked out. We then figured out how to get where we had to be for our driver to pick us up. We had to take another little train to a town called Vaiano. We got there around 11pm and were thrilled to see our driver there! 9 of us crammed into his little jeep and up the mountain we went! Lauren, Kat and I were in the back and I felt like we were going to fall out a few times! We were going straight up the mountain and it was pitch black! It was terrifying for a while but we just laughed the whole time. Finally we pulled into the villa but we couldn’t see much! He showed us our accommodations and we all passed out. In the morning we woke up, opened the window and saw the most amazing sight: a wall of trees! The mountains were GORGEOUS!!! It was everything we hoped for and more! We ate breakfast and then relaxed around the pool/patio for a while. It was the most perfect day! No clouds, no traffic, warm but not hot….just amazing! In the afternoon Lucca (the guy that ran the villa) drove us to the station and we headed to Florence. By the time we ate lunch we just had a little time to look at the market before Miranda’s family had to catch their trains to Rome and we had to head back to Vaiano. We had a relaxing evening at the villa and Lucca gave us a little tour of the grounds as it got dark. He showed us the olive grove, the bees (they were sleeping but he made some wake up and we could see them walking out of the box...he makes his own honey!), the chickens (who sleep in the trees) and told us a little about the property and Tuscany. The farmhouse we were staying in was built in 1100….that’s almost 1,000 years old! It was restored in 1530 and then Lucca restored it again in 2011. I couldn’t believe it was so old!! He restored it well and it was very nice...but still quaint and beautiful. He bought the property in 1982 and he was the third owner! In 1,000 years only 3 families have owned it!! Blows my mind!
This morning we ate another delicious breakfast (and he fried some eggs for us from his chickens….SO GOOD!) and Lucca drove us to the station to head to Florence. The problem is that today is Sunday and Mother’s Day so apparently everything is limited today (story of our trip)! The train wasn’t coming for nearly 2 hours so we sat in Vaiano until then. We had to switch trains in Prato but when we got off the train there was some kind of big event going on. There were a bunch of people with flags and signs screaming and singing and throwing smoke bombs and colored powder. They were blocking the staircase to go to the other platforms so people started running across the tracks. As we were about to do the same some police grabbed us and told us no. We had to go through the screaming mob….we were terrified! We think it had something to do with soccer so they were probably harmless but they were drinking and screaming...it was scary. We were glad to get through that! Then we had to wait 45 mins till the next train to Florence….ugh! We FINALLY got to Florence and we wanted to see the Boboli Gardens so we bought bus tickets and waited for the 36. An old couple at the stop told us that the 37 would take us straight to Boboli and that’s where they were going too….so we believed them. A 36 drove by and they told us to wait. So we did….we got on the 37 with them and it started driving...and driving...and it kept driving! We knew it was only about a mile and a half to Boboli so something wasn’t right. Finally the lady said it was time to get off! So we did….and started walking up a hill. We knew it wasn’t right and we found another younger couple and asked them if this was Boboli. The lady looked us with big eyes and said “Noooooo!” Apparently the old couple led us to a CONVENT!! It was pretty but not at ALL what we wanted! So we went back down and waited for 40 mins for the next bus to come by. Finally we got on it and about 30 minutes later made it back to Florence. By then we had 1 hour to do something before our train left for Rome. We went to the open air market and bought some fabulous things. I got an amazing leather purse, some beautiful scarves (some heavier and some lighter for the summer) and a leather bracelet. We then got some McDonalds (my first since being here) and RAN to catch the train. We made it just in time and are settled in. We took the slow train this time (because it’s only 17 Euro, instead of 45) but it takes nearly 4 hours. Time to nap! I’ve had enough adventure for one day!
Ok, I think that’s about it from the week! I’m impressed if you read through all of that ;) In other news, I woke up with a sore throat this morning and keep feeling crummier all day...so hopefully it’s nothing but I’m hoping to get to bed at a decent time upon our arrival. I hope everyone has been having a great week/weekend! I know my family is now at the beach on Anna Maria Island and I wish I was there with them!! I can’t believe I leave in 5 days! It will be SO sad to leave but I’m glad I’ll get to see Chris, Brian and the kids before they leave Saturday. There are a few things I will not miss….like all the dog poop on the sidewalks and the massive amounts of cigarette smoke everywhere! I will REALLY miss the food and gelato, though!
Ciao!!
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