First Week in Italy – Margaret Bright

My first week staying in Florence Italy has been more than I expected. The program facilitating the study abroad, SAI, has set us up accommodations. Currently, I am staying in a traditional Florentine Apartment in the middle of the city with 5 other girls. There are 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, and a huge living room. The AC does not work the best but everything else is great. Overall Florence is more of a city than I thought it was going to be. There are huge/tall apartments everywhere and small businesses on every corner. Not to my surprise, every restaurant is Italian. The biggest culture shock I have noticed is their caffeine/coffee intake. Back in college station, huge iced coffees were a staple in my life, but here, they only drink HOT coffees and ice is nowhere to be found in the city. I’ve gotten used to drinking a hot cappuccino in the mornings and then an espresso shot in the afternoon. My roommates and I all go to the same cute small coffee shop outside of our apartment every day, and the owner loves to see us. I think my favorite part about class in Italy is the fact our class is at the Duomo. Every morning I get to take a 10-minute walk and admire the beautiful church on my way to class. Finally, the last thing I’ve noticed is the timing of dinner here. In America, we typically eat dinner around 6:30, but here they eat dinner extremely late, around 8:30 or 9pm. Only being here a week has opened my eyes to the international experience and I’m excited to continue our next 3 weeks in Florence to see how much I learn.