Learnin Stuff

Today I had about 4 hours of class time, nothing special except I realized I really don't know as much Italian as I thought I did sitting my Italian 320 class, where not one word of English was spoken the entire time. That class is either going to be sink or swim. Truth be told, I was never very good at Italian in the first place, but the reason I'm here is to learn I guess. I have about 4 assignments to do in each of my classes combined this semester, so its really just going to be about not getting lazy and keeping up with the readings. For lunch I found a great sandwich place that cranks out the panini for 2 euros each, and it just about tasted like a Wawa hoagie, with fresher ingredients and better bread of course. After class, I wandered down to Via Zamboni and got myself a membership in an exchange student program they have here, ESEG, which gets you into a lot of clubs for free. It's probably just a way for club owners to get you in there and have you buy a bunch of drinks, but I've usually been smart enough to just go to the grocery store and buy some great Belgian and German beer for really cheap before going out, so I don't plan on falling prey to their scam. Next week, I'll probably join the ESN, which is a more academically oriented program that provides cool trips around Italy for a fraction of the original cost. I'm planning on signing up for a trip down to Naples with them in April after I join. Other than that, I've began to start settling into a routine. I don't feel so much like a tourist here anymore, although I did take a wrong turn today and end up down a strange alley with about 10 homeless guys hanging out around the vents. One of them breathed directly into my nose, but after I recovered from the shock I was able to re-orient myself and make my way to the bank to pick up my stipend. I don't walk around with my hand on my wallet anymore after I realized that the Italians aren't all raving criminals trying to rob me blind. Shoot, I didn't even get pickpocketed in the Florence train station, a place which is notorious for that sort of thing. Tonight will just be another night getting settled in. I'm planning on making a stir fry for me and the roommates and then heading to the gym before doing all my reading and passing out. I'm already halfway done my week before heading out to Urbino this weekend with Dickinson, which should be another good time. That's about it for now.