Alana Visits from London
2006-09-27
Alana Visits Florence from London
My best friend and kindred spirit from high school visited me here in Florence yesterday!! It was amazing!! Then I had another awful experience in one of my classes today while listening to the opinions of my peers.
Yesterday I had a 9 oclock and of course I got on facebook during my 15 minute break of the 3-hour class. I had a facebook message from Alana, my best friend from high school back in Abilene, Texas. I never get to see her during the school year because she goes to Notre Dame and neither of us have been very good at keeping in touch. Her message read that she was in Florence for the day and she gave me a cell number to call so I could meet up with her. I was sooo excited!! It was a pain having to sit through the rest of my class and my Italian class to be able to call and see her! The number she had given me did not work since it was a UK number, but I finally figured it out and I headed out to Ponte Veccio to meet up with her.
Alana had come with 3 of her traveling buddies. She is at a Notre Dame study abroad program in London where all the students stay in the same flats. There were 2 guys and a girl and they were all very nice. It was strange being able to show them around Florence, I really felt like an at-home local while I showed theme around. I took them to the San Lorenzo market where souvenirs are the cheapest and then we ate at a cheap sandwich/calzone place that they had been to before. Then we finally went to my apartment to hang out for awhile. They have been living a lot like us with gas stoves, clothes lines and hand-washing dishes. From their stories in London of course I was a little jealous because of course it is London, but I am incredibly glad to be in Florence at the same time.
I am sorry for rambling! We had bread, cheese, tomatoes and vinegar and olive oil like any good Italians. Alana and her friends completely finished off two tubs of tiramisu and panna cotta (my personal favorite) from Standa. I am still amazed. Afterwards we walked around a little and visited Piazza Republica, Ponte Veccio and ventured across the Arno. Alana and I were talking the entire time so we hardly noticed where we went. It was nice to see her and I am excited about Zena and I going to London for Thanksgiving. I walked them back to their hotel near the train station and reluctantly parted with Alana. This weekend I have a Baylor friend who is in my sorority and studying in the Netherlands coming to visit. It is so nice to see familiar faces.
Today Zena and I woke up fairly late for our noon class. It is an ethics class that I usually get frustrated in because I took ethics over the summer and the things that some students say are simply ridiculous. To understand our frustration, you must first know that Zena is Muslim and has a very strong background. In fact, she will be going to Syria with her family after this program is over to visit family in Damascus. I respect Zena greatly for her religion and especially with all the recent hostility towards Islam, I think it is important that we personally learn about their religion and culture before we stereotype them. This is not so for many of the students in my ethics class today and I am still sad that our professor did nothing to counter their cruel accusations of Islam. We almost left for the second part of class. The things people said, that I will not attribute or repeat, were very close-minded and degrading of the Muslim culture. I felt awful for Zena having to sit there and listen to their comments. I hope that one thing I can change in the people around me is the stereotype of the Islam religion both in America and, now as I have heard today, in other countries. It is just as important as battling the stereotype of American women being easy here in Italy.
Anyway, tonight I am going across the Arno to sit in on a flamenco class. It may not work out because it is fairly expensive, but I am excited all the same. I have been fasting with Zena during the month of Ramadan so if I do dance I may have to break it early. It is hard!
Alana Visits Florence from London
My best friend and kindred spirit from high school visited me here in Florence yesterday!! It was amazing!! Then I had another awful experience in one of my classes today while listening to the opinions of my peers.
Yesterday I had a 9 oclock and of course I got on facebook during my 15 minute break of the 3-hour class. I had a facebook message from Alana, my best friend from high school back in Abilene, Texas. I never get to see her during the school year because she goes to Notre Dame and neither of us have been very good at keeping in touch. Her message read that she was in Florence for the day and she gave me a cell number to call so I could meet up with her. I was sooo excited!! It was a pain having to sit through the rest of my class and my Italian class to be able to call and see her! The number she had given me did not work since it was a UK number, but I finally figured it out and I headed out to Ponte Veccio to meet up with her.
Alana had come with 3 of her traveling buddies. She is at a Notre Dame study abroad program in London where all the students stay in the same flats. There were 2 guys and a girl and they were all very nice. It was strange being able to show them around Florence, I really felt like an at-home local while I showed theme around. I took them to the San Lorenzo market where souvenirs are the cheapest and then we ate at a cheap sandwich/calzone place that they had been to before. Then we finally went to my apartment to hang out for awhile. They have been living a lot like us with gas stoves, clothes lines and hand-washing dishes. From their stories in London of course I was a little jealous because of course it is London, but I am incredibly glad to be in Florence at the same time.
In London I feel like I would have been more or less in a comfort zone. In Florence not only am I in Renaissance Disneyland, but Florence has a small-town feel and I am completely immersed in an entirely different culture that I literally sometimes cannot understand. The longer I am here the longer I appreicate it.
I am sorry for rambling! We had bread, cheese, tomatoes and vinegar and olive oil like any good Italians. Alana and her friends completely finished off two tubs of tiramisu and panna cotta (my personal favorite) from Standa. I am still amazed. Afterwards we walked around a little and visited Piazza Republica, Ponte Veccio and ventured across the Arno. Alana and I were talking the entire time so we hardly noticed where we went. It was nice to see her and I am excited about Zena and I going to London for Thanksgiving. I walked them back to their hotel near the train station and reluctantly parted with Alana. This weekend I have a Baylor friend who is in my sorority and studying in the Netherlands coming to visit. It is so nice to see familiar faces.
Today Zena and I woke up fairly late for our noon class. It is an ethics class that I usually get frustrated in because I took ethics over the summer and the things that some students say are simply ridiculous. To understand our frustration, you must first know that Zena is Muslim and has a very strong background. In fact, she will be going to Syria with her family after this program is over to visit family in Damascus. I respect Zena greatly for her religion and especially with all the recent hostility towards Islam, I think it is important that we personally learn about their religion and culture before we stereotype them. This is not so for many of the students in my ethics class today and I am still sad that our professor did nothing to counter their cruel accusations of Islam. We almost left for the second part of class. The things people said, that I will not attribute or repeat, were very close-minded and degrading of the Muslim culture. I felt awful for Zena having to sit there and listen to their comments. I hope that one thing I can change in the people around me is the stereotype of the Islam religion both in America and, now as I have heard today, in other countries. It is just as important as battling the stereotype of American women being easy here in Italy.
Anyway, tonight I am going across the Arno to sit in on a flamenco class. It may not work out because it is fairly expensive, but I am excited all the same. I have been fasting with Zena during the month of Ramadan so if I do dance I may have to break it early. It is hard!
posted by Alyssa at 11:21 PM
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