Firenze

Things I have learned:

You don't need to leave New York to feel uncomfortably american, just visit the JFK international terminal.
Buy an Italian phrasebook BEFORE you get to the airport. The airport doesn't have them.
Wine in Italy, is just like coke, pepsi, juice or water. You can drink it with every meal. And it's served free on Alitalia.
Reading signs and following the crowd can get you just about anywhere you need to go.
Italians have "orange juice" but it's not orange (its red) nor does it taste anything like oranges.
Italians don't believe in water fountains, making it very difficult for my beloved sigg and I.
European candy is FAR, FAR superior to American candy.
Food in Italy is FAR, FAR superiod to food in America.
Only Italians in touristy areas speak English.
Despite how natural and delicious the food is here, Italians love lard. 
There is a group of gypsies that live up the street from the nyu campus. 
Food next to the Duermo is more expensive. 
Pepperoni in Italian does not mean pepperoni, it means peppers!
Mozzerella cheese in its real form comes in little rubbery balls soaked in bowls of liquid.
In Euros anything less than 5 euros is in coin form!
Paninis are really really good.
Italian bread has lots of salt on it.
Everything is closed on Sundays.
When you exit the door of a Florence bus you must exit through the middle, when you enter it's through the front & back.
You must hail the bus to get it to stop, however if you try to hail a taxi it won't stop.
Italians don't believe in window screens, and buildings aren't built with ventalation systems so you have to leave the windows open.
Europeans like Americans significantly more now that Obama is our president.
Gelato is healthier and far, far, better tasting than ice cream.
Internet is a luxury.
Italians don't believe in dryers.
Life here is far simpler than it is in the US. And I like it.

Good buy Rome.  I thought this was funny. 

 Florence from the airplane window. 

The "valley of death" which we walk 4 times a day to and from class. 

Campus. 

The Duermo. 

The best gelato ever. 

The view from my window. 

Other window. 

Our bright and sunny room. 

I could not post this without saying something about the series finale of LOST.  Despite having to wait 24 hours after it aired, and having to download it from iTunes and then wait the full hour for it to download through Italy's slow internet, I was finally able to watch it.  It was perfect.  I cried pretty much the entire two hours, especially at the end.  That show has been so powerful to me, its messages, its themes, how important it is to keep faith in something even when it seems fruitless.  The ending was so moving.  I love that the directors purposefully placed symbols of all faiths in the church, it was such a powerful image, and I couldn't help but wish a place of such acceptance could exist and if it did how much I'd like to go there.