Abetone, Language Lessons, and Gelato

The past week has been jam packed with either classes and studying or our ski trip to Abetone in the Apennines. The bus ride to and from Abetone was gorgeous. Both times I listened to worship music on my iPod and was left in awe at the grandeur of the mountains and ultimately the Lord of all who created them.

Skiing for the first time was lots of fun, of course not at first because I was falling more than skiing. Lynn and I spent the first two days on the bunny slopes and then on day three headed up the mountain to try and easy slope. It was nice to have a break from school and to get out of Scandicci/Florence and see a bit more of Italy. Although at the end of day three I think we were all ready to be back at the Villa.

Italian class hit us hard when we got back. I studied for a about 3 hours for our Italian "quiz" and still did horrible. Class has little structure to it and I'm finding it hard to make sense of things and keep up. I was in the villa all day Friday and got a bit restless studying all day so after classes on Saturday a group of us went shopping in Florence. Funny moments of the trip would include almost being knocked over by a man running/galloping across the street while screaming and twirling a hat. I also sprinted after a bus that all of us but Paige London failed to get on. Her face at the realization that she was on it alone was priceless!

Today for Italian class we went to the Scandicci high school to give/receive English/Italian lessons. I absolutely loved it. First off, it was interesting to see the culture differences and what things will probably always be the same about high school despite the culture. Secondly, I probably learned more with my new friend Silvia today than I have in any of our Italian classes here at the villa.

I've heard this is the coldest winter Florence has experienced in 50 some years! Today, though, it was much better so Lynn, Jordan, and I decided to take advantage of it and go walk around Florence. We found a cool toy shop and got some gelato (ice cream... except better!).

The high school students we worked with earlier today came to the villa for dinner! It was wonderful! We were able to talk more with them and learn language and culture. The girl table that I was at had conversation that went everywhere from boys to shopping to hobbies to Lady Gaga to pronouncing "gli" (it's so hard for English speakers and they get a kick out of listening to us try). 

I feel like we've been here so much longer than just 2 weeks. I think it's because we've learned and experienced so much in that short time period. It will be interesting to see how much we've grown and how different we are in two months!