Student Correspondent
Well, I will tell you--one week in, the novelty wore off. Last Friday was a bad day. My roommates were all gone to a drawing class and I wanted to be outside-reading, eating, enjoying, looking. But what is so easy to do alone when you’re home can be a struggle here. You step outside of the comfort of your apartment and suddenly you are again the foreigner, alone in a strange land, forging your way through Italian streets that never quite go straight and that change names out of nowhere. No one speaks your language and it all leaves you feeling self- conscious, out of place, and altogether disoriented. I want so badly to find what sociologists refer to as a 'third place' here--a place that’s not work or home where I can go to read or study and feel comfortable.
So far, I haven't found it. Today, for example, I was determined to do two things--1. Go to this cafe up the street and plop myself down in their outdoor seating area with a coffee and read for one of my classes and 2. Mail some postcards. I left my building, walked towards the cafe, and when I got to it, all the tables were taken by smiling, laughing Italians and I simply didn’t feel up to trying to find a spot knowing I would have to speak Italian and would probably be eyed by all of those sitting already.
So I walked past, bummed but still comforted knowing that I could just go around the block and try to find a mailbox. I walked around the block, up this street, and across this little pedestrian bridge and proceeded to … get lost. I was literally only two blocks from my apartment in an area that was familiarly unfamiliar but I simply didn't feel up to fighting it. I said forget it to finding a mailbox and made my way to the big street that runs by my apartment. Before seeking out the comfort of my apartment, I stopped by the gelato place—I desperately needed a scoop to calm my nerves. Even though it doesn’t seem like a big deal now—you just realize there are days when you feel up to it and there are days when you don’t. I’m realizing that it’s okay. To be out means to encounter different languages, foreign stimuli and unfamiliar situations where even the simplest tasks can become complicated. Though it was a pain last Friday, I think this is what I will end up appreciating most about Italian culture when all is said and done—oh, and the gelato.
Murielle Wyman
CET Florence Fall 2009 Student Correspondent
Need some help finding a "third place" of your own? Here are some suggestions for great places for food, coffee, books, and (best of all) comfortable spaces to feel at home in Florence:
Biblioteca delle Oblate. Library and Cafe'.
http://www.bibliotecadelleoblate.it/ Via dell'Oriuolo 26
Selection of books in English (can be checked out for 1 month). The DVD archive with 2,000+ movies which can be borrowed for up to 7 days (remember to bring your passport to sign up).
Via Martelli, 22 r http://www.libreriamartelli.it/
music, cafe', food, books, awesome space made ofrecycled materials!! Borgo San Frediano, 20r http://www.lacitelibreria.info/
La terrazza (5th floor of the Rinascente department store)Piazza della Repubblica. great place for coffee, lunch, or just a view of the cityscape. http://www.rinascente.it/
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