martedì 25 gennaio 2011

CET Student Correspondent News: The Real World. Florence.


Ciao!
I want to give you all a brief description of my roommates and my apartment! I live with three girls and two boys. Margaret is my roommate and she is wonderful! She is very funny and very neat. I always thought of myself as a clean person, but Marge is definitely more organized than I am. Hopefully she will rub off on me. My favorite thing about Marge is how well she tells stories. She can make anything funny and entertaining. We live in a double room.

Alexandra and Noelle live together in the other double room. Alex is from Washington D.C. and she is fiery and so much fun. She is also very nice and is a great friend. Noelle is more shy but she is so posh. She is from Baltimore. I always think that I look so stylish when we get ready to go out, and then Noelle comes prancing out of her room looking like a supermodel. Alex, Marge and Noelle were all friends before, but the four of us are becoming great friends now. I am really happy with all of my roommates.
Noelle and Alex

Noelle, Hannah, and Mark 

Mark lives in a single room and he is from Princeton, New Jersey. He transferred to Vandy after one year of playing baseball at a school in California. We have already become great friends and he is like our brother, although I think he is overwhelmed by living with four girls sometimes! He wants to become a professional chef so he makes us the most delicious meals. We lucked out with Mark.
Domenico is our Italian roommate and he is the best. He always wants to have our friends over and he is great at introducing us to his Italian friends too. We also love his girlfriend, Julia. He is very typical Italian and is excited to help us learn the language. Domenico speaks six languages fluently and he is from Sicily.
Our apartment is amazing and very big! We are only a 5 minute walk from the Duomo and a 15 minute walk to the CET center where we have class. Everything is within walking distance. Domenico said that the apartment was built in the 14th or 15th century but has been recently renovated. We have lots of windows with high ceilings and pretty crown molding. We are on the fourth floor with a beautiful staircase, and we also have an old fashioned elevator! The girls share a bathroom and the boys have a bathroom to share as well. Evidently Italians don’t use clothes dryers, so we only have a washer in our apartment. It is also very small, so you can only do a few pair of underwear and some jeans at a time, but I am glad that we don’t have to go to a laundromat. The best thing about our apartment is the terrace and we are excited to start using that when it gets warmer!

Mark, Hannah, Noelle, Alex and Margaret. 
Click here or here for a tour of our apartment! 
Love,
Hannah
By Hannah Rogers
CET Student Correspondent
Spring 2011

domenica 16 gennaio 2011

Welcome to Florence: Newsletter January 26 - February 9


January 26
Arrival Day! You will find a welcome packet in your room with your new set of keys. Please look through this when you get a chance and ask your Italian roommates if you have any questions! Pizza will be delivered to your apartment. 

January 27
Orientation begins at 11 AM at the CET Center and continues in Via Tornabuoni at the Volunteer orientation for "Flo 'n the go". The day will end with a welcome dinner at 7:30 pm. 

January 28
Orientation continues with waking tour of Florence and the British Library. Potluck with Italian roommates. 

January 29
Welcome Luncheon and Guest Lecture. 

January 30 
Free Day. Want to stay in Florence?: Explore the neighborhoods of Santo Spirito and S. Niccolo', take a walk to the Piazzale Michelangelo for a view of the city, or try out your new museum pass and check out one of the many exhibits going on in the city. Anxious to explore?: Hope on the bus to Siena  or S. Gimignano, or take the train to Pisa or Lucca, for a relaxing Sunday in another Tuscan town. Click here for more ideas! 

January 31 
Classes begin. Italian 100-150 students will meet the RD at the duomo at 9:30 AM to walk to the University of Florence for their first Italian class. Italian 300 students will meet their Italian professor at the CET Center. 
Cooking class group 1 will meet at 5:40. 

February 1 
Pizza-making class group 2

February 8 
Duomo climb and Italian Language exchange aperitivo.