Wednesday was an easier morning, with a late breakfast at the Bible school and our morning meeting. From the Bible school we went to hear director Jay Russell speak at the Villa where he was speaking in class for the HUF students. He is the director of films such as "My Dog Skip," "Water Horse," and "Ladder 49." He spoke about his career and opportunities we may have in the filming industry.
Following class, there was a 30th year celebration for the HUF program and several influential people were in attendance. I was able to meet with the deputy mayor of Florence. He is an interesting man and has spent a lifetime in politics and loves the city of Florence.
The peak of the day happened when we were able to see the Statue of David. It was an inspiring piece of art and I was lucky to have the chance to see the statue. We from the museum to dinner at a restaurant close to the church building.
We had the evening off, which I was able to get lost with one of my friends staying at the Villa. He encouraged me to get on a bus assuming that it would just circle around and bring us back to our destination. He was wrong. The bus continued on its route about 30 minutes outside of town and it stopped. We were on the last route of the evening for that particular bus and needed to get off in a village outside of Florence. I had no idea what to do because for the first time of our trip I left both my passport and money back at the Bible school. I had 10 euro on me and that was it. We were able to convince the driver to take us to a different bus stop by the deposit center. From there we walked for a few miles until we caught a bus that took us to the center of town. It was quite the event. I did however miss my bus back home because of the detour and had to wait by myself for 45 minutes at midnight for the next bus. Sorry mom, it was a pretty touch and go situation. I however made it back to the Bible school to end a very long night.
Thursday, the writing crew got up and spent the morning at different museums and then had a traditional lunch in Florence. The way meals work is there is a pasta dish to start off the meal and the second course was a meat with different sides. It was one of the best meals I've had in my time here and the best part was it cost me nothing. The rest of the afternoon was spent working on some articles I needed to finish up and the off to dinner at the Villa.
The dinner was good and the evening was filled with relaxing and having fun with the HUF group. It was one of the nicest nights we've had here because there was nothing to worry about. At the Villa, the Scandicci Jazz Band played a concert for the group.
Its hard to believe the week is over and my time in Florence is winding down. Time has flown by and my time is up. Tomorrow, I think I will be visiting Pisa and Cinque Terre.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Futbol and Chocolate a winning combination
Monday, I was awarded an opportunity I could not have imagined prior to my trip to Italy. Some of our group and I were given a personal tour of the Italian National Soccer team's facility. Tourists are not allowed to go into the facility and it is a national landmark. Soccer is the world's largest sport and we were able to see the defending world cup champion's facility. Our personal tour included an interview with a national hero, the team's personal chef. He sat with us and allowed us to pick his brain concerning the team and his job. He is also the Nutella spokesman, which to HUF students is probably significant.
The most interesting part of the day came when we were able to meet with the public relations official for the team. I was able to sit with the most known and powerful public relations officials in the country. My dream job would be to work for a professional team so sitting with the head of public relations for the world's best soccer team was overwhelming. I just sat in awe essentially while trying to take in the entire experience. It was an experience I truly can't put into words. Overwhelmed, does not do justice to what I was feeling.
Tuesday, I traveled with a group from HUF to Perugia, a small village about two hours from Florence by train, as they spent the day taking different pictures. Another one from my group traveled with me and we covered the stories. It was fun to travel with the group because I knew one of them pretty well but the rest I was able to get to know throughout the day. Perugia is know for their chocolates and I took advantage of the one chocolate shop I found. It was a quaint little shop just down from the cathedral. We ventured the weather as well because while we were in Perugia the town was hit with a snow storm. The buses stopped running and we were forced to find our own way to the train station. It was a day filled with both complaints but also one that I would not have wanted to be any other way. The experiences here are helping me realize the important of why things happen and what I can do to take advantage of wrong turns and out of the way short-cuts.
The most interesting part of the day came when we were able to meet with the public relations official for the team. I was able to sit with the most known and powerful public relations officials in the country. My dream job would be to work for a professional team so sitting with the head of public relations for the world's best soccer team was overwhelming. I just sat in awe essentially while trying to take in the entire experience. It was an experience I truly can't put into words. Overwhelmed, does not do justice to what I was feeling.
Tuesday, I traveled with a group from HUF to Perugia, a small village about two hours from Florence by train, as they spent the day taking different pictures. Another one from my group traveled with me and we covered the stories. It was fun to travel with the group because I knew one of them pretty well but the rest I was able to get to know throughout the day. Perugia is know for their chocolates and I took advantage of the one chocolate shop I found. It was a quaint little shop just down from the cathedral. We ventured the weather as well because while we were in Perugia the town was hit with a snow storm. The buses stopped running and we were forced to find our own way to the train station. It was a day filled with both complaints but also one that I would not have wanted to be any other way. The experiences here are helping me realize the important of why things happen and what I can do to take advantage of wrong turns and out of the way short-cuts.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Time's flying
Saturday was my full functioning day in Florence on my spring break communications trip. Not much happened during the day, but I somehow still stayed busy. The morning was filled with events with the students spending the semester in Italy, who graciously welcomed us into their semester. We all walked from their villa to the Scandicci market outside of Florence. It is similar to a flea markets with a farmer's market twist. Surprisingly there were products ranging from women's clothes to fresh produce. It was a unique experience that was unlike any I'd had before.
Later Saturday, I went with the group of students who were going to the soccer game. I did not have a ticket but was going to do some interviews with people working for the club. Once we arrived there however, the interviews did not pan out so instead I was able to experience the different culture of a European soccer game. I watched as fans from all ages chanted for their club and stood in lines to watch their team play. I though about how much sports are different in the states. I know we have our die hard fans in every sport but we have a wide variety of sports non are truly sacred, so seeing the fans made me envious of the loyalties shared between them.
Sunday was an easier day because we were able to go into Florence for church at the Church of Christ. This however was not your standard church building, it was a 14-15th century dome building with Corinthian pillars all around. The service was geared more English today than normal because there were 70 Americans in the service. It was amazing worshiping with people who I in any other circumstance would be unable to communicate with. Worshiping and singing songs either in English or Italian helped form a bond with everyone in the room in such a unique way, it really is indescribable.
After worship, there was a potluck prepared for us. It was not like you normal potluck because we were told to sit down and we would be served. The pasta was delicious and when the second course was set out, we begun to serve ourselves. The second course was ribs and it truly made the meal.
Following lunch, my story partner and I were able to spend the afternoon looking searching Florence for our story. We decided to stay near the Duomo, which is the main cathedral in Florence. The church was breathtaking. I really began to look a religion and the history of religion different in the short amount of time I was in the building. There was so much emphasis put into decorating and designing the building that I was envious of those who worshiped there over the years. I could only imagine singing with thousands of others in a building of that magnitude.
Surround the cathedral was a world in its own. There were streets filled with vendors' shops and everything a tourist would ever want from a trip to Italy. It was a cool little market and we spent nearly two hours looking at different items on just two streets of shops. I love walking and watching the people sell at those kinds of shops. Negotiation is encouraged and I would try my best to work with the people despite the language barrier.
Later Saturday, I went with the group of students who were going to the soccer game. I did not have a ticket but was going to do some interviews with people working for the club. Once we arrived there however, the interviews did not pan out so instead I was able to experience the different culture of a European soccer game. I watched as fans from all ages chanted for their club and stood in lines to watch their team play. I though about how much sports are different in the states. I know we have our die hard fans in every sport but we have a wide variety of sports non are truly sacred, so seeing the fans made me envious of the loyalties shared between them.
Sunday was an easier day because we were able to go into Florence for church at the Church of Christ. This however was not your standard church building, it was a 14-15th century dome building with Corinthian pillars all around. The service was geared more English today than normal because there were 70 Americans in the service. It was amazing worshiping with people who I in any other circumstance would be unable to communicate with. Worshiping and singing songs either in English or Italian helped form a bond with everyone in the room in such a unique way, it really is indescribable.
After worship, there was a potluck prepared for us. It was not like you normal potluck because we were told to sit down and we would be served. The pasta was delicious and when the second course was set out, we begun to serve ourselves. The second course was ribs and it truly made the meal.
Following lunch, my story partner and I were able to spend the afternoon looking searching Florence for our story. We decided to stay near the Duomo, which is the main cathedral in Florence. The church was breathtaking. I really began to look a religion and the history of religion different in the short amount of time I was in the building. There was so much emphasis put into decorating and designing the building that I was envious of those who worshiped there over the years. I could only imagine singing with thousands of others in a building of that magnitude.
Surround the cathedral was a world in its own. There were streets filled with vendors' shops and everything a tourist would ever want from a trip to Italy. It was a cool little market and we spent nearly two hours looking at different items on just two streets of shops. I love walking and watching the people sell at those kinds of shops. Negotiation is encouraged and I would try my best to work with the people despite the language barrier.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
First two days
I've been given an opportunity many students would go to extended lengths to experience. I have been able to go to Florence, Italy to help write about the city and the experiences many students have when studying abroad in at Harding's campus. This is a class that twenty-two of us have been selected to help write or document the city. Our university is looking at our group as an experiment for further similar classes in the future. So much is to be said about our journey and the success of our class.
Our first day, Thursday March 4, began with our group meeting at 7 a.m. in order to make our flight at 10. We traveled from Searcy to Little Rock and from there flew to Chicago. Not much happened on Thursday other than flying and sitting on planes. Our second flight left at 3:40 p.m. from Chicago and traveled to Frankfurt, Germany. The flight was not bad but crowed and very stuffy. It was the nicest international flight I've been on but also was the most crowed. It was a little overwhelming with the melting pot of cultures we were able to experience with our seats back and tray-tables up. I think the most unique feature of the flight to Frankfurt was the restrooms. Many planes (formally thought all) have very tiny uncomfortable restrooms, but this was not the case. The restrooms on our flight were down below the regular cabin,accessed from a stair case in the galley. I was caught off guard when I used the stairs but I think the stairs will stick with me for a while.
Our flight was late getting into Germany and we were forced to delay our second flight because we were only given 30 minutes to get off the plane, go through passport check and security before reaching our gate. We were not forced to find a different flight however, we just delayed the flight we were supposed to be flying. It was very surprising to see an airline wait for 22 passengers but somehow one of our 'guides' was able to have our flight wait on the tarmac for us to be bused to. We were not the most like on that flight. The flight itself was very uneventful but we had finally arrived.
With just under five hours of sleep for a little over 50 hours, my first day, Friday, on the job was a bit of a blur. Once we arrived at the Bible school, our house for the week, we traveled to the university owned Villa. It was quite the hike up to the school for most of our group but we made it. On a hill just outside of the city, the villa is on the middle of a hill surrounded by olive vineyards as far as the eye can see. The walk was long but the view was worth it.
Friday was a long day but it seemed to fly. I was tired so many of the tasks that would be easy normally became quests. My walking began to be more clumsy and holding in a laugh became nearly impossible. We went to the villa, explored Florence for a short time and went to an authentic pizza place with enough food to feed a small army. The evening was uneventful with thoughts of sleep because the day was dragging but the best cure for jet lag is waiting to sleep. So we waited and it was 10 when I finally crashed following the longest day of our trip.
Our first day, Thursday March 4, began with our group meeting at 7 a.m. in order to make our flight at 10. We traveled from Searcy to Little Rock and from there flew to Chicago. Not much happened on Thursday other than flying and sitting on planes. Our second flight left at 3:40 p.m. from Chicago and traveled to Frankfurt, Germany. The flight was not bad but crowed and very stuffy. It was the nicest international flight I've been on but also was the most crowed. It was a little overwhelming with the melting pot of cultures we were able to experience with our seats back and tray-tables up. I think the most unique feature of the flight to Frankfurt was the restrooms. Many planes (formally thought all) have very tiny uncomfortable restrooms, but this was not the case. The restrooms on our flight were down below the regular cabin,accessed from a stair case in the galley. I was caught off guard when I used the stairs but I think the stairs will stick with me for a while.
Our flight was late getting into Germany and we were forced to delay our second flight because we were only given 30 minutes to get off the plane, go through passport check and security before reaching our gate. We were not forced to find a different flight however, we just delayed the flight we were supposed to be flying. It was very surprising to see an airline wait for 22 passengers but somehow one of our 'guides' was able to have our flight wait on the tarmac for us to be bused to. We were not the most like on that flight. The flight itself was very uneventful but we had finally arrived.
With just under five hours of sleep for a little over 50 hours, my first day, Friday, on the job was a bit of a blur. Once we arrived at the Bible school, our house for the week, we traveled to the university owned Villa. It was quite the hike up to the school for most of our group but we made it. On a hill just outside of the city, the villa is on the middle of a hill surrounded by olive vineyards as far as the eye can see. The walk was long but the view was worth it.
Friday was a long day but it seemed to fly. I was tired so many of the tasks that would be easy normally became quests. My walking began to be more clumsy and holding in a laugh became nearly impossible. We went to the villa, explored Florence for a short time and went to an authentic pizza place with enough food to feed a small army. The evening was uneventful with thoughts of sleep because the day was dragging but the best cure for jet lag is waiting to sleep. So we waited and it was 10 when I finally crashed following the longest day of our trip.
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