Oh, how the weeks go by.

There is an Amy Grant song called “Oh How the Years Go By” that is wonderful. It's complete with the classic 90s synthetic bass. Needless to say, it's a winner.

I walked around this morning and realized that I was humming this ancient 1994 tune that I used to blast in my room nearly every day. Of course, her whole “House of Love” album was my favorite.

The lyrics are as follows:

“Oh how the years go by/ oh how the love brings tears to my eyes/ all through the changes the soul never dies/ we fight, we laugh, we cry/ as the years go by.”

Today, I simply began replacing the word “years” with “weeks,” and then it became perfectly applicable to my life.

(I never used to sing lyrics correctly anyway. Just ask my sister.)

Regardless, when I was humming it I realized how quickly time really does fly by.

It’s been a whole month since my arrival here in Florence.

A whole month.

Honestly, I don’t know how that happened, but here we are…one month later.

For my lack of writing, I do apologize. However, it just means that I’m out and about- simply having the time of my life.

The learning, the fun, the excitement- it all constantly continues here. Though it would be nearly impossible for me to update you on all that has occurred in the past 2 weeks, I’ll do my very best.

Also, I like lists. Noting that, I'll make one for you to condense everything I’ve done.

These are a few of my favorite things (in no particular order):

1. 1. - -- I joined our school’s soccer team. AEF. We play in tournaments, and it’s actually pretty awesome. Did I mention that I’ve never really played soccer before? Woops. But it’s still awesome.

1. 2. --Seeing the Sistine Chapel. We went to Rome last weekend, and ventured there. I looked up, and I saw Michelangelo’s “God Creates Man” above my head. Not only was I amazed to be in this space, but I felt a tear drip from my eye. It was something that I can’t describe. I didn’t feel so nutty when I looked over and saw an older man crying right next me me. All I could say was, wow.

--Throwing a coin into the Trevi Fountain for good luck.

1. 4. --Catching a 4:35am train to Venice two weekends ago. The ticket was much cheaper. Plus, we got there by 8!

5. - --Being in Venice during Carnival. So many masks! AND crazy costumes.

1. 6. --- The waterways instead of roads in Venice. It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. I think I want to go back… again.

7. ---My cooking class with Fabrizio. We learned how to make homemade pasta noodles. Then, we used that dough to make fresh ravioli. It was one of the most delicious meals that I have EVER made.

8. ----Going out for Apertivo with our professor, Enrico. Apertivo is this amazing meal… basically you pay for a drink of your choice, and then there is a buffet that you can eat as much as you please. That never happens in Italy.

9. --- Seeing the sunset while standing at the top of the Spanish Steps in Rome. After a rainy, gloomy day- it was the most beautiful surprise.

10. ---- Some Roman boys telling us that they were “Pricipessas”- meaning princesses. I think they were mistaken.

11. -----Riding the superfast (155mph) train to Rome. Eurostar, you’re a good friend to me.

12. -----Having beautiful weather when were at the Colosseum in Rome. Made for some nice exploring time.

13. -----Laughing with friends here. Also, we have started hugging more. It makes me happy.

14. ---Girls night. We had some great food and wonderful company at some of the girls apartments the other night. It was lovely.

15. ---Running through the city, shouting, “I love Italy!” quite loudly. Because we do. And because we can.

16. --- My weekly blackberry jam croissant from Café Corona. YUM. I must limit myself, or else I'll come back home 50 lbs. heavier.

17. ----Stratcciatella Gelato. Especially from Neri, or from the Gelato places in Rome. Never have I ever enjoyed desert this much.

18. ----I love the fact that it’s getting warmer here… almost onto spring weather. Yes.

19. ---- Our victory get-together after our soccer win last night. We went to a pub called Old Stove and I got a SnakeBite. Get it. It’s yummy.

20. ---Using my Flip Video Camera to make some fun videos. (I’ll post them at the bottom.) J

Of course, this is not as extensive as it could be- but these are some highlights from my time here in Florence, Venice, and Rome in the past two weeks.

This upcoming weekend I hope to take a few day trips to the areas surrounding Florence and also explore Florence more as well!

As for now, it is clear that the weeks are going by faster than I would have ever imagined.

I'm embracing what I've got. And that's another 2 months. I'm always thankful, always so thankful.

Hope you enjoy the videos below. :)

This is a video from Venice 2 weekends ago:

And this is a video from Rome, just last weekend:

Learning.

In the past several days, I have learned a large amount of things.

For instance, I have learned that I actually like chocolate.

This past Friday, our class took a field trip (Yes, it was a FIELD TRIP- haha) to a Chocolate Festival that was going on here in Florence. You see, at home I don’t always enjoy chocolate. Some people are in awe of this, and wish they were me-but honestly I always wished I enjoyed it more than I do.

This all changed the moment we stepped into the festival.

Everything was chocolate. Not only was it an art form for many of the vendors, but they also took a huge amount of pride in the chocolate that they were selling. So much pride that they gave us free samples. Nothing could have been better. It was beyond incredible.

I tried some “soft” chocolate and instantly melted. It was delicious. It was a hazelnut type of chocolate, and it was beyond anything my taste buds could have ever expected. I then purchased a strawberry and white chocolate combination of chocolate, as well as their own version of a soft chocolate cookies and crème. Yum.

I have learned that school can be fun and truly engaging.

My classes are excellent. Enrico and Federica are wonderful Italian language teachers. I know I have already said that before, but it truly makes a huge difference in the learning process when you are actually excited to go to class.

Though I have enjoyed my classes at Elon, classes here seem to be more exciting, more engaging. Though I may not always love my literature class, it is somewhat interesting. I think one class that I am going to really enjoy too is my Art History class. My professor, originally from VA now lives here in Florence and has for the past 13 years. She knows so much about everything in Florence and Italy, for that matter. Not only is she a great resource, but I feel like we will learn an exceptional amount about Italian art and architecture. I feel already as though I will walk away from that class feeling a sense of appreciation for art all through Italy.

I learned that I love the secret bakery.

These places are open really late at night- around 2am to 4am- and they make the pastries, croissants and anything else delicious for shops in town. This way, the shops are always receiving fresh treats daily- but don’t have to stay up all night to make them.

Well, our friend Luke, knew where the secret bakery was.

You see, the bakery is secret for a reason. It is illegal for these bakeries to sell their pastries during the night as they are preparing for the next day. However, these secret bakeries DO indeed break the law and sell their pastries to people that can find them and are out late at night. This way, they make profit under the table and we are happy because we get fresh goodies on the way back home after dancing.

if you find it- you knock on the door and ask them for a croissant/pastry, they will sell it to you for 1 euro. Fresh. Croissants. Yum.

I have learned I enjoy nightlife.

At school, I don’t really go out on the weekends very often. It has been a fun experience to get to spend some good time with my classmates on the weekend outside of class, and to get a feel for Florence nightlife. We found a few “discotecas” here in town, and have been able to dance, which has been really fun. Also, we have been to a few pubs here in town too- and I have enjoyed that because it really does give you a sense of everything going on here in town.

I have learned that I love seeing places I’ve only seen in textbooks.

Like the leaning tower of Pisa.

Sunday’s activities included the following:

We woke up around 7:25am to get ready to go to Pisa for the day. My roommates and I (along with several other Elon students) tagged along on the trip to Pisa with the Accademia.

I also found my new love of trains. I know my mom says that I have been on a train before, but I certainly don’t remember it. So, I felt like I got to ride my first ever train ride. It was SO fun, and so different from American travel. I love it.

On the train Corey and I sat next to one another and we met a guy named Taku. He goes to Accademia, but we have never met before.

When we are beginning to speak to him, we realize quickly that he speaks absolutely no English at all.

He does speak Japanese and Italian, though.

Because we knew we had no shot at communicating to him via the Japanese language, we started taking to him in VERY broken Italian. He was very patient and encouraging during the entire trip. He had his notebook out and was using it as a tool to communicate with us a little bit. It was one of the best learning experiences ever. I really did have to use the 1 week of Italian language that I just learned in this situation in order to talk to Taku. What a wonderful experience.

We then arrive at Pisa.

There was something challenging about this trip that is important to note. The whole tour of Pisa was entirely in Italian. For only being in Italy for a week or so, I don’t know but handfuls of the language. Every 150 words or so I’d catch a phrase that I knew, but it was difficult to say the least. It was all right though because there were enough of us that didn’t understand- so we really just had fun together. Of course, we saw the leaning tower and took hundreds of pictures. It was hilarious. Glancing around the lawn and seeing about 50 people at a time posing with the tower in different positions was quite entertaining. Of course, we were about 15 of those nuts.

Then, Peter, Jason and I climbed the tower. It was worth it, because the view was amazing. Also, how could I go to Pisa and NOT climb the tower? After all, I don’t know that I’ll get the chance to return again. Also, for all we know, the tower might tumble tomorrow.

After we got back, we had a little downtime in the afternoon until the Superbowl.

Superbowl Sunday was splendid. We went to this place called “Space” and they set up huge screens all over the upper level of this club. In addition to that, with entry fee you got an all-you-can-eat American Buffet complete with burgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken fingers, wings, chips and salsa and even microwavable popcorn. I felt for once like I was back in America. All the people at the club were Americans too, because as I learned, Italians don’t really understand the game of American Football. However, it was a really late night considering the game didn’t start here until 12:30am. I only stayed until halftime (2:00am) because we had class this morning, but it was absolutely worth it to get a glimpse of America here in Florence in it’s purest form: American Football. I really enjoyed it.

Once again, I begin this week being utterly thankful for the experience that I am getting to have here. I walk around thinking, “How can this be real life? How can this be my life?”

Needless to say, I am learning a good deal and growing in more ways than I could have imagined.

Patch.

You know how sometimes you are so thankful that you remembered to do things?

That’s how I feel about my patch.

Many of you may know this very odd fact about me, but a good majority of you all do not. You see, I have this pair of jeans. I realize that they are no “magical sisterhood of the traveling pants” pair of jeans that fit every person, but they sure are wonderful for me. They fit me just right. Everything about them is comfortable to me.

Then, something terrible happened this past November.

A rip occurred in the top left portion of my beloved jeans. This hole was significantly noticeable. I hated having that hole in my jeans. Absolutely hated it.

But alas, I found a quick solution. Something that would hold these jeans over until I could find a replacement.

In an effort to ensure that my skin did not show underneath my new-found hole in my jeans, I patched it.

It was no conventional patch, however. Every day, I would stick a piece of toilet paper behind the hole, so only the paper would show- and not my leg.

I did this for nearly 3 months.

Not so temporary, right?

On the brighter side of things, if I ever needed a tissue or toilet paper for anything, all I had to do was reach into the hole and it suddenly became a tissue paper dispenser. Hilarious. I always laughed every morning when I wore those jeans. It constantly made me, or others around me laugh.

On a long list of things I had to do before I left, I included:

“Put an actual patch on the jeans.”

I finally did it. The day before I left for Italy.

Boy, am I thankful that I did.

It’s cold here- around 40-50 degrees every day with considerable amounts of wind gusts. Had I not put that patch on my jeans, that cold air would have attacked my bare leg or my toilet paper every single day. Neither my leg nor the toilet paper would have been able to handle it- but my sturdy patch could.

Just like the patch on my jeans: sturdy, unwavering, wonderful, delightful and humorous, I have realized that my “patch” here in Florence is the Lord.

Though many might say it sounds cliché, it’s hard to walk around this city and not see or think about His beauty, glory, and majesty that is so easily portrayed in everyday life here.

I saw one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen this afternoon. After a long, exhausting hike up what felt like hundreds of steps, we arrived at Piazzale di Michelangelo, home of one of Florence’s best views. I could have stayed there for hours-- just staring. It was absolutely stunning.

Also, seeing one of the hundreds of Asian groups of tourists throwing up peace signs left and right was one of the funnier things that I saw today. I’m so glad that I was able to get a good laugh in about that!

Before class, I received a phone call from my family at 7AM my time…I wasn’t awake just yet.

Nick informed me that he was accepted into Miami of Ohio yesterday! I couldn’t have been more proud of him! It was well worth the startling awake to hear such wonderful news. J

My classes here are marvelous. My Italian Language teachers, Enrico and Federica, will most likely be some of my favorite teachers in my college career. You see, Enrico is extremely full of life- and energy. Upon his arrival into our classroom, he began speaking Italian non-stop while bounding back and fourth in front of the class. He even learned all of our names within the first 30 minutes—impressive for a new teacher never meeting us before! Fete is elegant in her speaking and will be able to teach us more than just the language. She’s awesome.

I shopped at San Lorenzo Market yesterday and found some beautiful items there… I bought a ring, 2 scarves (to keep me warm) and a pair of slippers. In our tile-covered floors in our apartments, these slippers were truly a Godsend! I was so thankful for them.

Today, I was able to meander around a bit by myself after my class got out. As I walked up and down the streets, the art that fills the streets is marvelous. There are so many talented people surrounding us here. Not only the art is beautiful, but the architecture is amazing. I love it all.

Though there may be frustrating times when trying to read the labels in grocery stores, or having several blackouts in one morning- I have to snicker at it all at the same time. It’s all so different from what I am used to that it makes me laugh. I did learn today that I could re-heat my spaghetti on a stovetop, as long as there was butter or sauce in the pan. Hooray! Also, I did my first load of laundry tonight. The apartment smells of nice lavender detergent purchased at the one and only 99 euro-cent store. Wonderful.

In all the little things, I see our Lord. I see His love, His creativity, His beauty, and even His humor. It’s all so clear and evident here.

For that “patch,” I am thankful.