Inauguration Day

Today started out like any other, woke up at around 7:20, went to shower only to find out there was no hot water... again!, then walked to school with a group of people and went to my classes. My first class was Florentine Villas which I am really excited for. It basically is a class about villas in Florence (just in case you couldn't tell from the title of the course). We are going to go on field trips each week and visit different villas around Florence. The class will focus on the connection between the history of the Italian villa and the economy, architecture, art and landscape. Afterwards, I went to my Italian class. I seriously love this class. The teacher is so much fun and is really good at engaging the entire class. I don't know if I mentioned it previously but he reminds me of Mr. Bean. I am really happy that I have him as my teacher.
I then hung around La Pietra for a while until the Inauguration party started. I headed over to Villa Sasseti and hung out with Nirali for a bit until other people showed up. They had a whole big party in honor of the inaguration. They invited Italian adults who I think had to pay to attend. They set up two different rooms with huge projectors and we watched the Inaguration on CNN. It was really exciting watching the Inaguration even though I'm in Italy. NYU had someone make a speech and another person recited a poem before the swearing in took place. Then they quieted us down and we all watched and cheered. It was really moving watching Obama get sworn in. There were several people around me who started crying. There was an African American man sitting in front of me who kept cheering really loudly and started to tear a few times. Even if someone did not feel so connected to the event taking place, watching the man in front of me would have been enough to cause the person to feel more connected. I am having trouble describing it but I was really moved watching the man in front of me. He was so proud of the event and he was just beaming. It was an exciting day for all.
Afterwards, Alana, Laura, Mara and I headed back to our apt. Mara headed straight back but Alana and Laura and I headed to Ruth's for dinner. Laura and Alana got cheese blintzes and I got a pizza with onions, olives and peppers with seasoning (last time they just gave me pizza crust, sauce and cheese - no seasoning). The food was delicious. We also each got a diff cake for dessert. All for 10 euro. THANKS SIMCHA!!! (or rather thanks to the shul because they rent the restaurant to Simcha on the condition that he gives students a discount). We didnt realize it until we left but we ended up spending 1 hr and 45 min at the restaurant. Which is crazy! But it's just because Simcha schmoozes for so long so he never came back to check on us. But whatever. Unfortunately I didnt get to hang out with Mollie Ray after dinner because dinner took so long but hopefully I will see her tom!! Oh, also when I got back to the apt the doors to the hidden room were open!!! There is an entire other bedroom in there. I think that bedroom was initially supposed to be mine and Alanas. But it's really exciting that we're now going to be able to acess the other bathroom. Anyways, it's late and I once again have a 9am class.
until next time!
-arrivederci