Editors note: This blog is from our Florence program 2020, which was sadly canceled due to Covid-19. However, finally, we are going back to this amazing city for the Spring of 2024, do not miss signing up to join the program! Down below, you can read about what our students were up to during the last weeks of our 2020 program. Originally published March 3rd, 2020.
It is with a heavy heart that I write this blog on my last day in Florence. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 and it’s severity in Italy the SBCC Study Abroad Florence program has been suspended. I got the news just a few days ago and I am still in shock. I have been living in Florence for four weeks and had just been settling into a routine and navigating the city extremely comfortably. I understand the tough call to pull the program in an effort to keep students and others safe and take every measure to do so. If there is one thing I have learned during my time in this program, it is that nothing goes the way you think it will. Being able to be prepared for the unexpected is a skill I truly value and am building upon.
In these past short weeks, I am astounded by how much I have learned and grown. I am taking two History courses with David Elliot, the SBCC faculty member leading the program. My favorite course is History of Ancient Civilizations, Professor Elliot prefers to focus on big questions like what it meant to be a human at a certain point in time, whether it be people of Mesopotamia, Ancient Athens and so on. He gets my friends and me to be asking ourselves philosophical questions like what it means to be excellent and what our role on Earth is. These courses have really augmented my experience abroad.
The Art History class offered to me at ACCENT is so freaking cool. I have shared with you that we met at the Uffizi, one of the most well-known galleries in the world, holding culture-shifting art within its walls. I went back to the gallery today to explore further, it’s so expansive and one cannot possibly get the full experience in one visit. Due to the current situation in Italy, our city is a ghost town. I was lucky enough to see a nearly empty Uffizi. I was stoked to examine Botticelli’s Birth of Venus more closely, the facts from my walking lecture with my ACCENT professor allowed me to appreciate some works more in depth.
Our final Art History lecture, ironically, was based on the plague and the art that was created during that trying time. During a walking lecture, we viewed the church Orosanmichele. We had an assignment to design a sculpture for the city of Florence, focusing on a profession. Always enthralled to make art with a deadline, I spent some time on a sketch for a Ballerina Sculpture that I was pleased with.
Much of the art I see in class has
pushed me to create more art, and I find that once I draw something I have seen, I appreciate it much more (even if the drawing is rubbish). I have been drawing on my own time as well; not only the art history lectures but the art that is all around me is inspiring and it's reflected in my doodles and drawings. In Florence, there are artist’s workshops on every street, there are preserved frescos on city walls, covered by glass, every ten feet you can find something covered in gold leaf or a statue sculpted by a master. During my high school exchange to Italy, I was hoping to be inspired and create a bunch of art, but I became depressed and ended up shying away from art. This past month in Florence I have seen my art evolve and grow as I practice each day. Whether I am studying a fat cherub painting or drawing the incredible murals on the ceilings of our classrooms (not my fault it is so distracting!), there is always something beautiful to be looked at.
My Italian 102 course has been going quite well, my professor, Cinzia, is a rock’n’roll-loving lady with a kind heart and four cats. She has us sing, play charades, and embarrass ourselves by reading aloud, making it a really fun class. We sometimes do outdoor activities like going to the Central Market in Florence. The Mercato Centrale is a big building, the lower level is the actual market where you can buy fresh cuts of meat, fresh fruits and flowers, if you’d like. The upper level has restaurants in booths wrapping all the way around the building. Here you can get local delicacies like a Fiorentina, which is a Florentine style of steak that is supposed to be excellent, or a Lampredotto, made from the fourth stomach of the cow and is very tender. I do not eat meat so I stick to spaghetti and cannolis of which, lucky for me, there is an abundance of.
I have been so happy that I have some friends around Europe at the moment. My childhood best friend came to visit from London and I was able to give her a tour of the city enhanced by all my art history knowledge I have aquired. Another friend of mine lives in France and I was able to visit him and see the sea. It was here I learned the unfortunate news about the suspension of our program. By the time I returned to Florence many of my classmates had returned to California without a proper goodbye. I have made many solid friendships here that I know will be lifelong, yet there were other friendships that were just blossoming and I am unsure if I will live inthe same place as many of these humans ever again. But we have seen and done quite a few fun and unforgettable things together.
We recently did a group excursion to Rome! My class and I stayed in a dope location right near the Pantheon. We were there for two nights but did a lot as a group. Doing casual touristy things like seeing the Trevi Fountain, watching a magical sunset from Piazza Spagna, getting a guided tour at the Colosseum and whatnot, soaking in the beauty and history, grim or not. My absolute favorite part of Rome was finally seeing the Sistine Chapel. Although it was my fourth visit to the city I had never seen Michaelangelo’s masterpiece in the Vatican, seeing the creation of Adam took my breath away (dramatic, yes). A very surreal thing to finally see in person.
I have taken a weekend trip with five other girls to Budapest, Hungary. In Budapest and Rome all of the students that I was with experienced homesickness. We were all homesick for Florence. In a short amount of time this has become our city and place of familiarity. We know these streets, we know where to get the best kebab, we know we can get sun on the steps of Chiesa Santo Spirito and we know our friends are all close by and gnocchi is never father than a stones throw. I think it is really sweet that all of us experienced this, I am really lucky to have felt at home here. I have perfected my do-not-mess-with-me walk to go through the streets, I know how to order a coffee like a local (it’s cheaper if you down the espresso at the counter). Growing and learning has been my mantra. I am a little sad I will not be able to continue practicing my Italian here as I have been really proud of my progress and my accent development. I think I will finish learning Spanish next and begin to save up and plan for my next adventure. It has been lovely, Italy, Ciao for now.
I hope to see you back here for another update and more about my study abroad experience.
Phrase of the month- disinfettante per le mani-- hand sanitizer!
If you are interested in studying in Florence in Spring 2024, head over to our program page for details.