Editors note: Finally, SBCC Study Abroad is going back to Florence, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Join our program for Spring 2024! In this blog, you can read about what our students were up to the last time we had a program in this incredible city. Originally posted on February 11th, 2020.
Hey Y’all. Benvenuto to the Florence Study Abroad Blog!
My name is Christiana Leonardo. I previously studied abroad in Italy during high school, where I was able to learn a bit of the language. Three years later, my Italian is now super-rusty but I am stoked to refine it during these next 89 days!
I have just begun the Spring study abroad program for Art History and Italian Language through Santa Barbara City College, partnering with ACCENT Study Center. I made a vow when I was 17 that I would one-day study in Florence after seeing what a fun student city it seemed to be. As SBCC Study Abroad typically offers one destination per semester and this Spring was my last at SBCC, I had been planning on studying abroad wherever that might’ve been. I have always felt that it’s not where you go, it’s what you make of it. I was hoping for a non-english speaking country because I love to learn other languages. I would have been happy to go to Japan or Chile or India, but I was so happy to learn the program would be in FIRENZE! Returning to the country I had previously called home and one my 17-year-old self would be hyped about.
One of my interests is art history. The feeling of seeing the physical art that you are knowledgeable about is one like no other and I crave it. This aspect of the program was very attractive to me as well. You can learn more about SBCC Study Abroad at Study Abroad.
I arrived a few days before the rest of the 25 students in my program, hoping to get to know the city a bit. To my disappointment, I slept for the majority of those two days due to jet lag but blessed with navigational intelligence and the compact layout of Florence, I have already learned to know the city like the back of my hand. Florence is by far my favorite city in Italy. The birthplace of the Italian Language, home of some of the best art museums on the planet, stunning architecture, and the best tiramisù that I can find (please send your nonnas recipes). Florence carries an energy with it that is a bit younger due to the large influx of students studying abroad.
It’s funny noticing similarities between my home I’ve just left, Isla Vista, the college town of Santa Barbara, and my new home, Florence. Both take about 20 minutes to walk across, there’s an abundance of students, very cool street art, everyone walks in the street, the cars and bikes are terrifying and the food is to die for (here not Santa Barbara!). I was feeling a bit homesick the day I arrived, as it will once again be a bit challenging being away from my family and friends and I will really miss the ocean where I spent a lot of my time. But there are so many things here I can’t do at home. I am hoping to do a lot of traveling to surrounding countries and, as corny as it sounds, carpe every limited diem I have in this Italian heaven!
ACCENT finds us apartments around the city, and mine is a beautiful 23 minute walk from school (my feet are killing me already!) in Piazza Santo Spirito, a famed student-filled area. I walk across the famed Ponte Vecchio to get to class. So far, all of my professors are great. I think I will be just about fluent in Italian when I leave. An art history course that will require us to meet at galleries sounds super exciting.
Having nearly each class together, the 25 of us have already spent a lot of time together, sharing pizza and mutual feelings of jetlag. I did not know anyone in the program well before arriving, though there are lots of familiar faces from Social Science courses at SBCC! My Florentine apartment is shared between six lovely girls and we are nestled right next to a daily outdoor farmers market, high quality and dirt cheap, might I add. There is already a really great community building amongst all the students.
Florence feels quite safe but it’s nice having people that look out for each other. There is talk of planning weekend trips together and I am really looking forward to a big Italian SBCC family dynamic.
I’ll be writing a blog each month that I am here updating y’all on my experience here in Florence and probably gushing over the gnocchi I will be shoving into my face every day. Your Italian vocab word of the month is Boh (pronounced like bow but with a short harsh cut of the vowel at the end) meaning “I don’t know.” It is my favorite Italian word and one I wish we had in English! Ciao ciao for now, until next time!
If you are interested in going on the spring program to Florence in 2024, visit the Program Page to learn all the details about the program and to apply.