#ablackguyineurope

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La storia della mia vita...

    Well, here we are again three days later. Sorry. We started our classes on Monday( Martin Luther King Day in the States), and I've barely had time to think about anything other than networking. So, where to start? Sunday was more of a chill out, and eat eggs day. I've eaten so many eggs up to this point, that I think I may be related to Humpty Dumpty.

    We went Grocery shopping Monday, yet again, and found that it's so much easier after the first few times. Granted the store was cleaned out of everything by the time we arrived. I also, tried "Mukki: La panna" for the first time. My roommate had told me it was a very fresh, thick type of milk that he had eaten with his biscotti and enjoyed, so I tried for myself. Turns out, after pouring this into a huge bowl of Muesli, which is a German breakfast food that mixes grain and fruit, I quickly realized la panna is *drumroll please* italian for cream...So...I ate a bowel of grain and cream...sweet. Chalk it up to experience though, right? My experimenting wasn't all failure though. I actually bought a can of nutella, which is hazelnut and chocolate spread, and made a nutella and jam sandwich; or "nutella and jella sammich"...lame. You also get a sweet,new glass cup when you finish the jar...Way more than what peanut butter jars give you...

Still on the topic of food, my roommate and I have eaten at a restaurant around the corner from us about two times this week, because they have a two platter, one side dish special for about twelve euros. The service was excellent on Monday, but...today...not so good. They seated a table of about ten people right before we ordered dessert. Needless to say, we never got to order our dessert. Screw it though, I got gelato across the street, haha. We also made pasta(squisito).

But okay enough about food.

This week la mia famiglia abroad, chose to plan our future trips across Europe. Which kind of turned poopy for me. A large portion of the group had a set mind of where they wanted to travel, and activities that wanted to do, and most of them seemed to agree with each other. But me, being the oddball out, didnt't really agree with the group decisions.Spring break being the biggest dividing line. Hopefully I find others who want to do other traveling. I promised la mia mamma I would always travel with at least one person outside of Florence so she can stay sane; but what I've found is I'm not a group type of guy. I'm pretty "solo dolo" when I do my thing. I'm not a party person. I don't drink heavy. I don't smoke. So, when it comes to going to pubs or bars, it's not really my scene. I'm not the average twenty -one year old. By some standards I guess I'm lame, but screw them too. This kind of concerns me though. I came to Italy for the culture shock. I came to get out of my comfort zone, but if I can be comfortable at a pub; but not like being there. That's really not a new exposure, correct? I don't want to drink until I can't remember what I did last night. That would be a waste of this experience to me. So exploring and remembering everything I can is my mission. I love the group I'm with, but I'm learning our differences. We are supposed to be visiting Pisa and Sienna this weekend so I'm stoked to see what we will actually do.

Okay after the long dreadful complaining. This week has also brought a little bit of revelation. By networking with all of these professors I've actually started some research on a cultural comparison of African Americans and Italians. I hope both cultures won't take offense to this, but the commonalities of the stereotypes is amazing to me.So I want to investigate true commonalities. I'm just stuck on finding a point to the research. Since I only truly know one side of the comparison. I need more Italian friends... =(. Aside from that I've also found my italian is coming back to me. Well, actually better than before. I found myself walking around the apartment blurting out random phrases. Showering, and singing music videos I saw earlier on the TV while cooking. So, hopefully if I try really really really hard I can be borderline fluent leaving Florence. God willing. We shall see. Tomorrow I will return to the outlook over Florence for pictures on a clear day so I'll be posting them. Other than that. I love my classes, the teachers are amazing, aside from the language barrier I think I will get along just fine.

Sorry If I have you snoring by now. This is this is the only complaining I'll do. I mean. I'm in Italy. Haha. I'll try to write tomorrow, but until then...Have a beautiful week., and stay encouraged. Va bene? Bella.

"In all labour there is profit: but the talk of the lips tendeth only to penury." Proverbs 14:23

Don't Just talk about it. Be about it. To me, dreams are the crops of a man. When untended, they rot, and the man himself never realizes his potential. But when tended to, and finally cultivated. You get a glimpse of your destiny, of what you were created for, and how you are supposed to help mankind tend to their crops. Ya know?...

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There are thousands of causes for stress, and one antidote to stress is self-expression. That's what happens to me every day. My thoughts get off my chest, down my sleeves and onto my pad.

Garson Kanin

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Get not your friends by bare compliments, but by giving them sensible tokens of your love.

Socrates

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A man travels the world in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

-George Moore

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Inside of San Miniato

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Espresso E I Cereali...

Ciao a tutti,

I'm writing this while eating a bowl of Frosties( The Italian equivalent to Frosted Flakes) quaint right? Well I've failed at trying to write on here at least every other day, but my body has still, sadly, not adapted to this six hour shift forward. But, beyond that, the past three days can not be summed up in a post. From getting lost with my roommate in a eerie quiet residential part of the city, trailed by a guy who looked like Jack the Ripper, to being told I look like Ice Cube in a hip-hop shop. I'd say my stay in Florence is really starting to feel like home. Now that our orientation week is over I feel as though my experience here is about to get a whole lot different. I've woken up late every day this past week, because of prior waking up at about four o'clock every morning. So, yeah...forget sleep right? However, so much to explain. I guess I'll start with the beginning of the week.

From Tuesday to Friday we explored different squares, from the train station, to a beautiful outlook over Florence, to the completely silent but beautiful San Miniato chiesa. Directly in front of San Miniato we're a collection of tombs, of who, I couldn't tell you but the detail of the sculptures seem to explain what kind of person buried under them were. One in particular that caught my attention was of a woman with a group of children surrounding her, and grasping onto her dress. What I drew from it is she loved the innocent, when no one else could, or would. Love and hate in this world, and the heart of a human being is yin and yang, strange right?

Before the chiesa we visited the overlook of the city which was breathtaking, but I feel like I'd visited there, not physically of course, but some way it felt familiar. This is how I feel a lot walking the valleys and hills of  this city. I feel in my spirit I've been here before. It feels very homey, comfortable, inviting and I'm constantly battling with this idea of if its right to feel this way when I'm trying to adapt myself into another way of life. Though it was really cloudy the day we visited the overlook, to see it on a clear day seemed to be a glimpse of a kingdom.

The train station seemed pretty basic, from arrivals to departures, a McDonald's (C'mon), complete with a blend of all races. The day we visited this, about Tuesday,l fell behind the group into a Combo shop that sold TokiDoki, which held me up for a good hour, afterward just going to get lunch, haha.

Besides the pure aesthetic view of this city, on the first day of our orientation, our program president explain how some cities of Greece were losing, what the Germans called the "zeitgeist" which was defined as the spirit of the time, or period. What I really understood it to be was the spirit of a specific place, city, site. Because in Greek philosophy, especially Aristotle,  believed inanimate objects to have spirits, sort of its characteristic. All of this to say, this city does have a feel, or a spirit to itself, and it's alive and thriving for the time.The culture is still alive as I would think it was in the past. Though the economy is about as bad as ours in America, I'm amazed that it has survived this flood of American, Russian, and Asian tourists.

So besides walking three times as much as I usually do in a year, I feel at peace here. Especially in the morning, not really a worry. I mean how could you worry when studying architecture that has been standing since the twelfth century? Even a total imbecile totally ignorant of what the heck every building or sculpture name is (guilty), could gain an appreciation.

So besides getting lost a couple times, eating a hot dog pizza (-_-) at Acasamia today, and finally finding a tasteful wine. I've grown accustomed to the finer life, haha. But I'm finding myself. I represent the have-nots, the underdog, the overlooked, the poor, the over-comer, the driven, the humble. Anyone who put their mind to achieving, and hasn't given up. Just know I'm still fighting for you.

Stay encouraged one love.

"And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it" Habakkuk 2:2

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Three Days Later...

Well, after three days I finally worked up the energy to actually type on my laptop again. My internal clock is all fucked up. Our building finally got internet and I'm pretty excited I must say, but down to the nitty gritty. I believe my heart will remain in this city after I leave due to the following three reasons:

The food. It is as addicting as, hmm, well lets say nicotine and crack cocaine aren't in competition. The beef sandwich I engulfed about two hours ago was so seasoned, with flavors that have never grace my taste buds, that I spent a good fifteen minutes explaining to my roommate how good it was. While still eating it. About three days ago I also visited a restaurant named Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe. Utterly mind-blowing, from the gli gnocchi to the pizza I actually smiled, hummed, and twiddled my feet while eating. What I've found about the cuisine is, the attention to the sauce and seasoning brings out so much more in the food. In America, If I think somethings is good, I eat it to fill up. Here, I savor every chew. Don't even get me started on the gelato, it's so rich and sweet that it hurts my teeth to even eat the smallest cup, but I push through the pain; because the strawberry flavor just makes the sun shine...In my head. And the coffee...Not much to say about it but that I drank a cup of espresso at 1 o'clock...and I can't seem to stop moving around.

The architecture. Though I have no prior knowledge of a lot of the art, or of the buildings. I find myself staring at the detail of the statues in the Piazza Signoria for minutes at a time, baffled at how they could create such life-like models at such a scale. It seems like the entire city was meant to be photoed, because I can't walk five steps without wanting to capture something. I keep hearing beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but with so much in one place; I'm starting to think it's totally autonomous. From the cobblestone roads, to the beautiful brick buildings; I can't help but smile as I walk. I know I must look goofy as hell, but it's something I think I can grow accustomed to, and I'm going to hate to leave it.

Last but not least is the people, the culture, and of course my favorite, the language. I've been trying to pound Italian into my head for about a half-year now, and I've found, without actually experiencing the culture; and immersing myself into it. I would never learn the emotion behind it. Firenze is not the city to be immersed. It is too Americanized to understand the underlying mentality of a pure Italian. So I must find friends out of this city to connect with this culture and this language...wish me luck

That concludes why I will be kicking and screaming while leaving.

But besides my dilemma, I've been into a lot of things the past three days. Besides the amazing meals, I visited the free markets where the fruit looked delicious, The beautiful and eccentric Duomo. I discovered that every carving directly parallel to the other is different. From slight, to major differences. I gave a beggar change at the Duomo, and later heard she bought a new bubble coat and a huge slice of pizza -_-. I've also drank Chianti wine in search of my favorite. So far it's way better than the disgusting grappa I tasted my first night. Stay away from grappa, trust me. I've watched Teen Titans...in Italian...How many people can say they've done that? And...Alot more...some explained in my pics, but I won't babble any longer. Please keep up with my blizzog. It will motivate me to write. But my last thought today was, as I walked passed storefronts  trying to find a nice pair of dress shoes. I noticed a lot of people with so many bags which brought me to the verse

Ecclesiastes 6:2:A man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honour, so that he wanteth nothing for his soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof...

Don't let material possessions corrupt you. Enjoy life, but don't become superficial by societies standard. That's all folks. One love.