A Little Traveler-
First Week: Classes, Trips, Food, and More
Florence, Italy: a city rich with culture and has been around since the 12th century. Kent State University is amazing at home and even more amazing in Italy. Everyone gave me so much advice right before I left to prepare me for a culture entirely different from my own. I have traveled to Canada, Australia, Portugal, Spain, and Sri Lanka. How different could it really be from vacation with family or traveling with my high school? It is totally different, but in a way that will change lives. As soon as I got to Italy I was overwhelmed by the different culture around me. It was similar to the other things I've experienced in Europe, but this time I'm not staying in fancy hotels, I'm living with other people in an apartment and taking care of myself. The sandwiches, gelato, pasta, and pizza are packed with flavors from all over. It was unusual to get used to the busy streets and windy roads, but the walking has become apart of my daily routine. The nightlife is vibrant, getting used to a bar that's open until 5 am was different. We went to the opera on a Monday night and I ran the run the world 5k in the local park. Everywhere you look the scene looks straight out of a postcard. After the first weekend of orientation I am already in love with Firenze!
The first day of classes of course I got a little lost in the beautiful palazzo building for Kent. We took many walking tours around the city and visited several museums and started immersing ourselves in the culture. Both of my classes perfectly pertain to my biological anthropology major. My first class is an anthropology class taught by Dr. Spurlock. She is the coolest professor ever and is incredibly passionate about what she teaches. When I first heard about her class in Florence I immediately started my application for the summer program. During the first week of classes we looked at several copies of skulls all different from one another. Dr. Spurlock even had some trouble bringing the copies of skulls in her suitcase. The skulls were accompanied by an official letter that stated they were copies of skulls and not actually real, so that Dr. Spurlock could transport them without having to ship them. We learn about the different sculptures an anatomy of the face and neck so we may apply it to our own facial reconstructions for sculpting and drawing. We visited the David and compared and contrasted the hands in proportion to the head and body. The amount of detail Michelangelo captured in his interpretation of David was breathtaking. We also visited La Specola in the first week and saw many wax copies of the human body that were eery but also perfectly accurate of the human body.
My second class is just as interesting as the first. It is a biology class taught by Dr. Groff. We are learning the science of diseases and food. We get to combine the history of the black plague in Florence along with the food and culture. We did several walking tours during the first and had our first discussion about the plague and it origins and how microbes create different epidemics and pandemics.
I cannot wait to see what else Florence and my classes have in store for me this week! Throughout the next few weeks I;ll be giving updates on my weekend trips and more beautiful places in Italy!
Stay tuned and Ciao!
A Little Traveler
