Long over due.....

So sorry for not posting for the past five days. It was a bit rocky this week and now I am finally back on my feet and really enjoying myself.

One thing I would like everyone to know is that I FOUND MY BAG! Yes, it is still in the United States. Cool US Airways, that is not where it needs to be :]. None the less, my stuff is safe and will be too me soon.

On the other hand I started classes last Monday. They are very interesting. My schedule for the week is

M/W: Cross-Cultural Psychology
The History of Food and Culture
Identity in Culture (My favorite)

T/TH: Photography: Portfolio of Florence

M-TH: The Florence Experience IV (which is the highest level language course, scary.)

I am really enjoying them. This coming Monday for my food class we are going to one of the local food markets to do a walking tour of all the various foods sold in Florence. Kind of excited about that. My Identity and culture class is really awesome. I love my professor because he is really into learning about us as people and not as students. His class I think got me back on track because he made me realize why I am here in the first place, and that is to experience a different life style that I would not get back in the states. I am really going to like my photography class. We go shooting on Tuesdays and then photo shop lab on Thursdays (thank you Patty for elements, but apparently it won't work for this class) and thank god she is giving us the program so I don't have to pay hundreds of dollars on it. Italian class is very interesting. I am doing okay with speaking Italian, a lot better than I thought though.

As much I hate to admit this, I have now officially been to three places that the Jersey Shore went to while they were here. Two different clubs and then a Mexican restaurant. Yes, you read that correctly....MEXICAN. My roommates and I were craving something different from all the pasta and pizza and wanted something from our homeland (Arizona) and we found this place called Tijuana, which we found because of the Jersey Shore. It was amazing. I thought Mexican food was good back home, but this was just to die for. It just tasted so much healthier. I feel that way about all the food I eat here.

Last but not least.....

My trip to Chianti with my school. It was beautiful. It did not seem real to me. Other students and myself could only say one thing about the scenery. "This isn't real, it looks like a back drop." It literally did. I was so taken back at how breathtaking it was.

A little info about Chianti:
-It is known for the production of red wine
-Is in the outskirts of Tuscany, countryside
-It is about a 30 minute bus ride outside of Florence

I had a wonderful time and had fun taking many pictures of the scenery, wine barrels, and the food. We had a delicious lunch with a little wine tasting to go with it (wasn't a big fan, because I don't like red wine). The spread included, two types of cold cuts, a thick white cheese, grilled bread with olive oil, two servings of Italian bread, and a plate of the most delicious lasagna you could ever taste.

One of the staff members from school let us break the rules a little bit and we were able to go into the vines ourselves and eat the grapes. On the way down there were some green grapes which were divine and then the red grapes were absolutely delicious and didn't even look edible because they were so beautiful.

Below are some pictures of our beautiful adventure....

Red grapes from the vines

Delicious Lunch

French barrels of wine

Stefanie, Alexa and I in front of the view from the vineyard

Moving on, look forward to a post soon about my trip to Cinque Terre!


Ciao!

Chelsea Lynn

Del tempo libro....

Translation: Some free time...

Which probably isn't the best thing right now, but I'm pushing through it.

Still no word on the bag :/


Today I did get to see the statue of David. It was amazing. I never realized how big it would be. It stands at 14 feet and with the pedestal it is 17 feet. The original statue is located in the Galleria dell'Accademia. The museum is only a block away from my apartment which is neat. With my school I get a museum card for 25 euro and we can get into over 15 museums without waiting.



Other than that my roommate and I are about to rearrange our room so that we have more space it is, it is fairly small. I also bought a booklet of post cards so I will be writing some out today and sending them sometime this week, you might be lucky :]

If anyone needs to mail me anything here is my address.....

Chelsea Bolyard
Palazzo Rucellai
Via Vigna Nuova 18
Firenze, Italy 50123


Ciao!

Chelsea Lynn

Sono arrivato!

The door of my apartment

Sorry it has taken me a couple days to post anything but it has been a hectic couple of days.....


First i never want to fly by myself again out of the country. That was the worst experience of my life.

Second one of my bags is still on it's way to Florence somewhere. This bag is the bag I purposely packed so that if I lost the other one it would be okay. My flight that was going to Madrid I ran late on because my flight to Charlotte, NC was delayed. So there was no more overhead space on the flight to Madrid and I had to check it. Of course that bag still hasn't made it.

Third, I never thought I would miss home so much. This is a huge adjustment that I should be used to but it is a lot different than I thought.

Last but not least, I have been having a wonderful time. It is absolutely beautiful here and I am kind of getting the hang of where everything is. Well only a few things. I never realized how much money you need to have over here, it is outrageous. The rate is ridiculous because as we all know our dollar is worth nothing.

The scenery is just like I expected. The cafe's, bar's, shopping, everything. It is all gorgeous and so ancient looking that it is breathtaking. The Duomo is a couple blocks from my apartment.

Here are a couple of pictures from my window of the plane....



More to come!

Ciao,

Chelsea Lynn

Bon Voyage

So tomorrow is the day.

Three planes

Three destinations

Two days

then Italy....


Packing definitely was an adventure......














Finally, after about an hour of packing it all in, everything is organized (until just now....those jackets you see hanging up, yeah totally forgot to pack them in. But that is okay because I have room :])

I am actually very surprised with myself. I did a lot better then a lot of you probably know. One checked bag, one carry on, and my backpack. Damn that's impressive ;]

It was extremely hard considering that I will be going and the seasons will be changing quickly and intensely. I checked the weather and it is supposed to be beautiful when I get there but it is supposed to get rainy in October and then really cold starting in November (my birthday yay!)
Don't worry I brought an extra duffel bag, because I will be shopping....mark my words.



I guess I will consider this the good-bye post. So I would like to be able to thank everyone that has helped me to get to this point in my life....

First my parents, I would not be where I am without you. My mother has raised me to be a goal driven person and to go out and get what I want and I thank her for that. My dad has always taught me to be who I want to be and never back down from what I want.

My siblings, you guys are crazy but I love you and I don't think I would be the crazy, outgoing and (learn how to put up a fight) without you guys. To my sister good luck with your first semester and have fun. Brother, I know you will do great in middle school and have a blast with football :]

The rest of my family I am so glad to have all of your support and to have you all in my life.

My friends, for every friend I have had that has stuck by my side for every decision I made I thank you for believing in me.

Last but not least the most recent addition to my life is my amazing boyfriend. I have never had someone support me as much as he does. Even though we have only been together for a short period of time, I have never been so sure about something in my entire life. It feels so great to have a man to back me up on my decisions and to be there waiting for me when I come back from this adventure of a life time. I love you babe.

Now just to wipe back my tears, gear up and get ready to enjoy this once in a life time experience.


Ciao!

Chelsea Lynn

The start of an amazing experience.....

La buona sera tutti!

This fall I will be embarking on a once in a life time adventure. I get the chance to study in Italy.

A little background of how and why....

I am a broadcast journalism student at Arizona State University. With my major I am required to study a related area of interest. At first it was film, but that wasn't really my cup of tea. So I decided I wanted to study abroad and focus my related area on Italian studies. Ever since my Junior year of high school I have been studying the Italian language and will officially be finished with my last semester of the language at the end of this Fall while in Italy.

I will be studying right in the heart of Tuscany as we all know as Florence (aka Firenze which I will most likely refer to it as). The school is called The Institute at Palazzo Rucellai (feel free to browse their website to learn more). I will be able to study the culture and history of the city and various cities that border it.

Don't worry there will be pictures. To start off here is one of the buildings I will be attending class in....

Bellissimo!

Tune in in a couple of days to see how the process of packing and gathering everything I need for this adventure happens :]


Ciao!
La vita è bella.

Chelsea Lynn