Florence to me is embodied in my walk to school almost every day. In this ten-minute walk from Via Ricasoli to the Piazza della Repubblica, the people and the places that I see are just small representatives of what my life in Florence has become. As I take my walk to school, I often listen to music. This inspired me to make a short playlist of music that I might be listening to on my walk and relate them to my life in Florence.Here‟s my „Florentine Playlist‟:
So Many People - Anberlin
Although I have come to recognize a few “regular” faces on my walk to school, for the most part there are a lot of unknown people passing by. Since I have to walk past the Duomo, I am constantly trying to find paths around all the tourists. Sometimes in the maze, my ten minute walk becomes a fifteen minute one. It‟s funny that even though most people would still consider me a tourist, I find myself getting annoyed and praying for tourist season to be over. As I experience these feelings, I realize that Florence has become my home, even if it‟s a temporary one.
Alone - Heart
When a song like this comes on my ipod on my walk, I am instantly reminded of the situation I
am in. Though I temporarily live in Florence, I don‟t think it will ever be my true home because my friends and family aren‟t here with me. I know this contradicts my previous statement, but like this, Florence to me is always changing.
Cliff Diving - Plus 44
In both a literal and figurative way, this song symbolizes the adventures, experiences and opportunities that coming to Florence has brought me. Aside from literally cliff jumping into the Mediterranean Sea on a trip to Cinque Terre, Florence will always be the first place I went to leave home and step out of the box that was my normal life. Florence is my place of independence where I could do something new and different for myself.
Best Days of Your Life - Sara Evans
My favorite day in Florence is Thursday. I wake up and have three classes that day, which makes a busy schedule from 9am to 4:15pm. Afterwards, I go to Antique Noe for dinner with my roommates. Going there every Thursday is the first tradition we made for ourselves while in Florence. After that, I can simply relax and prepare for the weekend. It is a symbolic day of my life as a whole in Florence. This is why I love the walk to school on Thursday mornings. However, at night, there is a bittersweet feeling of knowing tomorrow I don‟t have to wake up for my walk to school.
Students in the class Italy in the Words of British & American Writers keep a weekly journal, in which they write their impressions and thoughts about Florence and Florentine sites visited as part of their class studies. The above is excerpted from the journal kept by Victoria Galica, who attended CEA on the Freshman Experience program.