Finally settled in!

This week starts the beginning of another 4 week program. I am back in the beginner level, which I expected and wanted, and the classes start Tuesday. I did very well on my final test, B-, so I am very confident that my next exam will easily be an A+! My voice lesson schedule is now set in stone and I am really beginning to get used to my teachers. My favorite teacher is definitely my music history teacher. His English is not very good at all but some how we still communicate very easily. He has such an amazing bass voice, so he understands what I struggle with because I have a low voice for a female. My other teachers are women and they are very nice. One of them does not have good English at all, while the other one has fantastic English. They all make me feel very good about myself because they compliment me every day on how much they love my voice. They say "Bello voce!" (beautiful voice) I will admit, it is very intimidating singing Italian songs for Italian teachers, at home it is not intimidating at all! I am really beginning to warm up to the music department though, even though I do not like the set up for the class rooms. I did not really do anything too exciting during the week because I was trying to study for my exam and keep my voice healthy.

For the weekend, we took a day trip on Saturday. We went to San Gimignano, which is about an hour train ride from Florence. I absolutely LOVED this town! It was in the Tuscan country side so the view was stunning! It is a town built on a hill top and is from the Medieval period. It was one of the most powerful places in Europe and was built like a fortress. There is no getting in if they do not want you in, that is for sure! The food here was some of the best food that I have had yet, and the desserts are wonderful too! Some of my friends did wine tasting, I did not because I really do not like it that much. I sat outside and listened to a harp player while I looked out at the rolling hills. I definitely suggest that anyone that visits Italy should go to San Gimignano!

Sunday night I got together with all of my friends here and we had a big dinner for one of our friends. He is from Indonesia, and for his religion he has Ramadan (fasting for 30 days). Sunday night was the end of it so we all had a big surprise meal planned for him. I really enjoyed that!

Thanks again for following! Maybe next week there will be some more interesting things going on!

Valerie Joy