Hey Dave!

 Hello Blog People!

    Welcome to another recap of Ellie's week. Again, not super exciting, but I have some things I can talk about. So let's go! :)

 First off, we had 10 days of prayer meetings every day on Friday, the 26th, and went through the whole week. It was nice to get together with people, listen to speakers and pray together for about an hour. All of the speakers spoke in Italian, but we were given translation so we could understand what was being said. My little worship team (made up of me, Natalie, and Brianna) did music a few times. I love playing with them, and it added another fun element to the spiritual moments. 

    Last weekend was really nice. On Saturday I went out to a coffee shop with my roommates and took some pictures together in Florence. I love spending time with them. And the pictures turned out great! (One is the cover pic for this post). Then Sunday I got to sit outside in my hammock for the first time in a while. It was absolutely gorgeous outside, all warm and sunny. A lot of my friends were out traveling, so I got to spend some time by myself and with some people I don't normally hang out with. It was a pretty chill weekend.

    The rest of the week doesn't make sense in this light. Not going to lie, it was a bad week. My attitude was horrible almost every day and going to class did not make it any better. I don't know why it was so bad, it just kinda was. I am going to blame it on the January/February weather after a nice weekend. It wasn't as warm or sunny as the weekend had been.  However, there were some highlights.

    - We made both sweet and savory crepes in cooking class. I personally think savory crepes shouldn't be a thing. I didn't try the pumpkin cheese one that we made and I'm ok with that. The Nutella one was delicious though. 

    - I got a sweater from my grandma (shout out to Grandma B!) and it made my week. It's light green and says "Faith can move mountains" with cute embroidered details and I absolutely love it. It has quickly become a wardrobe staple. 

    - I learned 2 new line dances. That was fun. Just thought it was worth mentioning. 

    - I got asked to write an article for the Business program at Union. I am so honored and look forward to seeing it. I think I'm entering my writing era. Watch out, world! This girl has got things to say!

    - My favorite podcast (Christ With Coffee On Ice) came out with a crazy episode last Friday. It is about the testimony of a girl that was a white witch and how she came to Christ and oh my gosh, PLEASE listen to it. The story is so powerful and I teared up a little bit. God is so gracious and so powerful, over everything in this world! It's a little long, but SO worth the listen. 

    - On Friday I hung out with some of my girlfriends and we just went into town. We didn't do much. Walked around and did some window shopping. Florence is so beautiful and I'm so grateful to be living here for a little bit. In the evening we sang for vespers and it went really well. We even pulled off a key change!

   Side note:  Some people are leaving at the end of this quarter (in March), and it really makes me think about how much time I have here. In a few short months, I will be going back home with all my stuff and I won't be able to hop on a tram and go see the Duomo, standing there in all its glory. It makes me very grateful to be here. I know I will look back on this time and wish I was back here. So I'm trying to take every opportunity and live in the moment. 

On Saturday we celebrated my friend Ainsley's 20th birthday. We went to a cafe for brunch in the morning, took pictures afterward, and then ate some cake with her at the end of the day. It's so fun to celebrate your friends and bring in a new year of life with them, and that day was fun for both Ainsley and all of us. I got a delicious cinnamon roll that morning. And I got to make her a bouquet of pink flowers. It was just a good day. (Love you Ainsley <3)

    On the first Sunday of the month, the city of Florence makes some of its museums free to the public. So a lot of students will go and see some of the classic Florence experiences on that day. This past Sunday was the first of the month, so me and my friends went to go see Michelangelo's David statue and the Medici Chapel. 

David Statue: This whole museum was pretty cool, the highlight obviously being the classic David Statue. Once you get into the room where the statue is located, it's very obvious it's a big deal. I never realized how BIG the statue is! It was interesting to look at and notice some of the artistic details (or flaws, depending on how you look at it). I noticed that David's hands and feet were very big in comparison to the rest of his body, and some have said that the hand especially is intentional. I don't really care, I just noticed it. Secondly, there is a room to the left of the statue that is FILLED with marble statues. Busts and whole-body statues... it was crazy. It was interesting to see the process and the different figures and faces that were carved into these pieces of marble. I don't think I have the mind for sculpture, and I'm ok with that. 

    Medici Chapel: I don't know a lot about the Medici family, other than that they were rich and basically ruled Florence. But after visiting this chapel, I started to realize HOW wealthy this family was. This chapel, which looks kinda plain on the outside, is incredible on the inside. The whole interior of the chapel is made of multicolored marble. There are paintings on the ceiling telling the story of the Bible and there are statues and old relics and it is just insane. I would recommend going there if you are ever in Florence, and it honestly won't take you more than an hour and a half to get through.

After the museums, we went to a Sunday market and walked around for a bit. I love that Florence has markets almost every day. You can find food and clothes and jewelry and random goods at every one. Some are bigger than others. But walking around the markets is a good way to see the culture of Florence.

That was my week. This week we are going on a trip on Thursday (yay! Only 3 days of classes). I'm looking forward to it. Ci vediamo!    

Ciao,

            Ellie

Waiting at the cafe

The girls 

Marble Statue Room

I am not a fan of this style of art

Medici Chapel Alter