First Day of HUF

I was able to wake up this morning to sunlight steaming in from the terrace. we got ready and went down to breakfast, where we had a choice of different pastries. we then hung around outside, which is absolutely beautiful. It is full of greenery and flowers. hopefully i will be able to post pictures soon. after a delicious lunch of pasta, our group took a bus to Scandicci (the town we are staying in). we went to the town square and order cappuccinos in Italian. it was delicious! we then walked around a little and Dr. Shakelford showed us all the places we might want to go. Then we went into Florence to a small contemporary art show in a park. On the bus ride back, along with the 36 people in our group there was about 20 other people too. i was squished between backpacks and bodies, and had to hold on to one of the guy's backpacks to keep from falling over. at one point i was bending over backward to keep from falling. it was definitely a bonding experience, and really fun. haha. we came back to eat dinner, which was some type of soup, not exactly sure what kind. i am now sitting in the computer room where some people are checking email. and some have a game of go fish going. we are just going to relax the rest of tonight because tomorrow we are going to Florence. yay!