Passing the time in Florence

A view of the Tuscan countryside
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We learned today in class that its good luck in Italy to have a bird poo on you.  Now, this is good luck that I can get behind.  I mean, this kind of stuff happens to me all the time.  And so I'm wondering...have I finally found a place where my eerie ability to have utterly bizarre crap happen to me is a good thing?  Where its a good sign when your purse catches on fire or a burning car starts rolling down the hill after you?  I may never leave.  :-)

More Tuscan countryside
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Anyway, I am happy to report that I have passed almost an entire week in Florence without doing anything productive at all.  Its great.  My biggest accomplishment is manuevering through the main market here in the center of Florence.  The first time I visited the market, it didn't go too well.  I caught the attention of this hunched-over little old lady who proceeded to follow me around yelling at me menacingly in Italian for a good ten minutes.  She was so agitated that I became convinced I must have accidentally killed her only dog or committed some other equally horrifying blunder.  I was much relieved when I finally figured out that I had not, in fact, injured any of her pets, but that the little old lady was actually a fruit stand vendor...and apparently, her personal selling technique is a special combination of stalking and terrorizing.  Doesn't seem the best way to go to me, but who am I to criticze.  And the fresh fruit and vegetables are so good its worth a little hazing from the elderly.  The strawberries and the cherries and the melons...so delicious.  And the cheese, oh the cheese!

And more views
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Food aside, classes continue to go well.  Italian is ridicuously confusing...and given my somewhat limited grasp of English, you can imagine the struggle I have with Italian.  But my Italian has finally reached the point where people can generally understand me.  Mind you, they still laugh at me but at least they now know what I'm saying.  You can also tell progress is being made because the German has graduated to shouting out Italian obscenities...my favorite of which is his very dramatic "Oh Madonna."  There are about 7 or 8 of us in the class - all from different countries.  It leads to some interesting moments.  For example, today, one of the other students randomly decided to serenade the class with Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror."  A little "Thriller" I could have gotten behind...but Man in the Mirror?  It might have been the most awkward moment I've had yet in Italy.

PS - I finally went back through and added photos to my blog entries, if you're curious.