Things I will miss in Italy...

Here is a list of things I am going to be working on over the course of the next few days of things that remind me of Italy. The good, the bad and the ugly. I'll miss you Florence.

1. the black puffy Italian jackets that everyone has and wears even if its 70 degrees outside

2. the sirens---they have the strangest tones, im going to record them before I leave

3. gelato, gelato, gelato, its a perfect way to end the evening and its so amazing. there are really no words to describe it.

4. the Arno, even its disgusting color

5. Gaia and Daniella-our cleaning ladies that cleaned our apartment every week, gave us fresh sheets and towels on Thursdays

6. Villa La Pietra and the gardens behind it-how does NYU just get an entire estate donated?

7. the man at the mini-market who gets excited to give me a euro off my purchases every time I cash out

8. Massimo, my Italian teacher who speaks very little English but when he does its priceless... my favorite quotes "Let's get de show on de road" and "No discussion-no debate"

9. the cobblestone that has completely destroyed my feet and all my shoes

10. looking at the ground when you walk past men because if you look at them straight in the eye you will be followed home

11. the never ending walk down Via Maffia

12. stuffed animal gold fish

13. the Duomo being the back drop of everything we do in Florence

14. people watching in McDonalds

15. the sketchy people that work the Kebab place

16. my friends at the leather market who remember me now and speak to me in Italian

17. being harassed by the men that sell leather jackets, and being escorted arm in arm down the street

18. gypsies

19. l'autobus numero 25

20. death valley

21. nutella croissants and Fernando the nicest café guy that always promises to make me hot nutella croissants

22. unreliable internet

23. WIND, prepaid phone cards, and cell phones from the ice age

24. having to call cabs because they wont come get you any other way

25. carousels in piazzas, piazzas in general

26. really slow walking Europeans, they have even slowed down my pace

27. spending 3-4 hours at dinner and that being perfectly normal

28. the ponte vecchio, bridges, and bridge ledges

29. smelly Europeans in small spaces

30. sidewalk cleaners that are always everywhere

31. campus life, campus drama, having a campus!

32. Italian language--it really is beautiful and I wish more than anything that I could have become fluent in it this semester

33. terracotta floors-uhhh always filthy even after Gaia mops

34. heating that shuts off if you use too much of it

35. showers that cant work simultaneously and only after you've reset the heat

36. hallway lights that shut off before you make it to the end

37. bidet---does anyone honestly use those? why are they also in public places?

38. Gusta. enough said, the best pizza ever and its on our side of the Arno.

39. personal pizzas-why split one when you can have your own with exactly what you want on it?

40. Pizza Man, panuozzo, and my "cousin" Pasquale who gives us free stuff perché siamo i amici di Massimo

41. tanning in Boboli Gardens

42. Free museum card with access to everything we didn't actually go see. but you could cut the lines and that made me feel like a movie star. i would go back just for that

43. competitions in Maffia

44. MAFFIA! and all the amazing people that fill it.

45. Lungo-its a special place, especially the kitchen.

46. screaming from the other end of my apartment for no apparent reason until 2 in the morning

47. living on the "second floor" which includes 6 flights of stairs

48. considering blogging, journalling, and uploading pics to facebook as real work because i dont have any for my classes

49. Tabacchi

50. Firenze.....you stole my heart, why are you making me leave?