Firenze Citta Amica

Although this last week has been frustrating, sitting in my kitchen right now and listening to Santa Croce's church bells ringing combined the rhythmic movement of the street below reminds me of how lucky I am to be here. I have learned that things don't always go your way here, but the only thing you can do is take a deep breath and go with the flow.

Last week Chelsea and I signed up to be in the first "Torneo Pallancanestro: Firenze Cittá Amica, Rappresentativa Universitá Americane a Firenze vs. Societá Pallancanestro di Firenze". In Layman's terms, a basketball tournament. It was a tournament set up by the US Consulate intended to integrate Italian and American students. My team played in five games, two on Saturday and Sunday, and we made it to the championship game that played yesterday. (Wednesday) Although we came in second, it was loads of fun just to be able to meet some Italian girls and get a refresher course on my long lost passion that was basketball. (Special thanks to our awesome roommates and few friends who made up our cheering section!) We had eight girls on our team; five Italian, three American and an Italian coach. The other American girls are here from Gonzaga University. One thing I realized very quickly is how friendly the Italian girls are with one another and with us foreigners. Girls in the US always seem to be in competition with one another, on and off the court. Everyone is trying to one up the others. Here in Florence, the girls seem to genuinely enjoy each others' company. Maybe it’s the lack of consumer society here that fosters healthier friendships, or maybe its just the wine. Who knows. Either way, after the championship there was an awards ceremony/festa where we were given banners and a plaque. At the end of the day, I am happy to say that I now have two new T-shirts, a banner, and some new Amiche Italiane.