Farewell Festa- NYU Florence celebrates the end of the Spring 2014 semester with an Art + Photo Exhibition, buffet dinner, and the Decameron performance at Villa La Pietra.

The location of our NYU Florence campus could not have been anymore perfect. Its gardens behind Villa La Pietra are breathtaking and comparable in beauty to the Boboli gardens, if not in size. It made for a cozy, intimate atmosphere as students gathered around to sit on the grass as they watched their classmates perform. With the garden as the backdrop, a panoramic view of Florence on the opposite end, and the sun setting to reveal the stars underneath the Tuscan sky, I knew that we might have been sitting silently, but our minds were busily reveling in the moment and appreciating everything that has happened this semester. It has been an incredible journey in the most beautiful city that I can only look back to fondly and with longing, especially with the prospect of New York and the fast-paced dangling very closely above my head. I will very dearly miss this city and as I am only halfway through my packing process, I can’t help but say aloud, mi mancheró questa cittá.

My biggest regret from that night was not buying their CD since I’ve been listening to their album, So’ Ragazzi, every day after since hearing them live. Good beat, good vibe, and decent lyrics based on the extent of my knowledge of Italian. They’re called Dr. Panico. It’s like hipster Italian music; give it a whirl. catchmeabroad: If you have a conversation about music with any young Italian today, you’ll notice that the majority of the music he/she listens to is American. It is quite obvious and apparent that America is leading in the music industry and has been for years now, but while in Florence, I’ve been interested in familiarizing myself with more Italian artists. Although there are a couple of Italian musicians I’ve been listening to ever since I’ve started learning Italian in high school, I’ve never seen an Italian band play live. Last week, I went to see an Italian band called Dr. Panico play in Florence along with a couple of friends. I didn’t really know much about the band, their style, or any of their songs (it was one of those “lets- check’em-out-because-we-have-no-plan-for-tonight-nor-do-we-want-to-stay-indoors” kind of decision), and surprisingly they ended up being pretty good. The night consisted of music and gelato, what more can I ask for? 
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My biggest regret from that night was not buying their CD since I’ve been listening to their album, So’ Ragazzi, every day after since hearing them live. Good beat, good vibe, and decent lyrics based on the extent of my knowledge of Italian. They’re called Dr. Panico. It’s like hipster Italian music; give it a whirl.

catchmeabroad:

If you have a conversation about music with any young Italian today, you’ll notice that the majority of the music he/she listens to is American. It is quite obvious and apparent that America is leading in the music industry and has been for years now, but while in Florence, I’ve been interested in familiarizing myself with more Italian artists. Although there are a couple of Italian musicians I’ve been listening to ever since I’ve started learning Italian in high school, I’ve never seen an Italian band play live. Last week, I went to see an Italian band called Dr. Panico play in Florence along with a couple of friends. I didn’t really know much about the band, their style, or any of their songs (it was one of those “lets- check’em-out-because-we-have-no-plan-for-tonight-nor-do-we-want-to-stay-indoors” kind of decision), and surprisingly they ended up being pretty good. The night consisted of music and gelato, what more can I ask for? 

(via thisisnyu)

Source: catchmeabroad

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  • You Can Run ft. Kid CudiBryan Greenberg

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Photographs from Notte Bianca (White Night) - the one night of the year where the city of Florence stays open and awake, an absolutely rare and unusual thing considering its reputation as being essentially the city that takes siestas during the day and goes to bed very early in the night.

Even so, biggest applause for an extremely successful and fun night with live music, performances, and exhibitions on literally every corner and every piazza. The streets were packed and full of energy, and at the same time, I still felt completely safe, as I always do walking around in Florence and even more so than I would in New York. I just really can’t possibly love this city more than I already do.

Already missing i miei bambini italiani; my Italian babies! Last Thursday was my last day for volunteering as a Teaching Assistant at a Kindergarten so naturally, I had to bring my camera along to snap some photographs of these precious faces. I’ll admit, I was slightly hesitant about volunteering while abroad. I knew that I wanted to do something with my spare time, especially after the thought of work-study lost its appeal. And I wanted some connection with the locals, a different kind of immersion, if you will.

These five year olds are absolutely adorable and I fell in love with them from day one. I walked into the classroom, probably very likely with an anxious, nervous look and told the professor from the start that this would be my first time in this type of environment. That I’m most likely the type of person to be found in an office setting, where things are neat, orderly, and needn’t be checked on every 3 seconds. But by the end of the semester, I’ve gotten to know every student by name and of course, have grown extremely fond of them. I now feel very comfortable in this noisy, energetic atmosphere and am very, very happy to have taken part in this experience!

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It’s like I downed a glass of optimism today. Must’ve been the sun. Or that I finally finished reading that eternally long chapter on International Monetary Systems. Probably the second one. It was a glorious moment.

How was London? 

London was an unexpectedly good time. Just like every single one of my previous adventures in having ventured outside of Florence because I embrace the foreign, the new, and the undiscovered, so obviously I loved every single moment of every day there. From sitting on the double decker with an iced cappuccino in my hands (because iced coffee is an appalling concept in Italy) to hearing the british accents (and giggling every time) and walking across four bridges (including the Harry Potter one, yes, I renamed the Millennium Bridge) and eating Japanese food one night and Indonesian food the other… I enjoyed London very much. And because I take after my mother by making impulsive and weighty decisions during brief moments of elation, in other words, YOLO, I am scheduled as of now, to study abroad in London for Spring 2014. Here’s to youth, possibilities, and good fortune.

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Now is this really a rational, well-thought-out, slept-on, reconsidered and then over-considered, sensible, even sane decision? Will I be putting myself at career/job-risk post graduation? Am I delaying my adulthood responsibilities? Will I ever learn to settle? Will I be one of those statistics in this article?

What do I think, honestly? I think in my current circumstance, that is, behind this wonderful reality of Italy that I am currently living, is like standing at the edge of a cliff overlooking this beautiful, breathtaking view and feeling the rocks very slowly crumble before me like the grains in an hourglass gradually coming down. So I think hell, let’s enjoy life right now and work our absolute hardest on the way, so that there is absolutely nothing dreadful about the future, not even its unpredictability, or the threat of failure, of possibly letting down those that were counting on you, of being unsuccessful. These are the fears that keep us in our comfort zones, suppress our creativity, make safe decisions.

“Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis