This weekend I met a girl named Patience. At first I thought I misheard her friends calling her name, but she then turned to me in line to board a ship to Sorrento from Capri and asked me what first name she looked like. I guessed Rachel and she was amused by my response. Then …
Continue reading “Patience & Frustration: A Girl in Defiance of Italian Mannerisms”
Dear Jill in ten years, Hi, Jill of the Future! I’m not sure if you still go by Jill or if you switched back to being called Jillian. I’m not sure which is more professional. Are you a professional? Do you have a good job? I hope you do. Because I didn’t suffer through a …
As I enjoyed every tour I’ve been on as well as conducting my own tour, I think the tour that showed me an area I had never been to much before was the Oltrarno group. This is a bit embarrassing for me because I have been living on this side of the river this entire …
I walked outside this morning to grab my daily cup of Joe, a phrase considered extremely alien to Italians, and just walking down the street my endorphin levels began to sky rocket. I cannot believe that I am fortunate to wake up in Florence on a nice Spring day and just exist here. I cannot …
Continue reading “Afforded the time to read an article I wasn’t assigned”
Some say that you should try to do one thing each day that scares you. Turns out, the only things I’m really afraid of are serial killers, sudden death, aggressive Italian men on the dance floor, needles, and pigeons. So, I figured, I might try pursuing something a bit less life threatening, creepy, or disease-ridden …
Upon reading Tolu’s blog about street art and George Chauncey’s article, “Privacy Could Only Be Had in Public: Gay Uses of the Streets”, I started to think a bit more about how necessary public displays of self expression are in order to unify those outcasted by a greater society or spread stories which demand attention. …
I never quite considered myself to be a singer. At least not in the I-can-list-this-as-an-extracurricular-on-my-resume sense. I don’t even know how to read sheet music. Despite my elaborate theatrical shower performances of Beyoncé or Alicia Keys hits, I was always far too nervous to actually pursue singing in a more professional setting. I tried …
Upon reading Kim Dovey’s article titled “Tall Storeys” this week, I came to realize that there are no towering skyscrapers or extremely tall corporate-like buildings in Florence. What seem to be the tallest focal points of the city include the Duomo and the tops the churches. Madison, Wisconsin does not contain skyscrapers either. However, in …
I have always possessed a strong sense of awareness. Awareness of my own presence. Where I am. Where I want to be. And why I’m there. I’ve thought a lot about those notions before. As someone who enjoys traveling, I am grateful for the places I have been capable of exploring and taking derivés in. …
Panic. Just some slight panic. Not too much, but enough to jolt me awake from my groggy jet lagged- state. It started to stir inside of me the second I got through Customs. I noticed the large group of college students in my program gathered together in a miniature mob near the exit of the …
Jill's Sense of Place 
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