MAFIA

For the most part, this past week was pretty uneventful. Classes are getting much much harder...and since they only meet once a week, I have TONS of reading to do. I just finished reading 200 pages of the most boring art history ever written. But I decided that it will all be worth to see the Sistine Chapel ceiling when I'm in Rome next week!

So far, my drawing class is sooooo incredible, and definitely my favorite! We meet for six hours once a week at different places around Florence. We've gone to the Uffizi twice and the Boboli Gardens, and we just sit around and draw for six hours...whatever you want. It's so wonderful, and the teacher is super laid back and hilarious! Last week I was working on a drawing of a statue of Venus, and he came by to look over everything. He said it was great...but I should do something else...something more entertaining. So, he made me draw the backside of a sculpture from an awkward angle...so now I have a drawing of horse's ass in my sketchbook...really nice. The best part is, for my homework, I just have to find something I like in Florence and draw some more! so fun =)

Oh, and, in my cultural history class today we learned about the MAFIA! I found out that the mafia only really exists in Sicily, and there are other organized crime groups all over Italy. The biggest, sketchiest, most dangerous, most powerful group is called the Camorra, from Naples. It's made up of a group of about 40 families that have been around since the 1800s, and they control pretty much the entire economy through illegal and legal businesses...their biggest industry: cocaine. They control over 80% of the cocaine trade in Italy, 50% in Europe, 30% of the global economy. woah...and the coolest part is, it's totally a current issue. A guy in Barcelona, Marino Santafede, got arrested for his involvement in the Camorra and the cocaine trade with South America a few days ago...he had 24,000 euro in his pocket when the police picked him up. So i decided that maybe that's why people deal coke...apparently, in Florence alone, 1 million euros worth of cocaine is dealt every week.

Okay, enough on the details of drug running operations...I was just very intrigued. I didn't think that the mafia was still actually around and active!

So yes, classes have turned out to be quite interesting. I feel like I'm finally settling into Florence. I can actually go for a walk without getting lost. Liz and I went exploring today and found a bunch of super authentic Italian markets with fresh fruit and veggies and cheese and meat! Everything is so much cheaper when you don't have to buy it in the middle of downtown where all the tourists are. I'm ready for the tourist season to die down...they are everywhere...all the time.

This week I'm headed to the Amalfi coast and exploring Pompeii. Then we spend a week in Rome with our professors. We have visits scheduled to the Vatican and the Colosseum, and all the fancy Roman places, so it should be a busy week! I still can't believe that I will get to see everything in person...welcome to Italy! I can't wait!