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If there’s anything that Florence has taught me in the past week is to be extremely open minded. Most importantly out of this is NOT EVERYONE SPEAKS ENGLISH.  There will be times when you find yourself lost and no one will be able to help you. This could be physically lost roaming around the city or metaphorically lost in the language barrier. You have to learn how to 1.) not panic and 2.) go with the flow.  The language barrier is larger than what I originally thought it was going to be and the consequences of this barrier varies. For example, I still have no idea what was in the sandwich I ordered for lunch yesterday because I didn’t know what it translated to in English (it was really good though) and I also accidentally bought Wasabi Green Apple potato chips from the store when I thought they were going to be avocado flavored (surprisingly not bad, the apple really compliments the wasabi). However, there might also be instances when you realizes after 10 minutes that you’re in the wrong restaurant and the entire class is somewhere else so you run around the Duomo trying to get directions but no one knows what you’re saying. Taking a breather and trying not to stress out is key because stressing or panicking doesn’t get you very far.

The one night at dinner some of us made friends with native Florentines and our conversation was kind of funny. For the most part we could understand each other but there were also quite a few “Non so cosa stai dicendo!”s thrown in there. It was fun though because we learned quite a few Italian words just by talking to them and we taught them some English words too. We laughed at each other when we got words wrong and we weren’t embarassed when we messed up Italian words back because that’s a part of learning a new language. If I were to say one thing, it’s that I wish I would have came here knowing more Italian. I can get by, especially in restaurants or in the store,  but to have an actual normal conversation was rough and we had to speak in mostly English. So while you’re in Florence, my advice to you is to try some foods that you might not know what they are, have a conversation with some of the Florentines, and don’t be afraid to get a little lost. You’ll see the best the city has to offer when you don’t have your face stuck in a map or google translate.​