My semester is already 2/3 over, and so far, I’ve been learning how to adjust to the slow-pace of Italy, how to set aside time to paint (because it is a very time-consuming process), and where sight-seeing can fit into all of this. My process is far from perfect, and I’m sad that things are coming to an end when I have just started to figure things out. And I still have not visited the art museums here in Florence! Isn’t that terrible?

When I went to Monteriggioni and the Louvre, my travel plans had actually become a disaster! In Monteriggioni, I actually managed to miss my train because it came by too early! (It was not a major stop, so there wasn’t a lot of time for boarding.) So, I ended having to take a later train to Siena and stay the night there before I returned to Florence. In addition, my trip to the Louvre was rather rushed because I tried to take a day trip with a very cheap, low-quality airline and because I didn’t know much about using the subways. I’m disappointed that I didn’t get to sketch any of the works at the famed Louvre. Even though I made so many frustrating travel mistakes, they’ve given me valuable learning experience and will help me prepare for what could possibly go wrong on my future trips.

Recently, my class had a guest speaker, Anthony Viscardi. He lectured about the natural way to draw buildings in perspective, and recounting his experiences with sketching in Italy, he said that time will seemingly start to slow down. Maybe that’s the important part of slow-paced lifestyle: slowing down psychological time to get the most out of experience. Maybe that is what I’ll have to do in order to get the most out of my last two weeks here in Florence.

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Bich is a student at the University of Texas at Arlington studying at Florence University of the Arts during the Summer 2013 term.