My first week in florence has been fantastic! My roommates are great and very down to earth. I love my apartment! It has a great open area and it seems like everything is around our apartment. The people in Florence seem really nice and helpful. I don’t have much Italian under my belt but it hasn’t been that hard getting around and speaking to people and I am surprised at how many people speak English. I can’t wait to be able to speak Italian fluently so that I can interact with more people. There is a nice feel about Florence and at the same time there are so many exciting things. I think the Duomo has been the most breathtaking thing thus far. It is very big and a central part of Florence that attracts many tourists. The Arno river is also very beautiful especially at night.

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Shante is a student at University of North Carolina at Charlotte studying at Florence University of the Arts during the Fall 2013 term.