Well somehow it's been over a month since I've updated!! We've been having a great time in Italy and I can't believe we only have 3 weeks left! Sometimes it seems like months ago that we first arrived in Italy and then other times it feels like it's flying by! We did a lot of traveling in our first 5 weeks and have saw Rome, Florence, Venice, Cinque Terre, Pisa, and the outskirts of Lucca! Since then, we've been staying mostly local - going to work, working on schoolwork, and going to Florence. It's strange to have been here long enough to not feel like a tourist so much anymore and just feel like a resident!
Clinic
After our first two weeks at Prosperius in Florence, we moved to our official clinical location, Villa delle Terme in Impruneta. It's a 150 bed clinic that is broken up into 70 beds for long term care and 80 ortho/neuro beds. For our first 4 weeks at this clinic, we worked in the neuro PT gym and now we are spending our final 4 weeks in the ortho PT gym. Janet and I are working with 3 different CIs because of the scheduling/vacations at the clinic which is a little difficult, but they are all great! We work primarily with geriatric patients at this clinic - in the neuro gym, we mostly saw patients post stroke and saw some other neurological diagnoses as well. In the ortho gym, we mostly see hip and knee replacements. It is a VERY different clinical setting than anything I've worked in so far for 2 reasons: 1. My last two clinicals have been in outpatient settings 2. Italian healthcare works very different from healthcare in the US. It took Janet and I a while to get used to some of the differences here that we would never see in the US - walking with geriatric neuro patients without a gait belt, working with 3-4 neuro patients at a time, no PT techs/aides, no documentation, not performing full initial evaluations, etc. Once we got used to the way this clinic works and got in a good groove working with patients, it's been great. We both have our adorable patients we work with consistently and we get to go help out with music therapy for patients in minimally conscious states on Thursdays which is definitely an interesting experience!
 |
| ~Villa della Terme~ |
San Casciano
Still in love with San Casciano!! It's nice to come home to our little town after work or after traveling! And the views are incredible... :)
 |
| ~Sunset from our window~ |
Zip Lining
A few weekends ago, Janet, Nichole, and I went to Canyon Park, a place where you can do zip lining, stand up paddle boarding, rafting, and river walks! We decided to do the zip lining and it was gorgeous! The whole day was only 23 euros and we got to do a 1 1/2 hour zip lining/rock climbing adventure then hung out at the "beach" with amazing views!
Rome
Two weekends ago, we went back to Rome to meet up with my dad on another of his Delta layovers so he could bring Janet and me some things from back home. We left straight from work friday and got there around 8pm. We grabbed dinner and gelato and walked around Rome some then headed to bed. Dad had to leave Saturday morning to head home so Janet and I took off to wander around the city. We went back to the Spanish Steps because they had been closed when we were in Rome in August for cleaning... and they were closed again!! After that, we had fun walking through all of the expensive stores in the area! We found our way to the piazza of kittens again (of course!) then made our way to the train station to head home!
 |
| ~Dad!~ |
 |
| ~Breakfast~ |
 |
| ~Burberry~ |
 |
| ~Burberry~ |
 |
| ~Fendi~ |
 |
| ~Kitties!!~ |
That Sunday night, a patient from the clinic is threw a big party and all of the PTs from our clinic were invited. We had no idea what to expect but this was our conversation with him Friday about the party:
Us: What can we bring to the party Sunday? (Not wanting to be the rude Americans that just show up without anything)
Patient: Do you like sangria?
Us: Yes
Patient: Do you like mojitos?
Us: Yes!
Patient: Good. Don't eat breakfast, don't eat lunch, don't eat any snacks that day. Come hungry.
We still didn't want to show up empty handed so we got his kids some present in Rome that weekend to bring with us!
It was such a fun party - his back yard was set up with rugs all over and tents and there was delicious food and drinks! The DJ played a great music and we had a fun time with our CIs and the other PTs from our clinic!
 |
| ~Our CIs~ |
 |
| ~Picnic in the Rose Garden~ |
 |
| ~Basilica San Miniato al Monte~ |
 |
| ~Piazza Michelangelo~ |
This week, we just had work every day and have been working on our research papers for school at night. Last night, we went to crossfit with one of our CIs then got greek food with her boyfriend!
 |
| ~CrossFit!~ |
Next weekend, Janet's boyfriend gets here and they are going to Venice and I'm going to Zurich, Switzerland so it will be a fun weekend! Hopefully I won't let 5 weeks go by again without updating!! And I'm hoping get a vlog put together this weekend to post! :)
Ciao for now!
