6/27/08
Friday… aww Friday. 9am art, got to love it. Dan had another exercise for us this morning…but this time it was optional. I choose to begin working on my project instead. I was surprised by the work I began to produce, some good some bad. The tricky thing about this last assignment is while we only had to do two pieces I feel that I should be putting a lot of time and effort into them- that they should be something grand. Aww well we’ll see what I end up producing. I worked till about 11 then headed into town to search over the Friday morning market. Its funny how I know could tell you the layout of the market vendors. Between the clothes, shoes, fruit, meat, cheese and supplies I could probably tell you exactly were to go to get what you needed. Ha-ha. I didn’t buy anything but some bananas, umm…back at school I went back to work until our fantastic lunch of Pizza, salad and a mix fruit cup…ummmmm. Hehe. After lunch I went back to the studio (I had a very productive day) till about 330, when I my group met with Ann for more project discussion. Work, work, work. Once done with that Sonya (our TA) and I decided to head to the local pool. She’s been several times and has discovered you only have to pay 2 euro for an hour, which is a deal compared to the other prices. Plus an hour was all we needed. The pool was huge, lots of people and kind of resembled a theme park. I think it was the multicolored umbrellas and swim caps everywhere that gave me that feel. After a lap or two and some sun bathing we headed back and now were all in the courtyard drawing, typing and passing time till dinner. After dinner tonight is the first official ping pong tournament- hehe. Tonight is the singles competition, and then the couples are next week sometime. I have not decided to partake but will be on the sidelines cheering everyone on.
I have decided not to go with the little group that’s traveling this weekend. Its 4 of the girls and they are going to Checque Terra. While this sounds fun, they are leaving on a 420am train and wont get in till around 10am. Then spend the day and night and head home on Sunday in time for 730 dinner. For me this just seemed like too much travel time and not enough site seeing time. Its supposed to be a beautiful place, near the coast and lots to see and hike. It’s definitely a place I want to go just when I can really soak it up. For instance Ann and Dan went here for the long weekend…just want more time there. So there’s a chance the rest of us will go to either to Orveato or the Lake…then back here Sunday for more work.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
THursday :)
6/26/08
Today was a very strange day…It began with an art class in which we did community drawings. Something that was supposed to help us loosen up, try different drawing techniques and not care about the marks on the page. It was suppose to be an easy, fun activity…but it was quite hard today. We all did it but I took awhile before I was able to relax and enjoy creating and adding to a page. SO I guess in the end it worked, as it was suppose to. Next we had about an hour and half to begin working on our next assignment. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you Dan wasted no time in telling us our final/ next assignment. 2 final drawings of a memory or moment we’ve had this trip, both drawing have to be over the same memory just displayed in different ways. And they are due next Tuesday night for our final show on Wednesday. I actually got a few things done, surprisingly and then lunchtime finally came around. After lunch I did a little research on my art history final project, which turned into a little afternoon catnap in the heat of our little room. Ugh…the heat with no AC is really becoming a pain. After I woke up we had a little group meeting in courtyard to talk about our art history project, Alicia, Kayla and I. And then a group of us began a discussion about art that lasted through dinner and back into the courtyard again. Normally I would have loved this conversation but I ended up sitting in between to people who held very opposite views at dinner- lets just say it was a long dinner in which I didn’t say much. After dinner though, I took a deep breathe joined the conversation and then grabbed gelato. Needless to say I was a happy girl then. I returned to Santa Chiara and decided to forego watching the soccer game and decided to watch Mulan Rouge instead. I began this entry saying it was a strange day and by that I meant we as a group kind of just staggered around today. I think it was a low day, after the hype of the winery and the day in Florence, we as a group were quite, tired and not as enthusiastic as we normally are. O well we’re all entitled to an off day…
Ciao
Today was a very strange day…It began with an art class in which we did community drawings. Something that was supposed to help us loosen up, try different drawing techniques and not care about the marks on the page. It was suppose to be an easy, fun activity…but it was quite hard today. We all did it but I took awhile before I was able to relax and enjoy creating and adding to a page. SO I guess in the end it worked, as it was suppose to. Next we had about an hour and half to begin working on our next assignment. Oh yes, I forgot to tell you Dan wasted no time in telling us our final/ next assignment. 2 final drawings of a memory or moment we’ve had this trip, both drawing have to be over the same memory just displayed in different ways. And they are due next Tuesday night for our final show on Wednesday. I actually got a few things done, surprisingly and then lunchtime finally came around. After lunch I did a little research on my art history final project, which turned into a little afternoon catnap in the heat of our little room. Ugh…the heat with no AC is really becoming a pain. After I woke up we had a little group meeting in courtyard to talk about our art history project, Alicia, Kayla and I. And then a group of us began a discussion about art that lasted through dinner and back into the courtyard again. Normally I would have loved this conversation but I ended up sitting in between to people who held very opposite views at dinner- lets just say it was a long dinner in which I didn’t say much. After dinner though, I took a deep breathe joined the conversation and then grabbed gelato. Needless to say I was a happy girl then. I returned to Santa Chiara and decided to forego watching the soccer game and decided to watch Mulan Rouge instead. I began this entry saying it was a strange day and by that I meant we as a group kind of just staggered around today. I think it was a low day, after the hype of the winery and the day in Florence, we as a group were quite, tired and not as enthusiastic as we normally are. O well we’re all entitled to an off day…
Ciao
Wednesday!
6/25/08
Early day… caught a 654 train (woke up about 530am) to Florence. Wasn’t particularly excited only because Florence is always at least 10 degrees hotter than CF and its crowed. After arriving right before 8 and grabbing coffee we all met at the Duomo Baptistery doors for Taryans presentation. After this we had about an hour of free time in the less crowed, cooler atmosphere before meeting up again. Kayla, Hayden and I decide to head for the indoor market we had passed on the way form the train station. It was huge, its completely in door, with everything and kind of Italian meat, cheese pasta, fruit you might want (wine too). I ended up buying a wide range of dried fruit (kiwi, bananas, strawberries, passion fruit, and mango..etc) they were wonderful! We then followed Hayden (he can find anyplace) to Santa Croce to meet the group. Here we wandered, learned and drew till about 11. I then went with a small group to another little church across the river to see two more paintings we had talked about in class. Then we began the long search for a cheap yet filling lunch, after about an hour, we decide on street side panni’s (never let boys lead, ha) and ate on the steps of the Uffizi. Did I mention the heat by this time was slowing draining us all! Yuck – then the search for water fossets began- ugh!! But finally we found a Stanza were I purchase I huge bottle of water and my favorite Italian cookies! Umm! Then we trekked back to the Uffizi and spent the rest of the afternoon (until 4) looking and drawing. ☺ Around 4 the few of us left in the museum made a mad dash through the market and to the train station to catch a 507 train. Well much to our surprise the train was late…very late. Oh and it was Hot and when I say hot I cant even explain to you how hott… lets just say it was a very long hour home and my hand is very tired from fanning myself that entire time. On a positive note dinner tonight was my two favorite things…olive oil pasta and the chocolate salami for desert!!! Yippee. I was one happy girl, im now sitting in the courtyard with Lindsay, typing away and listening to the adults chatter away… haha, love what wine and a hot day will do to the adults. Im now probably going to watch a movie…there is potential for a late night hide and seek game (we have the school to ourselves)….so we’ll to see…
Ciao
Early day… caught a 654 train (woke up about 530am) to Florence. Wasn’t particularly excited only because Florence is always at least 10 degrees hotter than CF and its crowed. After arriving right before 8 and grabbing coffee we all met at the Duomo Baptistery doors for Taryans presentation. After this we had about an hour of free time in the less crowed, cooler atmosphere before meeting up again. Kayla, Hayden and I decide to head for the indoor market we had passed on the way form the train station. It was huge, its completely in door, with everything and kind of Italian meat, cheese pasta, fruit you might want (wine too). I ended up buying a wide range of dried fruit (kiwi, bananas, strawberries, passion fruit, and mango..etc) they were wonderful! We then followed Hayden (he can find anyplace) to Santa Croce to meet the group. Here we wandered, learned and drew till about 11. I then went with a small group to another little church across the river to see two more paintings we had talked about in class. Then we began the long search for a cheap yet filling lunch, after about an hour, we decide on street side panni’s (never let boys lead, ha) and ate on the steps of the Uffizi. Did I mention the heat by this time was slowing draining us all! Yuck – then the search for water fossets began- ugh!! But finally we found a Stanza were I purchase I huge bottle of water and my favorite Italian cookies! Umm! Then we trekked back to the Uffizi and spent the rest of the afternoon (until 4) looking and drawing. ☺ Around 4 the few of us left in the museum made a mad dash through the market and to the train station to catch a 507 train. Well much to our surprise the train was late…very late. Oh and it was Hot and when I say hot I cant even explain to you how hott… lets just say it was a very long hour home and my hand is very tired from fanning myself that entire time. On a positive note dinner tonight was my two favorite things…olive oil pasta and the chocolate salami for desert!!! Yippee. I was one happy girl, im now sitting in the courtyard with Lindsay, typing away and listening to the adults chatter away… haha, love what wine and a hot day will do to the adults. Im now probably going to watch a movie…there is potential for a late night hide and seek game (we have the school to ourselves)….so we’ll to see…
Ciao
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
VINO!!!
6/24/08
Awoke with a mission today! 15 pieces due by noon. After having the breakfast of Italian champions (a banana and croissant) I headed to the studio, just before 9. I ended up starting a second set of 5 pieces last night, so of course I decided to finish this and disregarded the others, ha. But actually in the end it’s by far my favorite of the now twenty pieces I turned in. Needless to say, I did without too much stress completely the assignment and with penalty of time too. I was done by 11. I ended up not changing too much on most of my pieces. Just added a bit here and there and changed the order a bit. After hanging all the pieces up, as we do when we “turn in” an assignment for Dan, I had no idea what to do with myself. Ended up lying down for a bit…seemed like an ok thing to do…was dieing for lunch. And of course because I was so hungry for lunch it was the lightest lunch we’ve had. I mean it made since considering we were going to the winery two hours later, but still. Ha. After lunch we all run upstairs to put on our bathing suits and met in the lobby at 215 to walk to the winery. Dan claimed it was about a 2km walk, I don’t care how far it was in the 2pm heat of Italy we were all dieing by the time we got there. But after cooling in the shade we began out tour. Ricardo, our guide, showed us around his little winery where they make olive oil, Vino Rosa and Blanca, honey and jams. There main income is form the wine and they just make about 2000 bottles of oil a year for a little extra income. Learned how the wine was made, the differences that the soils, grooming and time of year make and some bout the mixes. Now how long all retain all this info will be interesting. Ha. Ricardo took us to the olive trees first, then the chardonnay and merlot areas then finally the best part, THE TASTING! Ha-ha. After being filled with all this incredible information we follow our leader (ha) into a quant little house with a long, beautifully set table. We all sat and anticipation grew! The first wine was a 100% pure chardonnay, fantastic! This was also paired with a tiny pizza croissant and cheese with jam. Then next wine was wine as well (don’t remember the mix) but it was great as well, a little dryer but still great! Hear we received Bruschetta to eat. For the third wine was a merlot. Now im not typically a fan of red but I really enjoyed this one! And we received a salami and bread course to boot! Then sadly they cleared our plates… but they then filled this tiny little shot looking glass with a desert wine (not grappa). They said its one to the slipped and either paired with a good cigar or biscotti- unfortunately they only gave us the biscotti (ha). We were sad to learn this was the end of the tasting, but honestly I don’t think I could have more. After they cleaver made purchasing the wine available at the time, we made our choice and then headed to the pool. I forgot to mention this place is also a bed and breakfast, with a pool! We all hopped in and relaxed till about 615 when we had to make our way back to Santa chiara for our pre-Florence mtg. It was so much fun to finally be in the water and just to be silly in the pool with everyone. Over all the groups a really off the wall kind of group. We make tons of stupid jokes and laugh at the dumbest things all the time and this just flowed into the pool. Everything from races, to dumb diving board tricks to water ballet, water hair doos…etc. Bottom line it was a great day.
We were all exhausted after dinner and had an early morning train to catch… so I think that qualifies my passing out at 1030pm! Ha, maybe.
Awoke with a mission today! 15 pieces due by noon. After having the breakfast of Italian champions (a banana and croissant) I headed to the studio, just before 9. I ended up starting a second set of 5 pieces last night, so of course I decided to finish this and disregarded the others, ha. But actually in the end it’s by far my favorite of the now twenty pieces I turned in. Needless to say, I did without too much stress completely the assignment and with penalty of time too. I was done by 11. I ended up not changing too much on most of my pieces. Just added a bit here and there and changed the order a bit. After hanging all the pieces up, as we do when we “turn in” an assignment for Dan, I had no idea what to do with myself. Ended up lying down for a bit…seemed like an ok thing to do…was dieing for lunch. And of course because I was so hungry for lunch it was the lightest lunch we’ve had. I mean it made since considering we were going to the winery two hours later, but still. Ha. After lunch we all run upstairs to put on our bathing suits and met in the lobby at 215 to walk to the winery. Dan claimed it was about a 2km walk, I don’t care how far it was in the 2pm heat of Italy we were all dieing by the time we got there. But after cooling in the shade we began out tour. Ricardo, our guide, showed us around his little winery where they make olive oil, Vino Rosa and Blanca, honey and jams. There main income is form the wine and they just make about 2000 bottles of oil a year for a little extra income. Learned how the wine was made, the differences that the soils, grooming and time of year make and some bout the mixes. Now how long all retain all this info will be interesting. Ha. Ricardo took us to the olive trees first, then the chardonnay and merlot areas then finally the best part, THE TASTING! Ha-ha. After being filled with all this incredible information we follow our leader (ha) into a quant little house with a long, beautifully set table. We all sat and anticipation grew! The first wine was a 100% pure chardonnay, fantastic! This was also paired with a tiny pizza croissant and cheese with jam. Then next wine was wine as well (don’t remember the mix) but it was great as well, a little dryer but still great! Hear we received Bruschetta to eat. For the third wine was a merlot. Now im not typically a fan of red but I really enjoyed this one! And we received a salami and bread course to boot! Then sadly they cleared our plates… but they then filled this tiny little shot looking glass with a desert wine (not grappa). They said its one to the slipped and either paired with a good cigar or biscotti- unfortunately they only gave us the biscotti (ha). We were sad to learn this was the end of the tasting, but honestly I don’t think I could have more. After they cleaver made purchasing the wine available at the time, we made our choice and then headed to the pool. I forgot to mention this place is also a bed and breakfast, with a pool! We all hopped in and relaxed till about 615 when we had to make our way back to Santa chiara for our pre-Florence mtg. It was so much fun to finally be in the water and just to be silly in the pool with everyone. Over all the groups a really off the wall kind of group. We make tons of stupid jokes and laugh at the dumbest things all the time and this just flowed into the pool. Everything from races, to dumb diving board tricks to water ballet, water hair doos…etc. Bottom line it was a great day.
We were all exhausted after dinner and had an early morning train to catch… so I think that qualifies my passing out at 1030pm! Ha, maybe.
Monday, June 23, 2008
lunedì la 23- monday
6/23/08
Can’t believe Dan scheduled class for 9am this morning. Oh well… I decide to treat myself and had my first Italian coffee with a pastry for breakfast. YUmmmm, lets just say I was wired! It also didn’t help/ added to my craziness that I awoke to find that one of my best friends got engaged!! Ahhh, insane, but so exciting.. CONGRATES AMY! We all spent the entire morning in the studio (time flew by). And then had a great, but light lunch of grain salad, melon and meat…wonderful. This afternoon we’ve all wondered about the school, met with Ann in our final project groups (due in a week, yikes), attempted to finish our some art work, laid down/rested. Now its about 530 and im sitting in courtyard, under an umbrella, listening to the turtles crunch the leaves to my left, dreading our last Italian class and then dinner. After dinner im sure ill be in the studio- everything’s due tomorrow. Was doing pretty good but ive gotten to the point were I could be done- but there’s always another thing I could do or doubt. Ugh!! I am learning to just breathe through it, but man its tough.
Its now midnight here, 5pm your time and im calling it a night. Did exactly as I thought I might this evening. Ate dinner, sat in the courtyard and drew till it was too dark to see then went to get gelato, then back to the studio for about 2 hours. Will be glad when lunch time tomorrow rolls around and we display our pieces.. plus then we get to go to the Vineyard at 2pm… yippee. Hope its cooler tomorrow. Since Friday we have incredible heat. Almost miserable during the days and the last two nights have been rough (no ac here in Italia). Supposedly were getting fans tomorrow night…lets hope so!!
Also I had a thought tonight as I walked home from gelato… I cant believe I live here, I mean I really have had the chance to live in a little Italian town and gotten to the point were I call it home. I feel safe here, I feel confident in the places and my abilities to get around…man I cant believe I have such little time left… its sad ☹.
-Ciao
Can’t believe Dan scheduled class for 9am this morning. Oh well… I decide to treat myself and had my first Italian coffee with a pastry for breakfast. YUmmmm, lets just say I was wired! It also didn’t help/ added to my craziness that I awoke to find that one of my best friends got engaged!! Ahhh, insane, but so exciting.. CONGRATES AMY! We all spent the entire morning in the studio (time flew by). And then had a great, but light lunch of grain salad, melon and meat…wonderful. This afternoon we’ve all wondered about the school, met with Ann in our final project groups (due in a week, yikes), attempted to finish our some art work, laid down/rested. Now its about 530 and im sitting in courtyard, under an umbrella, listening to the turtles crunch the leaves to my left, dreading our last Italian class and then dinner. After dinner im sure ill be in the studio- everything’s due tomorrow. Was doing pretty good but ive gotten to the point were I could be done- but there’s always another thing I could do or doubt. Ugh!! I am learning to just breathe through it, but man its tough.
Its now midnight here, 5pm your time and im calling it a night. Did exactly as I thought I might this evening. Ate dinner, sat in the courtyard and drew till it was too dark to see then went to get gelato, then back to the studio for about 2 hours. Will be glad when lunch time tomorrow rolls around and we display our pieces.. plus then we get to go to the Vineyard at 2pm… yippee. Hope its cooler tomorrow. Since Friday we have incredible heat. Almost miserable during the days and the last two nights have been rough (no ac here in Italia). Supposedly were getting fans tomorrow night…lets hope so!!
Also I had a thought tonight as I walked home from gelato… I cant believe I live here, I mean I really have had the chance to live in a little Italian town and gotten to the point were I call it home. I feel safe here, I feel confident in the places and my abilities to get around…man I cant believe I have such little time left… its sad ☹.
-Ciao
my weekend
6/21-22/08
My weekend.. this weekend was about recovery…well kinda. Instead of traveling as we have form the past week or so I spent Saturday doing little, which was fantastic. I woke up around 930, (happy me) made my way to the courtyard where I sat, read and drew until a decent size group of us had gathered and decided to make our way up the hill for lunch. We we’re going to try this new little spot down the hill but as we arrived, much to our dismay, it was closed. We then gave up on trying to be creative and made our way to Roggies, our regular spot for weekend lunch when were in town. But we did change it up a bit, we got our pizzas to-go and sat up at the bell tour courtyard, the best view in town. After about and hour or so of enjoying to sun and laying in the grass… I almost fell asleep here, ha. The girls I was with and I decided to end the lunch adventure with a pastry from the café and the loggia…ya know, just your average everyday pizza and pastry lunch. Ha. After this it was back to the studio to continue to work on our stuff due for Dan on Tuesday. I began to feel really light headed and decided to go lay down before a group of us went to the co-op to get food for Sunday’s lunch. But with my luck I set my alarm for 4:20 and not 16:20, opps and just missed the group. This was quite frustrating for the trip was to get food for the hike the next day…but I had to just let it go and decided to draw in the courtyard in the mean time. The group finally showed up and then we made our way to dinner and then to the Garden Underground to watch the Russia and Netherlands soccer game.
Sunday morning was an early one, woke up about 545 am and meet a small group in the lobby to hike to Cortona, Yes, again. Ann’s family and Dan’s wife wanted to do the walk, since they weren’t here the first time so they offered up to the group that anyone who wanted to could come along. Well 3 of the guys were in, in a heartbeat. Kayla my roommate too. It took me a few days to decide but I eventually all in. The pace on this trek was much faster than with the group. There was only 11 or us verse the 22 the first time. For instance this time we made it to our first time lunch stop by 930am oppose to the 1130 time as before. In even greater comparison we reached Cortona and sat down to eat lunch at 1140am, even after visiting the hermitage, it was 230ish last time. Crazy but I was feeling good. After bumming a few bits of food from the group (member I was in shortage) I had to decide if I was going to walk back or take the bus with Ann’s family. I don’t know what came over me, but I decide to hike back. And this pace was even faster- no stops…moving like crazy. We made it back in 3 hours…we were back right before 4pm. INSANE! No don’t let me fool you- I nearly passed out the last quarter mile. It was in the last stretch- in the sun…the heat got to me. Whooo wee. Made it to my room barely…Kayla and I layed in the dark on our rooms tile floor.. I couldn’t drink or eat without gagging. We finally made it onto our beds… passed out for about an hour. Awoke and decided I could stand in the shower… got dressed, laided down until dinner. Kayla and I decided to spilt a PowerAde for electrolyte replenishing. Wasn’t sure I would be able it eat- but I did put down some pasta and chicken and we had dessert! After dinner I made it up the hill to the Pirate Bar with the group to watch the Italy and Spain game. It ended sadly- we lost- but I got ice cream which made me happy. I then made it back to Santa Chiara and passed out. Unfortunately I missed shaving Hayden’s head but I got sleep.
What a day- we figured the hike was over 10miles so technically I walked over 20miles through the hills/ mountains… insane. Glad I did it but I defiantly enjoyed the group pace more- less about the exercise and more about the journey.
My weekend.. this weekend was about recovery…well kinda. Instead of traveling as we have form the past week or so I spent Saturday doing little, which was fantastic. I woke up around 930, (happy me) made my way to the courtyard where I sat, read and drew until a decent size group of us had gathered and decided to make our way up the hill for lunch. We we’re going to try this new little spot down the hill but as we arrived, much to our dismay, it was closed. We then gave up on trying to be creative and made our way to Roggies, our regular spot for weekend lunch when were in town. But we did change it up a bit, we got our pizzas to-go and sat up at the bell tour courtyard, the best view in town. After about and hour or so of enjoying to sun and laying in the grass… I almost fell asleep here, ha. The girls I was with and I decided to end the lunch adventure with a pastry from the café and the loggia…ya know, just your average everyday pizza and pastry lunch. Ha. After this it was back to the studio to continue to work on our stuff due for Dan on Tuesday. I began to feel really light headed and decided to go lay down before a group of us went to the co-op to get food for Sunday’s lunch. But with my luck I set my alarm for 4:20 and not 16:20, opps and just missed the group. This was quite frustrating for the trip was to get food for the hike the next day…but I had to just let it go and decided to draw in the courtyard in the mean time. The group finally showed up and then we made our way to dinner and then to the Garden Underground to watch the Russia and Netherlands soccer game.
Sunday morning was an early one, woke up about 545 am and meet a small group in the lobby to hike to Cortona, Yes, again. Ann’s family and Dan’s wife wanted to do the walk, since they weren’t here the first time so they offered up to the group that anyone who wanted to could come along. Well 3 of the guys were in, in a heartbeat. Kayla my roommate too. It took me a few days to decide but I eventually all in. The pace on this trek was much faster than with the group. There was only 11 or us verse the 22 the first time. For instance this time we made it to our first time lunch stop by 930am oppose to the 1130 time as before. In even greater comparison we reached Cortona and sat down to eat lunch at 1140am, even after visiting the hermitage, it was 230ish last time. Crazy but I was feeling good. After bumming a few bits of food from the group (member I was in shortage) I had to decide if I was going to walk back or take the bus with Ann’s family. I don’t know what came over me, but I decide to hike back. And this pace was even faster- no stops…moving like crazy. We made it back in 3 hours…we were back right before 4pm. INSANE! No don’t let me fool you- I nearly passed out the last quarter mile. It was in the last stretch- in the sun…the heat got to me. Whooo wee. Made it to my room barely…Kayla and I layed in the dark on our rooms tile floor.. I couldn’t drink or eat without gagging. We finally made it onto our beds… passed out for about an hour. Awoke and decided I could stand in the shower… got dressed, laided down until dinner. Kayla and I decided to spilt a PowerAde for electrolyte replenishing. Wasn’t sure I would be able it eat- but I did put down some pasta and chicken and we had dessert! After dinner I made it up the hill to the Pirate Bar with the group to watch the Italy and Spain game. It ended sadly- we lost- but I got ice cream which made me happy. I then made it back to Santa Chiara and passed out. Unfortunately I missed shaving Hayden’s head but I got sleep.
What a day- we figured the hike was over 10miles so technically I walked over 20miles through the hills/ mountains… insane. Glad I did it but I defiantly enjoyed the group pace more- less about the exercise and more about the journey.
Friday, June 20, 2008
venerdì
6/20/08
No morning class, perfect start to the day. Woke up around 9, very late for me, haha. Met up with a few people at the Loggia for coffee and finishing up school work. Yup that’s right, today we had a labeling/ sketching assignment due for Ann. I had finished most of it on Tuesday, but I had had to add some finishing touches. After a while we wondered to the Friday morning market on the hill. This I full of clothes, shoes, produce of all kinds, kitchen ware- anything you name it. My favorite part is to watch all the Italians at the meat/ cheese stand and the fresh produce. its just a joy to watch them bargain and buy, then wonder was goodness they will create later with it all. Hehe. By this time it was getting really hot so Kayla and I headed back to Santa Chiara to show Ann our assignment, get our grade and then pass time till lunch. I swear everything around revolves around when the next meal is, and we’ve definitely all adapted to that way of life. Fantastic lunch of bow tie pasta with basil and ham and melon. Sounds crazy, but it was great, we also had salad and watermelon too. ☺ After lunch we had studio, four hours of struggleing to create a series of art works, man. And I thought 5 pieces was tough last time, now I have 15 to do, ugh. Ha. Around 6 (class ended at 530) I had to walk away from my work. And I literary sat in the courtyard for an hour and a half, trying to get rid of a headache and make it to dinner. No problem there, im still alive and full. We grabbed gelato after dinner and then watch Roman Holiday (my new favorite movie). Which was fun to watch cause all of the sites she’s at we just saw. Ha.
Man we've done so much, wow.
ciao
No morning class, perfect start to the day. Woke up around 9, very late for me, haha. Met up with a few people at the Loggia for coffee and finishing up school work. Yup that’s right, today we had a labeling/ sketching assignment due for Ann. I had finished most of it on Tuesday, but I had had to add some finishing touches. After a while we wondered to the Friday morning market on the hill. This I full of clothes, shoes, produce of all kinds, kitchen ware- anything you name it. My favorite part is to watch all the Italians at the meat/ cheese stand and the fresh produce. its just a joy to watch them bargain and buy, then wonder was goodness they will create later with it all. Hehe. By this time it was getting really hot so Kayla and I headed back to Santa Chiara to show Ann our assignment, get our grade and then pass time till lunch. I swear everything around revolves around when the next meal is, and we’ve definitely all adapted to that way of life. Fantastic lunch of bow tie pasta with basil and ham and melon. Sounds crazy, but it was great, we also had salad and watermelon too. ☺ After lunch we had studio, four hours of struggleing to create a series of art works, man. And I thought 5 pieces was tough last time, now I have 15 to do, ugh. Ha. Around 6 (class ended at 530) I had to walk away from my work. And I literary sat in the courtyard for an hour and a half, trying to get rid of a headache and make it to dinner. No problem there, im still alive and full. We grabbed gelato after dinner and then watch Roman Holiday (my new favorite movie). Which was fun to watch cause all of the sites she’s at we just saw. Ha.
Man we've done so much, wow.
ciao
SIENA
6/19/08
What day. Siena was the destination for the day; we left by coach bus at 730am. About an hour and a half later we arrived in Siena. After walking to the ----- we split for about 45 mins for coffee and bathroom breaks. I wandered around with Kayla until we found this great looking café with amazing looking pastries. This was the best pastry I’ve had so far. Warm, glazed with honey and flakey.. um….! The whole group, re-grouped at the Palazzo Del Campo, which was designed for this exact reason. A meeting place, the center of the town for all to meet and gather. After Kayla gave her presentation on the space we went into the Campo museum. This was a prefect little museum to begin the day in. It was quite and cool and with plenty of spaces to sit on furniture and draw. We were free to do as we pleased for lunch as long as we were at the duomo by 130pm. A small group of us decide to save some money and made our way to the almentara, grocery store. Here I bought a pear, a tomato, meat, and a good amount of bread for fewer than 5 euros! This is a great deal, it lasted me until dinner and I still have bread left over. I was pretty proud of my self, as you can see. Ha. At the Duomo, the Siena cathedral, I gave my short oral presentation on the pulpit by Nicola Pisano. (I could tell you all you wanted to know). Then we all made our way into the church, were we all drew, or tried, by this point in time, I was soo sleepy. We had just eaten, were in a dark cold church.. and I had gotten up at 6 am.. man. But I made it. Our next spot was the Duomo museum. Neat place/ space, loved the way it was set up and we could go up on top of the arcade (structure) and get an amazing view of the city, I took some pretty good pictures. After a while of picture taking and just enjoying the sun and view Hayden, Kayla and I decide to wander the city until our meeting time of 845pm to catch the bus home. The three of us ended up walking a lot during our 3 free hours. We also sat in the Palazzo for a good amount of time. When we finally got hungry enough to eat dinner we staked out a nice but cheap pizza place, asked if we could get the pizzas to go, to avoid the 2-euro dine in charge and ate in the Palazzo, it was perfect. Especially with our water from the fountain. You see in Roma and other places in Italy you can drink the water from the fountains/ faucets witch come from springs in the ground…it’s awesome. After pizza it was gelato time and then a hike up the hill to catch the bus. We made it back to CF around 1030, after an interesting bus ride (our driver stunk) home. What a day, really like Siena and we had great weather too. Plus I was in a great mood, cant believe tomorrows Friday, I have no idea were this week has gone..Only 2 left, man o man….
Ciao
What day. Siena was the destination for the day; we left by coach bus at 730am. About an hour and a half later we arrived in Siena. After walking to the ----- we split for about 45 mins for coffee and bathroom breaks. I wandered around with Kayla until we found this great looking café with amazing looking pastries. This was the best pastry I’ve had so far. Warm, glazed with honey and flakey.. um….! The whole group, re-grouped at the Palazzo Del Campo, which was designed for this exact reason. A meeting place, the center of the town for all to meet and gather. After Kayla gave her presentation on the space we went into the Campo museum. This was a prefect little museum to begin the day in. It was quite and cool and with plenty of spaces to sit on furniture and draw. We were free to do as we pleased for lunch as long as we were at the duomo by 130pm. A small group of us decide to save some money and made our way to the almentara, grocery store. Here I bought a pear, a tomato, meat, and a good amount of bread for fewer than 5 euros! This is a great deal, it lasted me until dinner and I still have bread left over. I was pretty proud of my self, as you can see. Ha. At the Duomo, the Siena cathedral, I gave my short oral presentation on the pulpit by Nicola Pisano. (I could tell you all you wanted to know). Then we all made our way into the church, were we all drew, or tried, by this point in time, I was soo sleepy. We had just eaten, were in a dark cold church.. and I had gotten up at 6 am.. man. But I made it. Our next spot was the Duomo museum. Neat place/ space, loved the way it was set up and we could go up on top of the arcade (structure) and get an amazing view of the city, I took some pretty good pictures. After a while of picture taking and just enjoying the sun and view Hayden, Kayla and I decide to wander the city until our meeting time of 845pm to catch the bus home. The three of us ended up walking a lot during our 3 free hours. We also sat in the Palazzo for a good amount of time. When we finally got hungry enough to eat dinner we staked out a nice but cheap pizza place, asked if we could get the pizzas to go, to avoid the 2-euro dine in charge and ate in the Palazzo, it was perfect. Especially with our water from the fountain. You see in Roma and other places in Italy you can drink the water from the fountains/ faucets witch come from springs in the ground…it’s awesome. After pizza it was gelato time and then a hike up the hill to catch the bus. We made it back to CF around 1030, after an interesting bus ride (our driver stunk) home. What a day, really like Siena and we had great weather too. Plus I was in a great mood, cant believe tomorrows Friday, I have no idea were this week has gone..Only 2 left, man o man….
Ciao
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
mercoledì 18/6/08 (thats how they write dates here)
This morning we had class again. Yup, after 9 days of freedom we had a set schedule again…boo. Anyway it wasn’t bad at all, woke up about 815 and ate a little breakfast of pastry and banana down in the café here. Then headed to 930 class, today we discussed the Siena architecture and building of structure at in medieval times. Which was appropriate concerning we going to Siena in the morning. After a short class, we had our usally pre-travel (Siena in this case) meeting. Then we had about an hour till lunch. We were all starving so we decided to walk up the hill to town and run errands. The things I needed consisted of bananas and stamps, ha. My roommates bought breads and cheeses and then we made our way back for lunch… finally. Sadly we were all not satisfied with lunch to day, what they gave us was good, but it was soo light we all were still hungry. Ha can you imagine- Kayla and me decide to fix this by buying and eating chocolate. After lunch we had studio, in which we all had a little one on one time with Dan. He wanted to check our sketchbooks from the long weekend and talk with us about the upcoming projects. He said he could see improvement in my book and kind of helped me with ideas for the project; I was beginning to panic (not surprising). Class ended but I stayed in the studio to finish up some stuff. I some how heard my phone ring, I answered and on the other end was this woman speaking Italian to me, but she said my name several times so I knew she had the right number. I panicked for a sec then asked her to wait just one sec in Italian, ha. I ran through the building and found someone who I knew could speak Italian, one of the RC’s and she told me “oh, you have a flower delivery, she’s at the front door.” Ha-ha, I could believe it; I received a beautiful bouquet of my favorite flowers in Italy from an Italian flower shop.. hehe, this made my day. :) After this I dashed off to dinner and then we as a group took Ann’s son Will (her family’s here in Italy now, Dans wife too) to celebrate his high school graduation with some gelato. Im now laying in bed, just finished checking over my notes for my presentation in the morning and now im going to sleep cause tomorrows going to the an early and LONG day!!
Ciao
Ciao
Tuesday 6/17/08
Tuesday, a day of rest!! Almost all of us have returned from our long weekend, with the exception of Alicia, on of my roommates and our teachers. Never the less today was a day to get our lives back in order. I woke at 800, why on my day off did I get up so early, I have no idea. Well actually I do, my mind was racing on things I needed and wanted to accomplish. The first was laundry, I cant explain how bad I needed to have clean clothes, as I knew everyone else did and after the issue of limited space we ran into last time I wanted to get this done early. I got lucky; I spent about an hour doing my laundry (by hand) in the sun listening to my ipod this morning. It was an amazing feeling, the sun, and the music accomplishing something so early in the day, ha. Next I finished a reading for class in the morning and then I decided to figure out what I am going to give my short oral presentation on in Siena this week. I decided on the pulpit in the Cathedral. So after researching that for a while and a short mid morning nap it was time for lunch. Yippee, love this time of the day and it was great! After lunch I returned to the studio to work on an assignment due for Ann on Friday, we have to draw ten things that we’ve seen and label them with the terms we’ve learned. Not too hard or time consuming but something I didn’t want hanging over my head as the week flies by. After I finished this I began to work on the 15 pieces due this coming Tuesday for Dan. Yes that’s right 15 piece. 3 series of 5 things, depicting a journey.. ugh… Accomplished a bit on them. Dinner finally rolled around and needless to say we chowed down. Ha. I forgot to mention it began to rain about 4pm (lucky I had gotten most of my laundry already) but anyway after dinner we dashed in the rain up to Roggies to watch the Italy vs. France Euro cup game. So fun, just sitting in the bar, I ate ice cream while most others had a beer. Im exhausted, headed to bed. Oh and I feel the need to explain something- Bars here in Italy are not like bars in the states.. Bar here hold everything you need: sandwiches, drinks, ice cream, candy, Internet, bathrooms pastries.. Everything, so don’t think we drink every time I say we were at a bar, we eat too. Haha.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
ROMA...quickly
AHHH.. this place is amazing! Yes even though ive been here once before, i canùt tell you how much i love the city here...Today was our third day, i cant believe we only have tomorrow left, its really sad, but great that the days fly by so well. we have done so much yet still have soo much left to do...then Paris..crazyness... well im about to to get kicked off the hotel computer.. 3 euro for 30mins Geessh.. more later...
Ciao Ciao
Ciao Ciao
Sunday, June 8, 2008
un giorno di riposo ( a day of rest)
6/8/08
It’s now Sunday…a day of nothing! Woke up at around 10. Sleep finally! And then Kayla and me walked up the hill to town for some bread and tea for breakfast. We went to a new coffee shop, which is always fun to do, and explored what they had to offer. After that it was laundry time, which was a huge ordeal!! You see we leave in the morning for Roma for the week and then depart for the long weekend from there. Meaning that laundry wont get to be done for a while. My roommates and I had to wait for one of the three buckets to be free (3 buckets for the whole school...really? ha) and then we had to try to find a place to hang all of our stuff. Ugh there’s also the loom of rain and possibility that what we have washed won’t dry.. ha.. It’s going to be interesting to see how this unfolds. For lunch we all met at Roggies, a restaurant in town. This was the first place I ate in Italy on that first Sunday morning… I can’t tell you the difference and improvement in my ability and confidence in ordering food, haha. Light-years! I’m now relaxing in the courtyard catching up on posts, watching the turtles walk back and forth, soon to take a nap...pack...clean and finalize my trip plans for the next 8 days. We have a group meeting at 6 tonight to discuss Roma and we’re all so excited. It’s going to a great change of pace. I’m haven’t decide if ill lug around my computer, prob not. So their might not be any post for a week, don’t worry though ill be sure to up date later. After Roma I am planning to meet up with my roommates from Austin in Paris, crazy I know, while the rest of the group is headed to Venice? Haha. Ill be in touch
Ciao Ciao
Pisa, Pisa!
6/7/08
Today began at about 5am for me…why why! Ha-ha we caught an early train to Florence and were going to connect there to Pisa. Unfortunately our first train was running about 10mins late and our connection was only 15mins long, so by the time we all got off the train, ran (like in the movies) figured out where our train was and ran there. It was pulling out, haha. I couldn’t help but laugh. No big deal really, we just caught the next one about 30mins later still arriving in Pisa around 10am. As soon as we hopped of the train we made a mad dash across the small city to the cathedral and tower, trying o beat the crowd. Actually it wasn’t too bad and yes we all attempted to take the stereotypical tower photos. I say attempted because its not as easy as it looks and the tower is in the middle of all these buildings, not set alone as soon in so many pictures. After this the group split up with a set meeting time and place to catch the train back for dinner. I went off with 5 girls and we decided it was a day to shop, felt a bit guilty being in this city with tons of history to see but we do this every day, so shopping was in order! We looked, ate, looked some more, some people bought stuff but I just enjoyed looking. Eventually we decide to go see this mini gothic church by the river, which I’m really glad we went to see and then it was time to catch our 430-train home. No trouble connecting this time, but you could see that everyone was tried of the traveling and ready to eat. We made it back jus tin time, literarily walking into Santa Chiara and down stairs to warm food. After a quick shower, traveling all day can really make you feel icky; we all decide to go the “pirate bar” for a drink and to relax from the day. I almost didn’t go, but am really glad I did. The bar is in a really neat building and I was good just to be silly together out in our town. We also watched part of the Portugal soccer game, which was very fitting for the atmosphere. A ping-pong match began as we returned home and then bed, finally! Overall a very good but exhausting day.
FRIDAY!
6/6/08
What a day! Woke up (barely) for an earlier art history class than normal, why the day after our huge hike Ann decide to thrown an early class at us, I don’t get. Ok well, I kind of do. She moved it up us that we could get out earlier and make it to the market happening in town… which was nice. Ha. So after class (in which she discovered none of us had done the readings (between the hike and a huge art project sue at 5 today she understood) but added an extra class after next week, booo!) Once class was done we all met down stair to head to the train station to buy tickets for a little Saturday day trip to Pisa, we got a group rate by all going together and then were able to check out the market as we hiked back to town and then home. After the market and ticket ordeal we had about an hour till lunch in which almost everyone was in the studio try to finish of come up the with 5 pieces due. It was a quick but amazing lunch; we got home made pizza and water melon because we were the only ones in the school for lunch yippee, then back to work. Dan didn’t even attempt to “start” class because we’d all been in and out of the studio all day and the night before. As five o’clock rolled around we all cleaned up our places and posted our pieces about the rooms wall. Almost everyone had completed the required 5 items; some had not, Dan just said, “they owe us” ha. Luckily I had about 8 composed things. Some of them I had just thrown together as I got frustrated with other pieces, but luckily I completed the assignment and felt happy with the work I had to show. Once all piece were up we spent over and hour and a half talking about each persons work… we were all dieing!!! After the stress of the day and the hike the day before no one said to much and anyone who did was not in everyone’s favor, ha. After we were final released it was about dinnertime, which we all consumed quickly with some wine and then retreated to our rooms finally, instead of to the studio as the nights before, haha. Later a small group of us meet in the lounge and watch Casanova, silly movie but so fun to watch and make fun of together..It was great!! Off to bed, early, early train to catch on my Saturday morning, ugh the things I do for Italy, ha!
Ciao
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Felice
6/5/08
FAVORITE DAY so far….Ok so we all met down stair at 730 to do this hike thing. Ha. All packed with only essentials (food, water and drawing supplies) we took off down the road. The first hour or so was very hilly and a pretty steep grade, but with a few short stops we easily made it. The trail was a good one, as we continue the rolling flats, steep and rolling up and down hills came and went with each sip of water. The weather was perfect, cool in the morning and as the day went on the sun came and went behind the clouds. For lunch at about 11 (3 and a half hours after we began) was at the top of the mountain with a view of Cortona in the distance. We all sat on the rocks, pulled out our food and chowed down. I ended up bumming some cheese off Dan and Ann and ate my tomato like and apple. (Mom would be so proud) Yup I had a very Italian lunch of bread, cheese and tomatoes on top of a hill! Once finished up, we learned we were about half way and that the rest was mostly “down hill” according to Dan. Turns out he was right. We actually made such good time we ended up taking another trail and going to the active home to monks (word escapes me sorry) on the mountain. Overall the trail was just beautiful, like I said the weather was great, which helped a lot. I felt great, the trees, flowers and view all around didn’t hurt either. (Speaking of hurt shoes worked great grandmother, thanks). Once we made it to Cortona about 6 half hours later, we were all still in once piece and ready to sit for a while. Trick was we came in at the top of the top, so we had to walk all the way down (better than up at this point) and figure out when the buses left for home. We ended up having about and hour to run around the town in which we all sat on the steps of the church and drew. Then we walked around the corner to a museum.. looked some more (you can tell we were all out of it by now) and then hopped on the bus. Oh as we walked back through town the was a wedding about he take place in the church whose steps we were just on…it was awesome to see…awe…hehe… We’re back at CF now, im all showered and about the head down stairs to eat… STARVING…ha. We’re suppose to get a real desert at dinner on field trip days, looking forward to that and the dean of fine arts id here checking up on the program so she’s taking us to gelato at 9 too…yippee glad I hiked today after all. Haha…
Ciao
Wednesday bambino...
6/4/05
Alrighty.. Second to last official class day, yippee. Slept later this morning…but still made it down stair to grab a pastry and banana and make it to art history class. But even with the extra few minute I was dozing off in class…haha. I never do this and I enjoy class and all the discussion but man today was hard. After class we had our pre- Cortona meeting. This meant discussing the travel plans for the next days field trip (we do this twice a week). But this meeting was particularly special because not only are we going to Cortona but also we are hiking there. Yup leaving CF but foot and arriving in a city over a mountain but foot. They say it’s about an 8 to 10mile hike. We’ll see. J After the meeting we had an hour till lunch in which we all scurried about the town buying bread, meat and cheese and anything else we could find that might service us well on the hike. I personal bought some bread, a piece and a tomato..ha, we’ll see how this works out. After lunch we had drawing, which is getting kind of stressful. You see Dan has given us this “assignment” of having 5 finished pieces of work to show by end of Friday’s class. Uh? This has turned out to be a frustrating deadline to met…but we’re all trying. SO today instead of the normal class arrangement, we critiqued each other pieces in the beginning of class then were able to work freely from that point on. I still didn’t complete one piece…I have this habit of jumping from one idea to the next… the rest of this week should be interesting. After this we all had to go to Italian..none of wanted to, we wanted to keep working…after this class I returned to the studio to play around a bit more then made my way down the hall to the dinning room. The second aTm group has showed up, so they are now setting more tables, which has allowed us UT folk the back end of the room with enough seats that no one has to fight over them anymore, ha. After dinner tonight, we had a special treat, Vanessa the head RC and her band put on a concert in the courtyard of Santa Chiara for us all. It was so fun to hear live music, and yes it was in English. She was great, she tours a bit around these parts and in Austin and even had a few cd’s on itunes. Over all it was just a great way to end the evening sitting outside and widing down from the day. Oh I forgot its gotten cold here…not miserable but there’s a good chill in the air, its been nice, but we’re ready for sun! bed then to Cortona…
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
martedì -tues
6/3/08
Today was strange…Oh wait first…last night’s fireworks..they were amazing, we were all expecting this little Italian village show…a few little kabooms..We were so wrong. The fireworks were at the medieval tower at the very top of the town, there was this amazing Italian music in sync with the show too! The fireworks came from all directs, the neatest part was when the fell like a water fall down the tower towards us all. Needless to say we were very, very impressed. Ok so back to today, we woke up and got a 730 coach bus to Assisi (we took this because the first train wouldn’t get us there till 1130sh and that was just not ok by Anns standards, ha.) After arriving and getting our coffee…normal routine now, we met at the fountain in front of Santa Chiara and toured the church. In the building, which is special for many reasons- one of which is it’s dedicated to a woman, two it holds the crucifix that spoke to St. Frances. After this we made our way to the temple of Minerva in the center of town..Then we went to the huge St. Frances shrine/church. The whole church (which is huge) is covered wall to wall in amazing fresco paintings, is quite impressive. We did a quick walk through, grabbed a bite to eat then I returned to the church, for it shared to rain, and literary I drew for about 3 hours. I said today was strange because after having visited several cities Its easy to get a feel for what’s a tourist town and not. Assisi is defiantly one, there were huge masses of people and shops all carrying the same gifts. Not that this is bad, just not so fun to spend the whole day in, plus the rain didn’t help. Also if you think about it its pretty strange that they built this huge elaborate church and making money off of a guy who is famous for standing for the complete opposite. Anyway Its Alicia, my other roommate’s birthday and we’re about to go into town…im exhausted…want sleep! Ha
Ciao
lunedì- monday
6/2/08
Today was another full day of classes. We spent the morning in Art History with Ann, talking about the book we had to write our paper on, interesting topics and conversations popped up. Its neat to be in a class everyday with people you spend so much time with. I mean we eat, sleep and travel together, all the things people say to do to grow close to one another. After class we had a meeting regarding Assisi, we go in the morning. We decide not to stay through dinner…more money…and just make it home in time for a dinner that’s already been paid for, ha. We had about an hour between the end of the meeting and lunch, so Kayla and I decided to do your laundry. Yes, we washed most of our clothes by hand, ha. Kayla was unsure how to do it, but thanks to Texas4000, I showed her the ropes, haha. Later during lunch after my arms had recovered form ringing out and washing all my clothes… it began to rain. Luckily only a few things of mine weren’t under a tent…I had to move them and pin them back up in another place…o well. After lunch we had art with Dan…and today we were given a bit more artist freedom, which I can’t decide if that’s a good or bad things for me. I panicked at first, then got in the zone..then after a few hours, I started looking around and panicked again….ugh. I think I need to have a drink before art class, man. What is my problem. Anyway next came our 3rd Italian lesson, today she introduced a bit of actual conjugation…booo, lets just say I like haven’t the excuse to not have to learn all of that stuff. In between dinner and Italian, I was able to have a 4way chat with some friends from home. It made my day! I needed that lift and chance to laugh at life and my situation. Thanks girls!! At dinner I had to sit at a table with the Aggies .Ha, it was actually really nice to sit with some people who were a bit more similar to the kinds of people I’m used to coming into contact with on a daily bases. It was just nice to talk with some new people and make some new friends! Its about nine now, today was a national holiday in Italy so there are fireworks later tonight at the top of the town and it’s the end of the medieval festival too. Plan to go, should be interesting.
Ciao
Sunday, June 1, 2008
La vita dolce (the sweet life)
6/01/08
Sunday…I woke, to a empty room and ran up the hill to the fruit market and then walked through the town and sat in the park over looking to valley of CF with the town behind me. It was a great way to begin the day. After that I return home to revise the dumb paper and catch up on emails. At 1030 I met everyone else down stairs were we learned the train strike was still happening, we were wanting to go to Arezzo to the Antique market they only have the first Sunday of every month…but weren’t sure that was going to happen. We decide to take a chance and walk down to the train station and see if a train was coming/ wait it out. We got soooo lucky, the 11:24 trains happen to actually be running and we ran to jump on and made our way to Arezzo. It was amazing to see this little city transform from the quite little city on Friday to a place packet with tents and treasures on every street corner. They have everything you could have imagined...letters and jewelry, furniture real and fake everything. Ha. I didn’t make any purchases…it wasn’t a flea market so things were still pretty pricy but it was great to see. We all met back at the bus stop to get home, after going into the pitch black supper market (it closes at 1 and opens at 3, our bus was at 315…so we raced in right as they were opening back up, haha). After a short bus ride home, were I listened to my ipod for the first time since I left…weird it brought a homey comfort feeling to me that I’ve been needed. Once home we all attempted to put the final touches on our papers and waste time until dinner…again I was starving. But now im full…caught up on my blog, emails and work and ready for the week ahead. Crazy to think I’ve been here over a week…it will be interesting to see how things grow and change over the next few weeks. I already fill so comfortable here, this is my home, I can get what I need and go anywhere. It’s so amazing. Well gunna go read for fun finally!!
Ciao
Il mio giorno-My Day
5/31/08
A day of nothing….today I had to make a choice it was one of my roommates birthdays (Kayla’s turning 19) her and Alicia my other roommate Alicia were going to go to Florence for the day because Kayla roommate for Austin is studying there, I was invited to go along but ultimately decided that it was best for me to sit still and have my own day in CF. I woke alone....with the Tuscan sun shining into my room after opening the window and staring at the view for a bit a got dressed for the day and walked up one of the hills to the top of the town. There I walked into the café and got a pastry, ordered all in Italian. Then I sat for a while reading and people watching for about two hours. Next I wondered into the market/fresh produce shop. Here in Italy we’ve been told that you tell the ladies what you want and they pick it out for you…they don’t let you touch. But after exchanging a few words with the lady in the store, she let me pick out my own fruit and I made my way back to Santa Chiara and read alone in the sunny courtyard. I’m getting so much sun here, everything I do or we do is out doors, its fantastic. After this I began a paper that’s due Monday (booo) over the book we are suppose to be reading, but soon I decide to nap!! Yippee naps are just as amazing over here as in the states, in case you were wondering. After the nap I finished my paper and went into town and bought some postcards and stamps…due fracobollos pre favore…hehe! I love the Italian language!! After drawing a bit in the courtyard , dinner came and I ate so much its just fantastic food. And tonight we had this amazing desert almost brownie like.. um… wonderful and the portions are just perfect! After dinner we all decide to watch the movie Life is Beautiful, it was filmed here in CF and in Arezzo. It was so fun to all lie on the couches and watch it with the whole group...we looked like a big family, haha. The movie was really good ,but so sad we all cried.. I wasn’t prepared for that, ha. During the movie we found out that my roommates weren’t going to make it home for Florence for the night, there was a train strike and non of the trains were running to CF. Luckily they could stay with Kayla’s roommate and I got the room to myself!
-Ciao
Venerdì
5/30/08
Its Friday… yippee…Today was just perfect. We woke up and a caught an 815am bus to Arezzo. This was a nice change from the train, less people and a better view. It also gives you better senses for the locations of were you are and the places you’re going are. So after we arrived and everyone grabbed their coffee (I think this is one thing we truly share in common with the Italians, the need for coffee, coffee, coffee) When met at Pieve S. Maria, where Hayden, one of the boys gave our first individual presentation. He told us in a short 5min talk all about the church and the structures etc. He did a great job, this is something we all will have to do at one point or another along the trip, tell the group about a painting or structure we have researched. After wondering about this church we walked literary two blocks over to the S. Francesco Cathedral it was truly amazing. Here we could all see these beautiful fresco paintings in the front of the church each depicting a bible story (which most frescos do) but the neat thing about these is that most of these weren’t based on stories we can read in the bible today they were believe to be true until the first bible was written down. After this…, which was about 1130, we were free to roam about Arezzo as we pleased and just catch one of three buses home. Kayla. Alicia, Stacy and I took off together and widow shopped and strolled up and down the streets. This is one of the things I love most about Italy is the ability to wonder but never really be lost (well so far) and find interesting things around every corner…after a lunch from a little pizzeria we came across Pza. Grande in all its glory. And then we wondered through this amazing park…such a neat thin to find in a city that seems to be made of so much stone…a flat land with so much green and beautiful colors…about this time it began to rain we hid under a huge umbrella for a bit then as it lightened up we walked through the garden/park to the Fortezza Medicea (fortress of the medicea). What a find, Ann told us in a very causal way to maybe go up there, she was mistaken, one has to go there! As we entered it looked like this dark cave but quickly opens to a long hall with light shining in from the above openings. As we continued to walk we found this path that over looked the back of the city, as we approached the ledge we were in for a surprise. After looking out we were all completely shocked to look down and see this amazing cemetery hidden in this location. It was so beautiful and fun to stumble across. Pictures soon, I promise. After this we went to another church the Duomo in Arezzo, which has a grand alter and fantastic original stain glass with amazing details. After some more rain we grabbed a warm pastry in a café and shopped a bit more, caught the bus home and ate dinner. Since it was Friday, a group of us decided to wonder the town and ended having a beer at Roggies café, some people played pool the rest of us played a bit of poker and then wondered the town again for another night spot. We ended up giving up and returned home to fall asleep. What a great day!!
Ciao
Thursday :)
5/29/08
Ok Ok…so today was the first day to which I felt a bit of needing home. It was a long day you see, full of classes- art history with our quiz…it went ok, o well. It is nice now to be able to name the paintings and sculptures we are going to be looking at. Then we had lunch, great lentil soup and fruit. Then a long drawing class. It started to rain during lunch so we got out of a Dan hike to an amazing drawing spot and instead worked inside the school. Our task for the day was to draw the inside and outside perspectives and show the clear differences between the two. Its getting pretty intimidating with all the studio art majors, even the other students are doing some neat things…ahh. We then had our second Italian lesson…none of us wanted this today, we were so out of it. We learned how to say why were here, where we’re from, what our name is, order food…that was it. But there was this clear moment in class that showed our culture differences, Our teacher was counting things on her hand and got to the third thing, her middle figure and held it in the air towards us, waving it in the air…we all couldn’t help but giggle…she never caught on…hehe. Anyway during dinner we, as a group claimed the biggest table (one our whole group can sit at) rather than the little 8person spots. Another big storm is rolling in we could hear thunder and see lighting through all the windows as we ate- fun! Now im lying on my bed..need to be reading, both roommates are on skype with their boyfriends…they interesting girls. Kayla is 18…just figured that out, she turns 19 this weekend and is going to be a jr. in urban studies…she graduated high school early. Alicia is an art history major, who’s my age and is very emo. I like them both very much…but its different there not the kind of people I would tell my life story too, there’s just a bit of disconnect there…but o-well. They are really nice and fun and have different view on life, which I love. All right I think I’m gunna go read…field trip tomorrow, Arezzo here we come!
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Un Pensiero... (a Thought...)
5/28/08
Quick note, just woke up….(815ish 130am your time) and had a thought, yesterday was our last day at Santa Chiara as the peaceful, quite, serene place we have all come to love. There will be no more sitting in the courtyard just reading and enjoy the noiseless air.... Today the worst thing any UT person can imagine happens…ATM shows up…and not just that but once they all arrive there will be 60 of them…the school will be full of a total of 86 students too they say, between the 3 schools, UT, CSU and ATM. It was bas enough when CSU showed up there are only 8 of them and they are louder than our 18. Ugh…anyway off to find something to eat for breakfast…having a hard time eating here actually with the lactose thing- its been very difficult enough at times…looks like Im on the reverse Italian diet…little food and a bunch of walking…we’ll see how that turns out, hopefully that will change for the better…
Ciao
Quattro
( FYI- I posted days 3 and 4, two post today)
5/27/08
WOW WEE!!! What a day…we woke up at 510am…meet down stairs (yes the school has 3 stories, the top is the room the middle floor is street level with some classes and the lower is the lounge, dinning hall and our studio and classroom) Back on topic… we met down stairs at 620….walked all the way down the hill to the train station to catch our 642 train to Florence…after we arrived and made it out of the train station we had a 30 coffee break in which we all spilt into 2 and 3’s and grabbed water, food and drinks to start the day off right. We then hopped onto a bus which took us up the hill to a spot were we could see a great view of the layout of the city, from there we walked up the hill to the San Miniato church. This is the last free church you can enter in Florence all the others you have to pay for.. Boo. Here Ann gave us a talk about the history of the church and Dan talked about the paintings and types/ techniques. Because we were here so early there was almost no one in the church but us, which was a really fun feeling. We stayed at the church and drew for I don’t know how long…when we left its was lunch time so I’m guessing at least 2hours (I have no concept of time here…and no need to really.) We walked through the streets to the main Piazza de Signoria the center of all that is tourism, ha. And split for lunch, I went with 4girls Erica, Sam, Julia, Megan and Mark. As we were trying to decide were to go, they all kind of looked at me and where like “which way” totally caught me off guard… anyway I looked at the map and began to walk and they followed…crazy, ha. After lunch and not so god spot (they picked…they were dieing for food…it was awful!) We walked to the Duomo and had photo opt and admired the structure. After that we walked through the street to a market and shopped a bit…no buying to today but it was fun to look. After that my group ran into Dan and Ann (hahaha) going into the Saint Lorenzo Church, This was great timing for Ann couldn’t help but tell us everything and Dan too…Its so nice that they are really on this trip with us, not just our teachers but our friends. We all make jokes all the time and pick on each other, it helps that all the studio art majors know Dan really well too. After these 3 hours of freedom in the City, we all met us, when to a local art store, picked up fun and needed items and then headed for the bus station…after an hour ride home, (its an hour to Florence from CF and 2 ½ hours to Rome) we all trenched and sweat and exhausted from walking like mad men, trekked our way up the hill to Santa Chiara. At dinner 30mins after we arrived we all express the thought that Florence was ok but it was so good to be home. Now don’t get me wrong, Florence is an incredible city, but it’s a city…we live in a quant close nit, amazing place…not a crazy, huge city, thankfully! Also the weather in Florence is hotter and today it was intense! Supposedly we are having a heat wave that should be gone by Thursday, please! Today was also interesting to be so free in a foreign city and be completely relaying on only myself. No one else will know, do or take care of the things that need to be done for me…its me only! I remember feeling that on the Texas4000 trip but I’ve seem to forgot that in the states its so easy to allow or want mom or dad to do things for me…but here its just me!! Whew, what a really check and a shove into adulthood. Ha. Tomorrows another day full of class and studying we have a quiz on Thursday…yikes, don’t think I’ve ever procrastinated this long…oh well im in Italy, who cares…(kind of)
-Ciao
Giorni Tre (days 3)
5/26/2008
Today was a packed day…after a night of little sleep, I took a nap yesterday and was unable to fall asleep till about 3 this morning and even then I tossed and turned, ugh…no more naps I guess. Anyway we had our first day of classes. We started with Art history at 930, which consisted of a lot of background info and slides of were we are going and what will be seeing, oh and the stuff on our test. Yeah that’s right a test, on Thursday…ugh!! This class was really interesting, knowing little about why, how and when all this stuff was built I was really into the info Ann was telling us. The class flew by and then we had our first lunch here as Santa Charia…a veggie soup, it was great the second course was boiled eggs and tomatoes... i had another bowl of soup instead, ha. Following lunch was our first Art class. I was really excited and nervous when this came around…there’s quite a few other non-art majors so we went in one group and the others sat a different spot. We did gesture drawings of the street spot Dan (our teacher) took us too. This was quite a challenge for me…its been forever since I’ve drawn, I tend to like to draw people more than landscape and I wanted to be perfect…imagine that, ha. I really had to take some deep breaths and remember it's my first day in a while and this is suppose to be fun!! We also had to work with watercolors today…just test the water he said…I actually enjoyed this more and thought my pictures came out more to my liking...happy me. By this time it was 530pm…drawing is a 4hour class…and time for 1st Italian lesson with Rosa. She was great, she is from CF and spoke in such a way that was easy to understand and hear the difference in the words sounds. One person described her as sounding like a speaker from a “learn Italian” CD. Dinner was next on the agenda were Stacey and I another UT student sat among the CSU students (there here for 3weeks), funny group. I’m now sitting in MY courtyard, where the 9, not 3 turtles, of all sizes are sleeping. We have a our first field trip to Florence in the morning…we have to make a 642am train…that means a very, very early wake up!! Not the interesting of an entry but that was just my day in Italy and it was amazing!
Monday, May 26, 2008
Due (two in italian)
Day 2, Sunday- May 25, 2008
Buon giorno! Today was another day given to us to get situated in Italy. I awoke around 8am, pulled myself out of bed stumbled to decide what to wear and get into the Tiny bathroom we have in our room…literally the whole bathroom might be 3ft by 3ft with a shower, sink, toilet and a little mirror…this is just another reminder of how lucky we are in the states (or I am at my apartment I have two whole sinks to myself…ha) They don’t serve breakfast here…Italians don’t eat a hearty meal at this hour, as we do but there is a tiny shop located downstairs off of the dinning hall that offers coffee, little breakfast foods like cereal and fruit and drinks for later in the day. After eating a small breakfast of croissant, an orange drink and a banana I wandered around the building/courtyard and town alone until our meeting/orientation time at 1030am. By the time I decided to walk the town I only had 15mins or so, so I didn’t go too far but I did get to walk by the beautiful church located right next to us and watch the Italians walk in for Mass this Sunday morning. Two other people have talked with me about going to a church service while here- they saw the cross in my necklace (thanks mer) and asked if I went/would want to go, excited to have believers around me and attend a catholic church in Italy, I said yes!
Back in Santa Charia at our orientation mtg we were talked to by the two head women of the school, they told us about the train lines, the community and events and the history of the school- all very neat. I will write a more detailed blurb about this and a lot of other things soon…But anyway by the time that was done and a mtg with the RC’s (resident counsels) all pervious students here- neat people, more later here too…we were free for the rest of the day.. Crazy to be completely free in this foreign country…we did however do an impromptu historical mini tour with Ann (art history teacher) through town…after that I ate my first Italian meal, well dinner last night was real Italian food, but this I had to order on my own, ha. I stared at the menu for a bit…um…um…I was thinking…I decide to go with Panzenella…which was described as a moistened bread with onions, cucumbers and veggies…It was FANTASTIC…I ate it soo fast…I must say I was so proud my entire table ordered different food while the whole table next to us, even the teachers ordered pizza…blah…step out of the box people, come on, ha…ok ok just kidding. I also had my first glass of wine with this meal…the white house wine, it was great!! After lunch we wondered the town a bit more…I must say for only being here less than 24hours I feel like I know the town really well. I’m not afraid to go out alone and wonder, I know I can get back to Santa Chiara. In town this weekend there is so much going on…there’s a medieval festival going on this weekend and next, today there was a local market and also this car show. It was so funny we walked through this car show and saw all tiny cars but they had these huge speakers they kept blasting American music. I couldn’t help but giggle and dance a bit J. After walking I returned to the school to sit out in the courtyard and read a bit…that didn’t last long for I quickly was joined by more student and talked to them. We eventually decide to return to the town for some afternoon gelato. And I ordered it all on my own, in ITALIAN!! I was so proud. Un piccolo cono…haha “a small cone.” Anyway we then made it down to the church close to us and explored it…it was so amazing inside, the walls, the pews, the confessionals, the alters...just nothing like anything in the US. We then wandered into the museum next door, the guy inside immediately knew we were from Santa Chaira and though he only spoke Italian he was so sweet and kept trying to talk to us J and the paintings were beautiful and old, ha. (Hopefully soon ill learn more about paintings so I can say so much more than that statement…Nap time came soon after this for me and I remember dreaming about speaking Italian, funny. Dinner tonight was traditional spaghetti and then veal and mash potatoes and fruit…I could get used to this. Even though the food sounds like things were used to its soo much better. After dinner we walked the town, which really comes to life at night, and went to then medieval festival and grabbed a beer at the “man bar”/ bar 2000, ha. Its called this cause when you walk by only men are in there but we saw two girls we knew in there and the beer was cheaper than the place we were headed to so that’s were we went. I’m home now laying in bed…about to pass out, our first day of class is tomorrow at 930… its going to be a full day of class and Italian lessons…EXCITING! Ok more updates coming…
Arrivederci
Where I am..a bit of background
Castiglion Fiorentino, Italy - Students in UT’s Learning Tuscany program
live and work in Santa Chiara, a restored convent situated in the old
medieval city of Castiglion Fiorentino. This picturesque Tuscan town is
located along the main train line between Rome and Florence, and it is
adjacent to the wellknown art cities of Cortona and Arezzo. Castiglion
Fiorentino takes its name from its role during the Renaissance as a
territorial outpost of the Republic of Florence, but the town’s origins far
predate this role. The hilltop location made the site attractive to both
Etruscans and medieval warlords—indeed, art, architecture and antiquities
from both of these periods are well represented in the town’s churches,
museums and streets. The town’s Renaissance role can be seen in the 16th
century loggia in the main square, as well as in the striking octagonal,
Bramantesque Madonna della Consolazione, perched along the south slope of
the town.
Santa Chiara - This faculty-led program is based at Santa Chiara, an old
Franciscan convent; it subsequently became a girl’s school and now hosts
students from a number of institutions across the United States. This
facility is located in the heart of the old city, adjacent to the
Collegiata, a Neoclassical collegiate church filled with art and graced by a
striking campanile. From Santa Chiara, it is but a brief stroll up to the
main piazza with its medieval tower, Renaissance loggia, cafés and stores.
Santa Chiara has numerous classrooms, studios, reading and recreational
areas and an old theater. Students reside in the former dormitory rooms, and
they take their meals in the beautiful refectory that opens up to a spacious
central courtyard. From this courtyard, students can read, sketch or take in
views toward the eastern hills that separate Tuscany from the equally
interesting region of Umbria.
Ciao!!
5/24/08
I’m here…yup, after 23hours of being in transit- whether it be car, plane, shuttle, train or my good ole legs, I have arrived safely to Castilion Fiorentino (CF).
Getting from the train station to Castilion was quite a hassle…I think all 6 of us who luckily found each other deserve a lot of credit. Ok.. let me back up a bit…First off I was lucky enough to have Becky, student on my flight to Rome with me and by chance she was situated in the row right in front of me, this made for a nice transition into the group when we finally met up, she knew a couple of other students. Anyway after we made it off the plane through the LONG line of customs for the guy to literally throw my passport back at me (without even a stamp!!!) we then some how found our luggage theta was off to the side, walked miles through the airport to the train station and luckily found four other people...yippee! WE then boarded a train form the airport to the main train station in Rome. 30mins later we got off the train walked a good while, again and bought new tickets for a new train to CF. We almost missed this train for we were suppose to meet up with Art history teacher Ann…but we didn’t see her so we made an executive decision, get on the train not wait 2hours for the next one. 2 LONG hours later, hours that I didn’t sleep because I was so worried we would miss the stop cause everyone else was sleeping…we drug our luggage off the train to finally arrive at CF.
After a quick drive up a hill…I would have died at this point if I had had to move my luggage once more…WE walked into our new home. This place is amazing...after seeing our spacious rooms, each with own dresser (yeah no living out of suitcase) we who were the first to arrive...took to the town on our own. We made our way up the narrow streets to a park and ate lunch in a local bar. We all sat in awe of the amazing view we had as we drank our water and beer and ate our lunch. CF sits on top of a huge hill over looking a valley of homes and greenery. Pictures can’t even do it justice! Aweee!! After eating and realizing we had to move or we would all pass out four of us hit the town to explore. The town consists of tons of little roads connection here and there, with amazing colors of yellow, brown and gray. The stone is crumbing here and there but it has such a romantic quality about it…After we made it back to the school Santa Charia we were given an official tour with the rest of the crew that finally showed up, we had basically done this already…haha we’re so smart! J
Anyway we finally had dinner at 730…we were all dying after a great meal of pasta, meat and fruit for desert we are now all in the court yard (were I hope to spend a lot of my time) talking and here I am typing my thoughts… I can hear Tuscan church bells ringing in the background and Italian being yelled by the local soccer teams from the huge stadium I can see from were I sit on the steps.
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