Assisi, the City of Peace
I'm starting to realize that my photo situation is getting quite desperate. Webshots takes forever to load up, so I'm probably just going to post my select favorite pictures here on the blog and just upload everything else to Webshots when I get home in May. I'm doing the best I can! But unfortunately, I'm still very behind. I figured that before I leave for my huge, two week spring break trip, I should at least put up my photo journal of Assisi.
Assisi is one of the most incredible places I have ever been. I tried to give you a thorough glimpse into this serene little town, and hope you enjoy the pictures. I love just about every photo I took there! It was hard to narrow it down, so the result is a plentiful amount of pictures. I'll caption them as I go, of course.
We got into Assisi during the early evening, and took a walking tour just to get our bearings and see a little bit of the city. The city is built into a hillside, so everywhere you go, you have to walk up or down really steep streets. It was quite a workout! This was one of my favorite little roads.
More wandering around the city... One thing I appreciated was its cleanliness. It was exactly as I pictured Italy before I came here.
I get a kick out of cute little shops, and this one was near the birthplace of St. Francis.
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to just unwind and reflect for a few hours. I chose to sit in the olive orchard next to the small convent we stayed in. It was so sunny and warm!
It was the most ideal location, honestly. The city was sprawled out behind us, and the land in front of us sloped down into the Umbrian countryside, which faded gently into fog, no matter what time of day.
My view of the sky from where I was sitting! I just journaled and enjoyed the stillness.
This was the view from the road next to our convent. See what I mean about the fog? And this is one of those moments that Dad would call "Divine Intervention." It felt like God was whispering through every breeze in Assisi that afternoon.
After some afternoon prayer and reflection together, Father John set us free to explore Assis. A bunch of us decided to climb up to a fortress on a tall hill, and the view was spectacular! It was well worth the trip.
Behold, one of my favorite pictures EVER. Danny (the only boy among the 10 of us on the retrest, bless him) wandered ahead to look out over the city. The evening sun was just around the corner of the fortress, and we were all just overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment. It was a remarkable day.
Mom, I know you get frustrated with too many sunset pictures, so I didn't post as many as I could have. But just for the record, I saw two of the most incredible sunsets I've ever seen in my life that weekend!! The deep, tangerine color of the sun is indescribable. Just before it set, it was seriously red. Loved it. We sat up there for an hour and a half or so, watching time pass by us.
The next morning, Father John told us to get on our hiking shoes, and we happily obliged. Little did we know that we would be starting out on a two hour journey straight up into the mountains! Yes, we literally climbed a mountain. Imagine walking up the steep incline of a hill for a minute. Now imagine doing it without pausing at that same fixed angle for two hours... All I can say is, after that, nothing I come across will ever seem steep! And I will never take breathing for granted again.
It was worth everything when we got to the top though. We visited a hermitage of St. Francis, and it was so peaceful... I can't even convey the sense of calm serenity that entered my heart. There were doves flying above the hermitage, and golden sunlight, and endless trails venturing off into the mountains... I felt like I was in heaven.
The tau of St. Francis, formed from the rocks brought by countless people who trekked up there in pilgrimage in order to pray.
These are the two doves I befriended. They were just chilling on the rooftop, cooing, when I said, "It's okay! You can come down." And then one of them flew next to me. I didn't even take a picture, because for one thing, I didn't want to startle him, and also, I was enjoying the moment too much. Eventually, I told the other bird to come down too, and he also flew down on the other side of me. They were so friendly and trusting. This was probably my favorite moment from the whole day!
We got down the mountain MUCH faster than we got up! Famished, we headed to one of the main piazza's for lunch, and as we were eating a parade went past! Group after group came dancing (literally) past us, dressed in traditional costumes and bearing banners and flags. They were adorable. We did a little more touring after that, then had to head back home. Leaving was kind of bittersweet...
...but I will find a way to get back there someday. Somehow. And that's a promise!
Ten Minute Post
Hello all! I am alive and well, fear not. I feel bad that I don't have more time to update this blog, but in all sincerity, I'm doing my best. Sorry I don't have more pictures up too! I think that once I get home in May, I'm going to just take a couple days straight to update
everything, all my pictures and random memories and stories... because I'm woefully behind, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get caught up during the rest of my time here.
Last weekend a few of us went on a retreat to Assisi, and it changed my life! It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had... and I doubt I can even put into words just how much it meant to me. I felt as though God was present throughout the entire weekend, and graced every moment with His love and peace. Assisi is the most peaceful place I've ever been to, and I will do all that I can to return someday. But my comments on that will have to wait until a later post, when I can attempt to do it justice. :-)
Unfortunately, though I felt more peaceful than I've ever felt before over the weekend, Monday crashed upon me with more waves of stress and anxiety than I expected. My head was still off in the clouds at the start of the week, but the weight of the world pulled me back down with vicious force. Class registration packets came out, which led to an entire day filled with thoughts such as: "Wow... will I even be able to graduate in four years?" and the inevitable "Holy crap... what am I going to do with my life once I get out of school?!?!" I'm working for a double major in Religious Studies and Philosophy, and my long-term goal is to obtain a Master of Divinity... but it's a little bit trickier to schedule out the courses for a double major and a minor than I anticipated. I had a couple very frustrating conflicts, but hopefully things are all worked out now. We'll see, I'm sure! Then on Tuesday, I awoke with the alarming revelation that spring break was just over a week a way, and we didn't have a single hostel booked in Germany or Austria! That was not a good feeling. So I spent most of the day comparing prices, booking rooms, and finetuning our itineraries. I felt a lot better after that... until I walked into my room and realized that, before spring break, we need to pack everything in our rooms up as though we were never there.
You'd be amazed how many random pieces of junk you can accumulate over the course of two months. It's dreadfully appalling! Even worse, this junk (plus clothing and textbooks and shoes) has a way of spreading out into every little nook and cranny of your room. I have no IDEA how I'm going to fit everything into that suitcase. None of us do! So this weekend, I'm going to kick it into gear and start packing up everything. I'm going to do all of my laundry, start choosing travel attire, and cram everything I can into my two suitcases. It'll be good practice for returning home in May, I suppose! Wow, that's coming fast too...
Anyway, this week has been a little stressful. I suppose it seems even more so after the peace of the weekend, but things are looking up now. I got a lot accomplished today, and even got to go for a walk to St. Peter's Square! The weather has been rather dismal and gray, but it's still nice to get out and explore. Tonight we're taking a night train to Venice (it leaves at 10:50 and arrives at around 5:20 AM!) We're going to spend the day there, and it's bound to be completely exhausting and wonderful all at once. I can't wait to see it! It still doesn't really feel like we're leaving tonight though... hm. I'll spend the rest of the weekend church-hopping around Rome and packing. But come next week, I plan to continue updating you guys on all of my adventures.
So have a fabulous weekend, and stay tuned until next week! Ciao, and God bless :-)
Another Interlude
Life in Rome is kind of surreal. I'm going to look back in a few months and think, "Wow... was that really my life?" Two examples:
Yesterday I decided to take a walk over to Villa Borghese to read. On Via Dei Condotti, the street that leads to the Spanish Steps, I was getting frustrated because there seemed to be a big holdup ahead of me. The street is normally packed with tourists, because it has all the big name stores (Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Dior, Burberry, etc.), but yesterday there was a crowd gathering around one store. In an attempt to get through, I found myself in the middle of this crowd just in time to realize that the people were trying to see someone who was entering the store right in front of me. I looked around me curiously, and saw a woman with the most beautiful wavy hair I've ever seen (which makes sense, in retrospect) and big, dark sunglasses. She had bodyguards all around who, who were guiding her through the throngs of people. She looked oddly familiar, and I heard an American behind me saying, "I think it's that one Victoria's Secret model... Stephanie something?" Yes, indeed. Stephanie Seymour. (I googled her later to make sure.) I got held up on my walk by Stephanie Seymour out on a shopping trip. Goodness.
Last night a bunch of the girls went out, but I stayed in the room and just relaxed, talked on the phone with Tim, and read. It was a pleasant night! This morning when I woke up, though, my roommate Janelle looked at me and said, "Sarah, you really should have been there last night! We danced with two of the Swiss Guards and one of them gave Ellen his number!!" Apparently there was a large group of them at this bar, but only two stayed later. Janelle said they were very respectful and kind of dorky, which would have been perfect for me, because I'm proud to be a self-proclaimed dork. I'm really not all that comfortable with the "going out" scene in the bars here, because large groups of girls often attract creepy guys, and I much prefer other venues for conversation. Last night sounds like it was fun, though. I wouldn't have even cared about the dancing--I would have just bombarded them with questions all night! So maybe it's better that I wasn't there, as they probably get tired of questions like that. I think it would be really interesting to talk with some of them though, just to find out what their job is like.
Anyway... how crazy to think that this is an average day of my life in Rome! :-)
I'm off to Assisi for a retreat this weekend, but will update more next week. God bless you all!
Northern Trip II
Welcome to one of the best days of my life! On Thursday, March 1st, we departed for Ravenna, and it was a glorious day. I felt refreshed and excited, perhaps because I started out the day by singing loudly in the shower (much to Theresa's amusement), and couldn't wait to get to Ravenna, which is known for its Byzantine mosaics. I ADORE mosaics! So very much. I don't know what it is... I'm always just struck by the intricacy of the work, and by how much time it must take to complete such complex scenes. I love that such tiny pieces of glass and stone, seemingly miniscule and irrelevent on their own, can come together to form works of such immense beauty. The mosaics in the Church of Loretto back home helped spark my love for mosaics, and after visiting Ravenna, my admiration has been deepened even further. Sadly, pictures can't even do justice to them, but I put up a couple of them anyway. The one shown above is from the Mausoleo of Galla Placidia, 425 AD. The church shown below is Sant'Apollinare in Classe, completed in about 549 AD. (Yay for Art History paying off! These mosaics were actually crucial for one part of my midterm.)
I loved Sant'Apollinare in Classe. I could have sat there for hours, just watching the golden mosaics of the apse shimmer in the sunlight. The apse was the most elaborate part, and the rest was quite simple and peaceful. We moved deeper into the city, though, to see Sant'Apollinare in Nuovo (which, oddly enough, was completed in 526 AD... I'm still trying to figure out how the "new" one was finished before the "original"....)
This is one of the towers from outside Sant'Apollinare in Nuovo. I thought it looked kind of cool!
Ellen, myself, Aly, Theresa, and I, relaxing in the sunlight. I should probably have put up more pictures of this church, but that's alright. I preferred the first one a little more, but still loved the mosaics!
After we saw the two Sant'Apollinares, we ventured into the city(random picture above) and towards San Vitale. Much to my friend Kellie's disappointment, the Tomb of Dante was covered in scaffolding for repairs. I've learned to despise scaffolding in my time here. I know that the renovations will be worthwhile in the end, but it's very frustrating to approach something you've heard a lot about and are looking forward to seeing, only to find it covered in scaffolding and tarps! Even if you can see part of the monument or area, it's still not the same... the scaffolding just taints your impression of it. It's everywhere. The top of the Spanish Steps, the Duomo in Florence, inside of churches... (sigh) Oh well.
So San Vitale was... amazing. And so elaborate! The apse was completely fabulous, and I have a picture of it below. If you have time, you should try to look this up online to see some better pictures, because that place is completely gorgeous. As always, I fell in love with the mosaics the moment I saw them, but I was actually mildly disappointed by the rest of the church. I loved the structure SO much, because the architecture was beautiful... but I feel that they ruined it's beauty by covering it with elaborate paintings during the Renaissance. The paintings are also lovely, but they're just... too much. The architecture is such that it could be left entirely white and still take your breath away. Plus, I loved the mosaics so much that I felt as though the rest of the church should have been simpler in order to direct the focus towards the apse. This is probably cocky and improper criticism coming from a 19 year old girl... (kind of like Kristy calling saying that the Sistine Chapel was a "nice effort"... haha) but I just think the paintings were a little excessive! Lovely, nonetheless.
After our tours were finished, we again had a couple hours to go explore the city. Everyone got pizza for lunch, and while we were sitting around eating, someone noticed a little lizard on the wall! He was quite cute. We tried to catch him but, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?) he proved too elusive for us.
We grabbed some gelato, which was creamier than most of the gelato in Rome (but still heavenly!) and then went back to the main square of Ravenna. There was some graffiti on the wall on one of the major buildings, and we all thought it was kind of sweet.
It means, "I love you because you make me dream."
We chatted and chased pigeons for a while, and then I spotted a little church off to the side that we hadn't heard much about. The girls and I decided to go inside, and it ended up being one of our favorite places from the entire day. What struck me the most was its sheer simplicity. Coming from San Vitale, this church (San Giovanni Ev.) was a refreshing change, and we took our time as we walked around, looking at paintings and enjoying the stillness. We stopped to pray for a while, lit some candles, and left feeling happier than we ever anticipated--ALL of us! We just laughed and hugged each other and skipped over to the grass to pick daisies until it was time to get on the bus. I must have handed out at least 15 mini daisies in about five minutes! We all had them in our hair or tucked into our coats.
But the best was yet to come. We took a side trip to the Adriatic Sea!!
I've never seen a sea before, so this was pretty exciting. Dr. Prebys told us to take just five minutes and then get back on the bus... that didn't happen. The moment I saw the sea, some inexplicable force thrummed to life inside of me, and my eyes lit up. I caught the eye of my friend Kelly, and we both took off sprinting towards it! We chased the waves for a little while, picking up random seashells and prancing around like little kids at Christmas. Five of us (myself included) actually took off our socks and shoes and started splashing around in the freezing cold water! I really don't know why we got so excited... it just felt so good to escape from the smoke and noise of the city, and to breathe in the sea air, let the wind blow our hair into our eyes, and feel the sand between our toes. The sea, or oceans, or even the Great Lakes make me feel so alive! We were out there for about ten minutes, and it was probably the greatest rush of happiness I've felt in a while. The locals, of course, thought we were insane. An older couple was passing by, saw us running around barefoot, and stopped to gesture towards us and ask, "Americane?" I suppose we made it pretty obvious.
In spite of how cold and dirty my feet got, and how gray the sky was, that little stop was one of my favorite moments from all my time in Italy.
Haha, the picture just below this makes me laugh, because just before this picture was taken a huge wave splashed up on us and soaked our feet and ankles! It was at that point that I decided to just take my shoes off completely. Below (from left to right) Sarah, me, Kelly, and Heather.
We stopped again a little bit later to see the sunset over the Po River. Dr. Prebys was slightly perturbed by how long we had taken at the Adriatic Sea, so she shortened our time to see the Po to three minutes. Still chattering from our little adventure by the sea, the group responded enthusiastically to these latest restrictions, and we all sprinted off the bus and up the hill to take these pictures! We then sprinted right back as fast as we could, laughing at how ridiculous the situation must have seemed from the outside.
We ended the day with one last stop in Pomposa, I believe? We were supposed to see a church that ended up being closed, but it was nice to get out and walk around for a while. I know I've already put up a tower picture, but I liked this one too and thought I'd end with it! We went right back to the hotel in Ferrara after this and had a little mini-feast with our cheese and jam sandwiches. It was a fantastic day!
The Fog of Ferrara
As promised, here's that photo series chronicling the development of fog on an average morning in Ferrara. It starts out pretty clear...
Then starts to sink down into the city...
Then before you know it, you're enveloped in some of the thickest fog known to man. All within a half hour. It's pretty wild.
Northern Trip I
Okay... so it's about time I get this thing updated. About two weeks ago now (how scary is that?!) on a Tuesday morning at 6 AM, we departed for our tour of northern Italy. My roommates and I went to bed at around 2:30, and woke up at 5 to make sure we had everything ready in time. Okay, so it wasn't the best night of sleep... but there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it. I was happy to be up, though, because Tim called on Skype, which was exciting! Skype kept cutting out, though, which was amusing at first but swiftly grew more and more frustrating. After getting entirely disconnected three times, I realized that there was no way we'd be able to say goodbye, which was sad... so I reluctantly trudged down to the buses at 5:50 with a rather crabby disposition. It passed after a time though, because you can't help but feel uplifted by a sunrise in the Tuscan hillsides. It was like a repeat of the sunrise we saw on the way up to Siena, and once again I found myself wishing that there was some way I could stealthily leap off of the bus and run off into the hills to watch it in peace! It's just not the same trying to see it through tinted, dirty bus windows... but oh well. Lovely, nonetheless. The entire view changed dramatically once we got past Florence, though. Much to my surprise, I found myself staring out into the Appennine mountains, which are beautiful. I haven't seen many mountains in my lifetime. Actually, I've grown up viewing the beautiful hills along the Mississippi on the western border of Wisconsin (LaCrosse area) as mountains! The roads were very curvy, and we kept going over tall bridges and through long tunnels... it was kind of fun.
Once we got through the mountains, though, we found ourselves driving down a highway on the flattest land I've ever seen, with the exception of western Indiana. I couldn't get over how far the countryside seemed to stretch, but remained engrossed by the odd kinds of trees and orchards we drove through. Our director, Dr. Prebys, was on board with us, and began announcing information about Ferrara as we drove up. We came into the city from behind, and much to the chagrin of my classmates and myself, saw only large factories and stores during our first twenty minutes driving around Ferrara. I honestly felt like I was in an industrial hick town somewhere south of South Bend, and it confused me. This was certainly not the beautiful Italy I knew and loved! Fortunately, we were just on the outskirts of the city, and soon drove into the downtown area, where our hotel was located. (We were stationed there in Ferrara, so we returned every night after day trips to other cities in northeast Italy.) The downtown section of Ferrara is beautiful, and the d'Este Castel and Duomo were within a five minute walk from our Hotel. There was some minor confusion right after we got off the bus, because in our excitement for the trip, we'd forgotten that we would have to choose new rooms... A wave of panic swept over the fifty girls, and everyone started pushing to the front of the line in a mini-stampede, trying to grab passports theirfriends and yelling things back and forth to one another. Remember that scene from the Lion King, when Simba's just sitting there minding his own business when he looks up and sees hundreds of antelopes barreling towards him? As one of the first ones off the bus, that's how I felt as I stood there in the lobby.
Good gracious.
Somehow, we managed to figure out room situations, and I ended up with my friends Theresa and Lisa in a triple. We opened the door to complete darkness, and my first thought was, "Wow, there's a staircase!" We turned on one light, strode into the room and up a little set of stairs. There was a big bed, a desk, and a TV, which was exciting. But as I turned to look around, eyes still adjusting, my next thought was, "Wait... there's
another staircase!!" Sure enough, there was another little staircase leading up to a room with two more beds and little cabinets! I stood in amazement, soaking it all in. The ground level had a little refrigerator, a big wardrobe, and a very nice bathroom. Theresa slept on the middle level, and Lisa and I took the top. It was probably the most beautiful hotel I've ever stayed in! Here are some pictures.
Doesn't Lisa look small in this one? The rooms were really deep... they were enormous!
Coolest staircase thing ever. We all had rooms like this! Kristy is probably going to post a comment of jealousy on this in order to lament about their hotels in Naples for the southern trip in the fall... I heard they were pretty bad. We got lucky though!
After settling in, we took a little tour of Ferrara. There were beautiful shops and higher end stores all over, and I could just sense a growing thrum of excitement in the girls around me. No matter what amazing monuments or historical areas we find ourselves in the midst of, nothing seems to create as much interest as cute shopping districts. It's like the temptation is just too much for the girls to take, and they become much more antsy during the tours, eager to get out to the stores before they close. I've never really had much fondness for shopping, so I don't tend to have this problem. I get more excited by the little fruit shops and book stores than anything! But the clothes? Meh. Clothes are clothes. I have to be in just the right mood to actually want to go shopping, with the exception of nice dresses, which I could shop for just about amy time. I'm an odd girl, I know... I guess Kristy got the shopping gene, though.
But anyway, Ferrara is a great place. It's much smaller than Rome, of course, and felt much less intimidating. The people were very friendly, and most of them ride bikes everywhere. It was nice not to have to worry about getting hit by motobikes for once! Just real bikes. I enjoyed the slower pace of life, and felt it was a refreshing change. I really liked the d'Este Castel, which is shown above. I was also fascinated by the cobblestone, which was unlike the dark grayish cobblestone I've seen in most other Italian cities. It was actually quite pretty, and much more painful to walk on! The stones were multicolored, and you could feel every single one of them through your shoes, no matter how carefully you plotted out a course. The picture below is the best shot I have of the cobblestone. Unfortunately, Sarah's walking in just the right spot to make it appear that the cannon is aimed at her... I found this rather amusing.
The Duomo was really pretty too, though, so I included a picture of it below. (If you look to the right of the tower, you can actually see the moon!) As we wandered, a few of my classmates gave presentation (like my art history presentation in Siena) and we patiently listened. As soon as we were finished, a few of us went straight to a grocery store and bought some food. I, for one, bought a little loaf of bread, strawberry jam, some cheese, and some fruit. These essential food items served me well over the next five days, and I doubt I would have survived without my jam sandwiches. Unlike Rome, where we get Hotel meals provided on the weekdays and have stipend money for Pascucci's, we were expected to find our own food on the northern trip. This meant minor fasting for those of us who can't afford to eat out every night. But we survived!
We were all pretty exhausted, so that night we went to bed relatively early. The three of us got up early to wander around the city, and we woke up to a clear, beautiful day. We started walking, and gradually began to notice fog settling over the city. Apparently this is quite common up near Ferrara, and happens nearly every day in the winter. I'd never actually witnessed the development of fog though, and found the whole thing quite intriguing. Within a half an hour, the fog grew so thick that we could scarcely see down the streets! Right now Blogger is being stupid, but I'll put up a little photo progression right after I finish this post in order to show you how cool it looked. Grrr, Blogger makes me sad.
Moving on! We took a little busride to Mantua, where we toured the Palazzo di Te and the Palazzo Ducale. Both were beautiful, though it was a little bit chilly when we visited Palazzo di Te in the morning. We had to walk through a bizarre carnivale/circus type of place to get there (which was very surreal... nothing was on, of course, but there were rides and games and floats all over, some which had Disney characters painted on and big pictures from movies... very odd.) The Palazzo wasn't as big as I expected it to be, but the rooms had beautiful paintings on the walls and ceilings. My favorite room was one that was covered by paintings of a huge battle among the gods, but that's not what I liked about it. The paintings were cool, yes, but even more fascinating were the things carved onto the walls. Everywhere you go, you see little hearts with initials carved onto trees, graffiti spraypainted on walls, phone numbers etched into bathroom stalls... and we're so used to seeing these things that we just kind of write them off, or else we shake our heads at someone feeling the need to scratch random phrases into public property. I've never really thought about the origin of these scribblings, though, nor about how long these habits have existed. I suppose the cavemen should have been a clue for me, but I was surprised to see names and dates carved into the walls of this particular room! The dates were generally in the 1700's, and Iwandered around the room staring at the numerous names carved into the walls, imagining what it must have been like to have been in that same place 300 hundred years earlier... I tried to envision what they'd been wearing, why they were there, and the conversations that led up to the decision to carve their names in the wall. Were they bored with the party? Or was it more customary at the time than it is today? I really don't know.
Eventually we wandered out of the courtyard to a pretty moat in the front, and everyone took pictures or watched the goldfish swimming around. We hopped back on the bus to go to the Palazzo Ducale, another castle about ten minutes away. That one was completely enormous! It had over 500 rooms in it, and I wish I could have stayed in there longer to explore on my own! Apparently, though, people can get lost in there for days on end. They force you to go in groups to only specific destinations, because they've had people get lost before. I understand why, but still wish I could have explored! There were endless passages and winding staircases, and huge rooms with statues and paintings and old family trees... I loved it. One of the large ballrooms stood out in my mind, because the paintings were breathtaking. I literally stopped walking and fell behind from my group a little as I stood there, gazing in admiration. My mind soared back to days of old, when they held real balls, with elegant dresses and classical waltzes! I could just envision the heroiness of old novels bowing to their dance partners and skipping graciously around the room... How I longed to step back in time, if only for a moment, to experience one of those elaborate affairs and revel in the charms of such a life. But, alas! The tour group was moving swiftly forward, and I couldn't afford to wait. We weren't supposed to take pictures either, but I snuck one in another of my favorite rooms. ;-)
After our tour, they gave us a few hours to wander around Mantua. It's known for its pumpkin ravioli, which sounds awful (Mom certainly had a negative reaction to it!) but is quite good. They don't serve it with tomato sauce, as you probably first envisioned! They stuff the ravioli with a mixture of squash/pumpkin, almond cookies, and cinnamon, then serve it with a light, buttery sauce and cheese. It was completely amazing! So here, for Uncle Mike, is a picture of my exquisite lunch.
On a completely random note... Lisa and Idecided to splurge and try some of the local wine. We were thirsty, and started to drink it as soon as we got it. Not too quickly, but faster than we should have, especially considering the fact that we'd been touring all morning with no food or water in us at all. This proved to be one of my first lessons on the dangers of drinking without anything in your stomach! Neither of us drank before coming here, minus a little wine at a wedding here or there, so we're both lightweights... but the point is, we could definitely feel the wine! It was odd, and the other (more experienced) girls were amused. I most certainly won't do that again though!
We walked around the city for a while....
Then hung out along the banks of the Po River.
We went back to Ferrara only to discover that just about everything closes at 8 PM, with the exception of some restaurants and the Theater. We managed to make it to a cute little fruit and veggie store just before it closed, though, and for some reason, I had an incredible urge to eat a carrot. The other girls followed suit, and we marched out of there eating our carrots like the proud American tourists that we were.
All in all, the first two days were quite fabulous. More to come!
Professors
Before I post on the northern trip, I thought I'd take a minor detour. It's at about the halfway point for the semester, so I think it's about time I copy my sister and make a post about my professors here at school. Two of them are probably two of my favorite professors in my college experience, and two are among my least favorite... and the third is simply very nice, and amusing. So here goes.
I'll start with the two who I can't seem to warm up to, for various reasons. This is not to say that I don't like them as people! I just dislike their styles of teaching. The first is my professor for Philosophy. Class begins at 8 AM, so every day,
no matter what, I am there at 8 AM. The others usually start to roll in at around 8:05, and the professor is usually there by 8:09. He takes a few minutes to get settled, then sits and waits for us to quiet down for a little bit. He then begins to talk, usually by saying, "Can anyone tell me what we were talking about last lecture? Where were we at?" At this point he always looks at me for guidance, because I take scrupulous notes. We've been covering Machiavelli's "The Prince" for several weeks now, so I usually just glance down, then say, "We were on Chapter 17, and were going to start Chapter 18 and his theories behind successful lying," or some such comment, to which he responds, "Oh, yes!" He then proceeds to repeat information from the previous lecture for about twenty minutes before venturing into new territory. Today I was eager to see if I could predict how he would open, so I started writing down what I thought he would say, in order. Sure enough, I was right! It gets quite tedious. He's a nice man, and well-intentioned, but he's extremely unorganized and I grow tired easily in that class. The fact that we meet at 8 AM doesn't help... but hopefully once we get done with this section it'll get better. Who knows.
The other is my Italian professor, a woman we call Rosa. For most of the girls in that intro class, Italian is still quite new for us. Most of us have had a single semester of Italian, and listen to her directions with eager anxiety. She tries to slow things down for us, but grows frustrated when we don't understand things that she thinks we ought to, so the classroom atmosphere can seem rather strained at times. The class is two hours long, which is a stretch, and she does a good job of varying the exercises and activities we take part in, but I don't learn as well when working out of that textbook. Professor Checca, my first Italian professor, ran his class with the utmost efficiency, and forced us to stay awake by asking us questions and having us talk with one another and repeat things aloud. Rosa usually just has us do exercises out of the book or write up summaries of readings, which are harder for me to retain. It doesn't come as easily as it seemed to with Professor Checca, for whatever reason... oh well. We have fun sometimes, in spite of this description!
My Art History professor is named Professor Economopolous, which is probably one of the most amusing names I've ever had to say! A lot of the girls here have various nicknames for her, mostly just terms of endearment, because she's well-liked. Professor Economopolous is from Greece and has thick, dark brown, shoulder-length curly hair and big blue eyes. She has a doctorate in Art History, and can list random information off the top of her head just about anywhere you go. She often seems to be in her own little world, and will rattle on about a piece during lecture for five minutes before noticing my friend Lauren and I waving our arms around in the air, trying to ask a question! I think it's the artist in her... it's not that she isn't interested in her students, because she's a very nice woman. Just a little... preoccupied, I suppose. Her accent is adorable, and my friend Ellen does a fabulous impression of it! Common phrases are, "Allora," with a long, drawn out 'O' sound ("Allo-o-o-o-ora!") and the transitional sound, "Emmmmm," also in a long, drawn out tone. I wish I could convey it better through words! She's wonderful though, and I enjoy her class.
One of my new favorites, though, is a man by the name of Riccardo Riccardi. The very first time he introduced himself, he informed us that he likes his first name, and he likes his last name... just not together.
Oh, the stories I have about Riccardo.
Riccardo is our Music Appreciation professor, and a lifelong composer. Like Professor Economopolous, he seems to live in the preoccupied world of the artist, but he tends to share his world with us much more openly than I ever expected. He is one of the funniest men I have ever met, perhaps because of his accent. Again, I wish with all my heart that I could have a little sound byte of him speaking on here for you to listen to! If you could only hear some of the phrases and pronunciations we get to hear every class period... you would instantly understand why there are days when I literally have to bite my hand to keep from laughing aloud. I don't intend for that to sound mean in any way! He's often just as amused as we are by his English blunders, and even calls my friend Theresa his designated "English teacher" because she gently corrects him. His most common phrase at the beginning of class is, "Do you remember sahmthing of yesterday?" or "Do you remember sahmthing of motets?" He sounds almost German, though he was born in northern Italy, and the result is one of the funniest accents I've heard in all my time here. One day, he started saying what sounded like, "Jaws is one of the most important musical contributions of the United States. Do you know sahmthing of Jaws?" We all just stared at him, confused. (My friend Lauren later said, "I was just sitting there thinking, 'I had no IDEA that movie was so important to music! Weird...' ") Someone finally asked, "Do you mean... jazz?" to which he replied, "Yes, of course! Jaws!" It was amusing. Another time, he said, "Do you know the difference between a mass and a MASS?" and he pronounced 'mass' in a loud, emphatic voice that actually made a few people jump. I love listening to him talk!
I can't even explain what it is that makes Riccardo so funny... there's just this sense of frankness and earnestness in him that's endearing, and he has such an open and oddly insightful approach to life that I can't help but be intrigued every class. You never know what he'll say next! One minute he makes a completely random, hilarious comment, and the next he says something so deeply profound that everyone just stares at him in bemusement. The other day, he was talking about his time studying in Los Angeles in college, and he said, "It was as though I was in a movie, and everything else was in black and white... but I was in color." That comment struck me on a number of different levels, because, in a sense... that's exactly how I've been feeling here. It's hard to explain. Anyway, another time, he was talking about his children and he said, "I haf a son whose in high school. He's quite tall, and he calls me a dwaf (dwarf)... he hates me." Haha! I don't think that's true. It would be hard to hate Riccardo. And yesterday he came into class and said, "Today on the way here I was thinking of your smiling. Keep doing it! I know it's not always possible to be smiling all your life... but we try, no?" :-)
Now then, on to one of the smartest men who I've EVER encountered:
Father Mark Attard.
This man is brilliant. Completely, mind-boggling brilliant, and I can't sing his praises loudly enough! He's a short, fit man who seems to be in his sixties, with short gray hair and laughing, intelligent dark brown eyes. He used to be the head of the entire Carmelite order, but now teaches at a good number of different locations, usually for seminarians. We're lucky to have him! When he strides into class, he carries no notes. Just a watch and a cell phone, both which he sets on the table to help him keep track of time. He normally wanders around for a while, conversing with us as we start to quiet down. Then he stands for a few moments when the room falls silent before beginning. He has a pleasant voice, and is one of those people who you can sit and listen to for hours without ever losing interest in what he's saying. He never uses any notes or guidlines for his lectures, but rather goes through an entire sequence during class. He doesn't just lecture about random things that pop into mind, but follows an impeccable lesson structure each day. He always remembers exactly where he left off, and never seems to miss a beat. I've seen him hesitate just once this year, when trying to recall the name of a document, and even that was only for a few seconds. Father Mark is... amazing. Honestly. Every time I go into that class (which I've dubbed my "Happy Time with Father Mark") I'm torn between wanting to just sit and listen and wanting to scribble down every word he says. Needless to say, I really look forward to it!
I could keep writing about him for some time, but I'm quite hungry and it's dinnertime, so I'm going to go eat. I might add more later, but that should be all for now. We're working on taking videos during class, just so everyone from home can hear these professors' accents! So be on the lookout, and if they really get them online I'll post them for you.
Ciao!
Home Sweet Rome
I am now home from the northern trip, struggling mightily to catch back up with life here in Rome! I don't know what was more tiring... the trip itself, with all the nonstop tours, or trying to survive midterms, most of which count for 25-40% of our grade for each class! My head is still spinning from the Art History midterm, which I just finished. Basically, our professor handed us a sheet with about 70 different works/cathedrals/sculptures listed and told us that we needed to know everything about each of them. Artistic period, artist, title, location, date... and of those, about 8 would be on the exam. Given enough time, it's quite plausible to study the works enough to remember some of this basic information. But with just a few days between our return home and the exam, days which were jammed full of studying and preparation for still
other exams, such a feat seemed quite daunting.
But at least we were all in it together. On Tuesday, it seemed that every time you ran into someone they were reciting different definitions from Religious Studies. There have been countless little study parties and Pascucci's talks, and in an odd way it's reassuring to know that nearly everyone else in the program is just as stressed out as I. Last night after 7 PM, the general hum of chatter switched over to Art History and Poli Sci. Now that those are done, it will surely evolve into a universal lament over Italian homework and exams. I just have an exam in the morning, but after that, I'm going to feel so free! I cannot wait. I'm not all that worried about the exam though... this really hasn't been as bad as I'd anticipated. Religious Studies went quite well, and Art History... well, at least it's done. But I look forward to this weekend!
I have so many stories to share from last week that it will probably take several posts! I'm going to try to get caught up over the next couple days, so bear with me. I'm doing the best I can! Look for pictures in the near future too (split up into a few different albums, per the advice of my mother!) So that's life here as of late. On an unrelated note, I still haven't reached a verdict on why God decided to smite my face last week. I kid you not--I have never broken out so badly in my life! Stress related? Who knows. You probably didn't need to know that. Haha... oh well. At least you're getting to share in the full experience with me! Take care, all of you, and I'll post again soon.
P.S. Gigi, I'm sorry you can't post comments! But fear not, I'm just glad to know you're still out there somewhere in the cyberworld. :-)
I'm starting to realize that my photo situation is getting quite desperate. Webshots takes forever to load up, so I'm probably just going to post my select favorite pictures here on the blog and just upload everything else to Webshots when I get home in May. I'm doing the best I can! But unfortunately, I'm still very behind. I figured that before I leave for my huge, two week spring break trip, I should at least put up my photo journal of Assisi.
We got into Assisi during the early evening, and took a walking tour just to get our bearings and see a little bit of the city. The city is built into a hillside, so everywhere you go, you have to walk up or down really steep streets. It was quite a workout! This was one of my favorite little roads.
More wandering around the city... One thing I appreciated was its cleanliness. It was exactly as I pictured Italy before I came here.
I get a kick out of cute little shops, and this one was near the birthplace of St. Francis.
On Saturday, we had the opportunity to just unwind and reflect for a few hours. I chose to sit in the olive orchard next to the small convent we stayed in. It was so sunny and warm!
My view of the sky from where I was sitting! I just journaled and enjoyed the stillness.
This was the view from the road next to our convent. See what I mean about the fog? And this is one of those moments that Dad would call "Divine Intervention." It felt like God was whispering through every breeze in Assisi that afternoon.
After some afternoon prayer and reflection together, Father John set us free to explore Assis. A bunch of us decided to climb up to a fortress on a tall hill, and the view was spectacular! It was well worth the trip.
Behold, one of my favorite pictures EVER. Danny (the only boy among the 10 of us on the retrest, bless him) wandered ahead to look out over the city. The evening sun was just around the corner of the fortress, and we were all just overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment. It was a remarkable day.
Mom, I know you get frustrated with too many sunset pictures, so I didn't post as many as I could have. But just for the record, I saw two of the most incredible sunsets I've ever seen in my life that weekend!! The deep, tangerine color of the sun is indescribable. Just before it set, it was seriously red. Loved it. We sat up there for an hour and a half or so, watching time pass by us.
The next morning, Father John told us to get on our hiking shoes, and we happily obliged. Little did we know that we would be starting out on a two hour journey straight up into the mountains! Yes, we literally climbed a mountain. Imagine walking up the steep incline of a hill for a minute. Now imagine doing it without pausing at that same fixed angle for two hours... All I can say is, after that, nothing I come across will ever seem steep! And I will never take breathing for granted again.
It was worth everything when we got to the top though. We visited a hermitage of St. Francis, and it was so peaceful... I can't even convey the sense of calm serenity that entered my heart. There were doves flying above the hermitage, and golden sunlight, and endless trails venturing off into the mountains... I felt like I was in heaven.
The tau of St. Francis, formed from the rocks brought by countless people who trekked up there in pilgrimage in order to pray.
These are the two doves I befriended. They were just chilling on the rooftop, cooing, when I said, "It's okay! You can come down." And then one of them flew next to me. I didn't even take a picture, because for one thing, I didn't want to startle him, and also, I was enjoying the moment too much. Eventually, I told the other bird to come down too, and he also flew down on the other side of me. They were so friendly and trusting. This was probably my favorite moment from the whole day!
We got down the mountain MUCH faster than we got up! Famished, we headed to one of the main piazza's for lunch, and as we were eating a parade went past! Group after group came dancing (literally) past us, dressed in traditional costumes and bearing banners and flags. They were adorable. We did a little more touring after that, then had to head back home. Leaving was kind of bittersweet...
