Children and Art

I've been slacking in my blogging again. Sorry. However, you should take this a sign that I am really going out there and living life.

Ravenna.
It was brilliant. Beautiful. We visited two churches and a mausoleum, then lunch and some free time.
But the heart of all of these are the mosaics. Huge walls of mosaics with colors like you have never seen. In San Vitale, the mosaic took up the whole presbytery, so when you walked in, you are surrounded by these vibrant images of Bible stories and allegories of God's love. It was the least alone I have felt in a long time. There was definitely something there.
Sunday, I went to Collodi. I've had an itch to go to this town since reading about it in a travel book back home. There's not much in this town, but it's one major tourist attraction is o so worth it. Pinocchio Park. You get to walk through the story of Pinocchio as told by sculptures, fountains, and various interactive environments.
Can I get a "holla?"

It was fantastic. However. Getting home was a nightmare and a half. The one taxi for this mess of cities was busy, so I bought a bus ticket and waited. For three hours. Only to find that the buses don't run on Sundays. So I call the taxi guy again and get lectured all the way to the train station about how I just should have called him before. Seriously? Give me a break.

And today? I just may have gone to see the David. Maybe.

I love my life

Thursday is the New Friday

It's the weekend!!!! For me at least.

Tomorrow a bunch of us ACCENT kids are off the Ravenna, and then on Sunday I think Cara and I are going to Collodi, a little town that is Pinocchio themed. AWESOME!!

This week, I finally sucked it up and stood in line to get the Amici gli Uffizi card. This card is brilliant. For 40 Euro ((yay student discounts!)) I can now get into every museum run by the Florentine Museum Coalition or whatever FOR FREE. That's right. I can go the the Uffizi as many times as I want and not pay for any of it. To celebrate, I turned around and got in line to get into the museum.

Let's just say that I am so glad it only takes 90 seconds to get from my front door to the Uffizi. I made many new friends that I am going to have to go back and visit. What, don't you make friends with artwork? Psh.

Last night, I went to the soccer game:: Fiorentina vs Sampdoria. We kicked them to China and back. 2 to 0. It was, however, a very confusing experience for me. There was a whole stadium full of purple wearing, frighteningly fanatic people. However, there was no riff ram, no smack it and flip it and rub it down. And then, just to rub it in, they all just left as soon as the game was over. Don't you people stay and sing the alma mater?

Speaking of songs, we got a translation of the Fiorentina fight song. Not all of these lyrics make practical sense. For example::
- "We have eleven athletes and one heart" - I feel that this is actually going to drag the team down. Also, how do they share this heart? I've got this image of the fates in Disney's Hercules where they pass their one eye around, drop it on the ground, pull hairs off of it, etc. Ew.
-"Fight everywhere with intensity and importance" - that's how riots get started.

Tomorrow, we're off to Ravenna. More after the weekend.

Walk This Way...

Sorry this has taken so long. I have had a ridiculous couple of days. Yesterday, I went to class, came home and did some homework while waiting for the most recent bout of rain to pass, and then decided to take advantage of the sunshine. I headed out to the Bobogli Gardens, which are behind the Pitti Palace.

They were HUGE. Unrealistically huge. I think some Italian towns are smaller than these gardens. However, when I began this journey, I was blissfully unaware of this fact. Can you blame me? It looked a lot smaller on the map. I quite literally got lost for the better part of a half hour. And it was GLORIOUS. Nothing short of glorious. Every inch of these gardens are gorgeous, you are literally stumbling onto classical statues all over the place. By the time I found the exit, I was starving and my feet were insanely sore, but I did not care. Not at all.





Today we got up and met our bus at 8:00 AM, which was all but impossible, along with the KU kids, and we headed to Siena. Which is gorgeous. Points of interest about Siena::
1. It is known as "Medieval Pompeii." In the 1300s, Siena was the place to be. They had the largest cathedral in Italy, but they wanted to expand it. Like, two or three times the size. So construction started. And then, it was 1348 and someone invited the Black Plague. Which wiped out 75% of the city's population. Needless to say, they never quite got back up on their feet. So the whole city, with a few minor exceptions, looks like it did in 1348.
2. Siena essentially invented the fruitcake. Siena was beseiged by the dirty Florentines, and the town was going hungry since they couldn't trade for more food. So a nun invented this cake to soothe the pain in and give energy to the fighters. This cake involved ginger, candied fruits, and nuts. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?
3. Siena is divided up into 17 neighborhoods. Who are crazy competitive. Twice a year, they have a horse race in the town square. And the winner gets to display their colors for a long time. The competitive nature was palpable even in September, very much between races. Sienese are crazy.

And we made a brief excursion to San Gimignano, a town with only one main street. HOWEVER, on this main street, there was both the Torture and Death Penalty Museum ((which was ... delightful)) and world famous champion awesomeness gelato.Life is good :) My feet hurt, so I think tomorrow is going to be devoted to homework.

Museum Time!

It was raining again today and I was tempted to spend the day in again. But I decided that I can not waste another day here, 3 months is going to come and go before I know it.

I went on a museum hunt and found one, I kid you not, around the block from our apartment. The Borgello National Museum. I walk by it every day to and from school. Way to be observant, Claire. And it was cheap, only 2 Euro to get in. SCORE.

The Borgello is a three story mansion of a building with an open courtyard. It was absolutely gorgeous, even without the art in it. It used to be a Medici family possession and the walls are covered in coats of arms from all their close personal friends. Or their not so personal friends. Whatever.
I saw some awesome awesome art, but I will give you the two highlights.

#1:: This museum has one of the biggest collections of Della Robbia pieces in Italy. There are at lesat 50 different pieces in here. At least. Whole rooms have their walls just covered with them, and these are not small rooms. Check this monstrosity out.
((I thought you'd enjoy that, Mom.))

#2:: Donatello's David. In the flesh. He's been in hiding for a while to get cleaned up but it was totally worth it. The bronze was glowing. It was... surreal. I know I've seen great works of art before, but when you're 12, you don't get it like you do when you're 20. I've studied this sculpture for several classes and seen pictures in text books, and there it was. Crazy. Talk about your humbling experience.You can probably tell that these last two pics weren't taken by me. We could only photograph in the courtyard. So here are some of my pics from outside.
Well, I'm off to get some homework done.
TTFN

Rain Rain

It's been pouring down today. On and off, granted, but when it's on, it's not joking. I'm finally home from class and have bundled up in some thick leggings and a sweater and have prepared myself for a cozy night in.

Also, this afternoon, I bought Nutella. And let me just say, few things work as a better fix-all than Nutella. Maybe duct tape is better. But duct tape isn't edible. Not that I've tried it.

On the subject of grocery shopping, Italians do it differently than we do. Shocker, I know. Nothing, I repeat, NOTHING in the country has preservatives. Which really has served to point out how much of the food in America does. Ew. Anyway, if you buy a peach today, you must eat it in 48 hours or else it will be growing a tupee. We have learned this from experience. So you must go shopping ever two or three days. This may be my American laziness speaking but - UGH.

My women's study class - blowing my mind. It's so wonderful and the teacher is everything you'd envision a women's studies prof to be. With an Italian accent thrown in for good measure.
My drawing class, on the other hand, is going to kick my butt. The mere fact that we're on our feet without a break for two and a half hours is enough. But he said I got better by the end of class. So I'm not a hopeless wreck. Yet.

Stay tuned. Same bat-time. Same bat-station.

Beach Bum-mer

Things that are different in Italy #34::
Here, there is an official ending day of summer activities. And that day was yesterday. Too bad we didn't know that when we booked a three night stay in the beach town and summer hot spot Rimini.

Yesterday, there was NOTHING to do except lay out on the beach. And so we did. All day. We now all resemble paninis - slightly toasted. But today it's cloudy. To quote Hilliary, "Dove sun?" And so we left early. Which I can't really complain about since I am not really a beach person to begin with.

I had a rough night last night. I was really homesick and lonely, since I was again the only one staying home that night. Let's get something clear here. I have nothing against wanting to go out and drink. You do your thing. But I would like to find someone who wants to stay home with me, since I have been home alone every night for over a week. And I got worked up and started crying and called Jeffrey and finally curled up in my bed and prayed. And then everyone magically decided to come home today? Nope. I just finished The Alchemist, and you have to read the omens. God is good, friends.

Tomorrow, I am going to find a park ((seriously, there are no parks, which is the only flaw in this city)) and read for class.

Off to the beach for the weekend!

Class Update #3, #4, and #5:: Italian, Greek and Roman Mythology and Lost Symbolism and Secret Codes in Art

Italian

This class is going to kick my butt. Me and languages, well, let's just say that we don't get along. Our prof told us that for the first few weeks, she would use English, despite the school's rule, which is a plus. Our book is essentially a grammar dictionary, which is a negative. But I suppose everything can't be perfect.

When we had to tell the class our major, in Italian, many interesting discoveries were made.
ONE:: the word for "director" in Italian is "regia." Remind anyone of anything? How about the Latin word for queen. So, technically, I am training to be a queen of theatre. Eat it.
TWO:: So after I've gone through all the "I'm-from-Texas-theatre-regia" stuff, another girl gives the exact same introduction. Turns out she's from Carroll, TX, goes to school at Trinity, is a theatre major AND wants to be a director. We couldn't decide if we were exicted about or suspicious of this new development.

Greek and Roman Mythology

So I walk across the hall to my next class and and this girl walks right in behind me. After making sure that, yes, we were both taking mythology also, we decided that the fates had deemed it fitting for us to be friends. And thus enters Kristen, stage right.

The first thing I noticed about this class is that it was easily my biggest one. I mean, there is a clear difference between 8 and 20. And there were males. Multiple males. Maybe half a dozen. Besides class, I have seen no more than three in the same place at the same time. Our prof here is an archaeologist, and when she asked what we thought an archaeologist was, someone said what we were all thinking:: "You mean besides from Indiana Jones?" Her response was classic:: "So I am the female Harrison Ford. I will take that as a compliment." Prof: 1, Students: 0.

We had the happy syllabus day part of class ((note:: most classes only happen once a week, and that means class is two and a half hours long)), then a break, then headfirst into the first lecture. Now, the guys here have one thing in common besides being grossly outnumbered. They are all frat boys, in the most stereotypical sense of the phrase. Ball caps, popped collars, the whole shibang. And the one behind me had the lovely quality where it is impossible to understand that you are wrong. For instance, we were trying to define what a myth is and do we have myths today. He nearly ripped my head off, literally, when I said that religion is a myth. Because "a myth is false." He just kept saying that over and over again. *facepalm*

Lost Symbolism and Secret Codes in Art

The only bad thing about this class is that the proffessor talks wayyyyy too fast. That + her thick Italian accent = trouble taking notes.

The class, however, sounds really interesting. Almost every class there is a field trip to actually go see some of the art we are talking about. Ah, the perks of living in Florence. The first half of the semester is about lost sciences that were put in art - numerology, astrology, etc. Then the second half is about iconography. And she said the magic words::
"This class is going to be like the Da Vinci Code. Only scientifically accurate."
*fistpump*

Bring it.

Class Update #2:: Principles of Drawing and Composition

Alright. This class is going to be pretty awesome, too.
Our professor Filippo is not as comfortable with English as Cecilia, which actually makes him more fun to listen to in a way.

He took us all to the art supply store to explain what all of our materials are and how to use them, etc. Then we walked back to class and he demostrated what we're going to be doing next week. Since we only meet once a week, the class is two and a half hours long. It's a little intimidating. Just a little. But I got to chat it up with some girls in my class, one of whom is from Holland. And, news flash, there are a couple of guys in my class. So I guess the do exist after all. Who knew?

Class Update #1:: The History of Prostitution

Dear friends, if I was excited about this class before ((and I was)), I am completely, out of my mind stoked about it now. There's only 10 or 11 people in this class. Again, all girls, though none of them are from TCU. I'm starting to think guys just don't study abroad. Our professor's name is Cecilia ((pronounced Chechilia)) and she is so glad to be there that you don't want class to end, even on happy syllabus day. I'm just saying, when a final paper sounds like the greatest assignment you've ever had, that teacher is something special. We're going to read a lot, but it's going to be from lots of different sources, from Plato to the Bible to court records to novels. We get to write our final paper about a novel. If you could see me right now, I would be happy dancing like a fool.

BUT WAIT, there's more!

We're watching movies. All of them I've either wanted to see or have seen and love.
-Dangerous Beauty
-The Magdelene Sisters
and last, but certainly not least

Hedwig and the Angry Inch.

My.Favorite.Movie.



Greatest class ever, yes?
Yes.

Lessons

Tomorrow school starts. Which I am TOTALLY stoked about. My first class? The History of Prostitution. I don't care what you think, I am completely stoked about this class. Completely. And I love that I get to start every week with it. Then in the evening I have Principles of Drawing and Composition. We'll see how that goes. Maybe that comic book I've been writing for a while will finally happen. Or not.

Last night, the rest of the group went out for one of the girl's birthday. I am not the bar hopping type, since I know I have a tendency to over-trust people when I am sober, I try to avoid being around strangers whilst drunk. One of the girl was trying to be nice a get a bottle of vodka, since the girls were having table service. The cost of this bottle of vodka? $356. Life lesson of the day:: never offer to pay until you see the bill. And never trust sketchy gay men from Connecticut.

I noticed today that my sheets, which feature bongo-playing monkeys, have something written on the bongos. Evidentally the monkeys have names. They are Nick and Nora. It made me smile.

There will be more tomorrow about class! For now, good night.

Out and About

We have discovered that our internet only supports THREE of us on the internet at a time. So I didn't get to post yesterday. Sorry about that.

Yesterday was loooooonnnnnggggg. We got up and met Daniela at 8:30 to go to the police station to get legal permission to stay in the country. Then I decided to go grocery shopping to try to save some money on food. Let's discuss how unrealistically hard it is to find supermarkets in Florence. I wandered for almost an hour without success, continually asking for directions, always being pointed in the opposite direction. I almost gave up. I was on the verge of tears. But then success!! I ended up finding a supermarket that was a lot closer to our apartment than the one I remembered seeing, so in the end, the adventure paid off.

Then I went home, made some noodles for lunch, and slept. I actually spent most of the day in bed. Stupid jetlag. We went to orientation for our school, Lorenzo di Medici, in the early afternoon. Important things learned this that session::
1. Our Italian classes will be taught all in Italian. It is a school rule that there is no English spoken by Italian professors during class. Effffffff.
2. There is a flim club. Where they watch Italian movies w/ English subtitles every week. I think my movie itch can be satisfied. *insert happy dance here*

After orientation, another nap. An epic nap. I refuse to be jetlagged when school starts. REFUSE. We went out to dinner at a little touristy pizzeria by the Uffizi and then walked across the Ponte Vecchio.

Today we met Scary Harry, the faculty member who started this whole program for a trip up to Feisole. We went to the Roman ruins for a while and then walked up this high, steep hill to look down on the city. The hike was awful, but the view was worth it.

Lunch in the square, then we went our seperate ways before dinner tonight. I managed to forget to pack sandals, so I went and bought some. They may be a little Pocahontas, but who says that's a bad thing?

Pictures

I had a request for pictures. There are not many yet.

Firenze, finally

Heyyy friends and followers!

The last two days have been CRAAAZY.

The flight from Frankfurt was possibly the worst flight I have ever been on. Ever. The end. We checked in, then got on a shuttle which took us to this tiny plane, where many of the overhead compartments were so small I could hardly fit my purse in them. The girl next to me had to give her backpack to the hostesses and set her suitcase upright between us, so I had maybe half the leg room as everyone else. But wait, there's more! It was "too gusty" to land, so we were about 3o minutes late. And then, to top it all off, they pointed us to the wrong baggage carosel. Really, guys? I found Alison in Germany, so we split the fare for a cab and got to the hotel just in time.

Dinner, however, was fantastic. It was Daniela, the Accent housing coordinator, the two TCU professors ((whose names I can NEVER remember)) and the seven TCU students. All girls, which could be trouble. We had about three appetizers, two entrees and one dessert. Maybe more, I lost count. Fresh mozzerella and tomatoes, bruschetta, pasta with Tuscan pesto, etc. Wonderful.

Today we moved into our apartments. There are four girls in mine and three in the other. They are absolutely GORGEOUS. 14th and 15th century buildings. We have a courtyard inside the gate and the apartment itself has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a HUGE living room, a dining room, and a kitchen. Brilliant. We are getting completely spoiled here. We are also about five mintues from the Duomo. So we're next to everything. Yessss...

Twice already today I've had, you guessed it, gelato! Lemon, and strawberry and pancetta. My sweet tooth is satisfied. Tonight, the girls have decided to have a night out and go to Aqua al Due, supposedly one of the best restaurants in the city. Which I must go and get ready for.

I'm in my apartment, with wifi, about to go out to lunch. Life is good, everything got here safe. I will update more soon.

Halfway There...

In Frankfurt for a couple of hours on layover. Luckily, I had enough time between flights to get utterly lost in the most complicated airport I have had to venture through. Seriously, Germany? Would it be so hard to tell me what GATE my flight is at?! Geez... Wait, what do you mean it's been on my boarding pass the whole time?

I've been in Europe maybe an hour and I have already become the stupid American. Great. I am on a roll. Like jelly.

I couldn't sleep on the plane. Not a wink. I threw my sleep schedule before the trip, and now, I'm running on about five hours of sleep in the last 24. When I get the hotel, I am going to become best friends with my bed. I did, however, get to watch Star Trek. And I liked it. A lot. But don't tell. I refuse to admit that I have become a nerd in the last few months.

That's all for now. Hopefully I will get to update in Florence soon!