Writing

So, as you are all now aware of, I go through phases in my writing (as I'm sure many people do), and apparently last week was a phase of not writing. I'm not going to apologize, because I did warn you that I'm not very consistent, but I will try my best to make writing a part of the liturgy of my day. My friend Erika says that it's easier for her to write before our internet time and then simply post it later so that she can focus on other more pressing matters during our precious 1 ½ hours. I feel like this is a smart idea, so I'm trying it out right now (also, possibly because I just don't want to read anything more about Orpheus or Florence during the Renaissance). Last week was a wonderful week because we were starting to get a little more settled and find the rhythm of our lives here, but I know that I won't be able to describe it all, so I'll just hit the high points (or the points that I feel like telling you about at the moment).

Excursions – we visited Assisi (lunedi) and Siena (venerdi) last week. I've already written about Assisi, but let me reiterate how much I enjoyed that city, because it was definitely contrasted at the end of the week when we visited Siena. Truly there is not that much of a difference between the two cities as both are similar in size, attract about the same amount of tourists, and remain large pilgrimage sites. However, something about Siena repelled me; while I found the tourists and tourist shops in Assisi cute and manageable, in Siena they were overwhelming in their obvious presence. Siena does have very nice museums and a beautiful piazza in the middle of town, and it's definitely not my least favorite place ever, it's just one that I probably won't choose to revisit on this trip.

Class – last week was the beginning of the academic semester for us and we started full force on Tuesday (martedi) morning. The way our class system works here is that we take one class for about 3 weeks and then we take a new one (4 classes in total) while taking Italian once a week for our entire stay here. Right now we are taking a Renaissance Art History class focusing primarily on 80ish pieces (most of which we will see in person) for our reference points. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I signed up for a class titled Renaissance Studies in Italy, but I wasn't really picturing a total art history class. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm definitely enjoying this class and am excited to learn more about art, especially since I don't really know much about art. But at the same time, at least half the people in my class are art/art history majors, so sometimes they'll start talking about techniques behind the art and that's when my mind starts to wander. I find technique fascinating when it's of great historical importance in that it was new or strange in its time period, but beyond that...so, while I am excited to be learning something new, it's not quite what I thought I would be learning.

Italian – the question that everyone seems to be asking is how my Italian is coming along. Well, my only answer for that is that it's coming. Our class is designed to give us the basics of Italian, but because we only have it once a week, if we truly want to get deeper in the subject, we have to do some work on our own. I'm trying to work on talking to the people here in Italian (primarily because contrary to popular belief most of them only speak Italian) and it's slow going, but already it has become strange to hear people speaking English outside the monastery. Yesterday, I almost walked right past my friend on the street because I wasn't listening for him to say “hi” but “ciao.”However, for the most part the people here are very gracious and generous in our attempts to speak Italian, and in our attempt to tell one Italian this, we learned that “generoso” doesn't mean generous but expensive, so they do help us out.

Shopping – you knew this day would come. Yes, we were finally able to go shopping this past week and we definitely had a lot of fun. First off, you should know that we did not come on this trip to go shopping, nor are we shopaholics, but you have to understand our situation. We go to class in the mornings, the prime shopping time for most Italians, and then we have our afternoons free, the time they spend in riposo (or resting). So, all the shops are open when we can't visit them and closed when we could – at times frustrating. Well, two of my friends and I made a deal that we would spend our first Saturday at home as a girls day and we would go shopping, eat pranzo (lunch) wherever we want, and get gelato if we so desired. So we did. And it was so much fun! We visited the outdoor market (where I bought a winter jacket, because apparently it gets cold here, and a skirt for 5 euro) and a bunch of the stores on the main street, ate at a cute little restaurant, and got gelato to eat outside the Duomo. Wonderful.

The weather is starting to turn slightly colder here and it's been raining off and on with bits of sun poking through at points. Perfect weather to make a cappuccino, sit in the sala, and write...or research, which I should probably be doing...