Allora

So, this is the last post of the semester. I have so much to say. But I think I'll let the air take my thoughts. I need to reflect on these amazing four months. I will see most of you soon. I'm leaving early tomorrow morning (Sunday for me, Saturday night for you) and arriving in Philly at about 6:30pm on Sunday. Thank you for the prayers and for keeping up with my time here through these blog posts. Ciao ragazzi.

Sufjan

Today, one of our professors, Bruce Herman, who spent the last month here with us showed us a video he made with small clips of moments he had with us students around the monastery and Orvieto. He had a variety of great music playing along with it. When Sufjan Stevens' "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" came on, one of my favorite moments of this entire trip began. Let me remind you of the first week here, I wrote about playing my guitar under an olive tree in Assisi. I played that song. Bruce didn't know about that. This song started my time in Italy and ended it. Not only was that moving to me, but in that dark room as we watched the video projected on the wall, my peers began singing along and harmonizing with Sufjan. Our voices filled the room.

Passeggiata

Today, I went on a walk through Orvieto with Julia. We found some places we haven't seen yet, and realized that finding new places now doesn't mean much cause we'll be leaving in four days. At one point, we sat down on a bench on the main street and talked about things like babies, adoption, and abortion. During the abortion part of the talk, a man walked by us with a stroller. I turned my head to see a huge-eyed baby with the widest smile laughing directly at me and Julia. It was supernatural. We couldn't help our eyes from tearing up. Things like that are either unexplainable, or simply God.

Da Bolsena a Orvieto

On Saturday night into Sunday morning, I walked with some friends and Italian strangers from Lake Bolsena to Orvieto. We walked from 12am to 5:45am through fields and over mountains under the biggest, most star-filled sky I've ever seen. It's an annual tradition, a pilgrimage in light of the Italian holiday Corpus Domini. It's in remembrance of Saint Dominic. It's exactly one week before the celebration of Corpus Christi, which is a celebration of Christ's body broken for us. Apparently it will be a huge parade all weekend, a beautiful event to end our semester here.

This past week my friends and I started a new thing that we call "slumbo jumbo." Julia has had a single all semester, and the room next to hers has extra mattresses and blankets... so, we drag extra pillows and mattresses to her room and have slumber parties. We had slumbo jumbos four nights in a row, not counting the overnight hike. Last night, I slept next to my friend Karen. She sleep talks a little bit. Last night she said, "No, no thank you. Oh." I wonder what she was dreaming about.

Ciao

It's been quite a while since I updated you guys on the happenings in Italy. I have been bogged with painting and lots of other things going on here, so I apologize for the delay. There's so much I could write about right now and I don't know where to start. Part of me is too exhausted to try. I might save lots of stories for when I get home. I'm still taking pictures, so I'll try to keep posting them. I hope this blog isn't a disappointment. I'll summarize a little bit: since my last post I've visited a few lakes with my Maldovian friends and I went wine tasting with my American friends. Everyone's getting accustomed to the fact that we'll be leaving soon. Times have been slowing down and people are in denial that this is almost over. I have many mixed feelings.

Here are some pictures from the past week or so.


This is Lake Bolsena.


This is just a portion of the vineyard that we visited (Orvieto in the distance).


Here's Orvieto from the vineyard during sunset.


These are some Maldovian friends, Sergio and Vanea. They took us to a different lake (I forget the name) where we cooked our dinner over a fire.


This is Andrea, another Maldovian friend, cooking some sarsages.


Here's Julia lookin fine, Whitney in the background.


And this is Giovanni playing my guitar.

Amalfi Coast

This weekend, almost our entire group went to Amalfi by train and bus. I originally thought that we were going to be staying in Sorrento because that’s what we heard through the grapevine (there were two people that organized the whole trip). Apparently there was some miscommunication, cause we only saw the train station in Sorrento. No complaints, though... the place where we stayed was beautiful.

We spent about 4 hours total on the train and about 1 hour on the bus. We all got up around 5am on Friday morning and stumbled down the monastery stairs out into the dark but gradually brightening morning with birds chirping around us. We watched the sun come up from the train. I’ve never seen the clouds cast shadows upward into the sky. Each cloud had its own shadow-version of itself hovering above it.

Our resort.

The resort where we stayed was on the Amalfi coast and it was ascending a mountain, so the cabins looked like they were all on top of each other from the bottom parking lot. They were bright colors of blue, pink, yellow, and green, which my cabin was pink. We had four cabins all equipped with a kitchen, four or five beds among two rooms, and a bathroom. We felt like we were in our own little neighborhood cause there weren’t many other people staying there (it’s too early in the season). We talked to each other from shutter windows and we all cooked our dinners together. I said it felt like we were playing “house.” We really were.

The beach was a few flights of stairs down the mountain, and on the first day, the sun beckoned us to swim. Unfortunately, I don’t have a bathing suit with me here in Italy, so I just climbed rocks while my friends swam around boulders in the glassy, green-blue water. The one thing I didn’t like much about that beach was that there was no sand what-so-ever. It was covered in rocks from the size of a dime to the size of my fist. It was a bad day to choose to go bare-foot. Ouch. Julia gave me piggy back rides by the end of the day cause my feet felt like open wounds. They’re all better now, though.

We went to bed surprisingly early that night cause we got up so early. But, the next day people were planning to go to either Pompeii, Naples, or Capri (which was a boat tour). I didn’t have enough money to do any of those things, so I was planning on staying put and enjoying the scene there. Sadly, most everyone’s plans for Saturday got cancelled because of rain. It rained on and off the entire day, and there were moments of storminess that took umbrellas out of tables and put them into the trees above our cabins. It was kind of exciting. Half our group went to Pompeii regardless of the rain, but I was part of the half that stayed in Amalfi. I don’t regret it one bit. 

My favorite part of the trip was when a group of us went down to the beach during a rain and wind storm. We climbed some rocks and tried to keep our balance as the wind pushed us around. I found the tallest rock and climbed it. I stood on the top for maybe 20 minutes and watched the waves crash at my feet as the wind blew a thick layer of mist off the top of the waves. It was so powerful, my raincoat became a sail and I yelled at the gray ocean. We acted like children there. We found sticks and held them above our heads while we cursed Poseidon and Poseidon roared back. It was my favorite part of the trip. We watched the gray clouds part into blue skies and we sat under a dock and skipped stones. Then dark clouds swarmed the sky again and it was the same wind all over again, which caused the waves to soak my cuffed jeans all the way up to my waist while I continued to skip stones.

On Sunday, we left a little after 10 to head back to Orvieto, which we are always ready to return to after every trip we go on. We passed through Naples and ate at a restaurant where I had Sorrentine gnocchi. It was serious competition for Mauro’s gnocchi. But, I’ll take the easy way out and say that Naples has the best tomato sauce gnocchi and Orvieto has the best cheese sauce gnocchi.

Anyways, I think that’s enough detail for my weekend. I feel like it’s scatter-brained, but I hope it’s a clear enough picture. Of course, there’s more to say, but I guess I’ll save that for later conversation in person :). 

Sculptures

Flip through this photo album to see the kind of things we're making in plaster.

http://picasaweb.google.com/BruceHParker/2010OrvietoSculptureStudents?feat=email#

And here's a fun little photo my friend Courtney Melanson took of me and Julia during the Super Hero party we had last week.

Gordon Doesn't Mess Around

The professors that Gordon College commissions to teach here in Italy are not picked carelessly. Gordon knows people. Let me explain what I'm trying to say. I'm currently taking a sculpting class, which battled the possibility of me taking a poetry class during this month. I was torn about which class I would choose, but I ended up choosing sculpture because... let's be real, it's my concentration in school. I wish I could have been able to take both. The poetry teacher's name is Paul Mariani. If you google him, the first link you'll see is his biography in Wikipedia. This man writes poetry, as well as biographies of poets. One of his biographies got special attention from James Franco, who ended up calling Professor Mariani and asked if he could make a movie out of it. Yes, James Franco, as in Pineapple Express, Milk, Tristan and Isolde, is making a movie out of one of Paul Mariani's biographies. They're filming it this summer. According to some of my friends who are in the poetry class, every day means another great class. Paul's a great character and I'm so glad to be able to experience even just a little of his presence here (we have lunch and dinner with our professors and their significant others every day, so that's a good time to talk to them). I can't say I regret taking the sculpting class, cause my teacher is great and she has artwork in churches across America, and of course I'm enjoying every minute of sculpting. It's a little less personal than the poetry class, and I feel that I might have benefitted from the poetry class in a different way than the sculpting class, but either way, I'm getting a lot out of it. I just wanted to share with you (or brag) what our teachers are like here in Italy. I can't tell you how many times I've had "How did I get here?" moments. I'm still unsure how I'm here, why I'm here, and what I will bring home with me. But I knew it would be like this. All I have to do is live in it and let God speak when He will.

Here's a picture of my final drawing from a few weeks ago. I know, it's long overdue. I procrastinated a little bit. It's a tall one... 5 large pages taped together. I think it's taller than me. I must say, I have hard feelings toward it.



And here's a little something I did a few nights ago for fun. My friend Paulina painted the watercolor around it. I think it came out beautifully.

Where the Wild Things Are

Look at this photo album to understand the happenings of last night.

Let The Wild Rumpus START!!

Oh, and I would HIGHLY recommend that you watch the movie Where the Wild Things Are if you haven't yet. It is a precious, nostalgic movie about being a kid with a wild imagination. So enjoyable.

Hail Yes

I just spent about an hour working on my final project for my sculpting class. I'm working in plaster on a scene of Jacob wrestling God. Our studio is outdoors with a roof overhead, which I like very much. While I was working, the sky gradually went from bright blue with sharp light everywhere to an ominous gray. I watched the clouds roll in over the hills in the distance. Every now and then, there was a faint hum of thunder. It took its time coming in, and by the time I was ready to call it a day with my sculpture, I thought that the storm was fading away. I walked into the monastery and glanced out the window on the staircase. It was down-pouring. Not only that, but it was hail. I immediately turned around and scurried back down the stairs, then flattened out on my side at the bottom because my flip flops were covered in plaster dust. After regathering myself, I ran straight toward the door to the courtyard and stood out in the hail. Seconds later, some of my friends ran out and joined me. It was beautiful. I'm still drying off from it now. The hail stopped, but the lightening and thunder are still going strong. Let me tell you. The thunder here is deep and hefty. It lingers and shakes the ground. I loooooove it. Another highlight for this Italy trip.

Maldovian, Man

So, yesterday, my friend Whitney got this crazy idea that it would be cool to tell people that I would be holding a concert last night at the cafe we always hang out at. Throughout the day, people would peek their head in my room and say, "Concert tonight???" and I'd stare blankly at them. Eventually, I caught on that lies were being spread, so I'd say, "Nooo, noo, no, don't listen to Whitney." When dinner came around, I went to a pizzeria called Charlie's with Whitney, Julia, and my other friend Katie. I had my favorite pizza, Ghiotta, and then we split a Nutella pizza for dessert. I would have been thoroughly pleased to call that a night. But, we decided to stop by La Locanda Del Lupo, where we normally eat, to see our other friends. Mauro, our cook, happened to be hosting a karaoke night. Many people sang (including Julia, of course), had flowers thrown at them by Italian customers who were dining nearby, and we had plenty of good laughs. At this point, I would definitely have been thoroughly pleased to call it a night. But, after the karaoke, after 10:00, we decided to stop at the infamous Cafe del Corso for a little internet time. Almost everyone from our program followed us there. Sitting in the cafe, my friends waited with expectance on their faces. They had all come to hear me play my guitar. Julia bought me some Amaretto, and Whitney ran back to get my guitar from the monastery. There was no avoiding it. I was going to play my guitar whether I liked it or not.

When Whitney arrived with my guitar, my friends waited like dogs do at a dinner table for me to get off my laptop and start playing. I tried to stall a bit, but I knew I couldn't let them wait much longer. We took my guitar outside and, thankfully, the Amaretto started to take affect and slowly dissolve my shyness. Yadda yadda, I played music, people sang along to songs they new, it was a great time. Some of my friends looked up songs online for me to play and one after another, would place their laptop in front of me for me to read the music. It was unforgettable. Meanwhile, a group of Maldovian guys were sitting behind me listening. There was one guy in particular who seemed interested and he clapped and said "Brava!" after each song. We found out that his name is Giovanni. Someone nudged me and said that he plays guitar too, so I offered him my guitar, and he accepted. He played three or four songs and I was completely taken in to the moment. I will never forget it. He had a raspy voice, like Deer Tick, or Glen Hansard, and he spoke no English. It was a beautiful sight to see my guitar in his hands while he sang his songs. Praise God, Julia took video of it. If I can show you somehow, I would be so happy to share it with you. Rumor has it that he has a YouTube page, but I have yet to find out what that is. I just want you to hear this guy! It was incredible. Music has a way with me. So last night was one I will certainly remember for a long time.

Civita

Yesterday, I went to Civita di Bagnoregio. It’s a very old town on a plateau like Orvieto, but much smaller. There are no cars allowed in Civita because it’s slowly falling apart. Buildings have crumbled off the sides of the cliffs over the years and it’s nearly abandoned. I was surprised to see restaurants in business there, but it’s understandable cause tourists do have to eat. Very few people actually live there, and we arrived around 9:30am, so it was vacant. We practically had the place to ourselves.


View of Civita.

I travelled there by bus with four other girls from my group, and we walked from the neighboring town over a bridge into the old city. As I saw Civita from a distance, a mewithoutYou quote popped into my head and I became overly giddy. I even said it out loud to my friends: “I saw a mountain, I saw a city, steadily sinking but suspiciously calm. It wasn’t an end, it wasn’t a beginning, but a ceaseless stumbling on.”

In Civita, we weaved around buildings that looked like they were made from red clay, and we peaked inside old sheds full of rusty equipment from who knows how long ago. We rounded the city at least once and by the time we were ready for lunch, the sun was beating through the clouds, forcing us to take our coats off. Every Italian city has a main piazza, which are usually huge and laid out in the stone that characterizes its city. Civita’s piazza was very small and only made of dirt. The five of us found a wall to sit on or lean against, and we took about an hour long nap right in the piazza. It was beautiful. Afterward, we had lunch in a restaurant that served gnocchi (which I ordered, of course) and tiramisu. We ate under a canopy of grapevines and drank the local wine. It was beautiful.

Throughout our stay, it had been sunny and then raining very lightly on and off. On our way back to the bridge from Civita to the next town, we heard thunder. I ran and hugged Julia cause we had both been waiting for a thunderstorm... we love them. Over the bridge, half of the sky was dark with rain clouds, and the other half of the sky was bright blue and white. Within the next half hour, we saw a rainbow. Could our day trip get any better?


View from Civita.

We got back to Orvieto in time for dinner, where we ate with our new professors for the next month of class. There is a poetry teacher and a sculpting teacher with their spouses living in the monastery with us now. I’ll be taking the sculpting class starting tomorrow. Anyway, the professors are all in their late 50s and 60s and they were jet lagged, so they asked if they were allowed to have wine at the dinner table. Gordon’s policy is that we can’t have wine at La Locando del Lupo where we always eat, because some of the participating schools don’t allow drinking at all. We can drink elsewhere. But we told the professors that it would be okay for them to have wine if they bought it. They gladly agreed to that. By the end of the dinner (which went overtime) all four of our new floor mates were tipsy and having the time of their lives. It was hilarious. At one point, I asked the professor next to me to pass a pitcher of water, and I startled him. He said, “Wow, we’re so rude, we’re blocking the students out of our conversation! Sure, here’s the water.” And then they forgot about us again. So funny. All of them were so nice and personable. They seem like great people. I’m looking forward to getting to know them, especially my sculpting teacher. I can’t wait to work in 3D!

P.S.- More pictures from my stay in Italy can be found progressively here.

Conte Crayon

I just finished my drawing class, which owned my soul the past four days. I've been drawing like a crazy person, along with the rest of my classmates, and there is dust from our conte crayons everywhere. My laptop currently has about 11 full black fingerprints, and today when I took a shower, I found conte crayon in my ear. I'll be posting pictures of my final project soon. Speaking of pictures, I've noticed that the pictures I post on my blogs come and go randomly. I'm not quite sure how to fix that problem. I wish they'd be visible all the time, but maybe I'll figure something out. I hope you're all able to see some of these photos I've been sharing.

My final project is probably as tall as the floor up to my collar bone. It took a lot of muscle and a lot of fighting with the conte crayon. It was beautiful being able to draw on site, outside in Orvieto. Lots of Italian passersby would stop and watch, and leave me with a "Bellisimo!" or "Complimente!" Sometimes American families would walk by, thinking I was Italian, and say "Ciao," as their little kids looked on my drawing with beaming smiles. I think my favorite were the middle-aged men that would drive by and slow their car down to look and say "Bello" with a cigarette in their teeth. One guy that was walking by said something, and I thought to myself "that sounded a lot like English" so I turned around and said, "Che?" and he walked over and pointed at one of the windows and said "That is my home." I loved it. There were ups and downs of course. There was one SUV speeding down the road I was on and neither of us had enough time to react to their reckless driving, so the car swerved and hit some trashcans. The woman in the passenger seat hopped out and angrily pointed at my drawing while clucking some angry sounding words. I wasn't too upset, though, it was obviously their fault. Another downer: I sat near a spot where pigeons liked to poop. Every now and then, the wind would gently tumble dried, poop crumbs onto my paper. Oh, and a pigeon left me a fresh one as a surprise. It missed my shoulder by a hair... and added color to my black and white drawing. I think I covered it up pretty well, though. While I might not be completely satisfied with the outcome of my final drawing, I am confident that I tried new things that my professor taught me and it was a good learning experience. There is going to be a party later today celebrating our finished drawings, where I'm sure pictures will be taken. I want to show you some of my classmates' pictures as well as mine, so keep an eye out for them!

Gimme some of that Top Cheese!

At La Locando del Lupo (the place where we eat lunch and dinner everyday), lunches are the big meals with two courses and dinners are usually just one course. The first course at lunch is usually pasta and the second is some sort of meat and veggie combo. The pasta is always christened with a layer of grated cheese. Julia and I happen to be the cheese lovers of the group so whenever the waiters bring sliced cheese, grated cheese, pasta with cheese sauce, or anything else involving cheese, everyone turns their head to either me or Julia and raises their eyebrows. When the pasta with grated cheese is being dished out for everyone, Julia and I say, "Can I have some of that top cheese?" By now, everyone knows to save some 'top cheese' for us.

While we're on the topic of food, I guess I have told a lot of people here about gnocchi. Over the past month or so, I've ranted about how delicious it is and that if people go out to restaurants and see gnocchi on the menu, they should get it. I've had people come to me with their testimonies of their first experiences with gnocchi, all very good stories. Unfortunately, I had only had one dish of gnocchi myself a long time ago at a restaurant... until last night. La Locando del Lupo served us gnocchi with THICK, steaming cheese sauce (something I'd never had before with gnocchi). When it was brought out, I happened to be at the head of the table, and everyone turned their head to me. They knew. I took a few deep breaths, stood up, walked around a little, shook my hands, and sat back down. I ate that bowl of gnocchi slow. Real slow. The cheese was so strong and so thick... I wanted it forever. Afterward, I laughed, "I almost cried over that gnocchi!" The girl sitting next to me said, "You did cry. Your eyes were red and watering."

So there it is. I cried over a bowl of gnocchi.

Okay, so to sum up what we did for Easter. It was somewhat of a weekend-long celebration, starting with Good Friday. Almost all of Orvieto was involved in a walk through the town where there were stations that represented the stations of the cross. Everyone had candles and it was pretty beautiful. The next day was a perfect day for a party, with crafts (like dying eggs) for the little kids of the friends of the Orvieto of program. We students planted eggs and candy out in the court yard of the monastery for the kids to find. It was precious watching the little kids joyfully run to their chocolates.

On Easter day, it was dark, cold, and rainy. Julia and I went to a service at the Duomo, which was packed with Orvieto people and tourists. That was pretty much the only Eastery thing we did on Easter, but later in the day we went to a small indoor chocolate festival where we could see how a giant chocolate egg is made. There was art there made of chocolate. Meaning, there were canvases painted with colored chocolates. They were real paintings. Real chocolate. And there was a man making sculptures out of chocolate. It was close to being Willy Wonka's chocolate factory in there. I wish it was my house.

Anyways, I guess that's all I can update you with. I've been really busy with drawing the past two weeks. Drawing homework has become my life, but I'm not complaining. For the first time in a long, long time, I feel like I'm doing something with my life. What's there to complain about?

My Drawings are Drawing Me

Sorry for the long gap between blog posts, guys! Drawing class is kicking my butt, and I love it. I have lots to write about, so be expecting a nice post soon. I'll have plenty of time over the weekend to fill you all in with the Easterly events over the past weekend, plus some fun stories, possibly.

Roma-ma

I promised a nice long post about my weekend in Rome, so here it is. Okay, if it's not a long one, it's cause I'm tired. But based on what I have in mind to write about, I'm sure it will be a decent length.

So, on Day 1, we all woke up in the early hours (talkin 5ish here) on Thursday morning to catch our train to Rome. As zombies, we dragged our bags around town following our guide, Matt Doll. He is an incredibly intelligent person. His mind is full of so much information for the art which we've been seeing and talking about during this semester. His passion burns for it so much that it's impossible to be irritated or bored when he rants on and on about art history. So, while we were tired, we followed Matt like little ducklings and listened to a few lectures before he brought us to our hostel rooms. I don't want to brag here, but I don't want to be discrete either. I shared a room with 6 girls and we had a balcony that overlooked the Pantheon. There's a small piazza in front of the Pantheon, and we were directly above it looking down at crowds of people. We could hear live music and the flow of the center fountain perfectly, among many languages and conversations. I seriously don't know how I got to be so spoiled. I am grateful to be here, and so grateful for the people who made it possible for me to be here.

The weekend consisted of lots and lots of walking. This means I know my way around Rome a little. I feel important now. I have to say that it is EXTREMELY refreshing to move on from learning about frescos from the Renaissance onto paintings from the Baroque period. Baroque is way up my ally. I think I've fallen in love with Bernini and Caravaggio. There was a whole museum full of Caravaggio's paintings and just about every painting had my attention, some more than others. To see a fresco after that exhibit made me chuckle a little. I think I hate frescos. I've seen too, too many. But maybe we just need some time off. I might like frescos again someday. Matt asked us to do some sort of writing response for one of Caravaggio's paintings in the museum. I chose to write a poem about "Cattura di Cristo" (The Taking of Christ). I'll post my poem below with a picture of the painting. Julia happens to be a big fan of Caravaggio, and she happened to turn 21 this past weekend. What a wonderful birthday... in Rome... seeing one of her favorite artists' work. Amazing.

Yesterday we went to the Vatican. The inside is nothing like I ever expected. It is huge, it is marble ALL over. It is beautiful. The most beautiful thing inside the Vatican, by far, is the Pieta. Sarah took a picture of it when she was here last year. It's funny to think I stood where she stood almost exactly one year later. I must say, the Pieta moved me. I stared at it for a long time. I didn't want to look away.

Okay, we did so much over the weekend, but I feel like I've summed it up enough. If anything else comes to mind, I'll be sure to add it to this post. But at this point, my brain's a little fried. These excursions usually involve way too much information to retain, so it takes a few days to refresh my mind. But, all in all, I woke up in Rome today. That's pretty stinkin cool.

------------

The Taking of Christ

should a kiss ever be
associated with pain?
You calmly pull away.
the time was coming,
and You knew it was near,
for this dark and dreadful day.
in his face, there’s no regret
it’s still as the sea
when the skies don’t speak.
his eyes search for Yours
but You’re somewhere else
he slightly kisses your cheek.
the sounds of the soldiers
and yells of your brothers
crowd together and smother
Your shaken soul.
Christ, are you afraid?
would You rather it be another?
it’s time to give Yourself whole.
the light on Your face
doesn’t reveal contentment.
the lines on Your face
show fragility and fear.
Heavenly God, draw near
to Your Son
before He becomes
our sin.

Turtles

Matt Doll's son's were each given a turtle this past weekend. Ronan (about 4 years old) named his Spaceship, and Silas (about 6 years old) named his African Wild West. That's all I have to post about today. I'll probably have a nice, long post after this weekend. I'll be in Rome from early Thursday til Sunday afternoon. Psyched!

Renaissance Art History class is now History!

I just finished all my work due for my first class of this first month in Orvieto. I feel like a kite tied to a tree on the edge of a cliff on a sunny day. I hope you understand. This class was a little intense. My brain is fried. Now all I have to look forward to for the next three months is making art till my hands are aching. I am so excited for it! Today has been so liberating and relaxing knowing that I have no pressure to do anything. Plus, there's a festival going on in Orvieto tonight. I'm not really sure what it's for, but I do know that I'ma gonna be having a good time. Me, Julia, and Whitney have plans to go to a bar and listen to some live music. I've only heard live music twice for this whole first month we've been here! That's not enough! I love live music, so I'm looking forward to it.

I decided that I would make this post my first photo blog of this trip. I don't have a working camera right now, but I do have friends! So, I stole some pictures from people, just so you have something to look at. I know from experience that looking at pictures doesn't do a whole lot compared to actually being the one holding the camera. But I just hope it does enough to draw out for you guys at least a little of what I've been surrounded with for the past month. I hope to keep showing you pictures in the future, maybe even with my own photographs.

This is Orvieto from a train. (by Julia Ham)

This is just my boring backyard. By boring, I mean the exact opposite. (by Julia Ham)

This is me with a flower in my ear, standing in the court yard of a Florentine monastery. (by Julieta Morales)

This is a view of Florence from Michelangelo's palace. No big deal. (by Julieta Morales)

Here are some of the people I live with. This was taken in Rome (The Colosseum is on the right) on the first weekend of the trip. It's weird to think how fast time passed and how I hardly knew these people when this photo was taken. (by Sean VandenBrink)

This one's for Sarah. I know it'll bring back some nostalgic feelings. 

This is the place where we eat lunch and dinner every day. La Locanda del Lupo. I know for a fact that I am going to miss this place and the people that serve us when this trip is over. I can already feel it in my chest. (by Sean VandenBrink)

P.S. - A copy of my sketch of David can now be found below.

Firenze e Arezzo

That means "Florence and Arezzo." That'll be why I haven't been present on the internets since Thursday. On Friday morning, our group took a train to Florence and spent the weekend there. I wish I could tell you exactly how many miles we walked, and how many hours we spent listening to Professor Skillen preach about the history of the countless frescoes we viewed. I might go as far to say that the educational part of the trip (which was 90% of the trip) was painful. By this morning, I thought if I had to look at another fresco, I might punch it. Thankfully, though, we started the day out by visiting a museum full of sculptures, so I was in a good mood by the time was saw the next frescoes. There's something about sculptures that captures me. I feel very connected to the 3D-ness, knowing that the artists wrapped their hands and practically their whole bodies around large chunks of stone to form an image with patience and precision. Let me not get carried away describing how much I love sculpting. I'll just start talking about when a few of my friends and I went to see the famous David sculpture by Michelangelo in our free time.

We had just walked around Florence for probably 6 hours and we were exhausted to the bone, but it was our one chance to wander off and see the masterpiece. When I got inside the museum, there were all kinds of sculptures lining the walls and hallways, with people everywhere. All I wanted to do was find David, I didn't care about anything else. No sculpture or painting would call my attention, my mission was David. So, I began walking, and started thinking to myself, "I am going to have to weave around people and artworks for like 20 minutes before I find him." I tried to follow the flow of people, assuming they were going toward the young hero. I turned a right turn around a corner and skimmed over sculptures and there, at the end of the hallway, standing tall with that sling over his shoulder, with a soft beam of light surrounding him, David took me completely off-guard. I literally jumped and stepped backward. He was much taller than I ever thought, and so much more peaceful than in photographs. He was beautiful. My friend Abby suggested we sit down and draw him, so with the little time that we had, I tried to sketch him in pen. I only got the upper right side of his body and some of his face. Here's a picture of my sketch:

Anyways, the weekend trip was mostly in Florence, and it was definitely memorable. We stayed in an old hostel. I ordered my first plate of real Italian gnocchi and it was oh, so delicious. Before I took my first bite, I said, "This is for you, grandmom!" Some other things that happened this weekend: I ate the biggest cone of gelato ever and then dreamed all night that I kept farting in public and couldn't stop, I got the BEST back massage of my entire life from my new friend Karen, I saw two pugs together and got sad cause I thought of the Stanley pugs (Daisy and Peaches), I soaked up some sun in the Piazza Grande in Arezzo (where "Life is Beautiful" was filmed), I accidentally scratched my aviator lenses on a stupid pillar, and I watched the sun set over Florence while standing on the stairs of a palace that Michelangelo designed.

So, this morning, I woke up in Florence. Our group stopped in Arezzo for a few hours before we went back to Orvieto. I think that I liked Arezzo much better than Florence. I wish we could have spent a night there, instead of only a few hours. But, I suppose I can always take my own weekend trip there. I think I will. It's a lot quieter (less touristy) and the town is more cozy.

Well, that's my weekend in a nutshell (trust me, a nutshell).

O Little Town of Orvieto

Today is a big day for the small town of Orvieto. It's snowing pretty heavily, and it's very rare for it to snow at all here. Though, to us, it isn't much snow, schools are called off and the electricity is struggling here and there. I've seen the lights flicker probably 5 times in the past hour. I just thought I'd share this interesting news. This is something to remember.

GLORY HALLELUJAH

THE POLICE FOUND LAURA'S BAGS. I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!! (referring to the Bob Dylan post)

The bad news is that the laptop is gone for good, but Laura is relieved that her printed thesis is now back in her possession. This is a HUGE answer to prayers. Apparently someone found her bags on the side of the road somewhere and reported it. Amazing!

Sleeping Torpor

Even though classes have started, my friends and I are trying to soak up the free time as much as possible. Our RA even told us that we’re going to miss the relaxation time once we’re a few weeks in, cause that’s when we really have to start acting like students. So, we’re taking her advice. Before we start writing our papers and “putting our thinking caps on,” we’re just going to be a lazy as possible. We go to cafes and bars a lot (cappuccinos are cheap!). Sometimes we take naps by windows with sunlight blanketing us like cats. Occasionally we have mini dance parties in Julia’s room. We recorded a few videos. You can’t see them. From time to time, a nice walk through the town is refreshing. It’s been a nice week of classes so far. I’m not so sure how focused I’ll be once I realize it’s time to write a paper. But, I’m sure I’ll be fine. I just really, really cannot wait until it’s time to draw, draw, draw, and sculpt, and paint. That all comes after this stinkin Renaissance Art class is over (three weeks). I can do it! This class isn’t that bad. It’s just the fat paper I have hanging over my head that I’m dreading. There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven; a time for writing papers, and a time for not doing that at all.

Bob Dylan is playing in the background

Today is one day out of few this far in the program where we have freedom to do whatever we want. Guess where I am. Caffe del Corso. Pathetic? A little. BUT I think I started out the day right. Julia and I went on our first run here in Orvieto. It was chilly, but so nice to weave around people and their dogs and look over the cliff at the large quilt of grass below us. Some blocks have rows of olive trees, some have clusters of bushes, some are just green, some have houses, some have towns, and cars are crawling around them like ants. After our much needed run (which I hope we can get the habit of doing daily) we went to a market and bought dried strawberries and dates. It's been a fresh, cool-aired day. Relaxing so far. There was one point within the last hour that wasn't exactly relaxing when Julia and I sat down on a bench to soak in the sun a little, and a group of Italian high school boys stopped and came over saying, "Can we take picture? You English? American, yes? I love you." Fun times.

Yesterday we travelled to Sienna to see some famous frescos in monasteries and museums. The day was kind of set on a bad note after the first stop, because we parked our vans on a mountain and walked a distance to a monastery and then walked back to find that someone broke a window on one of the vans. Laura, a girl from Orvieto who helps out with the program, had her purse stolen with all of her identification, along with her new Macbook which had her thesis on it. Her thesis is the reason she has been a little distant from our group, cause it obviously requires a lot of time. She didn't have her thesis backed up. It was devastating. A lot of us were in a strange fog for the rest of the day cause we kept thinking about it. I'm sure it would do her good if we all prayed for her. Poor girl.

Well, my plans for the rest of the day are up in the air, but if I do anything super exciting, you'll hear about it. I miss all you people back in the States.

Ja Rule

Last night I had a dream that I had to reconcile with Ja Rule because I accidentally killed his dad in a car accident. I walked up to him and his 'gang' and apologized, and he was like, "Naw, it's cool, it's ok." And I was like, "No, it's not ok" and I grabbed him and hugged him and we wept.

I don't understand dreams.

In other news, nothing real exciting has gone on in a while. We've just been getting accustomed to the class hours and such the past two days. I'm getting to know these people here pretty well and I feel like I'm getting cozy. This experience will be one to linger in my mind for years, I'm sure. I wish everyone could experience this.

By the way, everyone wish Ian Stanley a happy 24th birthday today!

Porcupine Tree

Today was the first day of class. We're learning about Renaissance art every Monday through Thursday, 3 hours a day for three weeks. I think I'm going to enjoy this class, just based on how today went. Dr. Skillen might feed us all kinds of information and fry our brains, but at least it's about something I'm interested in. And I have one question. Why are we so afraid to talk about Mary??? He talked a little about this in class, and I've been wondering this ever since Gordon had the art exhibit entitled Magnificat. Why do we (Protestants) beat around the bush about the woman who bore our Savior? God had to have chosen her for a reason, and why do we often sweep that under the carpet? Appreciation and respect don't have to turn into worship, if that's what we're afraid of. Think of Mary's song. Just read it. It's in Luke 1:46-55. I'll stop here before I try to type out my jumbled thoughts and then say something I'm not exactly sure I believe in, but I hope this provokes some thought for you like it does for me. I believe that there's no reason for us to hide Mary from Bible lessons in church or in our artistic expressions. She's an important model of a Christian if God chose her to carry, bear, and nurture His own flesh.

Okay, moving on. I titled this post "Porcupine Tree" because I heard it playing in this cafe that I'm currently sitting in - Caffe del Corso. I heard it last night while a group of us celebrated our friend Sean's 21st birthday. After making a fool of myself trying to order "Orvieto Vino Bianco Classico," I said to the guy behind the counter, "Musica... ehh, Porcupine Tree?" and then we were friends. He smiled and said, "You like?" I was like "Si, si!" even though I don't know them that well. I have to work on my Italian.

The past few days have consisted of important meetings/walks around town, lunch, and then me, Julia, and Whitney getting gelato, and then chilling out in the grass by the Duomo (the Orvieto Cathedral). One night, Julia and I sat in the sala (the main lounge for the students) by ourselves singing through the whole Fleet Foxes album til 12am. Life in Italy is splendid. But we need to cut back on the gelato a little. Can't do this everyday, heh heh.

By the way, I'm so addicted to Beach House right now. I preach about this band to people daily. Teen Dream might be the album that brings me back to Italy when this time has come and gone.

San Francesco di Assisi

Yesterday, we went to Assisi for the whole day. We did tons of walking and viewing of art, monasteries, churches, convents, hermitages, and more. It was exhausting and I don't know if I can sit down and remember every single little thing we did and saw, but it was probably my favorite trip so far here in Italy. It was so quiet and therapeutic to me. I was very interested in what I learned about Saint Francis, even though I'm not exactly sure how to apply it to myself. I like to have these things that cause me to reflect on my own beliefs and determine where they fit in and how I respond to them. Many Catholics see Saint Francis as another Christ. It's a long, long story, but I can understand the comparison. I still have many questions about it, but I know that I don't need to know and I know what I believe. I bought a rosary in Assisi as a way of remembering the experience and out of respect for the deep devotion Saint Francis had to God. It's an amazing story. I couldn't help but think of the songs "The Prayer of Saint Francis" and Denison Witmer's "Little Flowers" all day. I didn't realize that his song was about Saint Francis until I heard the stories, and I get really giddy when I make connections like that. I'm planning on showing the song to Matt Doll (our director) because I know he'd like the connection, too.

My favorite part of the day was toward the beginning, when our group sat under olive trees in an olive grove right outside Saint Francis' convent. We were on a slope and we could see surrounding cities and cars in the perfect sunlight. I played two songs on my guitar after our friend Alessandro played two songs on his. Alessandro is our Italian teacher for the semester and I had the privilege of eating at his house with three other students on Friday night. His sons were stinking adorable (one was 2 and the other 4) and they're way smarter than me. We tried to talk to them in Italian. The looks on their faces when we spoke slow and with terrible pronunciation were humbling. But it was so nice to sit and talk and practice Italian with Alessandro's family. I'm amazed at how fast I am learning it. It would be so different if I was still in America and taking classes to learn it, cause I'm here in the middle of an Italian-speaking town. I hear it all the time and I can understand a lot of it already. It's the speaking part that I still haven't gotten down yet. But I have 4 months to learn. Alessandro and I are like best friends now that he knows I play guitar. Yesterday, after lunch, I had crumbs on my jacket (cause I'm a slob) and Alessandro wiped the crumbs off my coat. It was heart-warming.

By the way, I accidentally left a guitar pick under an olive tree in Assisi. There's a part of me still there. :)

Riposo

In the small town of Orvieto, which is an elevated piece of land surrounded by cliffs, the people like to take a few hours of rest during the day. This time is called "Riposo." All shops and businesses are closed and people go home to eat lunch with their families and relax. Today, our group had a chance to travel around and see more landmarks and famous artwork... if we wanted to. You see, the past, what, four days?, we've been traveling a LOT. And seeing a LOT. My two friends and I decided that we'd take it easy today... make it a day of Riposo. I mean, we're going to be here for four months... we can travel around some more later. We went to a small cafe and ordered cappuccinos and pastries. We stayed there for maybe 3 hours. Don't judge. We know we're lazy. Then, we walked around the cobblestone streets of Orvieto for a good amount of time, learning our way around a little. After that, while shops were closing for Riposo, we went back to the monastery and all fell asleep in my friend Julia's room. Don't judge. It's Italian custom! Riposo means rest! We did get to talk about a lot of things and I've been enjoying getting to know these two girls, Julia and Whitney.

Last night I got a little taste of Italian wine. It puts any wine I've ever tasted to shame. It was home-made by the kind people who have been making our meals every day. I rarely find an alcoholic beverage that sits well with me; that I can sit back and enjoy. I just don't like the taste. But. Vino Italiano makes a meal so warm. A girl was sitting next to me who hadn't tasted wine before, and after a few glasses (about an hour later), she leaned over to me with heavy eyes and a huge smile (I don't even think her eyes were completely focused on mine) and she said, "A little vino goes a long way." I crrrrracked up.

Oh, plus, I drank my vino with some Nutella pizza. It was cooked dough blanketed with Nutella. I could have slept inside of it.

Glimpses of Heaven

I went to Rome with the group today. We saw many, many famous landmarks like the Colosseum and the Pantheon. We went to a museum, and sculpture portraits shut me up for a good amount of time. I am just in awe of everything I saw today. Words cannot describe. I am almost glad that I don't have a camera to use right now, cause it gives me an opportunity to just see and admire instead of look through a small box and possibly miss things. Of course, I can't WAIT to take pictures (Sarah! Send me that charger!). I'm itching to. I just think it's good that I don't have that distracting me from really focusing on the ancient art that could easily be overlooked or under-appreciated due to thoughts of "oh, don't forget to take a picture of this," and "don't run into that pole while you're looking through your camera and walking at the same time," or "shoot, my battery is dying." I felt fully present there, and I am so grateful for this opportunity.

Just as an after thought, I think I should talk a little about the food here. I don't think Sarah told me enough about this glorious gift fallen from the sky. Every time the cooks bring the plates out to the table, I feel like I am a groom seeing his bride for the first time (give me a break, I'm using an analogy that I sincerely believe fits). My heart stops and I almost have to fight tears. I don't know why I get emotional about it. Just, the appearance of it tells me I am soon going to be graced with something of which I am unworthy. I try to imagine what it would taste like, and then when I take that first fork-full, my expectations are always out-smarted. This food is the best food I think I'll ever taste in my life. That is all I have to say about that.

Mailing Address

Lydia Nenno
Monastery San Paolo
Via Postieria, 20
05018 Orvieto, (TR)

I was the only student who brought a guitar out of 21. Weeird.

Song of the Day, or the Next Four Months

I don't have much time to write about my day today, but I had a song running through my head a lot while I saw new, beautiful, unreal landscapes.

http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/3530822107858677225/

This is sort of how I feel.

Giorno Uno

I am in Italy. So far, we walked around a small part of Orvieto and saw the beautiful cathedral. We ate at the restaurant where we’ll be having lunch and dinner every day. I already ate a blood orange... something Sarah raved about when she got home from Italy. Boy... that was delicious. Each slice was like biting into a juice box. I am a little bit jet lagged because it is 5:30 PM here... where at home it would be 11:30 AM, and I haven’t gotten a full night’s sleep yet. Walking down these city streets, it’s hard not to feel like it’s all part of a fake Disney World set made to look like Italy. But, we are really here. It is beautiful. The view out my window is amaaazing. I don’t have a fully charged camera yet, so I had to take a picture with my laptop... it didn't come out that great but here 'tis!

No offense to anyone, but there’s one person I miss more than anyone already. That is Kaleb. I spent most of the past 9 months with him. I already have an imaginary Kaleb that I look down at. He swings his right arm when he walks, and he imitates sirens with his eyes squinted and a goofy smile. I miss the peanut.

I know Sarah had a plan to post on her blog with a picture every day that she was in Italy last Spring, but I don’t think I’ll be trying that. I will post often, but not that often. Now, don't go thinking I don't care about everyone at home :). I will share my great moments and colorful pictures with you. I just don't want to get too distracted with "Oh, I have to post today!" when there is a short time frame (an hour and a half) each day when I can catch up with emails and uploading photos and such. I will do my best, though, to keep those interested updated with my journeys and memories-in-the-making in Italy. Thanks so much for all the prayers, I can DEFINITELY feel them working in me. I have been more excited about this than ever and I believe that this is the right time in my life for this experience. After seeing Orvieto, meeting people, and getting to meet and hear stories from Matt Doll (the coordinator), I feel at peace right where I am.

PS - If you want to chat or Skype with me, the time to do it is between 11:00 AM and 12:30 PM your time.

Today

This is the day that I leave! I'll be flying from Philly to Washington DC to Rome. My first flight is at 2:40 PM. The second is at 5:04 PM. I should be arriving in Rome at 1:45 AM your time, 7:45 AM mine. It still feels surreal! Right now it's all just talk, but once I'm on the plane, it's the real thing! This is really happening. Say a prayer for me! I'll be updating once I'm on the other side of the ocean.

Sixteen Days

Welcome. In "Enigma Italia", I plan to blog frequently while I am studying abroad in Orvieto, Italy. As you may know, my twin sister Sarah studied in Orvieto during the Spring semester of last year. I will be staying in the same monastery as she stayed in and I'll be visiting many of captivating landscapes that she boasted about. My departure is in sixteen days and as it gets closer, I get a little more excited, a little more nervous. I know that it will be the time of my life, but it'll be 4 months away from everything familiar. I ask now for your prayers that I won't be discouraged by the changes, but open and willing to see what God has in store for me.

I'll begin blogging soon after I arrive in Italy. Please feel free to comment/email/snail mail me whenever you please! I'll be posting my mailing address on here once my Italian blogging begins.

Arriving in Italy: February 19th, 2010
Leaving Italy: June 13th, 2010