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.