Visiting Friends

Dear readers,

I have this friend named Megan. We go way back.

Silly freshmen.

She's studying abroad in France, and last weekend she came to visit me on one of her many trips across Europe.

On Saturday we went to the market, and she bought some scarves.

Then she refused to take them off.

Later that day we went to Cortona to visit Luisa, who was the TA for our Italian class last semester. She took us to Passignano, a small town on the lake. It was such a beautiful day.

Sadly, the sun and I have a love-hate relationship, so I made sure to put on sunscreen. Oh, the plight of the pale-skinned...

We walked along the shore, and it was so hot that we needed a way to cool off.

Solution: get in the water!

But just to make sure, we got gelato too.




Then Luisa drove us up to Cortona. Yes, you read that right. I actually got to ride in a car through the Tuscan countryside! It was the highlight of my day, and the views were indescribable.

The next day we relaxed and took a walk around Arezzo. We made friends with a cat, and I named him Bernard.

Spring was in the air. And in the ground, and on my mind... We saw flowers, Vespas, church bells. A carousel, and more gelato. We were on the verge of becoming a Julie Andrews musical.

Here's to far-flung fancies, frolicking, and friends. Another Tuscan adventure awaits!

Spring Fest

I love Italian children. Well, when they aren't pelting me with snow. They're actually pretty stinkin' cute, and fun to decorate cookies with, which is what I did Tuesday night.

The Student Advisory Council, of which I am an active member, puts on a community event each semester, involving the whole town of Arezzo. We decided to host "Spring Fest" this semester and set up a mini-carnival at OUA.

Some of the funtivities included face painting, balloon animals, musical chairs, bean bag toss, pin the mustache on the face, and coloring. Folks, I'm not even five years old, and I had a blast.


My station was cookie decorating, which was really fun because there is nothing better than watching a 4-year-old named Alfonzo smear Nutella all over his face. Good times.

Even though the screaming bambini tired me out, Spring Fest was the perfect distraction from all of the schoolwork, study obligations and responsibilities that I have to conquer in the coming days and weeks.



Every once in a while, you just have to be a kid again.

Roman Holiday

Dear Audrey Hepburn,

You were right about Rome. It made me want to steal a Vespa and cut off all my hair, too. 

Love, Me

[ From my travel journal]

Rome: Day 1

The train ride was beautiful. Lush green landscapes were framed by a slate-gray, cloudy sky, and it was just chilly enough and just damp enough to make a nap sound perfect. The rolling hills sliding by reminded me of the road trips we used to take as a family to North Carolina. It would inevitably start raining while we were driving through the mountains, and that view from the backseat echoed in my thoughts as I sat on the train gazing out.

Once there, we decided to walk to the Coliseum, because we couldn't wait to get a taste of Rome. We literally stood in awe of its magnificence. I can't describe how beautiful it looked all lit up and looming over the skyline. Elisandra even cried, but you didn't hear it from me. In front of this huge, ancient amphitheater, we talked about our impressions of the city so far. Then we took a stroll around the crumbling structure, taking pictures and mental notes. We all became a little nostalgic, missing home and the people we couldn't share this amazing moment with.

On the way back to our hostel, we had a conversation about our careers and the future and growing up. The idea of adulthood, while noticeable on the horizon, still seems so foreign in the midst of the adventures of college life. Fortunately, growing up doesn't have to mean never having fun, and I'm excited to pursue something I'm really passionate about.

Rome is already changing me.

Rome: Day 2

Buon giorno, bella città! The day started off much too early, but with a promise of caffeine, so all was forgiven. The sky threatened rain, and thunder murmured in agreement.

First goal: get inside the Coliseum. Indecisive at first, we finally chose a line and stood in it. That seems to be a unique trait among Americans: when we see a line, we assume those people must know what they're doing and immediately decide to follow suit.

Success! Our first view inside the ancient gladiator dwelling was magnificent. My sense of emotion/amazement stemmed from several things: 

• I was standing in one of the most well-known historic landmarks in the world (which will do wonders for one's sense of life accomplishment, I assure you)
• The beauty of the ruins could've rated it the 8th Wonder of the World, and
• I was sharing the moment with two of the sweetest girls I've met.

It was truly a blessing to experience Rome with Elisandra. She was as bright-eyed and mystified as I was, and more so. For instance, she got emotional at the Coliseum, and told us that Rome was the reason she had worked so hard in physical therapy, that the Coliseum had been her motivation for months as she dreamed of one day being able to climb up its steps with a healed knee. "Jesus, thank you so much!" she cried ecstatically. Such a moving story, and I had the awesome opportunity to share in its happy ending.

Piazza Navona

The rest of the day played out very much like a Hollywood film: long walks through narrow streets, acknowledged silences at famous landmarks, picking flowers on an afternoon stroll, getting caught in the rain! Weather played a prominent role in our tour of the City of Seven Hills, as constantly changing as our philosophic moods.

My favorite part of the day had to be the lunch we ate in Trastevere, one of the quaintest neighborhoods in Rome with cafes and pastry shops filling the piazzas. It was at one of these that I dined on the best margherita pizza I've ever had. Not an exaggeration. We sat outside under a covered portico, watching the rain come and go and talking about everything and nothing. 

Mouth of Truth

I feel as if I relived the Roman Holiday of 1953, meandering in the same steps as Audrey Hepburn. I didn't meet Gregory Peck, and I won't be returning to a palace to fulfill my royal duty, but she and I have shared something, something to be cherished for many years to come.

A beautiful, peaceful, spontaneous, unforgettable, life altering yet completely and simply satisfying day. But I really couldn't describe it to you...

Trevi Fountain

Rome: Day 3

As I write this, Mac is humming "Moon River" as we rest from the day's activities, which is rather a perfect theme for this weekend. Something about Rome makes me relax and walk a little slower, taking time to look and smell and taste. Rome was a wish come true, and just like a falling star, I'll put the memory in my pocket and save it for a rainy day. (Too cheesy? Sorry. I can't help it.)

St. Peter's Basilica greeted us this morning. The stone sparkled in the sun, and we were happy to be alive. Walking into the cavernous sanctuary seemed to shrink us in size; miniature tourists dotted the scene. 

Each ceiling was more beautiful than the last. How is that possible?! My neck started to ache from staring up at man's rendition of the heavens. I thought I'd be too distracted by the flock of tourists and too saddened by the overwhelming superficiality of their flashing cameras to have a moment of worship and adoration for the Son of God. 

But then I saw Michelangelo's Pieta. 

Christ's body was just so lifeless in his mother's arms. His death was so real in that depicted moment as a sacrificial lamb. So hopeless in death... yet so glorious in resurrection. Mary's peaceful face as she holds her son - well, it's all beyond comprehension. The image was so evocative, mindful of future glory even in its tragic present.

Thank you, Jesus.

We also experienced the Sistine Chapel, which led to some interesting discussions about what makes something beautiful. Would you recognize beauty without someone telling you it's beautiful? Good stuff.

Our last night in Rome, there was a festival going on to celebrate the founding of the city. This meant everywhere was more crowded than usual, but it also meant that we got to see fireworks and be part of the celebration. To top it off, on the way to the Spanish Steps, we drove by the red carpet premiere of "The Avengers"! We went back and talked to one of the security guys, who confirmed it. We had been within feet (or should I say meters since I'm in Europe?) of Scarlett Johansson and Chris Hemsworth.

Where the premiere for "The Avengers" was!

Ah yes, it's been the perfect Roman Holiday.

"Two drifters, off to see the world. 

There's such a lot of world to see.

We're after the same rainbow's end, waitin' round the bend,

My huckleberry friend, moon river and me." 

 

 

 

Opera: That Classy Italian Thing Where People Sing

Last weekend we went to an opera in Florence called "The Marriage of Figaro."


(I know what you're thinking, but the song with the line  "Figaro Figaro Fiiiiiiiiigaro" is actually from a different opera called "The Barber of Seville." Fun fact.)



Everyone got dressed up, looking fine and fancy... and then we trudged out in the rain. I'm hoping that April showers do, in fact, bring May flowers, or this is just ridiculous. However, it made the night adventuresome, and I got a dark, cloudy picture of the Ponte Vecchio.

Nice and mysterious, right? I do love dusk, even on a rainy day.

The opera was performed at St. Mark's English Church, although the opera itself was in the original Italian. Seated "in the round," I felt a little like Jane Austen in this movie clip. It was all I could do not to clasp my hands together and close my eyes, swept away by many a romantic notion.



"The Marriage of Figaro" tells the story of Figaro and Susanna, who are getting married, but the master of the house is trying to woo Susanna and the mistress of the house is being wooed by another servant. Deception and trickery lead to outlandish schemes to foil the schemes of others, and hilarity ensues. At one point, two people are hiding in bushes and another has jumped out of a window.

Figaro

All of the performers were wonderful. There are only 5 characters in this opera, which further proves the talent of these people. That's a lot of lyrics to remember...

The train ride home was fun as well. We almost didn't make it, because the last train out of Florence leaves at 11:15 and the opera was supposed to end at 10:45 at the earliest. Fortunately, the director of the production did everything in his power to finish on time and we made it to the train station.

On the way home we played all of those games you learn in middle school that require newcomers to guess the rules before they can play. You know the ones: Snaps, Green Glass Doors, Black Magic, Triangles... They kept us entertained all the way back to Arezzo.

Ah, adolescence, that time in your life when you learn the majority of the useless information that you never forget.

Heading to Rome for the weekend... buon fine settimana!

Italy's Got Talent

Ciao i miei amici,

I didn't talk much about the Board of Visitors when they came two weeks ago to tour OUA's facilities, but suffice it to say we had a really great time showing them around Arezzo and eating out at many fantastic restaurants.

At the last of these dinners, we had an impromptu talent show. Right in the middle of the restaurant. We finally convinced Marta, an Italian who works with us at OUA, to sing for us, because she is part of a jazz quartet in Arezzo and we were eager to hear her lovely voice.

You might recognize the song.

Buona Pasqua!

Happy Easter everyone!

This past weekend has been the perfect blend of rainy day laziness, quiet reflection, and Tuscan adventure. While one of my roommates, Mac, went to Ireland and Scotland (and came back sick), Lindsay and I stayed home and relaxed.

There's a kind of unspoken bond between people who sit around and do nothing together. A mutual attitude of inactivity that is justified by the presence of another. Never has sleeping in and lounging about felt so right.

The rain kept me inside on Good Friday. The weather seemed appropriate to the holiday, though, as if the earth itself was mourning the death of our Savior. When I think about it, rain seems to be a semi-adequate metaphor for the events of Good Friday: rain darkens the sky and brings cold and gloom for the length of its duration, but it also brings life and refreshes the parched land.

I love rain.

On Sunday I went to the Stephensons' as usual, and stayed there for the afternoon because it was pouring outside. I learned how to play Settlers of Catan, a board game I frequently glimpsed in the Honors dorm last year. It was a lot of fun!

That evening I walked up to the duomo and stood in for a mass. I literally had to stand because the church was so full of people. Even though I didn't understand over half of what the priest said, it was a nice time for reflection, prayer, and worship.

Today Amanda and I went to Cortona, a little hill town where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed. It was a gorgeous day in a gorgeous town. Medieval in appearance and atmosphere with a smidgen of modern life thrown into the mix, Cortona left me smiling and sentimental.

Writing a message to a friend enabled me to make sense of the thoughts fluttering through my mind. I wasn't necessarily nostalgic or homesick, but I had a melancholic rumination. Hm, big words don't seem to explain it very well. Let's try clichés instead.

Life is what you make it. To use a quote from Under the Tuscan Sun,

"What are four walls, anyway? They are what they contain. The house protects the dreamer..."

Italy will always be great, and I hope that I am getting the most out of my experience here, but the most important thing is getting the most out of my experience anywhere. Whether you live in Oklahoma or Italy, life is sweet. Life is worth making the most of opportunities and finding adventure. Contentment is more valuable than seeing the world, because being content means learning to find happiness where you are, so that you can stop trying to look for it everywhere else.

Spring "Break" Part 2

Ah, Paris. What a handful that city was.

More excerpts from the travel journal:

March 21 (Wednesday)

Sacre Coeur

[After a stressful, bad-first-impression Tuesday]
"Today! Today was a stairway to a better view of Paris. And I don't just say that because we climbed hundreds of them to get to Sacre Coeur. Today elevated my spirits and my mood, and even though I am exhausted from all of the walking we did, the day itself was very relaxing..."

"Crossing the Seine, catching a glimpse of the Eiffel in the smoky vapors of late afternoon, feeling the last chills of winter retreat from the golden sun, reminded me why people keep coming to this city. It's the idea they are searching for, not the location. The lonely writer, the newlywed couple, the lost tourist...they are all looking for the Paris of their imagination, the ethereal city frozen in time and untarnished by modern distractions. Memories mix with expectations, drifting among hope and disappointment. Longing and nostalgia well up within, spilling out in ways all too familiar to the tourist trade: overspending on trivial keepsakes, desperately attempting to conform dream and reality.

No wonder ennui is a French word."

Stained-glass reflection in Notre Dame chapel

"Next: Shakespeare & Company, the greatest bookshop I've ever set foot in. I shuffled sideways through narrow aisles and ducked under bulging shelves brimming with new and used classics. I was wrapped up in a literary safety blanket. Warm and fuzzy feelings abounded, I assure you, but for good reason. In each cozy niche I stumbled upon strangers becoming friends over common interests, even sharing their life stories while perusing the biographical section. If ever a bookshop could have essence, it would be Shakespeare & Company."

March 22 (Thursday)

Megan arrived on this day. I ran up and hug/tackled her in my excitement. Then we went to Louvre and got lost in the Egyptian relics wing. Mac played patty cake with a monkey statue. It was a very successful day.

March 23 (Friday)
Quote of the day: "You can call me White Pepper." Thanks, Megan.

Meg & I at the Temple of Love at Versailles

At Versailles: "Megan and I ambled around the beautiful grounds and Marie Antoinette's estate, drinking in the contrast of colors and general splendor...We picnicked on the back steps of the Chateau, took a tour of the Apartments, and waltzed (or tried to) through the Hall of Mirrors. Then an early train back to see about exchanging Megan's train ticket for an earlier departure. Success! A chocolate eclair to celebrate. Later, a nice dinner at a cafe, sitting outside to people-watch, just like real Parisians."

[An interesting turn of events led Megan and I to get a different hotel room for the night.]
"We had a discussion about the facts of life, soaked our feet in the tub, and watched Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman dubbed in French before going to bed."

March 24 (Saturday)
"I feel as if we got the true French experience today. We started out with breakfast (croissants) on the riverbank, then had a fantastic time at L'Orangerie, the museum famous for Monet's Water Lilies. Lovely."

"For lunch we stopped at an elegant café just off the beaten path to the Tower, and I had the most amazing goat cheese salad "with a touch of honey" and a delicious cup of coffee (café au lait). We sat there in true French style for over an hour, chatting and enjoying the atmosphere. The waiter was funny, too, humming to himself and practically dancing between the tables."

"Then another stroll to the Tower and a crêpe on the steps under the bridge. We observed there some ducks and documented what was most likely their very dramatic life story. After a while we headed to the Jardin des Plantes. The garden was so magical! It had a menagerie (we saw wallabies) and there were tiny French children everywhere, adorable with their foreign gibberish. We took in the warm family atmosphere and thought about "La Vie En Rose."

Au revoir, Spring Break. Even though you were not much of a break. Your misleading name tells me you will not be much missed.

(Note: These are just the highlights of the trip. For more details, you can look on Facebook at my London photo album by clicking here and my Paris photo album by clicking here. Enjoy!)

Spring "Break" Part 1

I am a professional procrastinator. This refined talent surpasses the lazy and indolent masses, impressing even the most slothful of students. Sometimes my sheer ability to put things off until the last moment shocks and awes.

Today the subject of my dilly-dalliance is a paper for my IPLF class due this Friday at 5:00 pm. Our professor, the wonderful Dr. Grillot, has already so graciously extended the deadline for this paper because we have been so busy with the Board of Visitors this week. However, that still leaves plenty of time I could be using to be productive with my life, and instead I choose to...not. I choose to not a lot.

Fortunately, in order to procrastinate one thing, I usually end up doing something else of equal or lesser importance. So today, for instance, I cleaned my bathroom. Then I caught up on my email correspondence. Even now, I'm using this blog post as an excuse to further put off The Dreaded Paper.

Usually somewhere in this routine I will have a moment of weakness and begin the project at hand. This time that weak moment produced three-fourths of a page and a witty title for my paper. Thankfully, a Skype date interrupted my progress, and now here we are.

About last week.

First, London. 

I kept a travel journal of the whole experience, so I think I will just copy a few excerpts of it here:

March 16th (Friday)

"Our taxi driver, Hank, drove us to the hotel. So quaint! We're just down the street from Hyde Park and the famed Oxford Street. I love London already. They use words like "queue" and phrases like "it's been here for donkey's ages."

"I still love London, and my ardor is growing. To walk the streets of this city of ideas, of intellect, of fish and chips! Which we had for dinner. Then we conquered the Tube and made it to the Tate Britain, enjoying a short jaunt along the Thames. Oh, the view of the Thames at night is surreal. The afternoon fog - which coats everything in a dreamy, 19th-century daze - has faded with the setting sun, and the crisp air smells of dusty book pages."

March 17th (Saturday)

"It started raining in Kensington Gardens today, but it was beautiful and I got to see the Peter Pan statue so I didn't care. Then Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament."

"If I ever come back to London, I will refuse to do the major tourist destinations. I guess I just have a penchant for the obscure and/or experiential, but I would rather browse a street market in Camden or spend a couple of hours in a 300-year-old bookstore that Hemingway frequented than take the same picture of the same building that millions of other Americans have already taken. However, tourism is also a big part of the London atmosphere (economics and all that) so I should appreciate observing it first-hand."

March 18th (Sunday)

"It didn't feel like Sunday. We hit the ground running early this morning, and have had little to no rest on this Day of Rest. I'm still sad we didn't get to go to the Evensong service at Westminster, but I can be thankful for the few hours I have this evening to get refreshed."

"Shakespeare's Globe Theater was amazing! The best part was not being in a reconstruction of the open-air, thatched-roof theater that performed the Bard's plays. The best part was our tour guide, 'a spry old British woman who could kick my butt' according to Mac. An astute observation. That lady was hilarious and really knew her stuff. We learned about groundlings and costumes and Pudding Street. (Shakespearean insults to follow.)"

March 19th (Monday)

"Monday morning on the Tube: life happening quickly all around you. Swarms of city folk converge and disperse, everyone hurrying to work, or reading the paper intently in their starched suits and shiny shoes. Business is booming and the workers are walking walking walking-

"Until the sanctuary of the church (pun intended). Peace and stone welcome the weary traveler at the door and the tour of Westminster begins. My favorite part of this medieval church experience was not Poet's Corner, which was far and away one of the coolest places I've seen, but it was the minute of silence for the hourly prayer, interrupting the hum of the unconcerned visitor with humble words and good wishes."

"A short break at the end to reflect and pray, seated in the pew and head bowed, and a sudden realization flooded in: never before, in this palace of grandeur made to honor royalty, in the midst of these manmade tombs of monumental prestige, has it made more sense to say that God is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Those noble men are so far above the common man, and He is so far above those fools with shiny crowns. Praise be to the One this church was made for."

Thoughts of Paris to follow...

The Life and Times of a Study Abroad Student: An Update

Buon giorno, principessa!

We recently watched "Life is Beautiful" (which was filmed in Arezzo by the way) in my IPLF class, so we now go around greeting each other with a boisterous "Good morning, princess!" in our most obnoxious Italian accents. It's lovely.

Wow, a lot of time has gone by since my last post. In fact, to emphasize my point, you should listen to "As Time Goes By" from "Casablanca" by clicking on the link. It seems so long ago that I was making a list...checking it twice... and still forgetting to pack shampoo. Oh well. The week leading up to Spring Break went by smoothly all the same.


Saturday Elisandra and I took a day trip to Assisi. The city is so beautiful, set on a hill with a huge duomo and castle at the top. My favorite pictures were taken at sunset, when the rays set the church aglow in a simmering golden blaze. Here is an example:

It was a lovely peaceful day, and we explored the entire city, walking up and down, up and down, up and down the hills and stairs. We even met some of the local animals, and I made friends with a stray cat. I named him Oliver.

One of the highlights of the next week was the Tandem Project, which allowed OUA students to connect with Italian UNISI students in Arezzo and discuss pop culture while practicing our (lack of) language skills. For once, the Italian students outnumbered the American students, so each of us were paired with four or five Italian students. My group was really fun, although I felt completely inadequate in my ability to communicate in Italian, since I've been studying it for 2 years and they have all been studying English for at least 8. Nevertheless, we stumbled through the standard topics (food, music, extracurriculars) and found out that almost all of us love Harry Potter.

We made plans to meet later in the week to have more conversations. On that Thursday they took me to their favorite gelato place, called Sunflower. We talked about sports and movies, and one of the girls said that there is a well-known comic in Italy whose main character resembles Audrey Hepburn. It was a very productive meeting, to say the least.

We didn't end up getting to see the monks chant Vespers on Wednesday, but it was for the best since we were all so tired from Art History earlier in the morning. Instead I got the chance to sit and talk with Nancy Stephenson, who is pretty amazing. She shared a lot of stories, and I learned that Dr. Stephenson plays Dungeons & Dragons, among other things.

Thursday was a little crazy because I was trying to finish everything before leaving early Friday morning. After my last midterm, I came back to the apartment and met Lindsay's mom, who had just arrived for a visit. We had a dinner party to welcome her to Italy, and I gave up trying to get a good night's sleep before a long day of traveling, so I convinced Mac to come to karaoke night with us. We danced to our heart's content, and then this Cinderella turned into a pumpkin for a few hours before waking up again at 5:30 to catch a train to Pisa.

Mac says she regrets staying out so late, but I know she secretly loved it. I saw her bippity-bopping to the music. She had a ball.

No time, Toulouse!

Life is getting kind of crazy as the days count down to Spring Break.

Today was a splendid break from busyness, though. This morning we had a Getting to Know Arezzo class, and we got to hear about life in Arezzo from fellow Aretines, who told us the good, bad, and funny. Then we took a small walking tour of the town, led by a wonderful old man in a green corduroy vest. The tour ended at a museum dedicated to the Joust, an annual event that Arezzo is famous for.

The historic center of Arezzo is split into quadrants, and these quadrants have strong rivalries against one another, always competing to see who can win the Golden Lance at the end of the festival. Over 300 people dress in medieval costume and parade through Piazza Grande before the big event, which the riders train for during the year.

Pretty cool.


In the afternoon, a few of us went to a pasta-making class. I have been waiting for this event all semester. I've always wanted to be able to make pasta from scratch!

The whole process is simple enough, just time-consuming. We had (probably too much) fun rolling the dough, eating the dough, using the fancy ravioli cutter, eating some more dough, getting flour everywhere. We learned the proper terminology for the pasta-making process, including:

"Make an egg volcano"
"Mash and smash"
"Soft little pillow pastas"

I felt like a little kid playing with Play-Doh, but somehow I ended up with three different, delicious-looking pastas, and then it was time to go.

For dinner I cooked the gnocchi, which is a potato-based pasta reminiscent of dumplings. But they're Italian dumplings, and they taste delicious with a butter pesto sauce. They are also really fun to cook, because when you put them into the boiling water, they sink to the bottom until they are ready. Then pop! Up they come. It's like a tiny surprise party every time.

Tomorrow I am going to the market early in the morning, and then catching a train to Assisi for the day with Elisandra. It's our last hurrah before the busy week begins, and I am so excited to tour that beautiful city.

Next week is going to be a little ridiculous. I have activities every day, right up until I leave. Here's a breakdown of my schedule:
Sunday I'm going to a prayer service at the Stephenson apartment, and then Skyping with my dad (and hopefully Sonya and Dalayna!).
Monday I have a double dose of my IPLF class, with a Student Advisory Council meeting in between.
Tuesday I have an Italian midterm and a Video Project meeting, as well as the first meeting for the Tandem Project, created to bring Italian and American students together. There is also a Faculty-in-residence event that night.
Wednesday we go to Florence for Art History, and then stay after to watch monks chant Vespers at San Miniato. That night we have a SAC event.
Thursday I have an Understanding Music midterm and a monthly community meeting. At some point I need to pack because...
Friday we leave on a 6:57 am train to start our Spring Break Adventure.

Wow.

Time is racing by in a Vespa while I jog along, trying to catch up. I don't mind the slow lane, though, for it's a chance to "stop and smell the roses." Or in my case, the flours. Have a wonderful week, friends!