Encountering David

Since being in Italy I have come into contact with a HUGE assortment of art... namely, renaissance art. Not only am I in a class called 'The History of Renaissance Art', but I tell you, art is everywhere. From the thousands of galleries and museums to the fresco adorned churches and palaces, from the statues in every courtyard to the doorknockers and sewer grates. I swear, everything is ornate and the italians have run out of room for 'normal' art, so they take to exploiting the smallest and most obscure things.
Last weekend I went to Florence and spent almost the entire thing looking at art. Florence is one of the art capitols of the world, and they say there is an art gallery per resident... I'm sure that is an exageration, non the less, there are a ridiculous number of small hidden galleries... I only visited two and a couple churches. Friday I spent the whole day in the Uffizzi gallery looking at the paintings we've been studying in class... only when I got all the way through did I look at the time and realize I had been in there for over 4 hours.
Saturday was the duomo, and climbing it, and other fun churches. It was also my visit to Academia museum... home to Michelangelo's statue of David. Now, for some reason, last time I was in Florence (in high school) I did not go see David. I guess I figured that there were hundreds of replicas of him not counting all of the touristy memorabilia... He's everywhere, everybody knows what he looks like and in what position he is standing. I didn't think seeing him would be that big of a deal.. boy was I wrong. Nothing had prepared me for David.
For one, he's huge, much bigger than one expects, but there is a grandure about him that you just don't get with the replicas. Everything realized about him, is completely and breathtakingly accurate! I don't know how he does it... but Michelangelo somehow transformed marble into perfect skin and hair textures. The furrow in his brow and the fear in his face make one contemplate what David is thinking... is he looking ahead to his big battle with Goliath? Who knows. His sligshot taught against his back, David's arms and hands are flexed showing off his perfect veins and tendens, drawing attention to the wrinkles in his knuckles.
My favorite spot on David, the one I stared at forever and still can't quite get over, is his bellybutton. I don't really understand how, but the skin is pulled tighter to the pucker of the belybutton. There is a small dimple right next to it with amazing charm. How can a marble bellybutton be so accurate and so perfect?!

'Lucia'

The other day I finally got to go to the opera since being in Italy. We got slightly dressed up and commenced to our nosebleed side seats and experienced Donizetti's 'Lucia di Lammermoor.' And let me tell you, everything about the experience was fantastic.
For one thing... the theater in Ferrara is a 17th century style opera house, completely round with layers upon layers of box seating. I felt like I was in a movie! At the very top, where we were, was just benches for us to sit on and lean way over the balcony so we could see the action below. The only draw back to this was that it was so hot up there, other than that, it was the perfect spot for me because it provided and interesting angle and let me observe much of the audience as well.
The second great thing about this evening was that it was Anne's first opera experience. I love being there when people are introduced to the art of opera! She was so lucky that her first one was not only so incredible, but in Italy, the capital of opera! She was so cute for me to watch and it was an experience in itself just to see how pleased she was!
The woman who sang the part of Lucia was phenomenal. There is a part in the second act when the character has gone mad and murdered her new husband. She is standing there in her wedding dress, covered in blood and with a knife in her hand. The aria she sings, "Il Dolce Suono," is fantastic and so moving... its a very grotesque and parodoxal scene to watch because the music (and the acting!) are so incredible, but the context is so heart wrenching... she's mad, she's about to die, she has lost her love who upon hearing the news of her death kills himself. I know its the typical tragic love story... but I still had tears streaming down my face by the end. There is this one moment in her big aria where she lies down and having an arial view of it was so great! And then another moment where she is singing an interplay, a dialogue between her and the flute... Words cannot describe it!

"Leave the gun, take the cannoli"

So the sister and brother and law came to Italy to visit me! Well, I guess for vacation as well... but anyway... it is always fabulous to see people from home! We had the best time! I showed them around my town, they were mostly impressed by food, gelaterie, and Kjersta by the oldest chocolate shop in Italy, I heard all about it. Then we went to Venice and spent our days there getting lost!
I think the company was so incredibly great cause there was no specific agenda, we were just enjoying each other's company in such a wonderful foreign place... maybe thats why we were late with everything and missed several different trains...
Its a bit of a let down to no longer have their visit to look forward to, but I guess now that I have only 5 weeks (yikes!) left in Ferrara I get to look forward to seeing all of the shining faces at home! Love!

Charlotte's Visit

Have you ever had a friend that shared a bond with you nobody else could have? An unbreakable bond that seems stronger than time? Ok, I know that this is cheesy, but this is how I feel about my friend Charlotte. Charlotte and I were exchange students together in Norway, she's from Germany.
Earlier this week she visited me for a couple days and it was the first time I had seen her in almost exactly three years. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous about things were going to go. But when she showed up and I saw her it was like no time had passed. She looked the same, and it felt the same to talk to her, just as easy. It was the most surreal feeling I've had in a VERY long time.
And seeing Charlotte made me realize how much I learned and matured during my semester in Hamar. I wonder if it was specific to that experience at the age of 17, or if it works the same no matter what study abroad someone goes on. Later, maybe a year or two from now will I visit Anne (my roommate and best friend here) and only then truly realized what I learned and how much I changed from my semester in Italy? I am aware of all the things I am learning right now, but am I aware of how they are affecting me? It is a question I don't think is possible to answer right now but it certainly is interesting to think about!
I had a lovely time showing Charlotte around Ferrara, cooking her dinner, chatting, reminiscing, and when it came to saying goodbye I was happy and relieved to know I would be visiting her in Germany in just two months! What a change from 3 years!

Giotto or No Giotto?... The Assisi Question

This past weekend I spent time in Umbria with my program, CIEE. Umbria a gorgeous region of Italy set partly in the mountains, home of amazing olive oil, Saint Francis and the city Perugia. We started out our weekend in a cold, foggy, snowy Perugia. My question... what is the point of going on a walking tour around a wet city that you can't even see!!! If I could at least have seen to the top of the Cathedral when standing outside of it, maybe I would have seen the point. We did see some neat things though, despite this inconvenience. We saw where the Virgin Mary's wedding ring is kept, we saw ruins from a papal fortress and most importantly we had Perugian chocolate! Yes, Perugia is the Italian capital of chocolate! Later in the evening after a long day when everybody was hungry and tired and cold and cranky... we went to a factory where we learned how they make olive oil and got to taste some of the best olive oil ever! It was so good! I thought about buying a bottle, but I can't afford $15 a liter, thats a lot when I can buy it at the grocery store for $3.
Saturday was Assisi, my new favorite place!!! We started by visiting the two basilicas of Saint Francis. It was so exciting because not only was there St. Francis' tomb and relics, but we had studied all of the frescoes and art work in my class. I thought it was so funny, because our guide was so enthusiastic about the frescoes painted by Giotto in the upper basilica and there is actually a great discrepancy as to whether he painted them or not. But of course, when we asked this to our guide he looked shocked and scandaled that we had such doubts! It was so sad and funny... poor man, just doing his job. Assisi is built on a hill the side of a hill, so when it clears up, you can see for miles! Its gorgeous! You walk up the little streets and pop into shops where little Italian women ask you about your life and what brought you to Italy (an Italian boyfriend?) Or you end up chatting with a Canadian Franciscan monk who is staying at the monastery for two years. He gave us a couple fun things to see and wished us well on our way!
It is little conversations like this that really stick out in my mind. I remember one such Canadian man I ran into in Norway and I still remember our entire conversation... I just think it is so nice to meet and have conversations with people that are not awkward.
After two other little towns (Spello and Cortona), an AMAZING dinner, a hike,a museum on the etruscians and a discussion on the proper way of saying 'grazie' I was ready to head back to Ferrara. In a later post you will hear all about seeing my german friend again and learn how the visit from Kjersta and Dustin goes!

Roommate Date

Between Anne and I we have a crazy next couple of weeks. We both have visitors coming and midterms, not to mention a 3 day trip around Umbria with our program and to top of the month, Spring break! So, in preparation for all of these festivities, Anne and I decided to go against the tradition thus far of going on a trip every weekend, and stay in Ferrara. The plan was to study for our first midterm on Monday, read ahead for our classes, maybe take a walk or two, and RELAX.
Friday we went looking for the country side. From our apartment on the seventh floor, we can tell that it is relatively close, and it didn't seem like a big deal to get there! Little did we know! Good grief, somehow we got ourselves lost, and not in the country side. We did however find two very cool places. The first was this wonderful little neighborhood full of old people and their dogs! The whole place just had the nicest atmosphere and I think what I liked about it the most was the smell. It no longer smelled like a city, as Ferrara does... it felt borderline rural! It probably helped by the fact that it sat along our nasty little river. As we walked up the street we found things like restaurants out of people's homes and little old men greeting us from their gardening work.
The second place we found was amazing and disturbing! It was these three buildings that were so beautiful in their own, dilapidated way. We decided it necessary to do a bit of light trust passing. One had a tree growing out of where the roof and wall once had been. The other had all of its windows busted in and there was a thick layer of grim and dust over all the broken chairs, tables and bathtubs. It felt like such a strange juxtaposition to have this piece of property right next to apartment city!!! There were two creepy things about this place. One, even though it was obviously not touched for years, there were still things like a couple of razors perched on the edge of the sink and a wash rag on the edge of the bathtub. The other, there were dead pigeons all over the place!!! And these pigeons did not look like they had been killed by stray cats... creepy.
To celebrate our adventure, Anne took me to Indian food and we laid us down to sleep!
Saturday we went to a lovely antiques market, explored a huge cemetery and walked around our city's wall! There was this lady at the market who was having the best time haggling and speaking in Italianglish with us! She kept saying how this and that was very mod and the big style of the year. But in all honesty, I don't think she believed that we could understand her, because then she would turn to an italian lady and be like, 'these are americans... watch me practice my english!' Plus she enjoyed telling us things like, the Americans only speak english and how during tourist season she liked to swindle money out of them! It was all very funny... especially since she would ask if we understood her and then ignore our answer in italian!!! Oh, the people you meet at market!
Little did I know that when staying in Ferrara for the weekend, it would actually end up being the best ones yet! The weather is getting nicer and there are buds on the trees! Spring is on its way!!!

Degustazione Vini (Wine Tasting!)

Last night I partook in an activity much associated with Italy... wine tasting! We headed over to a little osteria in old Ferrara at 8 pm and sat and ate and didn't leave until 2 am! It was organized and payed for by our program directors and the wine theme for the Evening was Sicily. Apparently, Sicily has a climate quite comparable to California and perfect for producing wine. But until the last 20 years they never really developed the quality wine industry that they have the potential for...lucky for us, now they do! Sommelier Nicola took us through the brief history of wine production and explained how to taste wine to appreciate it with a more trained mind than to just drink it!
First, Appearance. Look at the color of the wine, if it is a white wine, the darker and cloudier the color, the longer it has aged. The opposite is true of red wines which as they age get lighter in color. Next one must look at how quickly the wine settles down after swishing the glass, quicker is better... it shows that the wine is going to have a softer taste on the palate. Like every other aspect of life in Italy, appearance played a big role in lasts night's festivities. From the presentation of the dishes to the pressed white shirt and apron of the cute waiter to everyone dressing up for the occasion. There are many a girl in my program who very deeply identify with Italy's love of image... don't worry, I played my part, I actually showered!
Second, the Bouquet. There are three things to think about when smelling your wine. 1, is it a 'delicate' smell, does it smell appetizing. I know this sounds kind of like a given, but is still important! 2, how long does the aroma stay in your memory, chances are, the more complicated the flavors and the more flavors there are, the longer it will stay with a person. 3, what are the things that you smell. This is slightly subjective, some people will smell different things than others, this idea is true in the taste as well. There are also three things that effect the smell and taste of a wine and they are, what grapes are used and how they are grown, The fermentation process of the wine, and lastly the aging process. As is true with everywhere I go in Italy, there were many a interesting smell in the 'bouquet' of the evening. Sitting next to me was the program avocatto (lawyer) who every once in a while would move and I would get a lovely whiff of BO... then to counter act that the crazy, obnoxious, flirty lady across from him sent out a overly perfumed odor. There was the musty smell of broccoli in the air, one of old socks from the weird cheeses we got in course number 5, not to mention the smell of fish... course 2 was a wild, tasty assortment of shellfish on toasted bread. Plus the building we were housed in has this really comforting smell of old, used, polished wood. That alone is enough to overstimulate the nose without adding trying to identify smells in wines on top of it!
Third, Taste! As with smell, taste can be very subjective. One wine we had last night, a chardonnay reminded me of peaches and white flowers, very fruity, another, a nero d'Avola merlot had the tastes of preserved currents, cinnamon, and a touch of licorice... The one thing that the sommelier did tell us was that the longer the after taste, the better the quality of wine. I tell you, the game of describe that taste is very fun!!
I had a six course meal last night and seven different wines... unfortunately there were many a person in attendance that had too much to drink, and it would have been easy to do! There was SO much wine, but our director had explained at the beginning of the evening that it was a bit of a marathon and not to drink to much of the whites in the beginning because the heavy reds came at the end and could hit you hard if you'd already had plenty to drink. So those of us with a head on our shoulders did absolutely fine! (No, the obnoxious random woman across-ish from me did not so much follow this advice which made her even more obnoxious!!!!) I probably never again will have a 6 hour meal, nor do I necessarily want to, it was so long! But as you can see I learned a lot and I'm definitely glad I got to do it!