8/10/10

I know I said that I would update about Pomeii and Palestrena, but there is a slight change of plans, this whole updating about what I am doing isn’t cutting it, I don’t really have the motivation to keep that up. Instead I am going to write a blog about how I am feeling. Somedays I wake up still really overwhelmed that I am in Europe, and then I walk across the Piazza duomo and watch all the tourists gawk and it is conformation that I am still here, and I am adjusting. I am having some trouble getting motivated for school work, but I think that is just that fall break was looming around the corner. Now that it is here I can’t wait to be out of Italy for a little while and experience some of the rest of Europe. Amsterdam for 2.5 ish days and then London for 4 will be just what the doctor ordered and hopefully I will come back slightly less jaded to school. I really do love learning its just I am having trouble getting motivated.

I am also really missing my friends from school. We have all grown closer on a consistent basis and it was kind of a shock not going back to be with them this fall. It is weird to watch life at school progress without me there, and I think I will be ready to be back in the thick of things in the spring. Not to be trite but I also really miss certain foods from home. I miss fresh seafood and American breakfast, and Mexican food, and coffee (not straight espresso). I miss going on winco runs and checking out value village before parties and dances. Little things at school have become such an integral part of what I associate with learning I am almost having school culture shock.

I already feel like I have matured some being here, and I am making great friends with the people I am with, I just also need to be around new people for a little while which is why seeing Izzy in London and maybe college friends as well will give me a needed social respite. I hadn’t really appreciated the diversity of my group of friends until now, and I can’t wait to go back to having that many people around me that I love and care about. I am devastated that I wont see some people for a year, those who are going abroad in the Spring, I am stoked for them because abroad has been a kick ass time, but I m also a little selfish. 

I think that this program is great, I love getting to see so many things that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise, I think it will make me a more savvy traveler in December. Enough deep thoughts for now, I am sitting in the grass on the side of the Duomo, the weather is wonderful, I just want to sit for a little while! 

10 days: a quick recap of a lot of stuff

30/9/10

I know it has been FOREVER and a year or so since I updated my blog, a sure sign that #1 I am having lots of fun in Italy, and #2 that I am normal, because this always happens when I try to blog or journal or anything. Let me take a look at my calendar to remember all of the things I have done since I last wrote and I will try to give a little recap of each.

Sunday after I last updated we went to the site of Tiberius’s grotto in Sperlonga, south of Rome. We spend the morning at the villa, grotto and museum, we got to see some really important and somewhat famous sculptures that were potentially made by the same artists that carved the Laocoon. This site was also really cool because in the 1960’s when it was discovered the town of Sperlonga protested the larger museums from Rome who wanted to take the sculptures and they now have a beautiful museum to house the artifacts from the site. In the afternoon we got to swim in the Tyrrhenian Sea, which was extra warm, and the current was super strong because some of the remains of the villa are near shore and they cause a current.

Wedensday the 22^nd we went to Tarquinia to see the famous painted Etruscan tombs, which are some of the best-preserved tombs in Italy, unfortunately (but for the sake of preservation) you can only see them through a glass window and thus we didn’t get to see the backs of some of the more complex tombs. Again in the afternoon we got to visit the beach which was a little chilly and totally deserted (probably because it was a Wednesday in late September but it was a little eerie)

That weekend 24-26 a few of us took a long weekend to Florence and I got to see two of my friends from WU which was a welcome change of pace. I got to see the Uffizi and the academy but it was Italy cultural weekend and the museums were free so they were all PACKED, it was a little crazy. I want to go back for at least a day and see some things I missed but it was a great weekend, and I got some gift shopping done at the open air market and even got myself a new bag.

I have been having lots of fun in Orvieto and even met some people outside of our program that I have been hanging out with and it has been a lot of fun, despite the fact that I am getting almost no sleep on a fairly regular basis now! I will update about Palestrena and Pompeii this weekend at a later time!

Lots of love jess

Tyrrhenian Sea!

This weekend our field trip was on sunday and we went to Sperlonga to see the famous grotto of the emperor  Tiberius, and his villa. This whole site was right on the coast of the Tyrrhenian sea (which is really part of the Mediterranean). It was such a long bus ride: almost 3 hours! But definitely worth it.

The site was amazing, as well all the sculpture. One of the inscriptions says that the artists of the works were the same ones who did the Laocoon, which allows us to date that work, because of the precise and historical data we have about Sperlonga. This site is also really unique because the town fought and protested in the 1950's to keep the sculpture on site, and they now have a beautiful museum to house these works instead of them having been shipped off to Rome.

Then we got to hang out at the beach and swim which was absolutely amazing. The water was extra warm and the beach was nice. One of the interesting things about the beach at Sperlonga is that the ruins of Tiberius's villa extend past the modern day water line, so on half of the beach you have to be very careful not to run into the ruins as they are somewhat sharp. The current was also really strong, and the water extra salty, but once you got out past the ruins the ocean was amazing and totally worth it!

all in all it was a wonderful field trip!

jlm

Gnocchi and tiramisu

15/9/10

Yesterday was the 21^st birthday of Nick the guy on our trip. So after classes we went out for dinner at a restaurant we have affectionately named crunchy pizza place. And then came back to our house for some drinks and birthday pastry before going out. It was a lot of fun, but a little weird because I was drinking with my Latin teacher. I find it interesting that whenever a large group of classics lovers go out and drink inevitably the Greek vs Roman debate occurs and people love nerdy talk. I also had a great time bonding with my roommates. Oh alcohol the great social lubricant.

Today we had a lazy day, I spent most of the afternoon at the Internet café, torrenting some music Amar told me about. Took years (or hour) but totally worth it. Listening to them now: jukebox the ghost. Then we all met and headed to Alba’s (one of our directors) house to cook an authentic Italian meal. We spent many hours making tiramisu and gnocchi (which are potato noodles) then had a full dinner with gnocchi, cheese, salame, and some wonderful bread accompanied of course by some wine and followed by our tiramisu and some grappa. It was such hard work to roll out all the noodles, but our director’s daughter said that in 8 years we have made the best gnocchi. I got the recipes I am hoping I remember them so I can make some for my family when I get home. Tiramisu at least! It was so much food that it made me sleepy! Then home to finish up some homework for Thursday and journal a bit before class tomorrow. I think we are planning on going to the market in the morning to get some clothes for our spelunking trip, and maybe some fresh fruit, veggies, and maybe even some nuts. The market is tons of fun and gives us an opportunity to work on the Italian that we all find so difficult!

I am hoping that classes on Thursday go a little better, one of my profs is a difficult lecturer to follow and it is a little frustrating. I also always have his 2 classes in a row! At least I am not the only one suffering.

More later jlm 

Tivoli, among other things

I have been in Italy for over a week now. That is so WEIRD to think about. I have adjusted a lot I feel, it is weird to get used to hanging out with a whole new group of people, they are very different than my friends in Texas or at school.

The one thing that I am really going to love will be our field trips (Wednesday and Friday of most weeks!) This week on Wednesday we walked around Orvieto and on Friday we went to Tivoli to see Hadrian’s villa and the villa de Este.

Wednesday: We met the mom of one of our two directors, her name is Erica and she came over here as a grad student, met Claudio’s (our director) father and has been living here ever since. She is an art historian and she took us through Il duomo and Signorelli’s chapel. Both of which were absolutely beautiful and she gave us a lot of information on both. It was nice to do a private guided tour. After the church Claudio took us on a walk and we went to the old clock tower and climbed to the top from which we could see three of the four centers of power, the other we were standing on. The centers of power were religion, money, military, and politics. Then we took a walk to the medieval quarter of town and looked at some caves and the old main entry gate and original church in town. After that we took a break for lunch. After lunch it was raining (yay!) and we went to look at the “Orvieto underground” which has much history and has been used throughout the occupation of the town for different purposes. It was really interesting because Claudio told us the popular explanation for much of caves as well as what he really thought. It was a really good chance to see a lot of the history of Orvieto as well as the things they are famous for.

Friday: In the morning we went to Hadrian’s villa in Tivoli, the villa complex was HUGE (and we didn’t even walk through all of it. This villa known for the building techniques and monumental scale as well as the art throughout the villa. Many important Roman copies of Greek sculpture were found here. The complex was absolutely monumental, and to imagine anyone actually living there took my breath away. It was also great to see copies of many of the artworks I have looked at in classes in college. After a nice lunch in Tivoli we set out for the villa de este, which was once the villa of a cardinal and has some of the most breathtaking gardens in the whole world. We got there just in time to see the organ fountain which is this large fountain in which the movement of the water makes the organ play, the fountain itself wasn’t crazy of extravagant but the technology behind it is very interesting. Some of the other fountains in the gardens were amazing, as were many of the fountains. The inside of the villa is also well decorated with the art of numerous artists. As with Hadrian’s villa it is hard form me to fathom people living in a place as beautiful as the Villa de Este.

Weekend: The rest of the weekend as been fun and relaxing we went out both nights and kind of hung around during the day, working on homework, reading, walking the lifestyle is slower paced so weekends have just been about adjusting to that. 

Classes and outdoor market

Classes have started (kind of) we only have them 3 days a week and field trips on Wednesday and Friday. This Friday is Tivoli and Hadrian's villa which should be super interesting. I switched my classes up a little from what I planned on taking, but now I get to take Etruscan art and Archaeology which I am very excited about.

This morning we got up early, met our italian teacher and went to the outdoor market in order to get some fresh groceries and get a little italian practice, it was fun to buy lots of healthy and local veggies. The outdoor market occurs twice a week and includes all kinds of produce, meats, cheese, and some other select things such as jewelry, clothes, rugs, bags, books, ect. I got a new shirt and bracelet along with our groceries and we are going back this week to look for cheap clothes for one of our field trips; it is a repelling and spelunking trip in Parrano, where all of our clothes will be ruined by bat guano. Italian version of value village/goodwill here I come!

Photos!

Il Duomo, some pretty scenery, and the best graffiti in orvieto