October 26, 2011
This morning I had to wake up at 6:45, which was no fun at all. It was pouring rain and one of those days when you wish you could stay in bed, reading all day. But, instead, I got to take the bus—full of wet umbrellas and people—to school, drop off my backpack, and walk in the rain to Palazzo Davanzati where we were meeting at 8:30 for my Weaving the Tale class. It was kind of cold outside with the rain but not too cold; however, when we got into the stone palace with tile flooring, it was freezing. I was very glad I had worn a scarf! Even though I was really tired and a little unmotivated due to the rain and the early hour, it was a really interesting palace, unlike anything we had seen so far. In one of the bedrooms, we followed the story of one of the frescoes that was incredibly interesting and was almost like watching a movie as it wound all the way around the room. While we were in different rooms of the palace, we also discussed today’s reading from the Decameron, which was interesting to see all the ways in which it connected with the palace.
After two hours at the palace, we headed back (through the pouring rain) to the newer Linguaviva building, which is down the road from where we have classes. At 11:00, I attended my first guest lecture, by a professor of art history from Coe College, who lectured on art and identity in reference to World War II. The lecture was all about how art lives beyond us and creates an identity for us after we are gone. She talked a lot about the looting and bombing of Florence and what the citizens of Florence did to prevent this. It was much more in depth than what I am saying here but, if you are interested, I took extensive notes and would love to talk to you more about it individually. It was really an excellent lecture and I kind of wished she were one of the professors for the program because I would have loved to hear her talk more than just an hour! I was very glad I had chosen to attend :)
Following the lecture, Jodie had arranged for everyone to get lunch together, which was delivered to Linguaviva. We had absolutely delicious food (and the most incredible desserts) while talking with each other and with the visiting professors. After an hour of eating and socializing, I headed to my Dante class, which I was very happy was inside today and not on site. I am very happy to say that today was our last day of Inferno and now we finally get to move onto Purgatorio. While we were in class, the sun came out, which I think made everyone a little more motivated. After class, I Skyped for a little while and then caught the bus home around 4:30.
When I got home, Daniela told me that, because they couldn’t arrange for the whole family to come over for a Halloween party, Massimo is coming over tomorrow to have a little Halloween celebration, so I am very excited for that :) I just need to figure out a costume really quickly! I thought I would have the weekend to think of something but I guess it doesn’t really matter if I am not that dressed up; it will still be fun! Then, until dinner, I worked on homework, which was not a lot of fun, but it feels good to be getting some of it done.
For dinner this evening, we started out with my favorite, GNOCCHI WITH PESTO, and I most definitely had seconds :) To continue with my favorites, we had melanzana al parmeseana (Eggplant Parmesan) for our main dish, along with some other vegetables. For dessert, we had clementines again, which were delicious.
I am pretty tired from getting up so early and having a fairly busy day so I am hoping to get to bed fairly early. I also have class at 9:00 tomorrow and Friday so I can’t sleep in too late to make up for going to bed late. However I do want to get a little more homework done before I go to bed, as well as stretch, so I’d better get going so I can finish those things up. I hope you’re all staying warm and, to those of you where snow is in the forecast for tomorrow, let me know how that is…that’s crazy!
All my love,
Kari
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