Holy Week

So the first week of being back at school after break has come and gone, and I have to say it’s great to be back in Florence and even in class! I know I am a nerd, we all know this, so it shouldn’t be that surprising that I was happy to be back. Also I came back to a lot of happiness. On Monday and Tuesday we got back out midterms and I did really well! I mean I feel I deserved it after all of the studying I did. Basically I got all A- on my midterms except for my art history, which was a solid A. Then I found out that I was nominated for the Coluccio Salutati Award. It’s an award that Syracuse Abroad gives to 5 students at the end of the term. Each teacher can nominate up to 3 students, and then all of the nominated students have to write a paper on our experience abroad and integration into Italian culture. So I have a little less than 2 weeks to figure out what to write about and turn it in. Then they’ll announce the winners and there will be an award dealy and such. I’m still trying to figure out what to write about, it’s me, so you know it’s stressing me out a bit. This experience really has affected me, just trying to figure out how and put it into words. I’m also really excited to be nominated, hurray for being smart. I’ll get back to you on how the essay and the contest are going.
I signed up to be a part of the student volunteer program where we go into Italian elementary schools and read stories to the kids in English. Me and my friend Evie ended up being partnered together for our first reading to the kids on Wednesday. It was so much fun! We read “Because A Little Bug Went Ka-Choo” by Rosetta Stone (really a book written by Dr. Seuss but because he didn’t do the illustrations it’s not under his real name) to 12 third-graders. It was really funny acting it out and teaching them English, and their English is so good for just starting-it’s because they’re freaking sponges! Also they were so cute - when they found out I was from California they thought I was a celebrity. This reading was seriously one of the most fun times I’ve had here. I can’t wait to go again.
This week for art history we had some really cool site visits. On Tuesday we went to the Baptistery in front of the Duomo. It is seriously one of the most important Medieval sites in Florence. And the mosaics on the ceilings! So great! It also holds a relic of St. John the Baptist inside, so I guess that makes it important as well. But I also had a looking assignment about this site, which meant I had to spend a lot of time staring at the mosaics on the ceiling, not like it was torture or anything. Haha, other than a bit of a crick in my neck, it was well worth it to stair at it for hours. Then on Thursday we went to the Church of Santa Croce, but I sadly forgot my camera, which means I will need to go back for photos. Let’s just put it this way, this church is like the who’s who of art. You have frescos by Giotto, Michelangelo is buried there (because the Florentines stole his body in the middle of the night, which is still cause for some tension in italy, but oh well), and so much more! Don’t worry, I’ll go back and get lots of photos.
And the highlight of the week was the weekend: 2 whole days in La Città Eterna, also know as Rome. Yes, this was my second trip to Rome, but my first one was only for 8 hours with Art History. Both trips were definitely necessary because you can’t see it all in just one trip. On Friday we headed out from Florence on the train to Rome. Funny story: there was a general strike in the transportation department in Italy on Friday. So there was only one train we could take because the strike started at 9am and we just made it. But when we got off the train in Rome and onto our private bus (thankfully they were not on strike) we ran into a mass demonstration and traffic congestion. Oh what a way to start the day. Once we made it through the congestion in the main part of the city, we headed to The Vatican! I cannot even express how excited I was to visit! First off gorgeous art and architecture, um lots of history, and I’m Catholic, need I say more? It was like everything I love all in one place. Another great aspect of the weekend, I had the two best tour guides leading us around! Not exaggerating they were the best I have lead me and I don’t think they can be topped. Our first guide was a rather young prof who used to work with Syracuse but now teaches at another university, let me just quote him and you will understand why I thought he was great: “Stick with me guys, and by the end of this trip, you’ll never loose another game of trivial pursuit again.” Exactly. The guy was baller. So he took us around the Vatican Museums talking about the different Ninja Turtles, I mean painters of history. Leonardo was an old man, Michelangelo was pissy and had the hormones of a women, and Rafael was a pimp. It makes more sense in context of the lecture. Then we saw the original marble Loacoon (the original bronze which it was based off of was destroyed) and it was just amazing!! I love this piece and it was also on my art history midterm, so I know a bit about it. Lots of frescos, more sculpture, and finally the Sistine Chapel! It was different that what I expected but still breath-taking. I saw the most famous ceiling in the world! It takes a while to sink in. Also, for those of you who ever wondered why the Sistine Chapel is shaped so funny, it’s actually an exact replica, pulled from the dimensions in the Bible, of the Temple of King Solomon. Then the trip got even better and more surreal: St. Peter’s Basilica!! This would be the grandest Christian church in the entire world, and while I believed this, I still wondered how could they make this statement. Granted St. Peter is buried under, and religiously this claim is true, but how can you back that up architecturally and with art? Um go inside and you’ll see that this claim holds true for a reason. I couldn’t even speak inside, so I have no idea how to describe it in words right now. I am just really happy that I was able to go for so many reasons. It is beautiful with so much history and it one of the two most important sites of Christians in the world, the other would be the old site of the Church of the Holy Sepulcure in Jerusalem (which is still on my to see list). Inside there is Michelangelo’s most famous Pietà and Bernini’s alter piece. The whole church is beautiful and I still can’t believe I was there. I definitely felt at piece and got some nice soul cleaning/pilgrim-aging done, thanks Catholicism. Afterwards we went to one more church, St. Peter in Chains. At this church is the famous statue of Moses with horns by Michelangelo, also the relic of the chains. Not quite sure of the real story of the chains, but I’ll look into it. Then we were free for the night. Checked into the hotel and went to dinner. Obvi since I was in Rome I had to have pasta carbonara, which is a traditional Roman dish. After dinner Ashley, Becca, Allie, Evan, and I did some exploring of the eternal city. Rome is so gorgeous all the time. We ended up at the Trevi Fountain, thinking that since it was nighttime that the tourists wouldn’t be there. Well we forgot that Friday night is a date night and that the Trevi Fountain at night it kind of romantic. So the answer was yes, lots of tourists, but less than there would have been if it were daytime. It was a great idea to go at night though because the lighting around the fountain was so beautiful, and quite understandable why there were so many couples there. I really liked the older couples, one of whom I took their photo in front of the fountain. They were just so cute and in love after so many years of marriage, that it gave me hope that marriage can last a lifetime. L’amore non capisco ma la vorrei. Then we threw coins into the fountain and made our wishes. Not going to say, or type, what they were because then it won’t come true. Then we decided that the night and day for that matter had been way too profound and deep, so we took silly pictures of us pretending to fall into the fountain. There was going to be gladiator photos, but it was way too cold to risk actually falling into the water and having to walk back to the hotel.
Then on Saturday was the ancient part of the trip. Today we were lead by Rocky who was the other half of the amazing tour guide team. I seriously want a job like his when I’m in grad school: research, ta, lead walking tours and talk about history in Italy. Seriously, I am considering this. Well we went to the Colosseum and he explained how the movie Gladiator has made his job so much easier. The history of ancient Rome and the parallelisms to modern USA is really scary, so when the exotic animals start arriving I’m getting out of there. Oh America, why must you be ignorant of history? Then we walked through the Roman Forum and got some more history fun facts, namely how the current problems in the middle east, specifically relating to Israel, all began with the Romans. Great, thanks guys, thanks for starting all of these problems back in the first century AD! Stupid men with swords! There were lots of triumphal arches, the remains of the Basilica of Constantine (which apparently the only time when it is appropriate now to use the word ‘awesome’), and the history of the founding of Rome. My favorite part was the lecture on Cesar and the general ridiculousness of his empire expansion. Then we walked down Capitoline Hill and saw a wedding getting started. After was the Pantheon again, except this time there was no rain. So I have now seen it in both weathers, but I have to say outside is better in the sun, and inside is better in the rain. I mean how many people can say they saw it rain in the Pantheon (there is a giant hole in the ceiling, called an oculus, and it does rain inside-really pretty)? Once we were done at the Pantheon, the guided part of the trip was over and we were free to go out on our own. So lunch and then back to Della Palma (the great gelato place with over 100 flavors that I promised to go back to). Then we just walked around the city, and visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which dwarfs the one in Arlington, Virginia. Afterwards we got back on a train and headed home to Florence. This weekend was amazing and I am looking forward to next weekend = PARIS, FRANCE! But now I have a bit of homework that needs to be taken care of. Alla prossima.