le clase en Italia

So, the first day of class in Firenze, Italia. Only mildly frightening, really. Let's get this out of the way, folks. I believe in signs. I have been collecting and admiring wooden tulips since my very early childhood. So, I walk into the painting studio where I will be taking The Fundamentals of Painting (oil painting!) and what sits on the table at the head of the class other than two vases holding wooden tulips! Well, it meant something to me. Just like a redbird flitting across a sky or a light going on & off without your doing so. Those things can have a calming effect on a girl, especially when she is out of the her "normal" surroundings.

Well, other than walking 30 minutes with 2 cumbersome shopping bags full of art supplies, my bookbag swinging haphazardly from one arm, and still yet a large framed oil painting canvas, I tell you, I looked like a savvy florentine in my purple European shoes.

Let's spend a moment reflecting on Intermediate Italian. Well, I'm not sure that I can seeing as how I understood very little of what the professor, FRANCESCO, spoke. ENTIRELY ITALIAN, folks. Not a budge at all. His shirt was pale pink, unbuttoned to below his chest. Beneath the shirt was a gold crucifixe atop a bed of...well, you know the stereotype! He seems to be a great teacher, though. And a lot of what was happening at the end of last years' class is really coming back to me.

Currently, it is very late and I must be getting to bed so that I can get up and get to my homework da mattina (in the morning) . I wish you could all be here. I am having a wonderful time. This city is very inspirational, I feel so bereft without my cello.

~Ciao for now,
Grazia

Me and Firenze:)

A few days later

I'm very tired, folks. All day: walking, eating, walking, walking, shopping, walking, eating. Exhausting really. Do you hate me? I would hate me, it's va bene (okay). Here's a bit of an update: I live in a 4 bedroom/ 2 bath/ kitchen-laundry combo apartment on Via Ghibellina. 7 girls, I have a single room:) There is a small enclosed terrace, the only light is from above, but the weather here is molto fabuloso (not italian) so the windows are open ALL of the time we are in the apartment. I leave my apartment door and walk two blocks to the Piazza Santa Croce where one can buy many souvenirs or food or leather goods or just sit on the steps of the Chiesa (church) di Santa Croce and enjoy the weather with Dante (he's the big statue on the steps). Watch out or he'll stare you DOWN. I mean it, he seems very powerful. My first impression of the city is that it is a huge art gallery. However, with Professore Ribar (the art prof from Belmont) here to guide our group along, one realizes very soon that the statues on the street are reproducions of the real works that are in the museums. So far I've only been to one: Museo di Opera (Museum of the Works). Michelangelo's "Pieta" is there. How magnificent. Of course, the few of us that decided to go were exhausted after a long day of walking and CLIMBING the stairs of il Campanile (lots of stairs, much like climbing that tower in Boston, but more stairs). The hike was entirely worth it! The city is more expansive than one can imagine and this is the best place to take in any view. Today was our big tour day. Here's what we saw: The Church of San Mitiano; the Baptistery near il Duomo (this is where Dante was baptised), il Campanile (the tower of il Duomo), Museo di Opera. We walked through some new parts of the city on the south of the Arno river (I live just north of the river). We begin our classes on Monday and I will begin painting as soon as I can get my supplies:) I love and miss each of you. Honestly, I wish each of you were here. Kate, you should see my tan! Ciao for now, Grazia

Okay, I'm here.

So, all of the excitement is completely OVERWHELMING. This is my homeland, for real. I should have been Italian...really. I mean, it's dirty, but it's a city. I live a little over 2 blocks from the Santa Croce Piazza where Dantè stands. FREAK OUT! He's a little frightening if you ask me. I am a five minute walk from Ponte Vecchio and very near Bruneleski's Dome (the Duomo). And the weather is MOLTO BELLA. Guess what color my new scarf is. Go ahead, guess. VIOLA; purple. And, my Italian is all coming back to me. We start classes on Monday. I'll be taking Italian and Foundations of Painting. Now, the other day I saw students painting from the steps of the Santa Croce Church. I am not kidding. I think I'll pass out I'm having so much fun. Is this entry too stream of conciousness for you? (Entry sounds so sterile and unfriendly, just like post. I'll work on finding something else.) Gelato is molto magnifico:) K, it's time to hit it folks. A little open house at the the school begins NOW! Ti voglio bene, folks.
A domani,
Grazia
p.s.
I don't have the cords for my camera with me, but I promise there will be pics as soon as I figure all of this stuff out:)

My very first post.

Here's my blog:) Here I will post many items & pictures. Look at me! Look at me!

I love you all.
~gracious ann