Thursday, October 10, 2013

My week in a nutshell...

I can't believe it has almost been one month since I got here! It seems like time is flying by but I'm still enjoying every second of it. Between visiting St. Peter's Basilica twice this week, a midterm exam and napping I have had zero time to sit down and reflect on the past week. I will definitely have more time this weekend to think about everything but for right now I wanted to share a couple of things that has happened recently. 
Today: I knew I had to post something today after hearing something during class. Prof. Bonanno is away at a conference this weekend so we had Prof. Balena teaching us lit this morning. He was talking about Dante and Boccacio and mentioned a quote in italian. I do not remember the italian but it translated to something like this "Love comes to those who are gentle". I'm pretty sure thats what he said. He reminded me of when he told me that he saw me as a very motherly person that has plenty of love to share and that love comes easy to me. I really appreciated hearing this because it reminded me of my own mother. Every night before I go to bed I see my favorite picture of my mom and I from when I was a baby and it makes me so happy to think that some day I will be just like her. This thought process really had nothing to do with the Decameron that we are reading in class but it didn't matter to me. Later today we went to St. Peter's Basilica for the second time this week and it was just as thrilling as if I were seeing it for the first time. Today we focused on the religious aspect of the church rather than the art in the church like we did yesterday. Luckily the rain held off while we were waiting in line to go through security. The line was crazy! You don't have to pay to get in but you do have to stand in line for a very long time to get into the basilica. Even though I was able to sleep in last weekend I will definitely need to sleep in tomorrow to catch up for this past week. Saturday we have a day trip to Orvieto which should be fun because the Dean from Assumption will be visiting! I will post lots of pictures and post about it sometime this weekend.
Yesterday: Between Italian class and Renaissance Art class yesterday was a very LONG day. We were at our Italian class from 9:30-1 and then had a bag lunch because we were meeting our art professor at 2 at the Vatican Museum. We got back to our building around 5:50 or 6. The museum was really cool but unfortunately we had to jog through it like most of our visits to museums. The art work is absolutely stunning and I could spend hours there! After the museum we went to the Sistine Chapel. It was nothing like I expected but every single inch of it was painted and it was stunning! There were so many people there so it wasn't as quiet as expected but I was still able to appreciate being there. After that we went into the basilica which like I said earlier, was absolutely beautiful. There is so much artwork to appreciate in Rome and not one piece looks alike. One of my high points of yesterday was being able to understand everything in my Italian class. It was the first time I did not feel so lost and I loved every second of it. However, my favorite part of yesterday was last night after dinner I was talking to Prof. Balena about teaching and I finally found someone who feels the same way I do! He talked to me about how everyone has knowledge, but it is about making learning exciting and inciting people to want to learn. Talking to him about education was making me so excited for the day I finally am able to begin teaching. I want to ask him if he could email me a page he wrote about teaching because I would really like to share it and read more about the Socratic method of teaching he was talking about. It made me so happy to have someone to talk to about it!
Tuesday: For Ethics class we went to the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna. When you first walk into the museum the first room has a floor entirely made up of cracked mirrors. I loved this effect because it showed how things are without any distortion done by the artist. You see yourself for who you really are while standing next to beautiful statues. The first statue I saw was of Eve and I probably stared at her for what felt like hours. She was stunning and so life like and was right there in front of me. She was looking down and so in the mirror you could see her distraught face. It was titled "Eva dopo il peccato" (Eva after the sin). There was an immediate connection I felt with her and couldn't look away. I didn't take a picture of her myself because I felt like it would ruin the moment but I will find one and post it here. Just like going to the Vatican Museum we were rushed on this trip but I plan on going back because I could've spent hours in that museum. One of the paints we saw was called "Grande Rosso" and it reminded me of reading the play Red in my Romanticism class last semester. Its hard to explain what the artwork was but it was very modern and stuck out. 
Monday: We didn't do much monday besides go to Italian class and then we stayed inside for our Renaissance Art class. So out of this whole week monday was the most relaxing but I was able to face time with friends from home which made me very happy! 
I am so happy now that I have finally been able to share with you everything that has happened this week. I feel like I am always so busy and never have a second to share my experiences! Hopefully I will get into a better routine shortly. Enjoy the pictures!
Joke from Italian class "tonight we stop United States"

From the Vatican Museum

From Vatican Museum

St. Peter's Basilica

St. Peter's Basilica

Eva dopo il peccato

2 comments:

  1. I loved reading your latest update, but it made me cry. Prof. Balena is absolutely right about how loving you are. I am so happy you had the chance to talk with him about teaching. You will be an amazing teacher. I love you. Love, Mom

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  2. I can imagine it is hard to fit in updating your blog when you are so busy with classes and studying. I loved hearing about your trip to the Vatican and seeing your pictures. You truly are a loving person and will make a wonderful teacher and mother to your own children. It is because youmweremso well loved that you are able to be so loving. You got that from your Mom. Love you Aunt Lisa

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