Saturday, June 30, 2007

Saturday 6.30.07



Pisa is only 10Km from the Mediterrean Sea and has been an important port city since the 11th century. Beginning in the in the 11th century, Pisa had its greatest development. It won major naval battles, saw the development of several famous monuments and the establishment of several universities.

The thing that makes Pisa most famous is the Piazza dei Miracoli, which contains all the monuments that make Pisa famous; the cathedral, baptistery, and hanging tower. The cathedral and baptistery are impressive structures, both taking over a century each to be completed.

However, the real reason to visit the city of Pisa is to see the Hanging Tower, which is more commonly known as the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The tower’s construction began in 1174 under the direction of Bonanno Pisano and took over 200 years to complete because of structural problems. By the time the first three stories were complete, the tower had already begun to sink. In 1275, the first attempts were made to counter the tower’s lean. By 1301, the six stories were complete and the tower was completely finished by 1350. The exterior is adorned with multicolored marble.
Besides leaning, the tower is famous because Italian physicist Galileo Galilei conducted his famous experiments with gravity and the relative speed of falling objects from the top of the tower.

On our trip to Pisa, we took a bus, two trains, and another bus to Pisa. Pisa is an interesting place for a short visit. After you see the tower and realize that it really does lean, there isn’t much else to see. There are ton of vendors and we did a lot of shopping there.

Friday, June 29, 2007

Friday 6.29.07

Today we had a short day planned. We were going to the Doumo, right around the corner. Every city in Italy has a Doumo, which basically is the main cathedral of the city. We went bright and early just to find out that it doesn’t open until noon. So we decided to head over to San Domenica to see the cathedral that is dedicated to Saint Catherine of Siena.
Saint Catherine (Caterina Benincasa) was born on March 25, 1347 and was known for her help with the poor. She also worked with the popes of the day in establishing the church in Siena. She is also known for helping to establish peace among the regions in Italy during her time.
Inside the church, there are a variety of renaissance painting depicting the Madonna and Child and the founding fathers of the church. In addition, off in wall, near a shrine, you can actually view Saint Catherine’s mummified finger. It is said that her head is there too, but it wasn’t out for viewing.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Thursday 6.28.07

We visited the public library and it was very interesting. The library was built over a street and you can see the street and even the street signs inside the library. The public side was really nice because it had two children’s rooms and a room for movies. It also has internet access and by all accounts, it looks like a regular public library…but much cooler. There were Italian copies of American classics by Charles Dickens, George Orwell, and Agatha Christie.

The other side of the library has more reference materials, some of which can be checked out. The best part of the tour was seeing all the original manuscripts dating as far back as the 14th century. There is also a special room that houses all those documents and they are all carefully maintained. In many cases, there are handwritten, first editions of book from centuries gone by.

The library itself has a rich history, being over 650 years old. It originally belonged to a rich man, who left it to a university. Once the French came to Siena, it was closed down for a few years. When it was reopened, the library was given to the city of Siena as a public library.

In the afternoon, I worked on my slide shows. I managed to break them the day before and of course, I didn’t save any the project files. I managed to find a nice wi-fi friendly spot in the school’s student lounge. It was quiet in the lounge because everyone had pretty much left for the day. Since my laptop started acting crazy, I only have a limited amount of time before it overheats. So I had to work fast. The laptop did eventually over heat, so I went to the internet train to upload all of my slide shows and check my email. The internet train is very convenient, but I have spent about €15-€20 in the past two weeks.

Later that evening we watched the Italian version of 1 vs. 100 and I actually got two questions correct. I didn’t understand any of the dialog, but it seemed the same as the Italian version.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Wednesday 6.27.07

We started the day in the local open air market. There were so many vendors and it quickly became clear where “regular people” buy most of their clothes. The stores are way too expensive, so the market offers a cheaper alternative. I bought a skirt, a gift, and some fruit. Tiffany got a dress after a huge amount of deliberation.


After the market, we ran home to drop off our purchases and ran back to Piazza Gramschi to catch the bus to Florence.


Florence trip #2
This trip to Florence took us to the Accademia, a museum that houses the original sculpture of David by Michelangelo. The sculpture is 12,000 lbs and 17 feet high. We also saw some of Michelangelo’s other sculptures, most notably the sculptures that he was working on for the tomb of Pope Julius II. He didn’t finish those sculptures.


In the room dedicated to music, there were a variety of harpsichords, guitars, violins, wood wind instruments and other cool pieces. There was one guitar that was really cool. It was made out of marble (by Michele Antonio Grandi) with black and white designs. While were in the music portion, we saw some computers, but they weren’t for the internet. They had video presentations about music and instruments. At one computer, there was a woman who looked just like Deborah Kent, a music professor at HCC.


After the Accademia, we headed for the Bargello. Unfortunately, the Bargello closes at 1:30 every day. Of course we got there around 2:30. So everyone was bummed out, so I took a really funny picture of the group looking sad. It is the funniest picture ever.



After the Bargello, we decided to just walk around and try to find the pig market. We didn’t find it, so we just went home. I think everyone was exhausted anyway. We all looked like we needed naps desperately.


In the evening, we went to dinner with Stephanie and Gail as a goodbye to Gail. She is leaving on Friday for Paris. Afterwards we walked through Il Campo which is in full Palio mode. I’m going to stay clear of the Campo on Monday because I hear that it is complete and total madness during the Palio.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Tuesday 6.26.07

We went to the Pinacotea Nazionale di Siena, which is an art gallery up the street from our school. There are (as you would expect) a huge collection of Renaissance paintings. Most of the paintings were of biblical scenes or scenes depicting the foundations of the churches in Siena. The one painting that you see duplicated at every museum is Madonna and Child, or Mary and the baby Jesus. After you see it five or ten times, it become less exciting and you start noticing little things.

For example, Heather suggested that they didn’t use really babies in the portraits because the babies always looked like little people (adults). The other thing we noticed was that, at least with the Sienese paintings, the noses are very thing and elongated, in an almost unnatural way. Also, fingers are usually proportionally longer than normal. As for Mary (Jesus’ mother), she’s always depicted in blue, while Mary Magadeline is always in red. We also noticed that Mary (Jesus’ mother) is always depicted as an older women, but she is always shown holding Jesus as a baby. This was odd because Mary was young when she had Jesus.

After the museum, we had some lunch and then went to the botanical gardens. It started to rain, which was a welcome change from the heat we’ve been experiencing. Since it was a light drizzle, we decided to go the botanical gardens, which was very pretty. We only got to see half of it because some people had to leave to do laundry. I took the rest of the day to rest.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Monday 6.25.07


We went to San Gimignano which is known for Medieval and Renaissance buildings. But here’s the deal with San Gimignano: There are a ton of shops and good prices in all of them. I bought some marble eggs and a set of alabaster eggs. They are really colorful and pretty.


The line of stores reminded me of the stores at Six Flags. Everyone has pretty much the same thing. Although, I was really tired that day, I could see going back to San Gimignano.

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Sunday 6.24.07

On Sunday, we went to Chianti, the region famous for Chianti wine. This town is the only place that specializes in Chianti because it is the only place that the grapes used in Chianti are grown. First we stopped in a museum of geography, I think. It had the history of the landscape of the Tuscan state. I didn’t understand anything the guide was saying, so I just walked around and read the English translations under the photos. Afterwards, we went to a sculpture garden nearby. It had sculptures created by artists from around the world. The artists incorporated nature into all the pieces and they each had a story.


After the sculpture garden, we went to a vineyard and saw where Chianti grapes are grown, processed and transformed into wine. The barrels are beyond huge. The wine is stored for up to 6 months or more after being bottled. It was very interesting to see the inside of the winery. The room where they bottle the wine reminded me of the opening scene of Laverne and Shirley (at the brewery).




After seeing the bottling room, we got to sample some Chianti and have some food. Most of the food was good, but it was a little salty or oily or in some cases, both. That seems to be the trend in Italy. The chianti was ok, but I’m not a wine drinker. Everyone else seemed to really like it. We were given four samples, but I didn’t really like any of them.

After we got home, Tiffany and I set out to find the local Kingdom Hall. We go the information to take the bus, but we didn’t really know where we were going. On the way, we saw some witnesses under a tent with literature. We introduced ourselves and managed to ask if the kingdom hall we were heading for was the closest one. They told us that it was and we went on our way. Well, the bus time we had was wrong, so we started to walk home. On the way back, I decided to tell the witnesses that the bus time we had was wrong. I can only say that Holy Spirit directed me to do that because, the first time we talked to them, they didn’t understand English and we could barely speak Italian to them. This time, two sisters who speak English were under the tent and we explained our situation to them. Then one of the brothers said that he would take us the kingdom hall. So Jehovah made it so we could go to the meeting.

At the meeting, we said hi to a few people and eventually one of the brothers found someone who speaks English to come over and talk to us. Her name is Chicita and she is Australian. She decided to come to Italy to learn Italian a year ago and she decided to stay to live. Here in Italy, she teaches English at a local school. She’s also learning French at the same time.

We asked her about getting the bus home after the meeting and she told us that the buses don’t run that late at night. So she arranged for us to get a ride home. Before we left, she told us about the book study and that the congregations would be at the district convention on the weekend. We’re not going, but it was good to know so that we didn’t show up to an empty kingdom hall.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Saturday 6.23.07

On Saturday, we went to Firenze (Florence) to visit the Duomo and the Uffizi. The trip was long, but it was well worth it. The Duomo had lots of paintings in the main hall including the painting depicting Dante and the Divine Comedy by Domenico da Michalino.


The Uffizi had mostly renaissance paintings and sculptures. Most of the art looks like the same guy painted them because the colors and styles were basically the same. There were lots of dark tones and pudgy people. There were some paintings that I saw in our Florence guide book that I actually saw in the Uffizi. For example the Battle of San Romano (by Paolo Uccello) depicting Florence’s victory over Siena.


The other piece that we saw was Michelangelo’s David, but it wasn’t “the real David”. The sculpture at the Uffizi is a copy. Italy is freakishly obsessed with David in a way that is disturbing. Michelangelo choose to depict a nude David going to slay the Philistine giant Goliath. Here’s the thing, nowhere in the bible does it say that David was nude when he did this. In fact, if you read the actual account in the bible at 1 Samuel 17: 38-48, you actually find out that David was completely dressed for battle. So why did Michelangelo portray David in the nude? The thing I that really don’t understand is the fact that Italians almost deify David and his nakedness. It is depicted on t-shirts and boxer shorts and all kinds of paraphernalia that is probably meant for tourists. They have turned a very important historical bible character and made him into a phallic symbol that they knowingly or unknowingly worship.

From the outside, the Uffizi looks like two buildings joined by a hallway or bridge on the southern end. The Florence guide book suggests taking two days, if possible, to see the entire Uffizi. But for us, that really wasn’t possible. Tiffany and I wandered throughout the rooms, but somehow miss the Michelangelo and Botticelli rooms. We did see a lot of nice sculptures in the hallways, including the bust of Vespasiano. It is a multi-colored marble sculpture that was very realistic.

After the Uffizi, we had to make our way back to the bus station. But first we went to Ponte Vecchio, which is a bridge that has a lot of jewelry stores. This is where you get the gold and silver that people talk about when they talk about shopping in Florence. After the Ponte Vecchio, we started walking back to the bus station. Somehow we wandered into an open air market that had lots of purses, scarves, t-shirts and other stuff that a tourist would like.

Friday, June 22, 2007

Friday 6.22.07

The last day of language class… We learned more about prepositions and other household vocabulary words. I’ve been waiting for this day to come all week, but suddenly I feel like I don’t want it to end. I don’t have enough grammar and vocabulary to go out in the world and effectively express myself. Now I want to learn more Italian. But what would be cool would be if I could download a huge chunk of Italian straight into my cerebral cortex the way seven of nine downloaded voyager’s library on Star Trek Voyager. I think that my closest alternative is listening to my Teach Yourself Italian CDs, which I think I’ll need to do starting in the next day or so.
We did get certificates to prove that we took Italian in Italy. That’s going in a special place at home.
The afternoon was far less interesting. Instead of visiting a museum, we did laundry. Quite of number of us needed to wash clothes, so we found a place that is self service and conveniently located near a restaurant where we could eat lunch in between loads. The Laundromats weren’t too different from American Laundromats except that you don’t put the change in the machine. There is a machine on the wall where you feed your money. Tiffany and I got a couple of loads done, but she ended up re-washing our white clothes again at home. We didn’t do much after that, except prepare for our trip to Florence the next day.

Thursday, June 21, 2007

Thursday 6.21.07

We learned numbers today, at least the numbers up to 100. We even played a counting game. Learning language almost makes you feel like you’re in kindergarten. That is until you go outside and hear five year olds speaking way better than you ever could.


In the afternoon, we went for a walk to Piazza Gramschi for lunch. We ate Panini, which weren’t like the kind you get at Giant. Here in Italy, Panini just means sandwich. We had our lunch over in the park because eating at a restaurant actually costs more if you sit down and eat it there.
The park was nice. There were trees and I suddenly realized that I hadn’t seen any trees in the city since we arrived. It was a hot day, so sitting in the shade was a refreshing change. While we were there, Celeste told us a little about the history of Italy. There was a statue in the middle of the park of Guiseppe Garibaldi, the man who helped unify Italy into a nation. Apparently, back in the day, each state in Italy was its own country, which accounts for the variety of Italian dialects. It wasn’t until the 1800s that Italy became a unified country. Today, Italy has a socialist government.

Celeste also told us about the physical differences between northern Italians and southern Italians. Southern Italians tend to have more olive skin tones while northern Italians tend to have lighter skin tones. Because Siena is situated in a huge tourist area, it is harder to distinguish one Italian from another Italian.

After the park, Celeste, Tiffany and I went shopping. We finally found tennis shoes which came in handy because we have plans to go to Florence on Saturday. There is a store called Bata, which is similar to H&M with similar prices. We both found shoes that were about the same prices as American prices. I got some Nike Running shoes that ended up being the perfect shoes for the trip.

I think we wore Celeste out, because she didn’t join us for food shopping. We have gotten the hang of the local supermarket now. We bought a bunch of food only to realize that we wouldn’t be eating at home for a day or so. We went out a restaurant with the group that night. The owner of the restaurant made us four piattas (courses). They were all good and if I had had the room, I would’ve eaten more. Afterwards, we walked through the streets, listening to various jazz bands along the way. Thursday was the city wide jazz festival with bands playing in fourteen different locations throughout the city. The music was nice and it reminded me of American Jazz. At 11:00 we walked Geri to her bus and then headed on home.

Every night, no matter what we do, I am thoroughly exhausted; but it’s a good exhaustion. But it does make for rough mornings. I just discovered that there is a coffee machine in the student lounge. It has way too many choices, but it does the trick for me in the morning.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

Wednesday 6.20.07

Today in class we learned more vocabulary words and the conjugation of the regular –are and –ere verbs. There are so many verbs in Italian that are similar to Spanish verbs. We also played Pictionary, which was interesting. My team kept getting hard words like “match”, “sing”, and ”play” while the other team got words like pizza and scissors. Despite that, it was really fun; probably the most fun we’ve had all week.
I was asked if the style of teaching at Dante Aligheri was good for learning Italian. This was a difficult question to answer because I haven’t taken an introductory language class in nine years. Even then, I had some Spanish under my belt from high school. I honestly forgot how hard it is to learn a new language from scratch. I feel like, if I ever do this trip again, I definitely want to take a semester of Italian first. I definitely feel lost because I’m not able to communicate with people like I would like.
In the afternoon, I finally posted to my blog. The Internet Train, the internet café near our apt is great. We can get in and get out without any problems. After the Internet Train, we headed over to the bank on Banchi Di Sopra. This bank is the oldest bank in Siena and it houses some great Senese paintings. Too bad we didn’t get to go in and see them. Apparently, the website that tells you how great these paintings are forgets to mention that they’re not available to the public. The man in the lobby was extremely rude to Celeste. But she held her own.
Afterwards the group split up and Tiffany and I went on the hunt for some shoes. My canvas converse split a hole on the side and they were making my feet hurt. So I wanted to find some running or walking shoes. Every store wanted an obscene amount of money for the plainest and ugliest shoes. So we gave up for the night.
When we got home we set up the laptop and watched Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank on DVD. It was a good movie, but had an unnecessary amount of profanity. The theme, though, was good and I even thought that we could watch it at diversity committee retreat. It gave an interesting prospective about how the educational system works in poor areas and in particular in one school in Los Angeles. If you get a chance to watch this movie, it is really good. The advertisement made it look like the typical white teacher going in to save the helpless black kids. But under the surface it was so much more than that. The movie is based on a true story, which if you watch the DVD extras, you get to see more of the real teacher and students about whom the movie is based.

Walking...

Wednesday June 20, 2007
We have walked and walked and walked and then a few hours later, we walked some more. I had blisters before we left because of some ambitious morning walks. So now my feet are on fire on a daily basis. The lace-less Converse that I searched for over a month, now look like I’ve been wearing them for 15 years. Today, I’m going to find some sensible walking shoes. We’re also scheduled to go to the bank today to see some art that is in the bank. Hopefully, it is more exciting than it sounds.



Yesterday, after class, we went to the Palazzo Publicco in il Campo (the center of town). It looks like a large church, but it is actually their city hall and a museum. Most of the frescos were of ancient popes, biblical scenes and what seemed to be historical paintings of a Siena gone by. There was one painting in particular that showed the Florentine soldiers taking over Siena and building a great wall that still stands today. Most of our students live outside that wall, but their homes are still considered Siena.


The frescos were interesting and very intricate, although I have to admit, they weren’t the style of art that I like the most. Having read some information about the art work of that era, I find some of the paintings, or should I say the content, a little unsettling because some things just seem historically inaccurate and some things seem to glorifying a system or governing authority that in reality oppressed its subjects. I guess, I like contemporary, 20th century art more. But then again, I think that for me, 20th century art is more relatable. I probably need to read more about medieval and renaissance art.


My body is still adjusting to the time change and the eating schedule. People eat on another time table than I am used to eating. So Tiffany and I made our way to the local supermarket (Conad) to gather food stuffs for a couple of days. We got breakfast, lunch and dinner for about €15 which is about $19 US. I was surprised because we would have spent close to $30 if we bought the same amount of food at Giant in Columbia. Our apt mate, Gail, came with us and we got food for dinner. When we got home, we all cut up veggies to make a sautéed veggie dish and pasta. It was light and inexpensive, which was just our taste and price.


There are a flurry of activities coming up within the next week. Once we are finished with language classes we can go on more day excursions and see more sights. As soon as I am able to, I’m going to start posting pictures. The wireless internet connection at school takes a long time to kick in and we don’t have long breaks at all during the day. For now, I’m just writing up my blogs, saving them to a thumb drive and going to the Internet Café down the street.

The Act of Traveling

June 16, 2007
When you travel, your journey starts long before you actual step foot on a plane. Your journey begins in your mind weeks or months before ahead. There’s so much planning, learning, and discovering to do. For me, the journey started in January when I made the financial commitment to go to Italy. This was more of a cerebral action because putting out money didn’t make the trip real. It felt more like paying a bill.
When I submitted my leave slip for the weeks, it was a scary thing because I didn’t and still don’t have three weeks worth of leave. It was then, that I made the time commitment. This step of the journey has worried me the most. How do you schedule a 23 day vacation when you only have 9 days of leave? After doing a lot of math, I figure out that I only needed 15 days of leave. I’ll get 2 days by the end of June and 5 on July 1st. That’ll cover all the time I need.
After you make the finance and time commitment, your next step is to get organized. This inevitably brings on the emotional commitment; at least it did for me. With other trips, I’ve been emotionally vested right from the start. This time I felt too overwhelmed to get emotionally attached. I don’t want to say that I was disinterested, but it took a long to feel like the trip was really going to happen. To be honest, it wasn’t until I was in the Dulles airport that I actually felt excited about the trip.
When we changed planes in Montreal, all my feeling hit me. We’re really doing this! We’re going to Italy. Hearing Italian instructions on the plane to Rome really made the trip real; more than ever before.
Later that day…
On the bus from Rome to Siena, most everyone fell asleep. I think I was the only one who actually slept for a long time on the plane; both of them in fact. I slept most of the flight to Montreal and most of the flight to Rome. In fact, I went to sleep on the bus from Rome to Siena. For a while we were on a highway where the traffic was at a standstill. There had been a traffic accident and someone died. Thankfully, the person was gone by the time we passed the accident scene.
When we finally arrived in Siena, Tiffany and I explored the neighborhood and found the internet café. You know that I can’t be disconnected from the internet for too long without losing my mind. So the Internet Train was a welcomed surprise…and it is one block from our apt. During our walk to find Marie’s place, we ran into Celeste, the director of the language group who that she had made reservations at a restaurant for 8pm and that we were welcomed to join her, Marie and Keighley for dinner.
The ristorante was on a hill with tilted tables. I sat on the lower side and it made me look like the shortest one there. The top of the table was only inches away from my chin. Marie said that I needed a boaster seat. The place mats were brown paper bag sheets, perfect for drawing. I need to find some crayons to carry with me at all times. Italy makes me want to draw and I never know what I might draw.
At the table next to us, a signore said, “Hey isn’t this the table that fell last night?” This made me nervous because I hadn’t considered that the table would be stable. Before then, I was most concerned with not falling myself. All the hills and steps make me nervous. I was instructed not to fall and break any bones in Italy.
The meal – it was simple, but good. We had authentic spaghetti with meat sauce. It is Italy after all… how could not have spaghetti? After wards, Tiffany and I walked back home and realized that we forgot where we live. We did eventually find the apt.
It’s funny…for as much as I have travelled, inside and outside the US, this trip feels weird to me. Marie says that I keep “Monk”ing out, meaning that everything is freaking me out. In a way that is true. I still don’t feel comfortable doing some things like showering and going to the bathroom. The shower is so small that I barely fit in it. I’m actually still petrified of the shower, but I usually afraid of new showers for the first couple of days of any trip. Also, not having much Italian under my belt is very disconcerting. When I’ve gone to Mexico, I could communicate with people, albeit slowly. At best, I can say “thank you”, “yes”, “no”, “to the left”, “to the right”, and “straight ahead”. My Spanish is helping in some ways and in some ways, it’s a hindrance. I keep calling the (€) euros, pesos and I’m having a hard time with the pronunciation of some words because they are so similar to Spanish. We have our placement tests tomorrow. I’m thinking about just putting my name on the test and handing it back. I want the beginning class…Italian for dummies is what I want.

Monday, June 04, 2007

Bedrock Anthem

Sunday, June 03, 2007

The Rain

The funny thing about rain is that is serves so many purposes. It helps to clean the air on the way down to the ground. It waters the vegetation and crops so that we can have food to eat. At it's most powerful, it can destroy cities, towns and whole civilizations.

Yet at the same time, to sit by your window and watch it fall can be one of the most enjoyable experiences a person can have. In areas that desperately need rain, a rain shower can be like manna from heaven. There have been many times when rain has brought me comfort...made me feel better...washed away the cares of the day.

My heart has been heavy the past few days. I needed solace, the assurance that everything would be alright...And then it rained. Slowly, my worries started to fade. I feel like I'm being washed clean of my fears.

Things will be OK.

Soul Sista

Had a friend once upon a time who had a hunger to learn
Good and bad was all she had and all she was concerned
She found out they were one and the same

The truth don’t need to have a name
She loved to share with the moon soon she shared with me
The adventure this life could be
If we just let ourselves be free

She gave me peace of mind
Like a butterfly song to a rainbow shrine

And today feels good
Soul sista
today feels good
soul sista

We never answered too much we asked all the time
Why I was always looking and what there was to find
We threw it all into the wind laughter sharing
Me and my best friend

Her voice was fine and it eased my soul
Her face was young but her eyes were old
And magic would unfold

She gave me peace of mind
Like a butterfly song to a rainbow shrine
And today feels good
Soul sista
today feels good
soul sista

And today feels good soul sista