Saturday, 5/3/03
Last night after dinner I played "Settlers of Catan" with Karin and Valerie. It's Karin's favorite game, and a German game. I found out from the game that "ritter" means "robber".
This morning Morgan and I went to Cortona. I mainly wanted to go again because I didn't get postcards last week, but it was just as beautiful as before. I think Cortona is my favorite Tuscan town. The only thing I bought was a Tuscan cookbook. As soon as I got back, Kate and I went to get our hair cut. I just now packed most of my stuff. I think it might all fit!
Monday, 5/5/03
I'm in the courtyard in an attempt to stabilize myself once again. I have a knack for having a whole lot of fun, and thinking I'll have a great journal entry, then something comes along and ruins my mood before I have a chance to write.
I should start with yesterday. Church was wonderful, even though the heat made me dead tired, as usual. Anziano Waite told me that some of the members requested my testimony, since it was my last Sunday. I was nervous, but I did it, and he translated for me. I said goodbye to everyone then left.
I was walking back to Santa Chiara when I met Kate and Morgan coming out to go to studio. They told me that Taeg had moved our final review from 2:00 to 1:30. It was 1:40. I ran upstairs, threw on some different clothes, and ran up the steep road to studio. Taeg wasn't even there, and we didn't end up starting until after 2. The review went well, though it lasted five hours. With my projects, the reviewers have kept bringing up religious allegory and stuff. This time, Taeg's friend, who is teaching in Rome, kept talking about the "darker side" of my project, a flight of steps that go nowhere. It seems to imply death. I think that's hilarious, that I've gotten stuck with the symbolic projects all semester.
After dinner our studio hosted a party in the courtyard with wine and pastries, and a slide show of our powerpoint presentations. I had to be careful and smell the pastries to make sure I didn't eat one with alcohol. Andrea from Kansas showed me some things that Nicole had put all over the study center, little garlic cloves wrapped up and attached to string, just to help people notice details about the space that they wouldn't have otherwise. She put these little wire weed-like sculptures across some metal beams that span the hallway directly under the groin vaults. I never knew those little beams were there, and it really complemented the vaults to have something organic under them.
Next, I went with Karin, Edit, Kate, Crystal, and Carmen to the carnival to ride the spinny ride. It looks like the Sombrero at Six Flags, but it's very different. It doesn't spin very fast, but it jostles you up and down so you bounce around. There are no seats, just a bench around the edge, and the Italian kids would even go jump around in the middle and go flying. It was such a blast! We rode it twice. Edit, Kate, and Carmen tried to dance in the middle the second time, but didn't last very long. Edit landed on top of a little Italian boy twice.
Then we went to CoCo Palm and I got ice cream, though I was really full from the dinner and pastries. I decided to get fruit instead of rich chocolate because I was full, and I ended up getting coconut and green apple, which was the best ice cream combination I've ever had. It was absolutely divine!
I forgot to mention that before CoCo Palm, Karin put money in the punching machine and we all took turns punching it. I sucked. I guess I just don't have much anger in me. Edit and Karin kept naming it after certain guys. Then they told Carmen to think it was her parents. She got a really high score.
So, with our gelati we went and sat on the ledge on the opposite side of Piazza Garibaldi. People kept asking me if I was drunk, though I hadn't had a drop of alcohol. Then Kate, who was very giddy, got up and started doing the dance from the video "Lady Marmalade" at the end of Moulin Rouge. It was really funny.
[a stretch of complaining, because let's face it, when you spend 3 months with the same set of people, you get sick of each other]
In 48 hours, I'll be with my parents and I have never wanted a moment so badly in my entire life.
After lunch today I went up to the studio to help pack our models. Then I crashed on Carmen/Val/Bekah/Crystal/Marie's couch for not nearly long enough. By the way, their house is called Casa Vespa. Valerie and I went into town, so she could sell her cell phone, and I could find gifts. There is one shop in town called "Claudia" that has beautiful glass figures. I got Grandma a glass heart that has colored pieces on the bottom that give it a pretty effect. For Grandpa I knew that I wanted to get a book on Toscana. But I simply didn't have enough money. So I got him a beautiful glass globe from "Claudia".
At dinner it was "dress crazy night". I was really not in the mood. I couldn't bring myself to dress up. But everyone else was really funny. I was very quiet at dinner. We gave Taeg a pipe for a gift. He was ecstatic. We also all signed the postcards we're giving to all the other instructors/administrators/cooks, etc. What we did, was Sophia got a postcard of Castiglion and cut it into 14 sections. We each took one part and reproduced it in our own media, own style. Then they were all put back together. It looks really cool.
Well I'll have to start in the journal I got in Firenze now. 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours, 48 hours!
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