I'm Older

Sorry Sorry. Once again, so much has happened since the last post: my birthday, midterms week, and spring break! For this reason I will divide the last 3 weeks into 4ish posts to make it less stressful for myself and easier for you to read.

Birthdays. I love them. There is one day a year that is set aside for the celebration of you (even Harry Potter, when he was alone and depressed, sang to himself to celebrate). Valentine’s day celebrates love, Thanksgiving celebrates gratitude, Christmas celebrates a variety of things based on personal beliefs, and birthdays celebrate the individuality and importance of a single person. It marks the movement of time and reminds us to Carpe Diem!

I feel 21. For some reason I only seem to age on particular birthdays. Before 21, I was still 18. Crazy? Maybe. Birthdays other years don’t really seem to change much, but at 18, all of a sudden you are an adult (granted still a young adult). Suddenly, you are considered competent enough to cast your vote in order to influence the future of your government, responsible enough to buy cigarettes/superglue/spray paint, mature enough to see/purchase porn, accountable for all legal actions in a court of law, and just grown-up enough to fight in a war. Boom! Even if you choose not to partake in all of these newfound freedoms, the difference is still there and tangible. Then nothing changes as you age for two more years, until you reach 21. Honestly, the only thing that really changes when you turn 21 is the ability to have and/or consume alcohol legally. Alcohol has always had little to no role in my life due to my family, friends, and personal choices. So why does being 21 make me feel older, especially considering I’m already in a country where I am way over the legal drinking age? Again, I think it is the new power that comes with the age. I have yet to figure out if it is the power I give it or it’s legal inherent power.

Okay, I need to move on. Life. So for my birthday my wonderful flatmate Katie made me a Nutella Cheesecake!!! It was heaven on earth. It was a fun evening full of food, chocolate, and friends.

But the fun was not meant to last. The next week was midterms week, which meant literally every single free second I had was spent in the studio painting (10 hours a day!) or (when the studio closed) at home studying. The apartment was very quiet and studious all week long. As a reward for a week of cracking down, Italy decided to celebrate with us! The Thursday of midterms (also St. Patty’s day) was the 150th anniversary for the unification of North and South Italy, kind of like our July 4th, except they don’t celebrate it every year. It was a spontaneous holiday! So we went out and saw fireworks get shot off the top of the Palazzo Vecchio and see Italy go crazy with patriotism.

And if anyone want so procrastinate a little bit each day you should check out this word game.

So, in conclusion, I love birthdays.

Next posts to come: Spring break 2011!

Songs of the Posts: “Stop this Train” by John Mayer, and “Blame It (on the Alcohol)” performed in Glee (but originally by Jamie Foxx)

Birthdays, Trips, and Art

It’s been a while; the result of my being too busy to blog, which is exactly how it should be abroad! I am currently exiled from my room by some construction people who are knocking a hole in our while to extract the mold/mildew caused by our leaky pipes. Quite a few exhilarating things have happened in the last few weeks. To spice things up, I will start unorthodoxly by blogging about the most recent noteworthy event and pop-corning around my last two weeks. Also, there may be more pictures than usual. I find that pictures speak louder than words for a lot of these experiences.

Saturday night I got back from Venice! Friday morning, roommate Meghan, Trumanite Brittni, and I hoped on a 4:30am train destined to take me to a very unique city. The train took 5 hours, but was worth every euro saved. Our conductor must have been a classical music fan because we listened to Wagner’s Ride of the Valkryies about 50 times in a row; what kind of train plays music!?

Basically all we did in Venice was wander around aimlessly - getting lost in Venice is the number one recommended activity online! During our wanderings we visited the Rialto, the inside of Saint Mark’s Basilica (a golden WOW), the square while empty and packed, the outside of about every church, saw a thousand masks, and crossed over what felt like every bridge in Venice. Venice is a maze! I am not in Kansas anymore! Fortunately Venice treats us adrift tourists well by putting up signs everywhere pointing the way to all the main tourist attractions.

For our first meal in Venice, Brittni, Meghan, and I went to the market, each purchased a baguette and jar of jam (cherry, strawberry, and peach respectively), and ate on St. Mark’s square. We later learned picnicking on the square is not completely legal, which may have explained why everyone was looking at us as they passed and the birds were especially excited and annoying.

Venice at night is unbelievably beautiful and slightly creepy. There is very little lighting, very thin alleyways, and lots of inky black water that you know is there but cannot see. All the same, it was a sight to see.

We spent the night at a little hotel on mainland Venice, and then continued our adventure the next day. Saturday was the start of Carnivale in Venice, which means masks, costumes, and Lots Of People Everywhere! I am glad we had Friday to acquaint ourselves with Venice, because Saturday would have been way too overwhelming by itself. St. Mark’s square and the boardwalk were packed! I was constantly distracted by all the beautiful masks and took way too many pictures of all the different intricacies!!

On the way home we took the cheap trains again, but unfortunately ended up with a three-hour layover in Bologna. It’s cold outside, there are no benches/chairs in the train station. Solution: we bought some fries and sat in McDonalds for two hours! I cannot decide if it is hilarious or pathetic that I went to McDonalds in Italy.

Apparently spring’s reputation for being the time of birth in the animal (and plant) kingdom really does include humans as well. Last week we celebrated roommate Katie’s birthday all weekend and this weekend it seems to be everyone’s birthday! The spree started off with my dear wise ole sis Karis on the 24th turning 26, continued with dear boyfriend Brent turning 21 (danger!) on the 25th, dear girlfriend of dear brother Josiah aged to 19 on the 26th, and the marathon ended with dear friend and fellow ex-horn player Kyle also aging to 21 (real danger!) on the 27th. HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!

Katie’s weekend of fun included going to Siena, eating out at a Mexican restaurant (a rarity in Italy), eating home made birthday cake (cooked by the birthday girl herself - an aspiring pastry shop owner), and going to a disco! The most significant of these events was Siena, a quant yet vivacious city.

Siena was a little too hilly for my taste. Everywhere you look is another hill! Sometimes there were even steps to get up sidewalks! But it turns out hills are pretty beautiful when looking out from atop of a clock tower after a 300 step climb. Best 8 euros spent. We also went inside Siena’s Duomo, which unfortunately makes Florence’s look like squat (Siena and Florence used to be rivals back in the day… Siena 1, Florence 0).

I climbed that bell tower!

On the top.

Duomo

One of my most brain consuming activities have been thinking about what I want to do for my second semester projects in my drawing and painting classes. The real reason I came to Florence was not really for the views because I wanted to leave a better artist. In my Lost Codes and Secret Symbolisms class we have talked a lot about animal symbolism and how gothic art combined human and animal forms often. As a result, I have been playing with the idea of painting self portraits combined with animals. I have played around a little with sketches, and am really excited!!! All I need to figure out is what animals, what theme should they follow, how much body should I show, what setting should it be in, and just about everything! Themes considered are the 7 deadly sins, 7 virtues, 5 birds of alchemy, animals that represent my personality, etc. It still is in the beginning stages of creativity. Another painting project idea is zooming in on vegetables and painting them on a large canvas (string beans, peas, broccoli). I am super excited to get started! Tomorrow is a painting day, 10 hours of fun!!

And just for fun, here are two other random drawings.

Oh!!! Another inspiration for all these animals is the museum La Specola: a 1700's animal taxidermy and wax innards museum. Sounds weird, but I loved it!!!! I have never seen anything quite like a room full of hundreds of bird species. I took around 200 pictures there (I love it when museums let me take pictures).

There was also a section that had wax people opened up to show their internal anatomy.

Really weird and creepyish. But absolutely fascinating and inspiring!

Songs of the Post: “Dear Vienna” by Owl City (I keep singing Dear Siena in my head!), “Venice Queen” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and “Happy Birthday” by Sufjan Stevens

Goin' Explorin'

I need to blog more often. I am sorry about how long these get!

I am currently recovering from a cold that has been driving me crazy the last week. Every time I lie down or look down (which I never ever have to do for hours on end when working on projects) my nose starts causing all sorts of trouble. I’ve decided I actually enjoy sneezing - either you completely understand this statement or are currently scratching your head with confusion. Strangely enough, everyone else in my classes also seems to have chosen this week to be sick as well. Classes are full of sneezing, coughing, and raw throated voices. However, with the worse behind me, things are only looking up health-wise. I give full credit not to time, but to my excessive consumption of tea, blood oranges, and chocolate!

As briefly mentioned in my last posting, there is a Chocolate festival going on in Florence. It is a beautiful thing. This week there will be new vendors with new free samples. After an hour and a couple Euros is enough to have me holding me belly and laughing with all the lovely chocolate endorphins swimming through my body. And then take a nap.

This week has been extremely long. However, I now have a full understanding of the time commitment that each class will expect from me and now know how to gauge that time accordingly (no more 12 straight hours on a single drawing that didn’t even matter that much). I still love my classes, my professors, and even my homework. Some such homework assignments require museum and/or church visits. Last weekend I went to the Uffizi, one of the top museums in Florence, and experienced Medieval and Renaissance art to the extreme. I absolutely adore walking into a room and spotting a work that I have studied in class, and then having every notion of what that piece looked like in reality thrown out the window. It really is quite different seeing pieces in person. For example, Giotto’s Madonna and Child, Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus, and Parmigianino’s Madonna with the Long Neck were all much larger and overpowering than I had expected. I can understand why they are so famous when I stand basking in their power.

I have done a lot more of exploring Florence now, have my bearings, and now have ventured out of Florence for the first time! This last Friday three of my roommates, two girls from Truman, and I went to Pisa and Lucca for the day. It was the most adorable and relaxing (and cheap!) outing ever! We first went by train to Pisa and were given a leisurely hour tour by Rick Steves, via roommate Katie, which led us to the Square of Miracles! We, of course, took super corny Leaning Tower photographs to document our time there. After seeing the tower, cathedral, baptistery, super green lawn, and all the other exciting sites on our hour tour we realized there was little else we really wanted to do in Pisa, so we boarded a bus to nearby Lucca (which is now my favorite boy baby name).

It turns out buses are a lot more fun to ride because the entire countryside is an extra bonus denied to plane and train travelers. Interestingly, the bus also served as the school bus for students living in the outskirts of Pisa. Once in Lucca, we rushed around the entire historical part of the city in search of a small restaurant with fire-roasted pizzas, recommended by Rick Steves. The rush was caused by our sudden realization that Lucca, as a small town, took siesta time much more seriously than Florence; after 2:30, there would likely be no lunch places open. Fortunately we found the pizzeria, tired and hungry, and ate the most delicious over-roasted pizzas our bellies had ever had the pleasure of holding. We continued to explore the quiet town and soon realized we were likely the only tourists in Lucca, quite a difference from Florence! My favorite place was a 134-year-old bakery with the most delicious bread, called buccellato. We just barely missed the train home and unfortunately had to wait fifty minutes for the next one. This lovely day spent in small towns has probably been my favorite in Italy thus far!

Now it is Sunday, which means I must buckle down on my homework that I have been ignoring all weekend. Currently, there is a protest going on, quite literally a block away (Piazza della Repubblica). It is absolutely crazy!! I don’t know if I have ever seen so many people in one place before; people dancing, people chanting, people with signs, people with costumes, young people, old people, men, and women. After a bit of confusion, due to the language barrier, we learned they were protesting the both the president’s sex-scandal with a minor and Italy’s lack of equality for women (more info HERE). This women-led protest is happening in cities all over Italy. I feel like I am a part of Italian history!

Songs of the post: “Revolution” by the Beatles, and “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith

First Week Dominated

I have finished my first week of classes and remain as excited for said classes as I was before the week began. Since these classes will most likely take up a majority of my time for the next few months, I will tell you just a little bit about each of them.

Mondays. 9 am - 12:30 pm. I have full faith that my Lost Symbolisms and Secret Codes in Art will be one of the most interesting and unusual art classes I will ever take. Granted, I say this only after the first day, but it is the perfect combination of my interests. It does not seem like an art history class, more like a philosophies in art (not to be mistaken with art philosophy) class. Basically, everything I love in three beautiful credits. We will look at the influence of astrology, alchemy, geometry, and philosophy on art, then take a field trip every other week to see examples of what we are talking about in that day’s lecture.

Mondays and Wednesdays. 3 - 4:15 pm. Elementary Italian 1 is simultaneously the most and least useful of all my classes. While it already is helping me better understand this alien world I’ve landed in, it is the only class that will simply count as an elective back home. The Head of the Italian Department is my professor and only eight people are in my class. Result: zero slacking and lots of real learning! If I occasionally bust out a little Italian in my blog posts, know this class is the instigator.

Tuesdays. 9 am - 2:30 pm. Yes, my Advanced Drawing class is really that long. Fortunately we have a little half hour lunch break. First unpleasant shock: after we all piled into the classroom our professor announced we will be having an exam to make sure we all are actually qualified to be in this drawing class. I have not taken a drawing class in almost two years and do not sketch nearly as often as I should. Second unpleasant shock: we are to do this drawing exam in charcoal, a medium I have never used due to my drawing teacher’s allegoric reactions. Alas, no worries, all eleven of us passed. This class will hopefully ignite a passion for drawing; I want to get in the habit of drawing everyday again! Our first assignment is to start accumulating a portfolio of images: others’ published images, photographs I have taken, and sketches I have prepared. I am really excited about this project and already have accumulated many more images than needed (minus the sketches… still in progress).

Thursdays. 9 am - 2:30 pm. Advanced Painting will by far be my toughest and most time consuming class. On the first day we already have hours upon hours of homework: a full-sized (30x20 inch approx) drawing of an extremely complicated still life, have the drawing approved, make a half-sized tempera painting of the same composition, make a wash of colors of the same image on a canvas in oil, two paint swab charts with tertiary and complementary colors, and take detailed notes during a visit to the Uffizi Museum. All of this by next class. One thing is for sure… I will be a much better artist when I come home.

I also had been signed up for Introduction to Jazz Dance, but dropped the class in order to reduce my time committed to classes and instead will join the Italian Folk Dance Club! Jazz skills can be acquired at home, and I definitely do not need the extra credits, so I believe it will be a worthwhile trade!

So what have I been doing when not in class? Quite a variety of things, I answer! I have started and finished a book (Rebecca) and a half (Eldest). Exploring Florence and grocery shopping (and exploring in order to find grocery stores) takes up a chunk of time. I am at the point that I don’t really need a map to get to any of my classes or a number of other places. I also have already developed daily habits; the most habitual of these is my steaming cup of tea. I have become quite the tea connoisseur. I think it must have begun last semester while working under Zac Burden, but now has gone to a whole new level for me. I have at least one if not two cups of tea everyday day, typically in the afternoon as a pick-me-up or the evening as dessert. I now laugh at the day when I had Josiah make me tea and turned away as to not see how much sugar he added in order to make it sweet enough to my liking. Now just a pinch of sugar, if at all, is added. In my new world where mostly drink water is consumed, the flavor of tea is a wonderful recess. Even as I write this, I drink white tea with a small slightly sweet biscuit cookie, while I wait an hour for my potato to bake in the oven. Bliss.

We don’t have a microwave, so I am becoming quite skilled with the oven and stove. Fortunately I live with more experienced cooks, so they help me along the way. Last night I cooked my first real concoction, excluding pasta. It’s called the Spaghetti Lover’s soup, containing kidney beans, spaghetti sauce, tomato chunks, water, carrots, and obviously spaghetti noodles. Super easy and superbly delicious. I even have leftovers!

I have found that living in Florence is not just a new city, new country, but also new freedoms, and new responsibilities. It is the first time I have lived on my own, because living in a dorm does not count. As long as I remain a student advisor, I have a curfew and meals provided for me. Albeit, the curfew of 3 am rarely affects my behavior, and it is handy having Sodexo cook everything for me; however I find that the freedom of deciding everything invigorating, especially the freedom to completely choose my own food. If I did not absolutely love being an SA so much, I would probably move off campus just to not have a meal plan. I know I could cook anyway on campus, but I can’t bring myself to spend “real money” when I have already purchased my meal plan of “fake money.” I guess I just need to remember I have my whole life ahead of me to cook for myself!

Another experience, or re-experience, is living with people and actually having a roommate. I have only had a roommate for half of freshman year (excluding my first 10 years with Karis). While I love the privacy and completely personal space I gain by having my own room at Truman, there is something irreplaceable about the relationship formed while sharing a room or apartment with others. Coordinating cooing, shower, dish, laundry, and sleep schedules is something I am not use to. At home it is coordinated for me, but here we all have equal power and equal say. Something new I have found I really enjoy.

Lots of provisional thoughts about the once and future Hannah… but now I have a confession. I have fallen in love! It is true. With gelato. So far I have tasted apple, pineapple, coconut (fave!), dark chocolate, Nutella, Florentine cream, mango, and mystery pink fruitiness w/ chocolate chips. Fortunately I have been recently been exerting more self control and have not eaten any for a day and a half now. Phew! Tough stuff! It, quite seriously, is a million times more delicious than any ice cream. My discovery that it has less fat than ice cream does not help my restraint either. But it has protein, something I have been struggling to find. I have been making a concerted effort and believe I will be just fine. I have milk, yogurt, peanut butter, whole grain pastas, eggs, kidney beans, cheese, and gelato. Gelato… <3. I feel so stereotypical.

Today: buying textbooks, working in the painting studio, and going to the Florence Chocolate Fair.

Songs of the post: “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor, and “Eat It” by Weird Al Yankovic

Settling In

I have arrived! And it feels amazing! The plane rides for the most part were uneventful… fortunately (shame my lack of adventure). My roommate and a bunch of other students had to take a plane to Bolgna, then a bus to Florence, because Florence was super foggy when they were supposed to arrive. However by the time my plane arrived, it was beautiful and sunny! It is currently 38 degrees Fahrenheit with a battle between clouds and the sun outside. This weather is something I can definitely get used to!

I am also keeping a travel journal, so will be writing excerpts from throughout this blog to give you all a realistic idea of how I feel at those specific times.

“1/25/2011/Tuesday/6pm
I am currently waiting in the KCI airport for my plane(s) to take me to Italy. It still feels slightly surreal, like I’m not actually leaving, it’s only a dream. In fact, it’s been a dream, as my mom just reminded me, that I’ve had since I first decided to study art. Speaking of dreams, my head last night was filled with a variety of anxiety dreams, not about Italy or flying, but I think my emotions were made pretty transparent by them…”

Well, It no longer feels surreal and I am sleeping like a baby. I haven’t recovered from jet lag yet because we had orientation early this morning. Half my apartment is napping now, but I am saving my sleep for tonight. I am already discovering my own way around the city. However, I’ve decided I don’t like flying over the ocean. Most of the time while we were over the water I had a splitting headache, so bad I could hardly eat any dinner. I finally got to sleep, and when I woke it was much more manageable, so I watched The Social Network… entertaining, but not worthy of the Golden Globe best drama.

Now, I sit on the coach while the others nap to recover from jetlag. I have yet to recover, but am saving myself to crash tonight. We had an early morning orientation, so we are all still messed up. Speaking of “we,” I really like my apartment mates and roommate. It’s amazing how well we get along. True, time will be the real test, but at the moment I am very content. Their names are Kate, Catherine, Katie, Veronica, and Meghan (my roomie). Our apartment is quite roomy, with bare walls but warm. Somehow Meghan and I lucked out with having the biggest bedroom, which we found out later had our second bathroom attached to it. (Pictures on facebook -http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2042413&id=1192710987)

I just experienced my first couple bites of gelato, so kindly provided by my apartment mates, and have purchased cereal and milk for my mornings. I am definitely going to have to be more creative with getting protein here. Tomorrow our house is going shopping for real groceries, crossing over the bridge to explore, and find the supposed best gelato shop in Florence. We haven’t really been up to just exploring, so this weekend is going to be free and fun-filled

I now have an Italian phone! If there are any emergencies you can call me (with no charge to me-I am not sure how it charges you, once I experiment I will let you know). I know I get free texts, but it costs me to send or call. Either way my number is 011-39-377-1686218. It’s comforting to have a phone again. Amazing how dependent we are.

Scariest part of my trip thus far was definitely walking from the housing check-in place to my apartment with all my luggage and only map-quest directions. Needless to say, I got lost several times and earned some juicy hand blisters before finding my place, where I had to climb four flights of stairs with my luggage. That was the point when I was glad I had packed relatively light. Some people had 3 suitcases!!! Me: 1 suitcase, 1 backpack, 1 purse…. But then again, I did forget to pack all my shorts… oops!

P.S. Sorry this is so scatterbrained. I am still jet-lagged and have had a myriad of emotions. Next time will be clearer/more organized, I promise!

-Posted 5 hours later then written on my neighbors’ Internet. Hopefully next time I post we will have Internet too!

Song of the post: "Plane" - Jason Mraz, and "Leaving on a Jetplane" - John Denver

This is it

This will be my blog for the next 6 months as a I study abroad in Italy, then continue to travel around.  Feel free to comment, ask questions, or just read. Thanks for caring enough about me to want to keep up with my adventures.  I love you all.