Highlights from Week Four!

Dinners have been pretty good and really busy this week. Fiamma has been giving lessons every day! I like having lessons because dinner is usually more extensive and we eat with an additional three people. This makes dinner way less awkward even though we have a large language barrier. The Japanese-Italian translator seems to have taken a liking to me. I think she is mostly entertained by my general Americaness and my special affinity for wine and my excitement for food. She also exclaims “SARAH” when the food comes out (especially the dessert) and insists that I take the first helping. The Japanese students also love me too. Its nice being the favorite :). I love them too its especially nice having some company while drinking wine.

On Tuesday night, I’m not sure how it happened but I ended up on a blind double date with a Slovenian? Let me explain, my friend Darcy (who I went to Perugia with) met some Italian guy at Palazzo Signoria and asked me if I would come with her to meet him at the duomo (safety first). Of course I complied, and shouldn’t have been as surprised as I was to see he brought a friend. What an evil trap! Anyway, we went to a bar with them and I had a mojito, which was fabulous. The “date” actually didn’t turn out being that bad because Darcy liked her guy and I definitely was not interested so it was that beautiful point of a blind date when it just doesn’t matter and I was completely myself--well actually myself at my craziest. I think I charmed them a little too much though as it was hard to get rid of them especially the Slovenian (I don't even remember his name) after the bar. Of course I succeeded, and met up with two friends at my favorite place Be-Bop where the Beatles cover band was playing. Then I danced and drank another mojito. Fabulous.

On Wednesday I saw Michelangelo’s David at the Academia with my art history class. He was much bigger than I expected! Our teaching assistant Sean taught our class because our professor was presenting his paper in New York. It was actually very nice having a TA for a class (something I never had experienced at Whitman). But it’s a good break from the arrogance and self-importance of professors and he is super knowledgeable about the subject but presents it in a much more down-to-earth way. About 14 feet…or 2 Yao Ming’s. He was really beautiful but mostly massive in person. Did you know he was originally commissioned to stand on the top of the duomo (cathedral), which is about five floors up? That may explain why his hands and feet are so big.

Photography class is mostly a waste of time. When were in the computer lab, it is reminiscent of my ninth grade computer application class with Mr. White—but its twice as long, we move slower, and have less free time. And I get caught more often for being on the internet. When were shooting, she yells because half of us have “horrible, little” cameras. I really don’t think I need a $600 camera for a beginning photo class. But I really like the people in my class. It has nine other girls and we all seem to agree on the craziness of our professor. Speaking of girls, I didn’t realize how many are in the program but this class is all girls and my art history class is sixteen girls and one boy. Architecture helps a little because it is dominated by boys, but I still would estimate the ratio as about 6:1.

Last night (on Wednesday) I went to what may have been the worst lecture in the history of my academic career. It was sponsored by the school of architecture and was mandatory for my architecture class commemorating Pallido’s 500th birthday. For those of you who don’t know, Pallido was an Architect in Renaissance Italy about 420 years ago, that is pretty much all I know about him. An Italian scholar presented on Pallidos’s military architecture (he was not primarily a military architect), which as far as I could tell directly related to one sketch. Perhaps, I did not understand because I am not an architecture student? But, I doubt it because everyone in my class agreed that it was dreadful especially due to the lack of evidence. I left after the third “question” because I didn’t want to be late for dinner (or that was my excuse anyway). I use the word “question” liberally because the questions were like stream of consciousness/statements by the professors in the audience occasionally with a question tagged on at the end that received a one-word answer. I have no idea how my mother works with faculty members on a daily basis. Although, I did manage to write a one page composition about my family for Italian class during this time.

Speaking of Italian, the class is getting much better. We finally speak Italian the majority of the time and all the students in the class are starting to get comfortable with each other. We even had a fun project on our college! That was probably one of the more fun powerpoint presentations I have done which contained various hyperbole about Whitman and pictures of my friends (including of Jeff as Cupid at Beta Sweetheart haha).

I am headed to Lake Como this weekend (actually a small lake next to Lake Como) it should be beautiful and fun. I am hoping to see George Clooney. It’s a “girls weekend” and I am going with Chelsea my roommate from orientation, Sonia, and Katie (who are roommates). It should be interesting because Katie and Sonia hardly ever get along and Chelsea and I are thrown into the middle. I will not let this effect the weekend (the power of positive thinking). Ciao!