The last leg...

So, months after the trip, I realized that I left this blog without even mentioning the last leg of my travels.

After staying in Cortona through most of May, we said our tearful goodbyes to the city and left for Venice for the last organized trip of the semester. After a few beautiful days there, I traveled to Sardegna, then Paris, Amsterdam, and Bremen. Far too many things happened to reocunt them now, but I do have many beautiful photographs from those travels.

I know at some point I will return to Italy and Cortona, but as to when that time will come, we have yet to see.

Orvieto: castles & caves

This weekend, our trip took us to Orvieto, another Tuscan town. While most of the cities we've visited have been hilltowns, this one was on more of a plateau than anything else. The cathedral was enormous and impressive, but so are the cathedrals in every town i've visited.

One of the things that set Orvieto apart was the fact that within the plateau, jutting up from the top of the hill, the ancient Etruscans had carved a series of complex caves. It looked like something straight out of the Goldeneye.

Most of our time in the town was spent walking around and just getting a feel for the city. We stumbled upon a park that had a few statues, and an absolutely incredibly view. The park's walls were composed of structures that looked like (but I'm sure actually weren't) castles. Right next to the park was an ancient etruscan well. I had some time to kill before the bus left, so Stephen and I took a walk down about 150 to the bottom, and sprinted back up (significantly more difficult than we anticipated).

When we reached the top again, it was time to go. We hopped back on the bus and headed back to Cortona after our final Saturday trip.

Erin Gray: Photographer

Erin gives us a deeper look into the processes and inspirations behind her art while abroad.

Laundry Time

While I don't particularly want to divulge the number of times I've done my laundry over the semester, lets just say that it was definitely time. Yesterday, after pulling all of my clothes out of the washing machine and feeling as if I had truly accomplished something, I went outside to hang them out in the tuscan sun to dry.

Being one of the prettiest days yet, I felt quite satisfied with my decision knowing that all my clothes would be ready to slip on after a brief stint outside. But, about 20 minutes after I walked back inside... a thunder crash. The beautiful day had evaporated and, of course, a fierce downpour accompanied by hailstones had appeared outside. The storm ended just as quickly as it had began—just enough to soak my newly cleaned clothes and blow a few articles off the line.

While, of course, I was disappointed that my first Italian-style-drying had not gone as planned, it inspired a few good photos, viewable here.

Elementary school art: the big show

After 4 weeks of teaching in the elementary schools, yesterday was the final showing of all our students' art. We spent the entire day preparing for it—setting up posters, decorating the school, and stressing out in general over this highly anticipated event.

As we were putting together our posters, an Italian TV crew came in and wanted to interview our prof Carol about the program. After asking her a few questions through our local Italian translator Enza, they shoved the mic in my face and began asking me questions directly in Italian. Apparently Carol had told them that I spoke Italian, but had neglected to cue them in to the fact that I'm nowhere near fluent. Needless to say, I was caught off-guard. After tripping up on the first question (embarrassingly, "how old are you") I was suprised that I was able to respond to all the rest, such as "Why did you decide to come teach in the schools?" "What do you like best about Cortona?" and "What have you gained from this experience?" Supposedly segment will air later this week, but without a TV I think I'll miss it.

When the show began later in the afternoon, everything went perfectly. The show opened with a small procession and flag-throwing. Although the flag-throwers were without a doubt entertaining, far more so was the kids' reaction to them as they screamed, jumped, and alltogether freaked out. We had great support—this was the first time that the flag-throwers had come out to the event, and all the students in our program showed up to the show. Even Italian rockstar Jovanotti made an appearance.

Every grade put out awesome works of art, and I think our grades' turned out particularly well. We set up 5 posters to display the work they had done over the past weeks... they looked great, if I do say so myself. And, in thanks, our students each wrote us individual thank-you notes.

After the show was just as good, if not better, than the main event. Some of the other teachers and I decided to stay after and play "1, 2, 3, STELLE!" (the italian version of redlight greenlight) with some of the students. After walking out of the gates and leaving the school, everyone left with a great sense of accomplishment and fulfillment after a few long weeks of work.

Youth

I hope when I'm old I can look at

my photographs

my journals

my sketches

my songs

my life

and be reborn

through the flames of ignorance and bliss

and inconceivable naïvetè

so that one day I can remember

the utter stupidity of youth.

The heavenly state of knowing

nothing,

and knowing it well.

And feeling as if it entitles me to an entirety 

outside of everything with which

I've been presented.

What better state to assess the world

than an unbiased mind

full of misunderstanding and misdeed?