One Week in Paradise...

Allora. Where did we leave off? Yes. The day before yesterday - Saturday. The day we saw the amazing art (did you look it up? It's going to be very difficult for us to have this online rapport if you don't. Come on now. How long will it take? Just type it into Google, press the "images" button and ta da. We'll be good.) and then went to the hot springs. And let me tell you, hot springs are the best and the worst. 

The best because they are warm and I love warm. And they made my skin so lovely and soft. The worst because these ones were very crowded (granted, it was a Saturday) and very European. By which I mean, there were a significant number of couples engaged in serious PDA - smooching, snuggling and just generally being nauseating. Plus, to be honest, it was a little creepy because the water was very murky because of the sulfer and calcium or whatever, so you couldn't actually see anything that wasn't above water. Which brings me to my next point - I went through the serious aerobatics in the shower to shave my legs because I didn't want the Europeans to be repulsed by my usual state of somewhat furry hippyness and it was all for naught because my legs weren't even visible. Lame. 

Anyway, the way the hot springs work is that the first pool is inside and very warm. You can go through a little plastic hanging curtain thing outside where the water is cooler, and the farther away from the first room you get, the colder the water gets. Apparently it's awesome in the summer, but no one really wanted to go past the second pool at this time of year. Because of the sulfer, it all smelled a bit eggy, but thanks to my aforementioned hippyness and the fact that we have a well that used to smell eggy, I was not bothered although some people were. And the über soft skin was a fair trade off for my hair being a little chalky for a day. So that's that.

Yesterday, on the other hand, we had a walking tour of Siena and all it's contrade (which is the plural of contrada, if you've been confused). I suppose I should clarify that not every contrada has an animal - one is the shell, and another has a rhino but is called "the forrest". The more you know. But that was pretty interesting, and a bit more historic. For example, did you know that the streets are windy and sometimes go nowhere in part by design - an invading army would accidentally get super lost. Oh, you think you're heading right into the heart of Siena on this little road? Surprise, it ends right here, oh and by the way you're now stuck because we've come up behind you. Spear.

Another story - Florence used to attack Siena all the time, and usually from the north. One time, they had a spy tell the Sienese, "Oh Florence is gonna surprise you from the South," so they moved all of the dudes to the South. "Heh heh," thought the Florentines, "We're totally gonna surprise them and finally we'll get this dang city." But no. Why? Because the women held off the entire Florentine army long enough for the Sienese to get back to the other end of the city. NO BIG DEAL.

After our walking tour which took the whole day but seriously I think we walked every single road oh dear lord, I went with Kate to her house (across the courtyard) to do our compiti. Which is one good thing about being here - I have very little homework. But if I thought my house was cold, it's positively sweltering compared to hers. There was literally no heat. I feel so very sorry for her. We were snuggled up in blankets at her little desks. And for all of you haters, bear in mind, it's pretty much at 0 or colder every day (that's 0 celsius, Americans). And buildings are not only not as well heated, but even if they are, the heat is rarely turned on the way it is in America. Then turning-on-the-oven-and-opening-it-up method of heating the house would be seriously not cool here. And not just because the oven is gas and we'd all die. Showers are also super short, because water is expensive. So I hope you guys in N. America are enjoying your privilege while I try to keep up minimum hygiene in 2 minutes flat in lukewarm water.

But today I did something that will make you all very very jealous. There's a cooking school right next to our school - in the same building (they're both very very tiny schools) - and we had a complimentary cooking lesson today! We mostly watched the lady cook the zuppa which is called pappa con pomodoro and is made with stale bread, which soaks up a bunch of oil and garlic and then tomato. It all sort of mashes together, so it's still soupy. Apparently it's kinda a poor person soup, but is also very Tuscan. Then there was rolling pasta noodles. They were thicker than spaghetti (in theory) but some were very uneven and misshapen. It's hard to roll those things that thin and even. Especially the ends. My hands are shiny because I was rubbing them on the cutting board. Finally, there was a thin pastry stuff that is slightly orangey that we rolled out as thin as we possibly could, sliced into pieces, deep fried, and then covered in powdered sugar. So. Crispy. So Good. I'd upload a picture, but the internet is not happy with me today. 

So now you are, I believe, all caught up. Ta da! I have an Italian exam tomorrow - i verbi irregolari and preposizioni. Yelch. But it shouldn't be too hard. Hopefully - heh.
However, I feel the need to sort of sum up my week, since I have been here essentially one full week (I sort of lost Sunday and Monday last week somehow). [NOTE: the rest of this will likely be of a more intense nature, and somewhat boring. Feel free to skip to the end, this is mostly for me.] It feels like forever and no time at all. I was thinking it felt more like forever, but that might not be true. It's strange. Allow me to explain.

Most of you probably know, I've spent the last 3 years of my life trying to return to this country. Heck, this program was a huge factor in me choosing Lewis and Clark. It's the one thing I knew I wanted to do, for sure, and it's been a major part of my life. So. I'm here now. Now what? I've spent so much time with Italy being my thing, that I'm trying to adjust to Italy not being my thing. Because after this, it won't be, or not in the same way it was before. 

We had an email from my program leader, Karen, about an opportunity to stay here (or near here - San Gimingnano) in the summer to study things like 'Paper Restoration' and 'Art Restoration' and 'Historic Architecture'. Which would actually be really cool. But I had this super confused moment, where I expected to want to do it so badly, because I totally would have jumped at the opportunity to study in Italy prior to my being here. But I am here. And then I started wondering if the reason I wasn't excited was really because I'm here now, or if it was related to my life in Portland. If because I feel so at home there, I'm hesitant to even want that kind of opportunity. And I don't really know the answer. I suspect it is a bit of both - I'm here, but I also have a life back in the States in a way that I don't think I had before College. But I'm still trying to figure out where this loss of Italy as an end leaves me.

Of course, tied into this is that the last year has been... intense. And I suppose Italy is as good a place as any to do an assessment, better in some ways. Because I'm very very alone right now. Which is not the same as being lonely - there are people here, and I have friends and etc, but they're not people I've spent huge amounts of time with in the past. And I think it's good for me to be alone. In some ways, I'm actually really enjoying it. The last few months, I haven't really been on my own at all. No but seriously. So this hanging out with myself is kinda overdue - "Hey, how you been?" "Eh. Not bad." "Yeah. We should hang out more." "Totally! What do you want to do?" "Not sure yet... let's just wing it!"

Y'all can shush about the whole, "You're twenty!" thing. Yus, I know. I am the youngest. There is no one younger than me. All kinds of shit is gonna change. I just figured I'd start the change myself. Hopefully, this thinking thing can continue and I can get a little clearer on where I'd like my life to go in the future, so I don't drift aimlessly flailing about because I lost Italy as a goal. It doesn't have to be a path like, 1. grad school, 2. live in x city, 3. find slightly nerdy dude who likes doing the dishes and thinks I'm the bees knees, 4. start popping out babies, especially since those are not all necessarily things I want, or at least not in that order. It's more like a feeling or a colour. And I am not sure I'm as pleased with the shade of my life back home as I could be. Allora, I intend to use this alone time to figure out what particular hue I'd like to be and see if I can't make sure the big things in my life match my new drapes.

Dear Lord, that was a little heavy. Oops. Oh well. Next one will be all cute Italian boys (HA! Seriously, where are they all hiding?) and the comedy of watching me try to open doors (think about it: all doors in N. America are pull to go in, but here you push).

<3