Favorite Moments/Recent Highlights

Prague-
Seeing Christina and Sarah came at the absolute perfect time. I'd been feeling homesick and had just hit the half-way point of our semester when I was able to run into their arms in the Czech airport and squeal like a little girl. We took a boat tour, loved rainy naps in a fun hostel with our own private room/balcony, woke up slowly to coffee together, had a picnic lunch in a park and saw a one-eyed dog (I thought it was really cute, Sarah called it "Cyclops"), tried traditional Czech food (sausages, desserts, goulosh, potato dumplings, beer-which apparently they drink more than water). We walked down the smallest street in the entire world (akin to an alley way with a traffic light because only one person can pass through at a time), took a two and a half hour walking tour that started at a clock tour and ended up at the Prague Castle on top of a hill. We learned SO many historical and cultural facts that made me want to research this country and city a ton. Favorite fun facts were about communism, graffiti, locks on gates (couples leave their initials or names on locks attached to a gate... "I left my heart in Praha"), and artwork over each doorway (instead of house and street numbers, artistic emblems served the function of identifying houses until the 1750s, so that one could say "I live in the house of the blue fox" or "Find me at the house of the 3 violas!"). I thought that the old houses and buildings were a mixture between Disney World castles (but more gothic/even more elaborate and beautiful) and dessert because they were so ornate and unique. I loved the smells, the language, the way that you could walk down these interesting artsy alleyways and turn the corner to find historical monuments and squares (sort of like Venice but prettier side streets). Sarah, Christina and I shared some fun conversations about which cities we would be if we were cities (the ultimate decision on me was that I'd actually be Prague!), what our eating habits reveal about our personalities, and plans for our senior year. It was absolutely wonderful and a weekend that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

The Howard children
Unfortunately, the Howards, who I have grown very close with (my professors and their children) left this week. They'll be back next Wednesday after a vacation in Sicily for a final goodbye, but I pretty much had to prepare myself this week that they will no longer be right downstairs to entertain or play outside with in the courtyard. Ellie, Hannah and I watercolored on Monday afternoon which was a nice treat. Dr. Howard took me out to wine that evening with her friend Christine, who is my poetry professor who just arrived, "to introduce me separate from the rest of the group." I felt really honored by this! Finally, on their last full day here, which was Dr. Howard's birthday, I got to take her out for a birthday cappucino after lunch, and play with Ellie in the afternoon. We did all of our favorite things. Ellie and I got gelato at the gelateria by the Duomo and ate it on the steps of this cathedral. Then we went to our favorite people-watching spot and made up stories and observed for a little while. Finally, we RAN down streets to try to get lost and discover new things we'd never found before. We both knew it was a magical day, because we came across numerous sights that astounded us. Our favorite was a hidden balcony with an awning covered in ivy. She decided she'll be living there, and I can live across the small side street. I was really sad to see them go because they've characterized so much of my time here, and Ellie and I especially got really close. We're looking forward to September when I'll be back in that area so that I can go rasberry picking with the kids and hang out with them again (they live about a half an hour from Gordon).

This poetry class of mine
"Poetry of Ekphrasis"- writing in response to art or objects. I absolutely love this class. I feel like it was created for me. I'm so glad I switched out of the portrait painting class because I really like my professor, Christine, and all week I've been reading poetry, writing notebook entries on the things I see here in Orvieto, memorizing already existing poems to recite to my class, and I got to write my first poem for the class on the fortress on our cliff. More to come very shortly... I have to run and get a phone call from my parents!!

Greetings from Prague

I'm here safely everyone! The city, to quote my best friend Sarah, is like "an adult non-cheesy European version of Disney World." It's magical...

I took a flight into Munich (the airport was very clean, quiet and modern) and switched over to fly to Prague. Sarah and Christina (two of my best friends from Gordon who are studying in Scotland this semester) met me at the airport and we found a great restaurant to eat a late dinner outside last night. Our hostel is really fun with tons of young people from different countries hanging out with each other on the modern furniture and eating cultural foods together in the kitchen. We have our own 3-person room with a balcony and a gorgeous view.

We slept in a bit this morning and slowly got ready together with fresh coffee to plan out our day... heading off for lunch soon and then for a boat tour of the city on the Vltava (the river). More updates to come!

The Day I Discovered Roosters

(A Journal Entry from April 14, 2009)

The sunrise today provoked a lot of thought and prayer. I think I just realized another reason that I am here… to discover the joy of the morning and to delight in God’s beauty. Not just to notice things but to be halted and speechless and filled. And to find that it is truly the best way to start off a day. Not rushing to get ready in time with my life and clothes tangled and jumbled. Not laying in bed begrudgingly or even thanking God for a new day while still not fully awake. The physical act of excitingly running down the hall to see what surprises the horizon shows today and meet God has brought me rejuvenation and even refreshed my faith in Him.

I discovered roosters this morning! I felt like a child in my surprise to actually hear them announce the day. My devotion this morning was about Genesis 8, in which “God remembers”- Noah and his family have waited in patience while all they’ve seen for months has been rain and waters. And in an instant the rain is stopped the waters calmed, and God shows Noah the goodness of His promise. And sure enough, one day the family can see the tops of mountains, the olive branch is brought in by the dove, and eventually solid ground is found for all to inhabit and live richly off of the refreshed earth again. (I wonder if perhaps Noah landed right at this spot in Italy. I know I have…).

After a season of heavy rains and an expanse of only water stretched out all around me, I have seen the tops of mountains. I am finding my footing, and it sure feels good to touch solid ground after being at sea for an expanse of time. I reflect on God’s sovereignty to not only bring me through a difficult season of flooding, but also bring me to a place where I get to utterly delight in each unique sunrise, to meet roosters, to laugh, to cry, to lean, to sigh, to take in the olive trees and to live anew.

Buona Pasqua!

Looking forward to an Italian Easter (Pasqua) weekend. This evening for Good Friday there will be a procession around the town that commemorates the Stations of the Cross, and I've heard from multiple sources that it is quite moving and reflective. Tomorrow night we are going to the Duomo (the big Orvieto cathedral) at 10:30 pm for a candlelit vigil service. And Sunday morning we will sing all of the songs we've been practicing twice a week with the choir, and we'll celebrate with the congregation the resurrection of Jesus Christ. I've found myself thinking this week about how Protestants place a lot of emphasis (generally speaking) on the victory of Christ rising again to bring new life and hope. While Easter has always been a joyous day for me in the past, this whole season of Lent and this Holy Week here in Orvieto have helped me to reflect a bit more on the suffering of Christ. For when we are able to think about His suffering, what that looked like, why it happened, and what it meant for us, His resurrection means that much more.

I'm writing a play right now! It's for the Women's History class, and our 9-person class will present it to the large art class on Tuesday of this coming week. We learned that in early modern Europe some nuns didn't actually want to take their vows/join convents, but were rather forced in by their families. Apparently, it actually cost money for a family to place their daughters in convents, but it cost less money than paying a dowry for a husband. At times when a suitable husband could not be found, or there were too many daughters in a family (and not enough money for a dowry for each) a convent was a good alternative. Also during the Protestant Reformation when Catholic convents were shut down, some families that converted to Protestantism even dragged their daughters out (daughters who DID willingly choose to be there). Thus, the play is about some of the stories and events surrounding these facts... we'll show a daily life of the nuns (with them rising before the sun to start prayer, etc.), and then a disrupted day (the mothers dragging their daughters out of the convents). I'm playing one of those rebel nuns who was forced in by my family... she'll be planning an escape and writing letters complaining about her life there. A few of us are doing the writing but all of us (including our teacher) will perform it. So glad I'm still able to keep finding ways to explore theatre in new ways here!

I'm feeling a bit homesick this week. I'm not sure if some of it has to do with the scare of the earthquake. Or perhaps because Easter is such a day when most families are together (and three or four students have families visiting right now); this is the first time I'm away from home on Easter. Not quite sure of the reasons but it's been a pretty hard week for me. I have gotten a few letters from my grandparents, family, friends and boyfriend, and their words have certainly provided comfort. Also, I was able to talk to my dad, mom and Nick yesterday, and my best friend Sarah and I were able to talk this morning. It's really good to hear the voices of those I love but it will be even better to actually see everyone in a while. Next weekend I'll be in Prague with Sarah and our friend Christina. In less than a month Nick will be here to visit. Shortly after that, I just found out that Sarah and her sister might be actually coming to Orvieto to see me! And then I'll be heading back to NJ within a month (June 15). I'm just about halfway through the program and I've heard that this can be the hardest time. But if you could just pray for me (that I will not distract myself from these feelings but rather find ways to work through them), I would appreciate it.

That being said, I miss you all and hope that you have a beautiful Easter weekend. Please keep informing me about your life! If you've written me an email or letter and have yet to hear a response I apologize and will hopefully write back very very soon. Thank you all for your patience, prayers and encouragement!

I'm okay!

Really quick update for everyone:

-Let me just start off by saying-An 6.3 level earthquake occured with its epicenter about 150 km away from Orvieto yesterday around 3 in the morning. My family always made fun of me because they said I could sleep through a tornado or fire. And I proved their point by literally sleeping through the earthquake. Luckily I am okay, as is the town of Orvieto, but Italy at large is feeling the physical and emotional after-effects of the natural disaster. Last I heard thousands are left homeless in the region closest to the epicenter and over 100 were counted dead. Please pray for their families and for the funds and quick repair of homes and buildings that were lost yesterday. Thanks to all for your prayers, emails and facebook messages checking on me.

-Went to Rome this past weekend for a time without a class agenda and to just explore and wander. Two friends from my program (Jess and Ryan) and I left early Saturday morning, got to have a delicious lunch at an outdoor restaurant, see Michaelangelo's Moses, and eat gelato and sketch at the Trevi fountain. I threw a coin in over my left shoulder so I WILL be going back ;) We also diverted from the Italian food after a month and a half of that and had an amazing late dinner of Chinese food near our hostel! It looked kind of sketchy from outside but it was really worth the hour and a half wait... it was authentically cooked, beautifully displayed (they made carrot sculptures on our plates) and was a perfect end to the Roman day.

-On Sunday I made it back in time for the Palm Sunday service at our church. It was really neat: because of the abundance of olive trees in Orvieto, baskets full of olive branches were displayed in the church and the choir (myself included) and church clergy got to process in to mass holding olive branches and singing an acapella version of an Italian "Hosanna." It was a breathtaking service with the church more full than I had seen it since I've been here, and my favorite part was a dramatic reading of a whole chapter in Mark with three different men reading from different places on the stage to represent different characters in the story.

-Sunday afternoon highlights: a fresh sandwich and great conversation with my friend Kat on the steps of the Duomo, followed by an early evening concert taken in with Hilary and Josh at the theatre in Orvieto. The concert I would love to write a whole separate blog post on so look for that soon. Afterwards, Hilary and I went out for white wine and sat outside of a cafe to people watch. I'm beginning to get really good at picking out the tourists vs. the Italians vs. the actual Orvietani here...

-I helped run an Easter crafts session with the kids here at the monastery and some Italian children in the area. My responsibility was organizing and running the egg dying table. It was adorable and brought me great joy!

-Going to a town called Norcia on the other side of Umbria tomorrow with my women's history class. Looking forward to seeing the place where St. Benedict was born, as well as talk with a current monk living there (he speaks English and is kind enough to meet with us).


More soon! Ciao!

Two Weeks in Review

I find myself in an empty room at the end our hallway in the monastery. It's a perfect spring day. The window is open, so I smell a combination of burnt toast from a failed snack attempt in the kitchen and the fresh air of the Umbrian countryside. It's actually really nice :) Today has been wonderful, as have the last two weeks. My apologies for lack of posting. I haven't had too much to report.

This morning in class, we took a walk all around Orvieto to learn more about the monasteries and orders of nuns that are active, cloistered, or no longer existent in the town. We ended up in the market (the one on Thursday and Saturday mornings) where I purchased nuts and dried fruit. After lunch I went for a walk along the cliff and just took my time letting the warmth fill me and letting the beauty of the afternoon wash over me. We had Italian this afternoon, followed by an "assignment" to break off into small groups and speak Italian in a gelateria. Basically, snack time. I'm okay with that... I'll have a "cono con nocciola e cafe per favore." (Cone with hazelnut and coffee). My friends Jen, Katie, Jenn and I strolled past the Duomo which looked particularly brilliant today, and also stopped into several shops. I'm looking right now for some strappy sandals that will be perfect now that the weather is warming (and since flip flops are so looked down upon). So far, no luck, but I'm holding out for the right (and inexpensive) ones. Jenn bought a red leather bag though that was on sale for only 12 euro! The girls on our trip are doing really well at finding things on sale... They all call me "Mom" though when we're shopping. If they ask everyone's opinion on an item that they want to buy, I tell them to walk away and see how they're feeling when we walk by the store again later in the day.

The last few days have been refreshing. Last week was a bit draining and I was just feeling quiet. The weekend was especially quiet because the whole art class was gone for 3 days in Rome (18 people), leaving 9 of us at the monastery. We pretty much slept in every morning, watched tons of movies, and baked cookies with our director's wife (Sharona). I had a ballet session with Hannah Howard (7 years old) which was absolutely delightful. We made up skits that we danced out without words, and she also liked using scarves as flowing props in our "ballet" plays. The next day I also babysat for all three of the Howard kids (Ben-3, Hannah-7, Ellie-10). They love seeing all of my characters that I make up, so we spent time in the courtyard with me doing little monologues and chasing them around as different "people." They started to join in and we created little 3-5 minute plays. I knew I couldn't make it four months without theatre ;)

Monday and Tuesday this week it rained on and off, but I was able to talk to my family, Nick and Mer (one of my best friends from Gordon) which was especially exciting amidst the dreary weather. Yesterday we had class in a cafe and we decided that part of our final exam would be a play that we are going to write together and act in about the closing down of a convent! It sounds super boring but it actually is going to include true stories of women who never wanted to take vows to be nuns and were forced into convents (by their families who couldn't find husbands for the young ladies), and about women who were literally dragged out of convents after the Protestant Reformation. I think I'm going to be writing most of it and the other girls decided that I'm going to have to play the rebel nun who didn't even want to be there in the first place. Highlight of the week so far was I think yesterday. Ellie Howard and I had a gelato date. We ate gelato at a new place I'd never been before right by the Duomo. It was delicious! And then we strolled through the town and sat on church steps in one of the piazzas to people watch. I taught her the game my Grammy and I made up when I was in 6th grade (that we still play and that I play by myself sometimes) where you try to make up stories about who people are, where they're going, where they've come from, why they're doing what they're doing, etc. Ellie loved it! I think the Howard kids are reminding me how to laugh and enjoy life on a simpler level again. It's a good lesson to learn here.

I found out that Gordon is doing Godspell as the musical next year. This should be fun! I also got offered a TA (Teacher's Assistant) position for the musical theatre course in my theatre department! I'm really excited about this. Finally, I will be taking an independent study in the fall with one other student where we work throughout each week to build auditioning repetoires, finding, practicing and keeping on record monologues and songs for auditions for when we leave Gordon. Hopefully this will work out because I would love to be ready to start auditioning for professional productions following graduation. Ahh. I'm almost a senior in college. Weird.

One more thing. Don't yell at me. I chopped my hair off last night. I've been wanting to for months and I finally got up the guts to do so! My friend Lauren who has cut a few people's hair here said she would do it. It is about the length of my chin right now, SO easy to take care of, and I LOVE IT! Hopefully when I FINALLY get my computer back (very soon), I'll finally be able to put pictures on my computer of all I've been seeing/doing, and also include one of the new Italian Heather. In more ways than one.