I leave the Villa today

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Well its a couple hours till i leave the Villa to head home. It really just hit me today that im leaving and im kinda bummed but also excited to get home also. The last week here was a perfect way to spend the end of my time in Italy. We had a couple lectures from an artist and a local composer that were incredible and had the whole group captivated for a couple hours. The composer works in intuitive music and gave us an example by playing his flute inspired by the group wanting to learn and then understanding what he was saying, it was truly incredible and inspired me more than i could ever explain in words on a blog. Rosella Vasta took me and Dave Shumway, the photo teacher, to Assisi and took us to the most important places in St. Francis’ life. Where he fixed an old church, where he slept and did his praying, and finally his resting place. Im not a professed believer but there was an energy at these places that i could not explain, I felt calm, relaxed, and completely at peace. When we were at one of the first places St. Francis lived on a big hill near Assisi as we were leaving a Franciscan Friar passes me and Rosella and put his hand on my shoulder and said “Peace and Good” to me. The comfort and love i felt from his touch and words was indescribable and that moment still has not left my head. We also visited the place that St. Francis died and saw some relics such as a piece of his clothes and his cord. It was night time and the church was mostly empty and the light was amazing, and while we were there a friar started to play the organ and it was so perfect, peaceful, and spiritual. We also saw where St. Francis laid himself down on a bed of roses because he had made mistakes and was not living exactly as he wanted. After he did this the thorns on these Rose plants lost their thorns. It is a true genetic mutation of the Rose plant, which put my mind on a whirl and made me question what i thought i knew haha. Im sad to leave this amazing place and i want to thank the Vasta family and all those who work here for an amazing experience and say that i will never forget them or this place.

Its been a while

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Alright so its been about a month since i’ve last posted, im not really used to maintaining a presence online so i honestly just forgot haha. Since my last post we have been staying at Villa Pieve taking italian classes along with some music history and photography lessons. A few weeks ago we went to Venice and attended the opera Elixir of Love, It was INCREDIBLE. I have  a whole new appreciation of opera and its production. Our seats allowed us to see into the pit with the orchestra and watch the maestro at work. I thought he had a very unique style but it was very musical and passionate, he would stomp his feet and make sounds with his mouth trying to get the orchestra to imitate his staccato which was very cool to see. Venice was a very cool city, very easy to get lost and a lot of dead ends but fun anyway. In front of an art museum i met this guy doing water colors and and talked to him for a while while he explained his style and motivations, it was one of the coolest experiences i have had in italy and i learned some stuff about art from him and bought a couple of his works. Ill try to post a lot in the next couple weeks and tell some more stories as i remember them. Also, here are some pictures that i recently finished editing. _DSC2335

 

DSC_2387-5Ciao!

A week in rome

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We got into Rome on Sunday by train and it has been non stop since. Rome is amazingly fast; the people, the cars, the language, everything. Being from Montana I’m sure does not help but its fun to sees something new. On Monday it was nice at first and then it turned in to a huge rainstorm creating lakes and rivers in the streets near the Colosseum and the forum. We only walked by them but we should get to go get a closer look on our free day on Saturday. We have gone to mainly churches so far such as Santa Maria Maggiore and San Clemente, both of which were beautiful (obvious understatement). San Clemente is amazing because of the levels below the church that you can go see, we drank from the underground river which was surprisingly delicious and hey no one got sick from it. Santa Maria Major is enormous and contains pieces of Jesus’ cradle in a reliquary under the altar which was compelling to see, especially the pilgrims that came in robes with walking sticks. Today we went to the Vatican museums and St. Peters square. I wish i had words to describe some of the artwork i saw, but right now I think i’m still absorbing and contemplating. The Sistine Chapel was different than i was expecting but still amazing nonetheless if you disregard all the annoying vultures of tourism who will push and mumble until they get their way, sorta sad to see. Anyway, Rome is cool just a little too fast for my taste but we still have a couple more days and some more stuff to see. Dinner at a Irish pub tonight called The Scholars Lounge, should be interesting haha. More later this week! Hey to everyone back home!

Finalmente! Roma!

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I flew into Rome today and arrived about 930. When I got into my seat my headphones jack was broken and so i could not hear the movies. The ladies next to me were french and did not speak a word of English and so after about 5 minutes of trying on my own i had to ask a flight attendant over to help translate my request to switch seats, they obliged and my long flight was filled with Bruce Almighty, Dr. Strangelove, and Galaxy Quest. One of my first language barrier experiences, kinda makes you feel hopeless and a little dumb but i guess thats how it goes. The train station was insane, kind of a punch in the gut, but one of our hosts assured us that it wasnt a good example of Italy. Orientation tomorrow! And we start to learn Italian!