Where do I even begin? I suppose I could start where I left off... me leaving for Italy. Our two and a half hour flight to Washington D.C. left from KCI at 7:30 in the morning. I sat by a very interesting and talkative man, so needless to say, the two hour flight went by quite fast. We had a very long five hour layover in D.C. and then boarded the plane to Rome. All in all, the eight hour flight went well except for some turbulence upon arrival into Rome. When we got into Rome at 7:30 a.m Italy time, we boarded a bus for Castiglion Fiorentino. On the way, we had the opportunity to order lunch at the equivalent to an American rest stop. If only our rest stop food were that good... My excitement grew as I started to see signs for Castiglion Fiorentino (keep in mind that I hadn't had any sleep for quite some time now). Our bus dropped us off at Piazza Garabaldi, where Marco, an individual who helps out at the study center, picked up our bags. We took a short walk to the study center, Santa Chiara, where we immediately began orientation classes.

We took a short tour of the town with one of the Resident Coordinators shortly after arrival. I cannot believe that this town is my home and community for the next four months.

This is the view to the right as you walk outside the study center, a small piazza space primarily used for parking. It is crazy how fast the little Italian cars drive, in what Americans would consider sidewalks. The vehicles have the right of way, so one constantly has to be on the look out for zooming vehicles.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of the bell tower, which conveniently wakes me up at 8:00. The sun here seems so much warmer here, even though it is relatively chilly here.
The little things, like water that collects in the worn stone, brings a smile to my face.


I haven't had the opportunity to take pictures of our room, since it is a hectic mess with four girls unpacking, but that will come soon. So this is a picture of our bathroom. I feel very fortunate because we have one of the few updated bathrooms. The other bathrooms are about half the size in both footprint and shower size. I share a room with three other wonderful girls who are just as enthusiastic about this experience as I am.

That pretty much sums up the first day. We had dinner, cooked by Italian cooks, which was amazing. Shortly after that, we went to our rooms to finally get some much needed sleep.

Today was much more exciting. We started the day out with an informational meeting about the study center and the expectations as members of this community. Shortly after that Paolo, the man standing in the center of the picture below, gave us an in depth tour of the city. We visited the church where he spoke of Renaissance architecture and the Neoclassic facade. He spoke of The Renaissance principles of proportion and how that played into the planning as well as art and how it is more like a sculpture because tempra must be layered unlike plaster. The knowledge that he has fascinates me and we are so fortunate to have him as a professor for one of out seminar classes. He also took us to the tower and the library, which has books dating back to the 14th century. In America, we wouldn't even be let into a space like this, let alone be able to touch them without any type of gloves on. Below, the book Paolo is talking about was printed on durable sheep skin.


I love the character of the bindings of the books.

We headed back to Santa Chiara for lunch. We later had studio, where we are measuring and proportioning our bodies to relate it to Renaissance principles of architecture, where all architecture was based on proportion which comes from nature and the human body.

The night came too soon once again and I look forward to what tomorrow brings when we travel to Cortona, the next town over. Right now, I'm trying to digest everything and realize that this really is my home. I love it here. I think how how fortunate the locals are to live in a place like this.

Preparation

I only have a few more days until I depart for Italy; I can barely contain my excitement! It is my hope that this will be a great tool to keep friends and family informed. I will try to keep it as updated as possible; sharing my experiences, thoughts, and pictures, but I don't know what my schedule or my free time will look like. I'm not the best writer, nor do I enjoy doing it in my free time, so bare with me.