Okay, I admit it, I completely fail at blogging. My life as a future professional food blogger is completely null and void. (Not to mention the fact I haven't done either of those things in three months...)
I enjoy this blogging thing, really I do, I just... fail. I'm going to say this is a good thing because it means my life here has completely taken over. Of course, that's not completely true, but there is much truth in it. I'm little miss guilty for not being up to par. So instead of writing 2000 pages about boring day-to-day stuff now (which is what i'll probably miss most when I leave here in a week (ahhh!)), I'll give myself 5 catch up points.
1. Most excitedly, since being here, I have felt my creativity expand tenfold. For the first time in my life, I'm creating something out of nothing. And this, friends, is a FANTASTIC feeling! It's also why the European theater scene is so much more inventive and edgy (or tends to be) than the American scene. I improvise on piano before class starts, take pictures I'm proud of, have read at least 5 books, have filled an entire journal with thoughts, stories, and inspiration, and have developed a solo, site-specific, water-awareness movement piece. This place inspires all of us to try things we've never done before.
2. I ADORE traveling. I've discovered one of my favorite feelings in the world: getting off a train/bus/airplane and being completely lost. Then I realize I'm not an incompetent individual, and slowly begin to feel my way around. It has been so exciting to explore new places, meet new people, eat new food, and encounter new ways to look at the world. I like change! and go-go-go! and getting lost (which is really good because my sense of direction has not improved in the slightest)! I like finding the bare minimum of how to get by; I like finding how to get to know a new place. Italy makes exploring so easy--trains are the preferred way to get around, and every place has its own aura. An updated list of places I've been in Italy: Rimini, Venezie, Orvieto (Umbrian town), Casentino Forrest (Tuscany), Cinque Terre, Amalfi Coast (Capri, Pompei, and Sorrento), Perugia, and Florence. On fall break, I traveled to Vienna (Austria), Budapest (Hungary), and Bratislava (Slovakia). Crazy, beautiful, and memorable. I'm so so lucky.
Positano, on Amalfi Coast.
Casentino Forest and Monastery.
Flying over the Alps.
However, I'm ready to get out of Europe and see something else! Don't get me wrong--Europe has culture, beauty, art, tradition, and familiarity. And all the places are somewhat varied and ahve their own feel, but at the end of the day, it's all Europe. Which is why I'm so excited for EGYPT! I'll be embarking a week from today (eeeeh!) to Cairo with Elizabeth, Jenny, and Zach for our Egypt adventure. We're planning on Cairo, Alexandria, and Dahab. I could not be MORE excited! I've had this idea to visit Abe in the back of my mind since before I came to Italy, but was unsure about it working out. So glad this has actually become a reality! We're all a bit scared and apprehensive, but I'm excited to be truly challenged and in a completely unfamiliar world for the first time in my life.
3. I am so thankful for Skidmore's take on theater. Our theater group here is pretty freain scattered. And we're completely incapable of working together. That's perhaps a bit harsh, but the past few days have been frustrating to say the least. Our last 8 days of class are a full-time physical theater workshop with a completely new teacher. We're having such ISSUES listening to each other and responding in the moment, which is kind of a BIG theater concept! One of those BIG things you have to be able to do! and our group SUCKS AT IT! individually, some people are very good actors. but put a lot of people together, and no one listens or leads. I feel so many times like I've become a bitchy director, since no one else takes charge or thinks about the greater whole of the piece besides their immediate part. Thank you, Skidmore, for making me do directing and working on ensemble pieces all time. In this contemporary theater environment, it does not pay to be a good actor who cannot work in a group. This skill is hard to teach in a few weeks, and I think our teachers are also frustrated. I'll be glad to get away from our class environment.Oh, and I don't think I'm destined to be a Commedia dell'Arte actor. Which, frankly, is okay, since its kind of a dead art form. But I got other great things out of working with Commedia! That class challenged me incredibly much and taught me so much about theater and maskwork and characterization and working as a group.
Me with the Pulcinella mask I made.
Breakfast view at the villa.
Firenze rooftops from top of the duomo.
Elizabeth and Josh in an underground cave in Orvieto.
Alright, points 4 and 5 to come later! Thats enough catch up for now! For anyone willing, these pictures are the very very tip of the ice berg. When I get back (on Dec. 23rd), we can have a mega picture showing. Also, maybe you can see these facebook albums, which have a few more of my shots(?):
Amalfi Coast and Cinque Terre:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=info&ref=ts&id=1241820185#/album.php?aid=2027582&id=1241820198
Vienna, Budapest, Bratislava:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?v=info&ref=ts&id=1241820185#/album.php?aid=2025622&id=1241820198
Friends on Cinque Terre beach. 11/21/2009.
Church on Capri. 11/14/2009.
The famous duomo in Firenze. 11/7/2009.
Budapest. 10/21/2009.
The Prater ferris wheel in Vienna, as seen in The Third Man! 10/19/2009.
Outside eating area at the Accademia, overlooking hills and vineyards. 10/14/2009.
On Amalfi Drive with a visiting mother. 11/15/2009.
I keep finding these in my room. I still won't touch them, but I can get close enough to take pictures! 10/8/2009.
Best sunsets are seen from my window. 10/2/2009.
A beautiful artist's mess in Orvieto. 10/3/2009.
