We have no beautiful art in America-- I'm convinced.

This morning, I met for Dante class, and this afternoon we toured the Palazza Pubblico Museo Civico (the public/government building where there is a museum).  Interestingly, I had no expectations.  The building is beautiful, but I expected the "museum" pieces to be simple works of art.  I was so very wrong.  Each of the rooms we entered were covered wall to ceiling in frescos.  These paintings were not simple; they were spectacularly complex and rich in color.  There was not one inch of space that was not painted in intricate detail.

Here is the underneath of the entrance into the Palazza Publicco.

This little snake is one of the many that hold up the columns around the piazza.  He's covered in palio dirt (which is brought in from a barn and put into the ring for the race and then taken back to the barn.  They use the same dirt each year.)

Here is the view from the middle of the Museo.

I've had so many of those moments where've I've lost myself in the beauty of this place.  There is nothing like this in America (at least that I've ever seen).  Places where the paintings on the walls are from before 1400 ad.  Frescos that Dante might've seen, loved, rememberd.  I couldn't wait to share the pictures, but unfortunately, they do not allow any photos, even without the flash.  It's so disappointing.

My favorite room of the Museo was where the nine "rulers" of the city entered each morning from their living quarters.  The first thing to greet them was a picture of Siena.  The town was at peace; traders, merchants, and tradesmen working and selling; women dancing in the streets; gorgeous buildings.  Below this, there was a short paragraph to remind these men who ruled the city that this is how Siena should be, and that in order for the people and the city to prosper, everyone must follow ben commune. 


I love the idea of ben commune-- at its roots, it is the concept that all is done for the common good.  By following the classical virtues and Biblical commandants-- i.e. doing right by others-- the community will prosper; Siena will be enriched and success will come to its people.

Beside the painting of Siena is a scene with the virtues, each metaphorically represented by a female (for example, Peace is lounging on a couch sitting on unused armor with a sweet look on her face).  And on the opposite wall, is a another picture which looks almost identical to the painting of the virtues, except it shows the vices (Vanity sits with a mirror in her hand, failing to see the suffering around her).Then, painted beside the vices is another look at Siena; on this, the buildings are in disarray, the people are enslaved, there is no business opened, and the only tradesman is the armorer who is preparing for war.

These frescos were so amazingly detailed and so eye-opening that it is difficult to think of anything else tonight as I write this blog.  Seeing these ideas of ben commune so perfectly depicted in thirteenth century art, when we in the twenty-first century cannot seem to grasp them ourselves is almost disheartening.  So, today, as you make your way out in the world, practice one small act of  ben commune.  Do one thing that benefits everyone of the community instead of just yourself.

Though I didn't take any pictures in the Museo, I did take a picture of our classroom and of the bar where I eat my lunch and buy my 5 euros worth of water and snack each day.

This is our small but nice classroom.  It is about forty-fifty steps from the Palazzo Pubblico (which I posted a pic of above).

Here is Bar De Torre; my favorite snack and lunch spot.  It's named after the contrada that its in (la Torre). The doorway just to the left of the last table is our classroom.  It's convenient and we get a discount-- this means my bottle of water is only 1.50 euro and my Gatorade, which I never drank before and now need everyday, is only 2.20 euros.  (I'll be taking up a collection to feed my need for cold beverages later this summer!)

Brawling: in Dante and in Siena, even the birds on my roof.

I slept in this morning. This trip has been so tiring already!

At 12:30, the Gruppo Dante met in the piazza for the drawing of the palio horses for the contradas (I finally looked this word up for a spell-check). I took a 360 video of the piazza before it became crowded.

As the sun beat down on us, who had no shade, the contradas marched one at a time into the piazza proudly singing their war songs.  We gathered around to watch the officials draw numbers (which represent specific horses) and the contradas name-- pairing them for the race.  The drawing was held in front of the palazzo publica (the city building).  Each flag represents one of the contrada, the bottom row represent the contradas competing in the race, and the top row, those who are not.  Istrice (e- stre- che) the contrada where I live IS competing and ours is the furthest flag to the right.  Our colors are black, red, and blue, and our mascot is the porcupine.

Between the time of the video above and the beginning of the ceremony, thousands of men, women, and children gathered in the piazza- most on lunch breaks or with a day off for the events.

The opening of the ceremony:

As the contradas marched in, I was able to record a few seconds of a contrada singing their war song.

The idea of a "war song" sounds violent, but it is said that the contradas are not "enemies" of each other, but "adversaries."  Today, that proved to be wrong.  As one contrada was leading their horse away from the arena (The horses are led from the arena surrounded by the members of the contrada and no one is allowed to touch them or be near them until after the race.  The people live in fear that another contrada will harm their horse, taking them out of the race.  It is all taken very seriously here.), members of another contrada (lupa- the wolf- appropriate, don't you think?) snuck in beside them and one man attempted to "touch" their horse.  A fight broke out.  A real fight.  Hundreds of people kind of fight.  It was definitely the largest that I've seen and the first one of its kind in over eleven years.  I caught some of it on video while recording the contrada leaving with their horse.  Look in upper left hand corner; you can see the men pushing and hitting each other.

This afternoon, still hyped up on the energy from the fight, I had a gatorade and Dante class.  Ironically, the cantos we studied today were about the hoarders and wasters and the angry and sullen.  The punishment in Dante's hell for those who hoard or waste is to push giant boulders/sacks around a circle until they collide with members of the other group-- hoarders v. wasters.  The palio fight today reminded me of that.  Two groups opposing each other, slamming their bodies into each other.  And I would definitely say that many of those participants were also angry and sullen. :)

Tonight, as I right this, I am watching an all-out bird war on the neighbors' roof.  It's been a day for physical punishment.

A day of discourse and rest

Our first day of class! (of course that was AFTER my caffee latte from my favorite Bar):

 Our group discussed the first four cantos of The Inferno today, and hearing knowledgeable educators-- from different backgrounds, different teaching styles, different strengths-- was refreshing.

This afternoon, I made my first trip to the grocery.  Trying to read things in Italian was interesting...the lotion was around 5-7 euro for around 10 oz.  That's almost $10 a bottle- ridiculous! My legs will just be ashy the rest of the trip; I'd rather have gelato. :)  I bought fresh bread, a few meats and cheeses, and nutella to eat on my bread. Delicious.

This afternoon, after reading my assignment for Dante and resting a bit, a roomie and I walked down the street to get that gelato.  I had Frutti, Cocco, and Limone.  Oh. My. Good.  On the walk, I took a few pics of the street where I live-- via Montanini.  You can google earth it-- just type in "via Montanini, Siena, Italy" and it should come up.]=

Here is one of the churches a block or so from my apartment.

Here is a pic of my actual street-- just turn right.

Tomorrow, the town draws for the Palio horses and contratas!

Last night and Today: A bus ride, a Latin mass, and a picnic at a castle.

Last night:

The contrata party last night was spectacular.  For the length of almost three blocks, tables and chairs lined the street for the men, women, and children of the contrata to share their meal.  The people of ondi (I wish I knew the exact spellings of some of these Italian words that I am guessing) gathered and marched through the street, singing their war song and celebrating their contrata. I took a small video of the flag bearers.

Today:

I miss my coffee maker...and iced lattes from Dunkin Donuts.   The great bar where I get my morning caffe was closed because it was Sunday; thus, my long bus ride into the Sienese country side began sans coffee.  

The ride was beautiful, but the roads were curvy, which resulted in a few people being very sick on the bus- literally.   The reward for not joining them was a delicious caffe latte for me. :)

The Gruppo Dante (our group of participants and their families) sat at the top of a hill getting our morning buzz while we stared into the Tuscan hills.  It was a breathtaking sight.  Even the children in the group seemed to understand the unspoken beauty of Siena.  Here is a few pics from the bar:

 After our quick fix, we walked down the hill to the Sant' Antimo Cathedral. Built in the early part of the tenth century, this duomo has been rebuilt several times- using mostly the original building materials.  It still has an order of monks who live there in the monastery and say mass daily.  It's hard to equate in words the feeling of awe that overcomes you when you walk into a building that has been there since 1100 ad.  How can you even come to understand the importance of touching stone and walking on floors where the Sienese have worshipped for over 800 years?

Perhaps most startling was the quiet reverence of our group.  Most walked about alone-- contemplative-- probably tasting their own mortality. I know I was.  The mass held each Sunday is a musical mass (the entire mass is sang)  in Latin.  The spoken directions were in Italian.  As I listened and took time to truly appreciate my surroundings, I had one of those moments people always claim to have and I laugh at...an epiphany? a realization? a change? It was overwhelming.

More than anything I wanted to pull out my cell and record the voices of the monks.  It was the most mellifluous sound reverberating throughout the stone structure.  The pitch and tone of their voices raised in harmony reminded me of the nature of life-- the harmony that is necessary in our day to day.  The connections we make with our world, and the connections that our group will continue to make as we take our reading of The Divine Comedy and study within the context of this city.

The relics in this duomo were brought to the town by Charlemagne and his army.  When  they all became ill and stopped in the area, they were healed by local herbs and medicines.  In return, Charlemagne gave the relics that he'd just received from the Pope while on his pilgrimage to Rome--the relics of Sant' Antimo.

This cross has been in the church over 800 years

I lit a candle and said a prayer for my momma! :)  I knew she'd be so excited about this mass.

 Many of the columns had carved pictures of Daniel in the lion's den.

After our mass, we went to the town of Montalcino.  At the castle...yep, a real castle, we had a picnic lunch of fresh breads, prosciutto and other Italian meats that I can't remember the names of, a selection of cheeses, fruits, and wine.  One of my favorite lunches ever!

The castle

My view at lunch!

Some of the Gruppo Dante

My lunch spread

Each day here ( I can't believe it's only been two) brings new experiences, new words, new friends, and new ideas for teaching.  Inspiration is sold short sometimes by our "powers that be."  What could make an educator want to teach more than an experience like this one?

 

Day 1-- this city was made for me-- except the three hills of despair

Today was the walking tour of Siena with one of our leaders.  He's been here every summer since 1984, and he knows everything about this city.  What an amazing day long tour!  (Well, except that my calf muscles have increased in size already!)  There are three main hills in the city...big hills...mountains.  We walked all three and saw most of the sights.


I've seen so much beauty in one day, maybe more than I've seen in the sum total of my life.  Everything is old; one of the churches that I sat in today was built in 1100 ad. My house was owned by Napoleon's governor for Siena.  It has marble staircases and modern plumbing- thank God! My front door is almost twenty feet tall... in case a giant decides to drop in for a caffe latte.  Many of the buildings have lines from The Divine Comedy by Dante inscribed on them.  He seems to be ever-present in Siena.


The Palio events started today.  I saw babies being baptized in one of the contratas (neighborhoods-- think...Scottish clans).  Tonight, I am going to that contrata's feast (one of our leaders is a member of that contrata).  They all wear scarves around their necks to symbolize their contrata during Palio and during the race they cheer their own rider and horse.  Everything in Siena is connected to the Palio and the contratas.  I need to figure out which contrata I live in, though I doubt I'll be brave enough to wear the scarf around the city.


Even though it's only been one day, I don't think I'll want to leave Siena-- who needs a gym with five flights of stairs to the apartment and three hills of despair?


More later.

The church from the tenth century.

The staircase to my apartment.

T

The baptism in the ondi contrata.

The view from my window right now!

I made it- but Man that Trip Sucked!

I finally made it to Siena today around 4:30 pm (yep, folks, that's a whole whopping 25 hours after I left my house).  So many things went wrong on this trip that I know that the rest of the six weeks will have to be amazing to make up for it.

Since I'm exhausted, I'll use a list:

FL to London
1. two screaming infants who finally quit 4 hours into the 7 hour journey
2. British boy with no personality as seatmate
3. freeeeeezing cold plane (but they did provide socks); ridiculously small seats and uncomfortable head rest (but amazing tv and movie choices)
4. Airplane food that tasted pretty yucky going down and worse when it came back up during hour six
5. No sleep- none
6. Panic attack around hour 5 about what the Hell I thought I was doing going on this trip alone
7. Forty minutes into line at passport entrance in London, I'm told that they switched my terminal. Have to ride bus alone with a very scary cockney man and wait in a different line
8. Am told by terminal A that my baggage is missing because the girl in Orlando forgot to give me a specific tag I needed-- very nice woman laughs when I tell her that my luggage holds six weeks worth of clothing
9. Am helped by nice man and luggage is found (after I almost decided to book a different flight home that same day)

London to Siena
1. crying baby beside me-- just awesome
2. weird stinky guy on other side-- awesomer
3. flight is relatively painless, but I realize towards the end that I haven't eaten since before 6 pm the day before... what happened to breakfast?
4. Wait outside passport area in very hot sun for thirty minutes-- I get dizzy and envision myself faceplanting on the pavement and then going to Italian ospedale.
5. Wait for luggage...wait...wait...
6. get luggage, get bag of chips--which I sit down and then forget-- get powerade (thank you god!)
7. No signs for bus from airport to downtown Florence.  That's right, no signs.  I walk back and forth in sun for ten-fifteen minutes, finally ask random bus driver for the "e questo autobus per stazione d'allautobus."  Still not sure that's right.
9. Bus driver will not take us to bus depot, only train.
10.  Three different people on the street give directions to bus station, only one of them is correct.
11.  Spend one hour is 90 degree sun with a 35 lb. backpack, a 10 lb. purse, and a 50 lb. luggage.  Arms rubbed raw from backpack weight.
12. Finally find bus station.

13. Meet NICE woman who completely turns my day around!!!
14. Arrive in Siena, which is about as beautiful as any city in the world. Wow!
15. Get amazing new room (very big) with wifi, an elevator, and beautiful floors, ceilings.  Did I mention the view is like something in a movie?

In all, that almost movie-worthy trip was worth it, I think.  But now that it's been almost two days since I've slept, I'm hitting the sheets.  Oh, and to Hell with typos, I don't care tonight.

10.

Packing

This morning, I sat down to start packing.  I realized a few important things:
1. there is no way to pack for a six week trip; any attempt to do so on my part is met by long moments watching infomercials, picking at a hangnail, or playing with the dog. Am I avoiding?
2. maybe I should just jam everything I own into the suitcase and pay the extra weight fee
3. I leave in five days and haven't done laundry yet...and what do I wear when all my clothes are clean?

Will I ever be able to commit to packing?

Follow My Blog!

This is it-- the blog for my summer in Italy--La Dolce Vita--the sweet life.   Hopefully, I will have lots of pictures, videos, and stories of me acting like a fool in a foreign country to share!