camminare su cheetas

so, it has been awhile.... in the time when i have not written all the wonderful things i do with my life, ive been drowning in flash floods.

just kidding! but i did nearly cut my thumb off. gushing blood for an hour really put me behind in my book arts. and three days later my thumb is still this:

better than cutting my thumb off, i journeyed to san jimmyjohns, volterra, and just spent a whole saturday in cortona being unproductive. but it was one of the best days yet :) we spent hours in a coffee shop on our "go down the hill for 20 minutes" break. followed a few minutes later by an overall giving up for the day. last week was also overrun by fog clouds! you could barely see the first row of trees over our mountain. it was so dense it looked like we could jump off the mountain and land in a soft world of fluffy clouds. it was crazy. and beautiful..

we also had a halloween party. which made me feel better about missing halloween... and instead it ended up being one of the most fun ones yet! everyone dressed up... and on a budget, in a country that has celebrated halloween only for a short time, we as art students did a pretty good job. jesus showed up, and so did bill cosby, lady gaga, a mini roman soldier, michelangelo, and a creepy madonna and child. i myself, was a zombie bride- that smelled like a thrift store. we got a really good dinner with WINE FOR EVERYONE, followed by a dance party, and a trip to the local bar. since it was a few days early, and halloween is fairly new to italians, we got some weird looks, but it was all worth it to experience another night of 'creepy-vest-guy!'

(Marco as Lady Gaga)

out "mostra" (show) is this weekend, and then we only have one week left in the wonderful cortona. i am not looking forward to coming home, but i guess it means i get to snuggle with a kitty again- which with certain frustrations, is an actual strong desire here and there and i have yet to capture one of the four hundred wondering wild through out the town.

Vorrei Formaggio

The biggest news lately is two fold...
Uno: I found a RED wine that I like! This past weekend we went to Montejasdlkfjasodjf. Which is well known for its wines. It has this wine called "Nobile" that was for the Nobles, who would come there to get away from the bustling Rome life. And so for lunch we obviously got a white and red wine for the table. While there was a 250 euro bottle, we resisted and settled for a 7 euro 0,5 liter of each. And even for 7 euros.. it was the best wine! even the red! And of course we had to follow up lunch with a taste of a wine bar. Where I got a glass of white, but tasted this famous Nobile wine which are red...and even better than the 7 euro red wine!

Due: A bird flew into the ceramics room. And I was like "oh bird!" and my friend and I observed it, commenting on its beauty. Then I guess he got overwhelmed with the attention and decided it was time to depart. However, there are glass doors in ceramics, and the bird did not quite make it through the open one. I watched him fall to the ground and I turned to my friend and was like, "I think he just died..." she did not see the accident and was confused until we went over and there he was...twitching on the ground. In a panic we tried to help the little guy make it through. But alas, while he was quite the fighter, and we were trying our best, he didn't quite make it. We both felt he needed a proper burial. One, because we both were sad to see a bird dye in our arms, and two, because there are a lot of stray cats here and we did not want him to be ripped apart by the scavangers. So he is now resting in peace with a leaf bed and pumpkin seed up on the sculpture terrace.

Sfumato

phew, art history mid term is over! so now, i can finally write down my experiences. such as my day as a model! i got a hair cut, style, and dye, along with lunch and transportation to arezzo for free!! a cute photographer video taped us, while a large group of italians observed us, and then we got professional pictures taken. which will now be displayed somewhere in the hair salon in cortona. when i returned to campus everyone raved about our hair cuts and when we said "oh you can do it next monday! they want several people!" everyone said "...no..." that in combination of me overly excitedly saying "BYE STEFANO" at the bar a few days later, he probably hates us.

we also got to visit arezzo with the program and experience a wonderful antique fair! i once again saw several vendors selling the same plates and bowls as we have at our house. and we finally got a saturday to stay in cortona. which turns out, has a market on saturdays! we did a scavenger hunt and then stomped some grapes for wine.

oh, and in 4 days, i ate a whole box on honey nut cheerios on my own. no big deal.

macellaia

Remember when I was studying in Italy? Yeah, I should probably work on the "studying" aspect. It seems that there is a midterm for art history on Wednesday. Wonderful Friday night in Cortona spent making a study guide. Don't worry, as my typical "work under pressure" procrastinator, I won't actually use this study guide until about Monday. It is just unfortunate that I was making a box until 2am last night and am napless today. But here is a nice drawing for "y'all:"

why yes, this only took me a few hours!

La lettera C è la più soggetta al tradimento - cugino, cognato, e compare

(Le Cella)

So in the Franciscan church the friars and what not take a vow of obedience, chastity, and poverty. But the interesting thing about that is, that in these monasteries (such as Le Cella) and churches that were built solely on donations, and gathered (or still do gather) people also following the same vows as hundreds of years ago... there are... GIFT SHOPS! not, "take a postcard, we accept donations" but real, "buy this overpriced book" gift shops. Any church with a gift shop really throws me off, but these Franciscan churches just seem overly ironic, and somewhat hypocritical.

But the Cathedral of St. Francis in Assisi was beautiful. And in more importantly, the chocolate in Perguia was delicious!

To be honest, outside of walking up and down mountains, drawing, and eating, I'm not really sure what I've been doing here!? I did make 12 drinking vessels, that I was told were very good. I guess "something clicked" in ceramics according to Thomas. I've also eaten a lot of gelato. But what is a girl suppose to do when Tuesday and Thursdays they give us FRUIT for dessert? Unacceptable. Those are our designated gelato days. Yesterday the power went off several times. One time I was in a restaurant and the entire city went out..it was the darkest I have ever been. Sadly, it meant the Italian "Minute to Win it" also went out.

But to leave you with a proverb by Walker.... "a stitch in time, saves two in the bush"

Lui sta per pagare

Some good news bears, and some bad news bears...

Good news bears: When I was on my four hour walk, I forgot to mention that a woman and child stopped and watched me for a good 15 minutes. A few minutes later, the woman returned and watched me again. She told me "BRAVO!" and "MOLTO BENE!" and "BELLISIMO!" followed by... "MAMMA MIA!" hahaha, yeah that happened for real... someone used "mamma mia." Second good news bears, I successfully ordered in Italian! Granted, it was literally 30min after the lesson on "how to order things in italian." But still, at first I was a struggle but I redeemed myself in the end. The waiter even shook my hand! 

Bad news bear: I drew some mountains while standing by the ledge of our mountain. The drawing blew away when I was nearly finished. No, it did not just blow down the street so I could chase it...It legit blew OFF the ledge... My drawing that replaced it... not so good. Thankfully, I am good with inks I guess! So I got one good drawing from today. This is about where I lost my drawing...

io non prendo niente per ora

I went for a four hour walk. Which ended up with this...

...but also a lesson in wearing sunblock when walking around for four hours on top of a mountain!

However, it resulted in this view...

yeah, pretty sure that is my campus?

And i created this...

...i dont know why this is sideways.

Overall, awesome day :)

Qualcosa

Today we went to Siena. Which is a city that competed with Florence back in the day. It was also a center of trade along with Florence for both wool and banking. Which is ironic, since it took us at least an hour to locate a bank! They got hit pretty good by the black plague, and we were lucky enough to hold a book from the plague... yayy. We got to go into the Saint Domenico church along with the Duomo basilica. We got to see what we learned about in art history...though I will still probably struggle.

The above picture however, is from Viterbo which was between Rome and Florence. Just like Cortona it is a little, walled Etruscan city. The pattern is from a ceramic that I really liked. We just started class, so I don't have anything "real" yet, but I will keep posting sketches I like until then!

Just livin' my life here in beautiful Cortona, Italy. Drinking free Sangria and various white wines, getting beautiful three course meals for dinner, and telling everyone I am a national bacci ball player. There are also millions of cats roaming free in Cortona, as Chris would say, "ALL THESE CATS!!"

qui non puoi guidare veloce

so, i think i am going to have to agree with my dad on the whole screened window issue. it is ridiculous not to put screens!!!! if you want a breeze or just some fresh air, you are also taking in some lovely bugs. which include millions of mosquito that result in just as many bites! and worst of all, i glanced up to notice a rather large bee. needless to say, i am now in the dining hall rather than the room with the bee. in summary... screens are taken for granted. along with sugary, delicious cereal! obviously when i made my trip to the grocery store i bought some "cocoa puffs" and peanut better.

on the positive side they put soccer on the tv in the bars rather than baseball or football! so i can be classy and drink some white wine and cheer on italy. though last night i was rooting for the slovanian charlie browns. i also won 5 dollars.

i wish there was some way to really make clear how tall this hill we are on really is. in my fashion of exaggerating, i am sure most of you that know me are like "oh, it is probably just a little baby hill!" but just check out the view- that doesnt occur without a literal hike! so after walking up and down this molto grande mountain four times yesterday, i am rather sore today. my core down will be quite nicely redefined by november. however, i will stay my lanky self on my upper body.

l'uomo non ha la barba bianca

After walking a thousand miles of cobblestone, awing at ancient ruins and cities. After eating a hundred types of pastas and pizzas, making a fool of myself in the gellato store (twice), and actual good coffee from a machine. After cheap wine, and good wine. After beautiful 3 course meals, and mediocre 3 course meals. After countless statues of Bernini and MichaelAngelo, paintings and tapestries galore, and sketch followed by sketch. After all the “NO FOTOS!” and “SSSHHH”s of the Sistine Chapel and Academia. After countless bottles of Roman fountain water. After fresh food markets, and fake designer markets, and all markets in between. After millions of adorable, leash-less pups. After rock hard beds in no air conditioning, and constant 90 degree weather. After a week out of a suitcase, no hair dryer, and losing a computer charger. And finally, after a hike up a cobblestone laid “mountain.” I have swollen feet and huge calves!!!
…And am finally in my permanent room in Cortona, Italy! While my room does not over look the beautiful landscape, I can literally climb out my window at 7:50 and walk across the path to ceramics. Win some, lose some. Now begins the semester of hand washing clothes and hills!

Real.Life.

Sta tirando

**this is a delayed post..it was written on the plane!**

Three hours of sleep before an 8 hour flight in which you end up in a time zone nearly that much ahead of you, and you must live two consecutive days without a bed in your life… not a really good idea! So after I spent what seemed like an hour attempting to sleep, I realized this was just not going to happen. Even my free mini bottle of wine didn’t help me pass out!! So at 7:57pm (doesn’t seem too late… I’d be watching some criminal minds right about now…) or approximately 3am in my future time zone, I went through the list of things I could possibly do to occupy my time. I read a chapter in my book already, and since this plane has conveniently placed my personal light two seats away from me, I’d rather not wake the lovely old couple next to me, another reason I don’t do a 3^rd drawing. So then I was like “oh! I can play Solitaire!” Which I am no good at. Maybe I should try Minesweeper next?

5 hours earlier: As I passed First class getting on the plane, I realized it is really cruel that they make us poor people pass all the way through first class. It really just is not fair. You have to pass these extremely comfortable people, with plenty of leg (and arm) room knowing you will be sharing an arm rest, and the man in front of you will have his seat ever so slightly reclined the entire trip (since this is my current life, that “slight recline” seems like so much more for the person in my position). And you see all of these people with their seats reclined back nearly to a bed position (and you know they can become beds!) watching their own personal large television. And you get to your seat with your minimal reclining that invades the minimal personal space of the body behind you, and you stare at your tiny television- however, while they placed the overhead lights in terrible locations, this plane has individual televisions for all! I was even able to watch The Hangover at my own convenience. So, I guess it could be worse. But the people in first class! They have leg rests, lazy boys, large screen televisions, ample arm space. They should be put in the back of the plane! Just saying.

8:11pm/3:11am: I land in about 3 hours. If my math is correct, that could get me 3 episodes of criminal minds in. And my computer’s awesome battery has 4 hours left! So it seems like the best option to me! What a better way for a girl to kill time (seriously…no pun intended)!? I mean, everyone else gets to rest their little eyes…I guess that means they can’t glance at my screen and judge me. So while everyone normal gets their naps in, I turn to Dr. Spencer Reid. Totally okay! Thanks body for being the worst.sleeper.ever.

some amount of later now making it 11pm/4pm: i survived. though not in one piece- little old blankey is still in frankfurt somewhere...hopefully not in the garbage or some german child's life! for all of those people that knew me when i was athletic and now are ashamed of my lazy bod... we walked well over 10 miles today (it was calculated 10mi half way through our day)! so there! other than that i had a really good soup today and a chocolate croissant. and coffee from a machine- yet still better than any american hotel coffee (or a lot of american coffee). buononotte!

l'elefant è pesante

with five days until i board my plane to rome, i am procrastinating repacking me 49lb and counting suitcase with this lovely creation!

while i am so thrilled to be going to italy, i am even more thrilled NOT to be going to peoria for a few extra months! tuscany sounds like a much better idea than the thrills of central illinois personally. no 3MBs this semester for me! sadly, it also means no adorable rudy, or the silly shenanigans of lucy, or the struggle that is sonny, or the gato [maximus]. or of course the pups i never had- wooks. i am hoping i can still access petfinder.com in italy! oh, and i suppose i will sorta kinda miss family? i think that is what my mom would probably like to hear. oh! and i am sure after 3 months, a taco bell endeavor will need to occur upon landing in november.

small sacrifices. the real sacrifice- this wonderful exchange rate! as i counted my first exchange of euros, i cried a little inside knowing that this is only the beginning of being dirt poor in europe. please send me money.

in reality, who knows if i will maintain this what-so-ever. it seems like it might be a good place to put my pinch pots and beautiful drawings. who knows..but the few posts may ease my mother's little head. you can stop reading this hideous beast whenever you please.


 ps: the title of this post? "the elephant is heavy." so useful... and rhymes! the title of this blog? i will reveal at a later time ;) ...or you can google translate it- doesn't matter to me. if i don't try to make my titles clever and funny, it won't matter if they aren't. (just like my theory with sunglasses- if i do not TRY to make them look good, it doesn't matter if they don't!) as a result to save myself from being embarrassed and ashamed, i will just name them random sentences i know in italian. also, i like lower case letters better than uppercase. sorry!