Tacos and Tests

I am sorry I've gotten a little behind with my blog. I've been writing every week, but just haven't had a chance to post online. Anyway, this is my entry from October 12th:

Strange though it may seem, I am craving tacos. Not just tacos, however, but any kind of food that is not pizza or that does not have pasta as the main ingredient. In comparison with the United States, Italy is sorely lacking in diversity in food and other areas, as well. How many times have we referred to ourselves as “the melting pot,” a mix of immigrants from all over the globe, somehow blending together to form the American culture? This lack of diversity is not necessarily a bad thing, but when you are used to being able to choose from Italian, Chinese, Thai, Mexican, Indian, endless fast food options or countless other types of cuisine on any given night, it takes some adjusting to the less varied Italian dining experience.

Especially in a small town such as Sansepolcro, there are few restaurant selections. Off the top of my head, I can think of about ten pizzerias inside the walls of the town, and six gelaterias in close proximity to the palazzo. To shake things up a bit, there is also a Chinese restaurant and a Kebab shop. The Kebab shops are small, usually run by immigrants from the Middle East, and seem to be quite popular. We have spotted them in Florence, Venice, Urbino, Assisi, Verona, Bologna, and every other town we have visited. They make very good sandwiches of some sort of mysterious shaved and spiced meat and served with lettuce, tomato and yoghurt sauce. Clearly, America has a great deal of variety because it is represented by people that come from many different countries. Italy, on the other hand, has a very long history and is much more engrained with tradition.

Although we did not travel anywhere, this week was very busy. For our full-semester classes we had midterms, and for Italian I and Art History, which were condensed into half of a semester, we had finals. Every day this week we had either a test, exam, oral presentation, or paper due and some days we had multiple things. After endless studying, sleep deprivation, and much anxiety and stress, it was heavenly to take a nap this afternoon.

Despite the difficulties this week has dished out, I am very thankful I have the opportunity to study here, and I have learned much more in this semester than I did in any of my classes last year. On Friday during my final oral exam in Italian, I was amazed to realize that, after only six weeks here, I am able to hold a (simple) conversation in a language that I had never been exposed to previously. Mi chiamo Emily e ho ventiannove anni. Sono di Wake Forest ma abito a Sansepolcro. (My name is Emily and I am nineteen. I am from Wake Forest but I live in Sansepolcro.) I can understand basic directions, order food, describe people, and also discuss a few other general topics.

I’ve also been learning quite a bit about art, as you probably noticed in my previous journal entries. It is a very special experience to discuss a painting in class, and then go see the painting in person. Not only does it allow you to see and study the painting better, but it also cements the knowledge in your head, because you remember the painting more distinctly when it is associated with a particular museum or other aspects of the experience. In addition to the art history class, I am taking color theory, which has been very interesting, too. So far, I have been introduced to the harder-than-it-looks world of mixing paints and basics aspects of color theory, such as how color coming from a computer screen is different from color we see in physical pigments, and how colors are relative and their proximity to each other effects the way we perceive them.

After doing nothing all week except for sitting in my bedroom and studying, Saturday brought a welcome change when we celebrated the one year anniversary of Meredith College in Sansepolcro. In the morning, we had the opportunity to meet the mayor of Sansepolcro. He welcomed us kindly and warmly said we were an important asset to the town and he is happy to have us. Later in the evening, after much tidying up, sweeping and wall-scrubbing, we opened the palazzo to the entire community for an open house. It was a pleasure to celebrate with the many friends and acquaintances we and Dr. Webb and John Rose have been accumulating here.