venezia & verona

Well kids, I've really been jetting around town lately. Our program organized a one night trip to Venice, so early Friday morning all 44 of us hopped aboard a coach bus for a 3 1/2 hour ride to Venice. It turns out that buses really aren't for me. Or anyone who chooses to travel WITH me. But anyway, we arrived in the city around 11am. I always knew Venice had canals instead of streets, but I guess I never fully realized how deconstructed it is compared to other, cohesive cities. Venice is literally hundreds of little islands, sometimes connected by bridges but mostly by little canals. It also has a fascinating history of being a mercantile and subsequent cultural checkpoint of Eurasia in the past thousand years (I don't have any energy to expand on that, although the vagueness of that statement begs more attention. Whatevs, wikipedia it later).

Our first stop was the glass-making island of Murano, where we saw the glass master in one warehouse blow glass into a reared-back horse, which was pretty damn impressive. Our guide was telling us that it takes about 15-20 years to become a master of glass-blowing, which was interesting considering how easy this man made it look. The glass itself was in a glob at the end of a hollow, metal pole and he rolled it around a lot, blew it in a bit, poked at it with some tweezers and BAM! a glass horse, perfectly balanced rearing back on its hind legs. So, yeah, generally unimpressive stuff. We then went upstairs to their official store and saw some of the most ornate and beautiful glass products in the world probably. Everything from stemware and chandeliers to jewelry and animal statues were crazy impressive and delicate and shiny.

Next we went to Piazza San Marco, which was easily the most spatially stunning piazza so far. It's really enormous, lined on three sides with three levels of loggias, and faces toward the truly magnificent, staggering Basilica di San Marco. All in all, it's an impressive space, and its right on the Grand Canal. (Fun fact: Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp are currently filming their new thriller The Tourist in Venice, and we totally saw the light crew setting up shop in front of the Palazzo Ducale adjacent to the Basilica that night. Apparently Jolie is really stuck up and Depp is short but very nice and humble. The name of the movie doesn't really light my fire but the fact that those two are on the screen together should make up for the shitty title. Also, until the end of time I will tell people I was on their set)

Anywho, we tooled around the city for a bit, had a nice relaxing lunch and then went back to the Basilica at 7:30pm for a private evening tour was was amazing. We walked into the church and it was nearly pitch black, except for some satellite lighting the seemed light the space just enough to give us a feeling of how truly grand it is. We sat in the first couple rows of seats and some sort of lackey or priest or what have you began turning on lights. It was actually really dramatic, the first ones that came on were all the way up by the altar, and everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed when they shed light on the brilliantly golden interior. Once the place was completely lit, we saw it had six domes, making the standard cruciform shape of churches, but every inch was covered it golden mosaic telling stories of Jesus and Saint Mark. Gorgeous.

Another reminder that Venice is basically underwater, while leaving the Basilica we had to jump over a fairly large puddle, which apparently appears every evening as the water in the canals rises. When we saw the Piazza it was similarly puddled, and I heard from some other people that it's usually much worse, almost filling the entire space in a couple inches of water. I'm heading back there in about a month with my brother and Mel, so I should eventually have a follow-up.

Verona was not at all what I expected, in the best way possible. You can tell its a northern city, it's much bigger and there is definitely more money there. It's incredibly clean for one, and also much larger and better preserved than many other historic Italian cities. Pictures should be up on facebook soon, it was all this beautiful white and beige stone mixed with natural oases with robust trees and beautiful, blooming flowers. We rounded out the day by going to the Castle of Verona, and tanning on one of the turrets, such a tourism success!

I'm leaving for the Amalfi Coast on Thursday! More after that. Beaches here I come.

(i couldn't resist)

"Republicans have long seen themselves as synonymous with America, and everyone else as deviant and marginal. This article of faith is impervious to evidence. Surveys show that a majority of Republicans believe that Obama stole the election with Acorn’s help, a conviction that allows them to deny a political reality they find intolerable. More subtly, conservatives have long derided the Democratic Party’s 'dependence' on minority voters, as if these voters are somehow less valid. The GOP’s belief in their right to rule has an unmistakable racial aspect; hence the racial slurs hurled against black congressmen last week, and the right’s repeated comparisons of health-care reform to slavery. This is, in part, white men reacting in furious disbelief that they can no longer rule as a majority, because they aren’t one. Since Nixon, the idea that Republicans constitute a silent majority of decent people—all recoiling from the noisy demands of anti-war protesters, black militants, and radical feminists—has been fundamental to Republican identity. " -Michelle Goldberg, The Daily Beast

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for encapsulating all of my problems with many of those who identify themselves as Republican. The good news is, America is slowly waking up. Good morning, liberty.

Galway ate my heart

So, Dublin was fun and vibrant and great, but Galway felt like real Ireland. It's about two hour's bus ride from Dublin and is absolutely worth spending at least three days there. Unfortunately we only had two nights, but we managed to pack in as much as freaking possible, because it's just about the greatest place on earth.

People's favorite thing to ask study abroad students is something along the lines of "what was your favorite city?" and the only sensible answer is, every city. Honestly, every new place I go to is my new favorite place. There are too many levels and dimensions of beauty and wonder and intrigue to really quantify the sites I've seen while in Europe. It's really hard for me to find the words to describe things I really love, but I'll try to do it for dear Galway. It begs my attention, I will not do it justice.

I was inexplicably drawn and attached to Galway. Firstly, it's on the sea, which is absolutely gorgeous. The green, rolling, dewy countryside is seductively nostalgic and watching the sun set over the sea was probably one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. Everything felt alive and cohesive and benevolent for a while. God this is horribly cliche.

Galway is a college town and has a really palpable vivacity. We walked across the river for awhile on the college campus, walked up and down the charming cobblestoned streets, wandered in a few squares, and everything felt so warm and inviting and homey. It was an exciting city too, the nightlife was pretty wild. The Irish we ran into really lived up to alcohol stereotypes. And not even the youth scene, we saw middle aged couples getting drunk food at 2am. Brilliant.

Day Two consisted of our daytrip to the Cliffs of Moher and around the region the Irish call the Burren. If you haven't heard of these two, google search that shit asap!! The Cliffs are really one of the most stunning natural wonders in the world. It was nice to enjoy something that wasn't a Renaissance sculpture, fascist architecture, or huge ginormous church. It was simple yet stunning and moving and lovely. I like the idea of something amazing existing without any influence from humans. The Burren is absolutely gorgeous and (nerd alert!) kind of reminded me of the landscape of Rohan from the Lord of the Rings movies... which was filmed in New Zealand... well, whatever. It was picturesque and mountainous and kind of a bumpy bus ride but worth it. We stopped at various castles and this like, sea of rocks, and skirted around the countryside. It was so authentically Irish! I hate my descriptive writing. It was just kind of awesome. OH and we had a boss tour guide who had really cool anecdotes about all the sites we were passing.

If there is one place I want to return to in my life, it's Galway. I got my Claddagh ring and thus am an official Irish lass.

P.S. Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and brood are in Florence right now and it's taking everything I have not to stake out the city sites tomorrow to find/follow/creep on them, and ask them if I can babysit.

finally some description versus me projectile vomiting my sociopolitical ideas on everyone!

After revisiting a few of my previous articles, I realize I am horribly preachy. Anyone that's known me long enough to remember my xanga is probably experiencing every kind of deja vu. But no fear! I have no proselyting to do today. I got back from my spring break trip this past Sunday and man it was good to be home! Living out of a tiny carry on sized luggage bag with all of three outfits in it for ten days is not really my idea of tons of fun and convenience.

Our first stop was Berlin, a city I didn't have too much interest in before I came to Italy, but going there was the second best decision of the entire trip. Perhaps it was the fact that we had the best tour guide ever, with whom I kind of fell in love, Tom. Tom was, and will forever be, amazing. He knew absolutely everything about the city of the Berlin, starting from its Prussian roots, unification, through two world wars, the cold war, and the falling of the Berlin Wall. The whole thing took about four hours and we were hanging on his every word the whole time. For lack of a better phrase, I just didn't realized how crazy and kind of messed up yet fascinating the history of Berlin is. The city itself started as a small fishing village, and basically through the entire 20th century was the epicenter of the world's political tension. It was really insane to see some of the damage that WWII did to Berlin, too, Tom would often pepper his accounts of historical events with "you can see how the bombings during WWII destroyed part of this building and that structure and all these artworks, et cetera. Especially coming from my whole life in the heart of America, our safe defended little bubble to which no harm could ever fall, it was quite a visceral experience to be in a city so obviously ravaged by things I'd only read about in dry, calculated historical texts. It was just so raw being there, Tom really put it into perspective how Berlin has only been stable for the last twenty years and there are still many open wounds that are still very real. (I saw this overwhelmingly gothic boy who couldn't have been more than seventeen with a swastika pin on his imitation leather jacket. Really dude?? The German youth are kind of unhinged in general, but really? )

I was also impressed with the quality of German food and drink. The food is all super hearty and the beer is delicious. They have a tradition there of mixing beer with orange soda or sprite and it sounds really odd but it's really tasty and refreshing! Weiner schnitzel is really, really good. Berlin has one of the most efficient public transportation systems I've ever seen and it's really really convenient! Our hostel was just a 5 minute subway ride away from the historic city center. This paragraph is a relatively uninteresting amalgamation of things I liked because in terms of writing I really don't know what to do when I'm not doing some sort of critical analysis.

Anyway, so at the end of the tour we were sitting on the steps of the Berlin Dome as Tom told us the story of the night the Wall fell. Despite having taken a European history course in high school that thoroughly covered the Cold War, I had never known the full story. As Tom told it, Stalin and the controllers of Communist Germany had decided that the tension between the east and the west could be somewhat alleviated if they pretended to loosen the traveling restrictions between East and West Berlin. Basically they drew up a bunch of fake legislation about chilling out, saying that all the restrictions were going to be removed eventually, and set up a press conference to announce it all (even though effectively they planned to change nothing, "eventually" would turn into never.)

This is where my history gets really accurate... so apparently their press guy was like super cocky and felt like he didn't really need to read the memo, which would have told him that he was to say the Wall would come down, but not put a date on it. He skimmed it and must not have gotten that part. He said the Wall was coming down, and the reporters were like, well, when? And under all that pressure and through the virtue of being kind of a dumbass he was like, "now". And everyone was like, seriously? And this was all live television, so all the East German people basically storm the streets going to all the checkpoints demanding to get through, and the 4 1/2 guards that were there were like so confused because obviously they hadn't heard about this. Essentially the East Berliners stormed that shit down and all the Western Berliners were waiting with champagne and bananas (bananas were a western product that Stalin had embargoed or whatever so no East Berliners had bananas for like twenty years),

Anyway there is about a 98% chance I goofed the history somehow but right as Tom was finishing the story, a German man walked by with his wife and kid and said to us "It was the best weekend of my life!!". It was basically the coolest moment ever. Even Tom was kind of stunned and was like, "yeah that doesn't usually happen, we just got really lucky!"

Basically, the entire thing was kind of magical, Berlin is amazing, and stay tuned for an Ireland post!

a teeny tiny piece of an eternally vexing and convoluted pie, mmm cherries

I am not a political science major, nor a political strategist. I read books and poems in my college classes. My knowledge is limited with respect to American politics and governmental policy, but there are some things I feel confident about criticizing, and one of them is the ridiculous amount of euphemism involved in politics. I was reading an article written by Meghan McCain, which was very eloquent and she seems to be a very well spoken young woman, despite that weird picture of her on her twitter. Whatevs, so she was writing this article in response to George Washington University's College Republicans organization rescinding their support of her on the basis that she's not a "pure" republican. Famously, Ms. McCain differs from her party on the issue of marriage equality. Among other Republican tenets, she claims she is, in fact "pro-life".

As a college student with a decent exposure to critical analysis of language, every kind of red flag goes off when I hear a euphemism as asinine and misleading as that one. Instead of brushing it off as political jargon, and shoving it under the umbrella of politico-speak that people tend to unilaterally accept, it’s worth approaching this problem through both a critical literary and psychological lens.

When any ol' Joe/Joanne says they are "pro-life", no one interprets that as a blanket policy on their lives. I know it, you know it, the Pope and Dalai Lama know it, Joe/Joanne is anti-abortion. When someone says they are "pro-choice", they mean they support a woman's right to choose to have a baby or not. This is again one of those stupid political jargon backwards ways of saying things that seems so slight but is actually wholly detrimental. By dancing around the touchy subject of abortion, we run the risk of not fully grasping the implications of the actually issue. Call it what it is, people.

People vastly underestimate language and I’m damn sick of it. Every single word you say reveals something about yourself, and when you are dealing with societal and governmental issues that have significant weight with people you can’t afford to throw around the world’s most vague and arbitrary terms, in hope that constituents will forget what you are actually implying and just go along with your perfectly pressed suit and combed hair. Honestly, I don't care how white your teeth are or what kind of font adorns your campaign posters, you are a politician and thus inherently self-serving and unreliable. No textbook or lobbyist or well written essay in defense of bullshitting can do anything that would make me think any differently. Politicians have been the same for literally thousands of years, beginning with the Roman Republic and Empire. Rhetoric is a key persuasive device. The hard part is finding a population educated enough to digest this rhetoric as opposed to swallowing it whole.

The "pro-life" euphemism is an interesting beast, because it doesn't directly imply anything negative. Identifying yourself as "pro-life" connotes a benevolent spirit of morality. Where it does the damage, however, is in the subtle implication that people who don't identify themselves as "pro-life", are, in fact, "pro-death". (While one could argue that the term "pro-choice" functions similarly to "pro-life" by implying some people are against choices altogether, I still feel as though "pro-choice" is significantly more germane to the actual issue, and thus an acceptable, direct way of expressing one's opinion on abortion).

Some might say this is "looking too far into it" or "over-analyzing". I firmly believe there is no such thing as over-analyzing, except in one's personal relationships pertaining to deeply rooted insecurities (obviously I've never experienced this and know my mature and intellectual readers haven't either...).

I cannot stress enough how strongly I believe one needs to cultivate their language like a garden, weeding out the unnecessary and usurping words and nourishing those that directly express one's desired intent. Little literary and oratorical issues that are ubiquitous in politics go unnoticed by many, who inadvertently make themselves susceptible to sheep-dom. Unfortunately for us, propaganda is aimed to swindle/convince the public into supporting something based off of any number of things; tag lines, bright colors, font style and size, etc, and it's quite an undertaking to challenge the conventions of language that people blindly accept.

Obviously, no one is an orator all the time. I myself employ my fair share of profanity and "awesome"s, "like"s, and "sweet!!"s. This is my colloquial speech, which everyone is entitled to. The key here is that I'm not a public figure, let alone a political figure with any kind of mass influence. However, language is still important. It can be subtle and beautiful and confrontational, but in a field as important as politics it should never be subversive, indirect, ambiguous, or meaningless.

Honestly thought, pro-life? “I am for living, the one thing that unequivocally ties all people together. I support the only thing I’ve ever known”. Seriously??

anniversary in the greatest city in the world

Now, I'm not one to over-romanticize relationships, and I don't want to be too sappy, but Italy and I have been together for a little over one month now and I want to shout it from the rooftops! I'm in love and I don't care who knows it! I've only known Italy for a little over thirty days, but as they say, when you meet the right one it feels like you've known them forever. I also don't want to be the kind of girl who drops everything and everyone for their new lover, but you might not be seeing me for awhile. We are far too caught up in each other.

Sadly, we must part for about ten days. It's gonna be really hard, and I hope the new boys of Berlin and Dublin don't steal my heart, because I'm very committed to Italy (and extended metaphors).

Anyways, I just returned from my weekend trip to Rome. I kind of forgot about Rome, whether it is the over-exposure or the fact that every cool picture of art and factoid desensitized me to it, but Rome is literally the coolest city I've ever been. I love Florence, and I love living in Tuscany, but Rome is Rome, and thus on a different scale entirely. Most places you go, including large cities, a tourist site consists of just one popular landmark. Not so in Rome. There is actually too much to look at. I was thinking on the bus ride down there, man, everything is in Rome, this will be so awesome, etc. But then I got off the bus and was like, wait, EVERYTHING is here. Literally, everything. The ancient Roman fora, the innumerable triumphal arches of Roman emperors, the Colosseum, the Pantheon, Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, the Piazza di Fiori, the Vatican.

The first thing we saw was the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. I love seeing things I studied in art history in person. It's like meeting a movie star and I did it all day long in Rome. The Colosseum was magnificent. It's crazy to see/be in and even crazier to imagine it in its original context. Now, it's just a skeleton of it's former self. Maybe it was the fact that we watched Ridley Scott's Gladiator on the ride down there, but as I stood in the Colosseum I saw the enormous amphitheater rebuild itself, watched sand cover the base and animals and men sprout from the now-mossy ground floor, and heard the cheers and jeers of the ravenous crowded.

By the time we reached the Pantheon, I was utterly exhausted, and kind of asleep on my feet. But really, the majesty and perfection of that building blew me away and woke me right up. I seriously have absolutely no idea how anyone could build that, let alone the ancients. It's a perfect dome with a nine meter wide oculus at the top. How do you build a dome and also incorporate a nine meter wide perfect circle at the absolute apex????? Seriously, people. I don't care who you are, that is damn impressive.

Sometimes when I look at landmarks like that, really big, almost intimidatingly impressive buildings, I get that feeling you get on roller coasters- like your eyes and your brain can't handle the implications of the dimensions you're staring at and it kind of blows your mind so much so that you get physically a bit uncomfortable. That's how I feel staring up at the Duomo in Florence and the Pantheon, let alone everything St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican.

My two favorite things had to have been the Trevi fountain and the Vatican. Trevi is just basically the shit- it's so much bigger than I expected, and I'm pretty sure it's the coolest fountain ever made, ever seen, and ever to exist, ever. Did I mention ever? A couple friends and I decided to spend the first night drinking wine on the steps and just staring at the Trevi. The way the artists sculpted the fountain is so exemplary of the baroque style, the marble looks like it's moving and the figures are interacting with each other in a way that's so palpable you expect them to move. If you just stare at them, you'll swear they are slightly adjusting themselves every couple seconds. Pictures don't do it justice; its cerulean blue (esp. at night) and gorgeous and I love the sound of the water rushing, there's so much of it that it actually gives off a light, really refreshing breeze. Amazing. Three boxes (yes, boxes. I'm a lady.) of wine turned into another two bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne, which we popped on the steps to the confused looks of all the other fountain-goers. Anyway, all that alcohol turned into four really drunk American tourists, so duh, we hopped in the fountain. Apparently it's a hundred euro fine but we saw a woman go in before us. Cops are always around the Trevi and they didn't stop us. Tourism WIN.

Vatican City is ridiculous. The city is basically the Pope's city. The Vatican museums are like the Smithsonian- they have EVERYTHING. One of my friends made the comment that apparently the Vatican has a history of stealing artifacts and I really don't doubt it. They have an Egypt room with tons of sarcophagi and an actual mummy! I really geeked out when I got to see the ancient Assyrian art. The reliefs of Sennacherib, Assurbanipal, and Assurnasirpal were amazingggggg. The Vatican museums have pretty cool little courtyards too, one has a random pine cone sculpture, another is surrounded by ancient marble sculptures. Right before the Sistine Chapel is Raphael's fresco room- The School of Athens was awesome to see in person. Nothing can beat that damn Sistine though (sidenote: totally thought of that moment in Good Will Hunting when Robin Williams yells at Matt Damon, telling him he couldn't tell him what the Sistine Chapel smells like. I could! But it was just a general old-room smell. Damn.). I could spend hours in there just staring, especially at Michaelangelo Bounarroti's The Last Judgment. Ghirlandaio's side panel of the Preachings of Jesus is amazing too, especially in it's vibrant colors and perspectival prowess.

My favorite landmark, ever ever ever, is St. Peter's Basilica. I had always heard how impressive it is, but no picture nor description could ever do it justice. I seriously have no words for how amazing and stunning it is. It's the biggest church in the world and absolutely magnificent. It has tons of Bernini-style baroque sculptures that are like twenty feet tall and amazing.

I'm exhausted and in love with all of the above.

on the other side of the world

Once again, I feel the need to preface the recanting of the events from this past weekend with a disclaimer: none of this is real. I'm on the other side of the earth with no responsibilities aside from trying to budget as efficiently as possible (and oops? going to class?). This is fantasyland, in which things that used to matter, petty things, don't even remotely cross your mind, let alone have any gravity. My life revolves around doing things I've only barely dared to admit could be possible and eating probably the best food anyone has ever eaten, ever. In the gastronomical history of our race's existence, I have won the jackpot, I humbly invite you all to let the jealousy devour you.

This weekend, myself and eight others from the program went to Bologna. Known as the grassa (fat) and dotta (learned) city, Bologna feels as if someone took the coolest, most chill college town and morphed it with some of the most impressive Romanesque architecture, and put God's Chef in charge to run the whole thing. Being largely ignorant of geography and its implications, I failed to take into account the altitude change from the Florence to Bologna. We left Florence at it's usual; about 50 degrees, sunny, and green. The train ride to Bologna took us under the Appenines, and after emerging from a tunnel we were in for about five minutes, we saw everything was blanketed in snow. As my roommate Becca aptly put it, it was like we just got out of the closet and were now in Narnia. I was really confused and kind of panicky seeing as I clearly wasn't dressed appropriately. Luckily, Maria sent me like eight silk long sleeved undershirts (along with a book light, travel clock, hostess cupcakes, and two utensils that are a spoon on one side and a fork on another. My mother thinks I'm camping).

Our Villa RA had given us a really good recommendation for a hotel in Bologna and it turned out to be really nice and fairly priced. AND they gave us breakfast in the mornings, complete with to-go packets of Nutella, I had a field day with that. The only thing was that the toilet flushed selectively, but the bathroom was redeemed by the towel-warmer, yum! I just used "toilet" and "yum" in the same sentence.

The city of Bologna is incredibly vibrant and vivacious. There were tons and tons of colonnades along the streets, with great shopping as well. Our first stop was the University of Bologna section of the city, near the OTHER less famous leaning tower in Italy, the leaning tower of Bologna. Random. The university part of the city was really fun, there were college kids everywhere and it definitely reflected in the energy of the city. The University was founded in 1088, so everything has been built in conversation with this feature of the city. The nightlife was fantastic, there are a ton of university bars, our favorite shot bar was called "Bar College History". I think I get where they were going with that one but the execution wasn't too smooth. I think mostly all the Bologna U kids made fun of us for being a group of 9 obnoxious Americans who don't know where they were going, but whatevs. As I've already learned, there is no escaping Italian's disgust and ridicule. We went to this "Irish Pub" (every bar that isn't a discoteca is an "Irish pub" in Italy) that we ended up really liking.

I am rapidly running out of ways to describe food, both Villa food and the food we ate in Bologna. Instead of trying to encapsulate the gravity of the deliciousness of the individual meals, suffice it to say that more often than not, the sight of the composition of the plate combined with the smell emanating from it makes most of us go silent with reverence. Upon actually tasting the food (my friend Kate is the best at this), out of amazement, we put down whatever utensil we were holding, catch each other's eyes to affirm it's actually real, and then put our heads down for a couple seconds, trying to grasp the enormity of it all. I am not exaggerating, this happens almost every meal. Then commences the instinct to scarf everything down in a blink of an eye, which we painfully resist, trying to savor every moment. Lastly comes the Torture of the Last Bite, in which one realizes this is the last time (in the near future) we will get to taste whatever it is we were eating. It's a horribly vexing moment, in which your taste buds are immersed in bliss but your mind is in agony, grappling with the undeniable truth that the meal, is in fact, over.

I know that sounds insane, but it's honestly how most of us feel.

Back to Bologna, the second day we went to find the main piazza, Piazza Maggiore, which was enormous and awesome. An art group from Milan was rolling out these gigantic sheets of white paper and opening buckets of paint, asking any passersby to paint on it for them, for some kind of country-wide social art contest. We took this and ran with it, had so much fun, took tons of pictures, et cetera. I think we were all kind of high off that experience, and we spent the rest of the day walking around basically goofing off and enjoying the sights.

Three days, two nights, immeasurable bus and cab rides later, I find myself pleasantly exhausted. A day or two of homework catch-up and repose, and then off to Rome with the entire Villa!! Ciao for now!