stopping by...

This morning I woke up and looked out my window and realized our hill was we live on was swallowed up by a cloud.  The normal view out of my window looked as if everything had been erased and replaced with white.  The tempurature has dropped dramatically, and there has been thunderstorms and rain for the past week.  Some people have been complaining about it, but personally I love it.  It is so cool to be on top of a hill, looking out and being able to see bolts of lighting from different storms across the valley.  It is such a neat event to see and experience.  You can feel the thunder rumble, and for someone from California who is not used to thunder storms, it is pretty fun.  There are people from all across the country in this program, so most of them are used to thunder storms and think it’s really funny how the people from California get so excited when we hear the thunder.  The other day while it was raining, a few friends and I went to a café and had cioccolata calda (hot chocolate).  And it was probably the best hot chocolate I have ever had!  The best way I can describe it is hot, rich pudding because of how thick it was.  I ate most of it with a spoon.  The best part was the small glass tea cup we drank from.  I’m such a sucker for holding hot drinks, smelling the steam, and slowly taking small sips, especially when it’s raining outside; being in an Italian café doesn’t hurt either.  I think the feeling I get is almost as good as the taste of the chocolate! 

Classes are well underway; I have finished my first photo project and my first painting.  I am learning Italian slowly but surely and art history is coming along.  Every Saturday we have mandatory field trips, and this Saturday we are going to Assisi.  After we return, there is an art show at the fortress.  Yes, the fortress.  Doesn’t that sound so cool?  There is a fortress up at the very top of the hill by the monastery, which is still in use today.  And that is the location of the art show.  All the artists of Cortona were invited to display their work.  So some of the students here, myself included, have entered our artwork to be displayed at the fortress art show.  I have entered in one of my photographs, which I am not extremely proud of, we didn’t have too much time to prepare, and I really just wanted the experience of having my work in another show.  So I chose a photo from my recent series for my photo class.  I’m just excited to go to the show and experience what an art show is like in Italy. 

Our internet has been very bad here lately, in fact, it has been completely non existent in the dorms, so we have had to go down to the classrooms to use the computers there.  The classrooms are in the building next to ours, so its not far, but when its raining outside, it makes it harder to make the trip.  But we now our internet has been fixed, so I will have more of a chance to post blogs and talk to my family on Skype!  If anyone has Skype, let me know and we can set up a chance to talk!  If you don’t know about Skype, it’s like a video chat.  It is free to download and if you don’t have a camera on your computer, you can use the microphone in your computer so the person you are talking to can hear your voice.  Its like a phone from your computer.  It’s a great way of communicating internationally. 

Well I have to get ready to go to my next class, art history.  I hope you are all having a great week and enjoying the abundance of different kinds of food you get to choose from, cause pasta get a little old after awhile!  Ciao!