Italy Post #4

Dear Readers,
The purpose of this blog is to record the daily realizations that I come to, the small yet necessary decisions and revelatory epiphanies that make up my life. Italy has already shown me so much in the ways I need to change and the ways in which culture can organically shape a nation. While the experience has been disorienting, it has also shown me a side of humanity that I never would have seen before. I want to write about the changes I see in myself and the world around me, to record the most intimate details of my experiences and comment on the landscape and culture in which I live.

But I realize this is also a travel blog, at least for the next 4 months. Which means if you are reading this, you want to know what I’m doing. So this post is going to be an update. Ready for this? You may want to prepare a little, get a glass of water (or vino perhaps), bake a batch of chocolate chip cookies.....

OK, here we go: The past 48 hours have been filled. Filled to the brim, maybe a little bit overflowing if you asked me. But they have been amazing hours, each one filled with something more exciting than the last. We arrived in Rome at 8:30am. That was horrible. Seriously. I had actually dozed for about 2 hours on the plane ride over which was better than nothing and much better than a lot of other people had fared. Matt (our director) was there to pick us up and insisted on keeping us up as well to help with the jet lag. So we immediately got on the bus and traveled to Orvieto, playing cards and watching the grape vines and olive orchards fly by.

My first view of the town can only be described in one word: breathtaking. Although I don’t have a picture to show you (yet), I can tell you that the town is set on top of a cliff. The whole city rises from the plain, adding to the surreal-ness of this whole experience. The duomo (cathedral) is your first sight as it dominates the city with its vertical height and the incredible size of it. We drove up to the base of the city and walked our bags the rest of the way to the monastery which was a lot of physical exertion for so much sleep deprivation. After getting partially settled, we had a series of meetings and tours around the monastery and a small walk around town to orient us. Lunch was amazing - huge salads and endless bowls of home-made bread. Dinner was just as delicious, especially because it was followed with a trip to the gelateria. I think it hit me then that I was in Italy, as we sat on the steps of the duomo and enjoyed a true Italian treat.

I woke up today rested for the first time since I was in Oakdale. It felt wonderful to enjoy myself here; I guess it felt more like I was living in this town today. We started today off with a walk around the bottom of the cliffs of Orvieto, then made our way into the town and inspected the duomo for a while. All the while Matt would stop us and talk for a while, explaining the Italian way of life and the ways in which we should be exploring and questioning ourselves and the places we have lived. This was all summed up by a very intense walk up to the top of the bell tower which is the center of Orvieto and provides a completely panoramic view of the whole countryside. It was amazing. Lunch followed, with conversation among our group centering on the importance of art and theater in life. Then another meeting, and now, internet time.

This trip has been completely amazing so far. Even though its only been 2 days, I feel at home in this small town yet terribly out of place. I don't speak Italian. I don't understand the ways of life in this place. I don't feel comfortable as an American in this foreign place. But, I'm hoping this will gradually fade as I get more used to navigating the streets, speaking the language, and interacting with the town and the people. Matt and the other directors are doing an excellent job of integrating us into the town - for example, tonight we're having a get-together with the nuns who share this building with us, and tomorrow we're having families from around town host small groups of us in their homes. I also learned today that there is a church where we're encouraged to join the choir. I feel like I'm definitely going to be fitting in here sooner than I think.