This is The End

Today marks the last activity and day of my Italian journey. This has been one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I accredit my decision to take this trip to the President's Leadership Class. As I mentioned in my other blogs, I've always imagined studying abroad and now I get to say that I've done so. This has inspired me to create a list of places to travel, with Greece being the next destination at the top of my list. A quote on Pinterest I saw says, "you get a strange feeling when you're about to leave a place like you'll not only miss the people you'll love but you'll miss the person are now at the time and place because you'll never the this way ever again." I feel as though I've found a different part of myself in Italy that I would love to bring back with me, but as the quote says,  there's a strange feeling that only takes place at that time and place. This exposure to a different culture and language has taught me a lesson concerning preconceived notions, acceptance, and open-mindedness. I thought I understood open-mindedness, but this experience redefined my ideology.

Today we visited the Five Star Movement, another activist group, that was very admirable and informative, but my focus for this last day was enjoying the moment, the scenery, the culture, and my fellow PLCers. I would have to say I accomplished this task at dinner as it was one entertaining night consisting of filing through the restaurant with tambourines and streamers, interacting with operatic singers, and singing the wrong lyrics to Amazing Grace. It was an unforgettable night. Following dinner, I even stepped out of my comfort zone an performed a Beyonce song onstage at a bar. (No I was not under the influence, I just wanted to create a memorable moment.) Italy will forever be ingrained in my heart.

Arrivederci Roma,

The {Hannah} Pope

The Day After Yesterday

You might be curious why I put the title the Day After Yesterday; it's because I don't want to think of tomorrow as my last day in Italy. With that being said, the learning content is beginning to lessen and the tears are starting to increase. The only academic event today was to attend an activism seminar. On the way to what we thought was a seminar, Kirk led us through another one of the epicenters of Italy, the Jewish ghetto. This term ghetto and its denotation has evolved as its initial meaning comes from the Italian word "ghettari" (sp). The ghettos were a place to manage foreigner; however they created their own thriving community. The Jews in 1943 were the backbone of the mercantile industry. This Jewish ghetto is so special not only because of the history but for the relationship and collectivism of the community. The loyalty to the neighbors of the community was eminent during the genocide of the culture. Because of the bravery and closeness of the community, only six thousand died when that number could have doubled. From there, we had a presentation with GreenPeace. The day was concluded with a group dinner.

Saturday and Sunday: A Weekend to Remember

This Saturday and Sunday morning began early and signaled the final weekend of my adventures in Italy. It marked the end of museums visits, underground cemeteries, and art officers saying "no photo," "shhhh," "silencio." For me, Saturday marked a day of history as I was able to visit the Vatican. Being a Pope, I felt as if I was right at home. On this day, we visited the museum within its gates with one of the most special memories being able to see the Sistine Chapel. The art inside was breathtaking, if not more spectacular and majestic than the other museums visited at the beginning of this experience.  With the hectic atmosphere and scurrying of the people inside the building, I almost became irritated, but I did not let that suppress the serenity and reality of being able to see one of the most esteemed paintings by Michelangelo. A lot of the artwork elaborated on by Kirk showed the juxtaposition of the physical and spiritual realm. Following the trek through the Vatican, yes I say trek as if felt like I walked half of a mile to reach the Sistine Chapel,  I went to the Bone Church. I had no idea what to expect, but I felt as though it would experience that I shouldn't pass up. Upon arriving, I realized that the place was not a church but a museum that housed the remains of many Saints and friars. The bones of these religious members in this place were arranged in such an artistic way that it created patterns and frames on the walls. One inscription that stayed with me was, "what your are we once were, what we are you will be." That quote gave me a chilling effect, making me understand that life is short and at any point you will cease to exist. It emphasizes how life should not be taken for granted.

Friday: The Colosseum

       Today has been one of the most adventurous and fast paced days of the week. From walking to the Pantheon, through hundreds of people to see the Colosseum, and running in the rain to eat lunch, I managed to create so many memories and understand that it's important to pack rain boots! It was the middle of the day before going to visits the activist groups and before lunch that the rain gods decided to crack the skies open. The rain started out as large droplets and then came the downpour. Three of the PLC girls and I found refuge and food in a café as we had to meet back with the group in an hour. Keep in mind, through this entire ordeal I was wearing a maxi skirt and open toed Clark sandals. It was inevitable that I was to get soaked even with an umbrellas. 

       When three o'clock rolled around, my wet feet screeched the floor as I walked into the day's activist presentation by Libera, an organization focused on spreading and education others about being anti-mafia and the strong influence that mafias have in the community. One way they spread information is by going to schools and neighborhoods to explain to the locals their rights as citizen ms and remind the students  of the opportunities available for work outside of the positions offered by the mafia. Another one of their big desires and projects are giving back to the community by acquiring the  litigated property of the mafia products from government and utilizing them in a way that benefits the people. Despite the slight language barrier through the presentation, the representative were very passionate about their cause and giving us reality check of how different mafias are depicted in the media. It was said that many of the problems with mafias originated in some U.S areas and come from the idea of corruption and payoffs among officials. This idea comes full circle to the points Dean Ray emphasized in class about how the Italian government is struggling to redevelop its political image and surpass the governmental deadlock with the amount of explicit corruption taking place

      Before visiting Libera, I was able to visit one of the topics of my childhood projects in school, the Colosseum. I walked up the steps of the Colosseum and was awestruck by the reality of standing where thousands of Romans and gladiators stood before me. The colosseum structure and architecture is amazing; however, the debauchery and heathen-like activities that took place were far from my version of entertainment and having fun. It was during Roman times that the Colosseum was used to house many fights that resulted in the slaughtering of an individual. The key here is that individual who died was almost, never a citizen. This goes to show the collective ethnocentrism of the Roman people that they have an intolerance for "straniero," or strangers. As a  PLC group, we visited the Pantheon where I was able to see the connection in the spirituality of the paintings and art of the time. The artist all had one mindset but different ways in expressing  the unified theme. The Pantheon was originally constructed under Agrippus, but after it was destroyed, it had been recommissioned under Hadrian. Furthermore, the arrangement and geometry of the building was magnificent. If you were to articulate the structure in layman terms it would be a circle within the square. This layout was a symbol of the relationship between the people and the gods.  The circle represents spirituality and the square represents the natural realm. 

       Each of the elements I was exposed to today ignited a desire for me to visit all of the other pieces of art and styles of architecture that I studied in middle school and high school. With that being said, my next stop is Athens, Greece as I thoroughly enjoyed Greek mythology. This trip is teaching me that you should take time in your life to explore the unknown and places that you have aspired to see , as you will regret not taking the chance later on in life.

Time Flies When You're On The Run... A Tues,Wed,Thurs Recap

Tuesday: This day would have to be my favorite so far in reference to art and camaraderie amongst my peers. I believe that we've come to value the experience of each moment rather than rushing through each activity and tour; at least that's my point of view. The hours in the days are really to starting speed up as well as how fast we are covering new information. It's Tuesday which means it's one week from our farewell dinner. I'm going to have to make the most of the rest of the days in Italy. I visited Florence again today, yet this experience consisted of visiting multiple museums that houses some of the most famous and popular Renaissance paintings and sculptures. In the first museum we visited, I was able to vividly look at the transition of the time period by the color, depth, and images in the painting. I am now understanding the information Kirk is drilling into our heads. In the Uffizi, which is now a museum but previously a three tiered offices space of the Medicee family. I was able to directly see the implementation of individualism after visiting the area that had three of the popular Madonna Enthroned paintings side by side. The biggest advancement in the art was the expression of emotion done through detail. I learned also that during the Renaissance death was one of the most reverenced and illustrated focuses on the lustrous depictions of the crucifixion, the glamor of the Medicee family sarcophaguses, and the creation of David symbolizing the death and defeat of the giant, Goliath. The David was one amazing sight (as it was divinely inspire) to see as I've only seen the sculpture in textbooks. The realistic vains, deep look, furrowed eyebrows, are all components that make the sculpture so great. After we left Florence, we headed back home to Arrezzo for a family dinner to enjoy our time as tomorrow is the last day in Arrezzo.

Wednesday: With today being the last day in Arrezzo, Kirk gave us the final history of Arrezzo with a 2 hour tour of the cathedrals and basilicas. The churches were used as a place to create community. We also learned that Arrezzo was one of the first Christian cities outside of Rome. Arrezzo holds a lot of history that we were fortunate enough to be exposed to as it could have remained submerged under layers of limestone like the Romans and Etruscans when ,in the 1560's, the Medicee family definitively destroyed the city. This tour was followed by a class period on activism where we capitalized the main correlations between the UnitedStates and Italy. Those correlations came from the fact that both countries are in debt, are governmentally deadlocked, and have low unemployment rates for recent college graduate students. I believe that it is important that we truly figure out the reasoning behind our inconsistencies and flaws  so that we can solve it  in way that successfully influences the most people. The rest of the day was spent with my PLC classmates at Kirk Duclaux's house. This Duclaux led barbecue taught me a lesson sent ,through one my advisors, that each moment requires full focus of your attention. Although you'd still have obligations it is necessary that sometimes you take a break. "There's a right time and place for everything." 

Thursday: Today was one of the most relaxed days yet. We took a day trip to Siena "The City of the Virgin." This city's epithet comes from the history of its troubled times where 3 people prayed to the Virgin Mary and the problems ceased. This miraculousness was also represented in the Battle of Montiperdi (sp) in 1260 where the Siennese beat the Florentine army even when all odds were against them. From that day, the Virgin Mary has been the theme of the church; she is often referred to as  "Queen of Heaven" because she has interceded on behalf of Sienna in so many ways. The city was even "wedded" to her. 

Once we reached the central square of Sienna, we were lead to the Museo dell'Opera Metropolitana and the Siena Cathedral, as well as the Church of the San Dominico. My most breathtaking moment came when I stepped into the cathedral as I saw the most breathtaking architecture, marbled floors, and frescos. I felt as though I were looking directly at a picture from the text book. I have been so humbled to be exposed to such creativity and divinely inspired works of art. The specificity and collectivity of all of the proportions and artworks in the church to provide one message and theme blows my mind.  As I leave Sienna headed to Rome, I anticipate visiting the Colosseum tomorrow as I have dreamt of this moment since my middle school years. 

Stammi bene, arrivederci

Duel to Rule

Monday's Post

On Today's agenda we had a day trip to Florence a city that is home to the ground breaking of the Roman Empire and the colonization of mercantilism. We took a train from Arrezzo to Florence. This was my first time traveling by train and it wasn't an overwhelming experience; it seemed like I had done it before. The only thing I experienced differently was the change in speed that caused my ears to pop as we reach high speeds of 152 kilometers per hour. Unloading the train we made our way into the heart and center of Florence, the Piazza della Republica. As I previously mentioned, this area was where Roman re-birth began. The significance in this newness is the revival of classical antiquity, individualism, and vernacular. As a group we were able to see some of the prominent structures of the Catholic Church and Renaissiance history of this town from the high rise homes identifying the families in power as well as the areas that were being restored from the WorldWar. Not only were the city's structural buildings indicators of the Italian character it explained the culture that made us understand why they are so similarly ethnocentric as Americans and how difficult it is to overcome your sense of self. Kirk has explained that from the beginning unifying the people has been difficult from as there were so many wealthy families districts that at some point there needed to be a dictator that would require congeniality. This power control issue between merchants and aristocracies and tensions concerning the "so called" streets sparked creation of individualism in reference to looking at details and people in their own context. This idea of context is also applicable in leadership context. There is no way for a student organization or governing people to remain in existence if there are multiple people acting as the dictator rather than cohorts or a team. It takes the administration of one wise person and one unified idea. This city's breaking point for unification was solidified in the 1290 by the Ghibbelines and the additional influence of the church within the homes. 

The Renaissance was also a period and style in which the physical and metaphysical became yin and yang. The church was a place that offered life and light; therefore, throughout this time period, artists incorporated the individualistic style and depicted religious leaders like the everyday person, still showing some religious respect, which gave them the reminder that ministers are humans too. Everything starts to begin with opening the space and initiating communication between the object and the art. And in this case we students are the object. Furthermore it means, miracles can happen for the people as well which leads back to the fact that the church provides light or an understanding that each person can underwing. This brings me to the fact that artistry and the images sculpted in the side of the church and painted on the ceilings allowed for the revelation of the miracles that were performed by the saints in way that even the illiterate people's in the 1400s could receive. My favorite historical site and depiction of the life of Christ and judgment was in the St.John Baptistry (pictured below) 

This gold painted ceiling in the Baptistry is comprised of symmetry and history. The parables are arranged in a comic books sort of way. This choice of color immediately draws attention to the viewer and evokes a feeling of light from above as if God's light shines on you at all time. From the image you can see that it's more of an octagonal shape rather the traditional circle dome. There is great significance in this shape and the value of 8; eight is the number of judgment and beginning of new life as God created the Earth and on the seventh day he rested and a new life began. This is another connection why people went to the church to experience this "life." Although the shape is octagonal the story is being told in a round which represents God's eternity and continuity. I was amazed by this and I feel as though the reverence for these cathedrals and churches should be implemented in the United States. In today's time the same respect is not shown as people show up to churches with immodest clothing. Some people even host receptions there. This history and knowledge is important and I have much greater respect for the current architectures who are insistent on preserving this art so that others can become appreciative. 

Sunday Funday

Today's a new day and I have completed a full week in this beautiful country. This morning  was different for me as I'm used to waking up for Sunday School and going to church with my family; it almost made me become homesick but I didn't let that feeling stay long. At 8:45am PLC and I took a bus ride to Cortona where we were able to experience the beautiful cathedral overlooking the city, an ancient fortress, and many other shops. My favorite part of the experience was getting to see the beautiful church full with depictions of Christ's death and miracles being performed. The Corinthian style columns were meticulously and strategically placed. The ceilings were breathtaking. I could imagine being distracted by the artwork while the preacher is giving the homily. While sitting on one of the pews, I just began thinking how I couldn't fathom how much time was spent painting and concentrating on such an important job; I'm curious as to how long it took to for the artist or artist to complete their work. I left the Cathedral appreciative of the artwork and thankful for the downhill walk, because the trip from the city to the top was quite the workout (It totally reinforced my expectation for calves of steel by the time I leave). After leaving the church I explored  many shops and had lunch. I wish I had more time to explore Cortona. After returning to Arrezzo from the day run, I went to mass with my roommate Sarah. Although I am not Catholic, I felt as though it would be important in supporting her decision to go alone and would also expose me to a new point of view on faith and order of service. This experience was not intended to change my Christian denomination but an opportunity to see more art and culture. Initially the service was hard to follow as I just followed Sarah's lead and she was confused as well. We arrived and there was some sort of service going on, in Italian. We had no idea what was being said but it is our willing hearts and open mind that the holly spirit honors for even having the mindset to attend a service. Come to find out we went to the wrong church expecting service to start at 5:30 but this specific services started at 6.  It was a funny memory we had made together and a learning opportunity for me.  Once mass concluded, we had group dinner and my day was completed....right after I bought some arachide flavored gelato (snickers peanut butter flavored). I'm looking forward to this last full week of activism and art.