art nerd.

So the year that I'm in Italy, the Venice 53rd Biennale is happening. Dozens of countries have a representative artist who gets to exhibit in a building dedicated to the country. My favorite was the Russian artist Pavel Pepperstein. The whole thing was so inspiring! It was spread out across a garden and a pavilian, plus there were three other spaces and a few smaller venues around Venice.

outside the Biennale

The only thing was, it was TOO big. There was no way you could do it all in a day! And Nancy, John and I really, really wanted to go to the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice. The only thing to do was to see it the next day when it opened at 10. We decided to spend the night in Venice without booking a hostel, so we would end up sleeping outside the train station. It was all very last minute, and a very interesting experience to keep.

outside the train station

We went into the Galleria dell'Accademia di Venezia to use their bathroom to wash up (since we get in for free...) then waited outside the gate of the Guggenheim. It was worth the night out in the cold! Every important thing we learned in 20th century Italian art was there. Boccioni, Balla, DeChirico, Marini...also Picasso, Pollack, Mondrian, Giacometti, Magritte...etc. It was amazing...

Art Nerds.

Another thing I tried for the first time was this Venetian pasta, which is spaghetti with squid in its own ink. I know it sounds strange but it was delicious!


Yup.
Eri, Megu and Sei come tomorrow for our European adventures to Spain and France. I'm definitely not ready. I should still do some more studying for Anatomy and pack some suitcases. There seems to be so much to do, but at least I know I won't be able to do all of it.
People are leaving from Florence...there is a bittersweet atmosphere, and a need to cherish every second we have left.

The day our friend Heather left, we went up to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sun rise.

Also, there was a complication/misunderstanding with our landlady so we have no internet at our house. I'm currently sitting in the stairwell by the door of our school because there is a connection here. So I don't know if I will be updating that much!

Ciao for now, I'll see some of you very soon!

sicilia.

Sicily is like a separate country from Italy!

I left for the island on Saturday night to arrive in PALERMO the next afternoon. The train ride was long, but I talked to some Sicilians who were returning to their "terra." They said that Sicily has been conquered by 20 different groups, like the Romans, Normans, and Arabs, so the culture is very mixed - even the language is its own dialect.
Palermo is dirtier and shadier than Napoli, but just as fascinating! Some parts remind me of LA though.
I went to Sicily with Nancy, and the first thing we did was walk to a bar recommended by our hostel owner for ARANCINI and CANNOLI, and GRANITA by the Palermo harbor.

We also walked around to see some sights, like the Palermo CATHEDRAL and THEATER.
Other places we went to were the CATACOMBE dei CAPPUCINI. It was really eerie - there were thousands of bodies lined up on the walls - some still had hair and skin! But it was interesting to see so much death presented in front of me, and to think about the fleeting nature of life, and how we should really cherish the time we have.
There was also the MARKETS; we stopped by VUCCIRIA with lots of clothes, seafood, and antiques, where we had a mixed plate of seafood and grilled and fried eggplants.
We also made it to CEFALU', a cute town by the beach. It was a little cloudy that day so not many people were at the beach but we hung out there anyway, with BRIOCHE FILLED WITH GELATO, MARZIPAN, and CANNOLI. We tried climbing up the ROCCA, where there is a Temple and Castle but it was closed off. We got a nice view of Cefalu' anyway! Later we had pizza at a restaurant by the shore.

The next day was an Italian holiday, but the museums were open! We went to the GALERIA di ARTE MODERNA di Palermo, which was really beautiful. They had a collection of Sicilian art from Neo-Classicism and Romanticism to the "Novecento." We stopped afterwards for Macedonia and Frullati (fruit dishes) and then a final cannolo and a cassata before heading back to the hostel.
After an exciting but nerve-racking episode in which we were locked out of the hostel (unable to pick up our backpacks) and barely made it to the train on time, we were on our way home.


And on the train ride home, I got my purse STOLEN!
...but I got everything back.
It was about 5 AM and the 3 of us in our compartment were all sleeping. I half woke up, to see a man leaving our compartment. I thought it was weird, and then I thought, "WAIT A SECOND!" I looked down to see that my purse was gone. I ran down the hallway, (still half asleep) and at the end saw 3 dudes just standing around. When we told them that someone had taken my purse, one of them seemed to remember something. He looked in the bathroom for a bit then came out with my purse. Luckily I had no money on me, and he didn't even take my camera or Ipod.
It was weird because the entire trip Nancy and I kept talking about how lucky we were to be in Sicily, and to experience living and studying in a place so different; being able to grow in such a different way than we would have if we had stayed at home. We knew we had to always be thankful for life, after seeing the Catacombs, we knew how lucky we were to have caught our train on time, we knew we were lucky to be able to study abroad...and the whole episode of getting my purse stolen and then getting everything back just emphasized all those things...somehow. I don't know if it makes sense. Maybe I'm just thinking this way because I only have 32 days left.

SHUTTERFLY ALBUM di SICILIA

Other things that have been happening:
I took the EXAMS for my Painting and Etching classes. For painting I got a 30 and Etching a 28! I'm relieved now that those are out of the way but I still have Anatomy left!
There was also a SCAVENGER HUNT last week. It was fun to run around Florence looking for things and realizing that I knew where most of them were.


Yesterday was our final Art Advising. Everyone has done such amazing work this year! I'm going to miss Marsha but I'm looking forward to seeing her in LA in August!