Summer Art Program in Italy

Oh Roma! Part One!

2009-06-11T09:50:00.012-05:00

So, Roma was amazing! We all had so much fun, and I know it was the best part for most of us! Oh, the adventures we had in Rome. Lets see what happened :)
We got to Rome Sunday around noon. After we all got packed we went to the Piazza Norvana, which has the Fountain of the Four Rivers by Bernini! It was pretty sweet.

Then it was on to the Pantheon, which is amazingly amazing!

Then some of us decided to get something to eat, and we happened apon a McDonald's! The McD's in Italia has an amazing meal called the Crispy McBacon! And we all ordered it! It was pretty good for McDonalds! Yay first burger in a month!

After our lunch break it was off to the Trevi Fountain!

Our coins we threw in!We all took pics of ourselves while we threw in our coins and made our wish!So pret-ty! (people laugh at me because I pronounce my t's ha ha) :)

From the Trevi Fountain we wandered apon the Trajan's coloumn and the ruins of the Roman Market Place. Where we also met some.... Interesting gladiators...

The Trajan's Column, and a close up of the details. Its just unthinkable how someone would do this... but amazing!Said to be the market placeThe crazy Roman guys that Charity wanted a pic with! Ha ha they were funny!Me and Rachel with the Gladiators!

Kris with the Romans! Love it!Then to the Colleseum!Me and Rachel touching the Colleseo!

Inside the Colleseo!Constantine's Arch!So, this was the first part of Rome! Sorry I didn't upday sooner, but we had no, zip, zero internet connection! Stay tuned for the Oh Roma, Part Two, coming tonight!

Ciao! Kaci and Charity

Catch up day!

2009-06-06T11:14:00.011-05:00

So I finally got done packing! We're off to Rome bright and early tomorrow! I thought I would go ahead and write a second blog of the day, to catch you guys up on whats been happening the past week. I know I won't have time in Rome, way to many things to see, I'll be writing about those amazing things!
Ok, lets start off with the day trip we took to Sansepolcro and Arezzo. We learned a lot about the artist Pieoro della Francesca. He has many wonderful works such as, The Resurrection 1492, Madonna of Mercy 1462 (one of my favorite), Baptism of Christ, Death of Adam (I like this one a lot too), etc.. In these paintings you really see the perspective starting to show. It's quite interesting.
From Sansepolcro we went to Arezzo, a beautiful town. It was also where they filmed the movie Life is Beautiful (which is amazing and you should definitely go rent it if you haven't seen it!). We did some shopping while we were there, of which I got not one but two bathing suits! yay!
Cathedral of Arezzo
Arezzo
Arezzo
So, after all of this we got on the bus to drive back to our home of Montone. We were just riding along....... when we heard a horrible sound..... we had a flat. And I have some awesome pics of how we passed the time on the side of the road!
Our flat :(
How I passed the time... Ha ha of course.
How Denny passed the time away. haha
How our amazing bus driver passed the time away.
How the snail colony we found passed their time away :)
And the rest of us just played with the snails to pass the time :)
Eventually our awesome bus driver fixed the wheel and we were safely transported to our destination of the Fortebraccio!
Another adventure we had was when we hiked up a mountain called Mt. Bestia (the beast!) ok ok... Maybe not a mountain, but it was a kind of steep hill! We hiked to the top to paint our quaint village of Montone from afar! On the way there we had some interesting going ons. First off Bryce decided to help us forget our walk ahead by making us laugh!

He did this by doing some sort of gorilla dancing or walking or something. It was quite hilarious!
Then I tried to take a picture of a pretty blue flower, and got attacked by a crazy killer bee! The bees are very harassing here in Italia. And finally we made it to the top where we started our work.
Our water colors!
Rachel and Kris painting and smiling! :)
Carl getting situated.
Our beloved Montone. Which we will miss. I can't believe it's our last day. :(
Well, I tried to catch you guys up. I didn't get quite all of it in there, but it's time to change for dinner. And maybe a night out on the town since it's our last :)

Ciao!
Kaci and Charity :)

Last days in Montone...

2009-06-06T03:06:00.010-05:00

Well, today is our last day in the quaint village of Montone... I am a little sad, but the excitement of Rome is still over powering my sadness. It probly hasn't hit me that we're leaving either. Maybe it will when I pack later today, eventually, ha ha.
The art show went well :) Our linolium (don't make fun of my spelling) prints sold the best, which of course made made Denny smile. Our show turned out better than we expected I believe. Yay! Here are some pics of some of our finito work!

Today we have a date with our last gelato in Montone! So, there will be more pictures later! Chow, as my father would say! Kaci and Charity

Florence and Montone:Oh the Excitement!!

2009-05-28T11:26:00.002-05:00

So, just thought I would update on the whole picture thing seeing as how we don't have too many of them up. :] Below consists of ....interesting.. pictures from an evening in Montone, and also a few from Florence. Enjoy!!

Below:

Kaci, Brian, and Kris touching the "creepy door." ....which is actually the door to an old prison in Montone where they beheaded their prisoners above!! Yay!!

Professors Denny and Bryce taking a delightful car ride back to Montone from dinner. There wasn't enough room in the car, so we had to kind of.... squish, as you can see below. Denny absolutely loved the entire thing. No complaining whatsoever. Haha!

The Uffizi, which we toured on the second day in Florence. I almost cried when I saw Sandro Botticelli's work. I really got inspired in there. :]
The Gates of Paradise on the doors to the Baptismal.
The Dome of the Duomo. Brunelleschi's Dome, to be precise. Apparently it was a tough walk up.... of which I did not have the joy of experiencing. Kaci and I assumed the line would be super long, so we took our time at what we were doing, and by the time we got there to meet some of the others, they were already inside. Sad day.
The tower of the Duomo. Which also looks like a tough climb, but none of us got to experience that joy either.
Me, Kaci, and Perry Jo standing in front of the copy of David outside the Uffizi.
Copy of Michelangelo's David.
And some other copies of which I have yet to look up the names for. I knew them when I saw them, but..... forgot. Sorry, guys.

OH MY GOSH! This guy was hilarious. He was dressed as cupid, and kept winking and waving at people to come over and drop money into his little basket. I didn't do it, but I stole a picture of him anyway. :]
Well, that's it for now. I'm hungry and we're going to the Pizzaria tonight!!!!! YAY!

Ciao,

Charity and Kaci

Update!

2009-05-28T06:37:00.008-05:00

So, I know we're in Italia, and we seem to just be going and traveling and having a good ole time, but lets see... what was the real reason we're here? oh, yes! Classes, thats right. Well, I thought I would do a little update on just how our classes are going. I don't have a lot of pictures of our work, but I'm working on it. So, I'll show some more pics later.
When we first arrived, the classes... were... interesting... We had some issues getting started, well I did anyways. But now everything is coming together. I was very excited to see one of my paintings finishing up rather nicely today! We have been working hard though.
We have been working on print making that past two days, yeah... lets say thats been interesting too. Our supplies are limited for that field; so we're still trying to get some good prints.
This is our first couple of days when we were just drawing.
This is Bogi working on her bellisimo painting!
This is Isabella (Matteo and Rebecca's daughter) helping us clean off our printing blocks!
Oh, and heres a fun pic from Rachel's twenty-first birthday party! We all dressed up!

And this is Rachel on the phone with our beloved Gary of whom we miss so much! He called to wish her a happy birthday!

Well thats all for now, come again! We still have to post the pics of the rest of Florence so get ready!

Ciao!
Kaci and Charity :)

Oh, bella Firenze!

2009-05-23T12:44:00.005-05:00

So we have been in Florence since yesterday morning, oh what a couple of days! When we first began our adventure in Florence we went to a walkthrough, or to us a marathon, of the Uffizi and Duomo... We stopped to take a few pictures of the city lifestyle; of which some of us had missed so dearly. As shown above! We went to many beautiful places such as: The Academia, Uffizi, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella... But these adventures will be coming soon with pictures! We just wanted to let you know what we've been up to! We still don't have a good internet connection, blah!.... Ciao! Time for dinner!

Kaci and Charity

Si Si Assisi! Silencio!

2009-05-18T15:22:00.013-05:00

So Saturday we went to the beautiful quaint town of Assisi.

We had many interesting encounters while we were there. It all started with Charity lusting after all the very, oh so cute Italian boys! Isabella on the otherhad (Rebecca and Matteo's daughter) decided to chase the pigeons instead of boys it was adorable! We had an awesome shopping spree while we were in Assisi! The first thing Charity and I bought were these amazing scarves to match our outfits! Then we found some leather bound journals that we had to have! I bought a knife and the man that sold it to me said that I speak perfect Italian! I was pretty stoked! At the end of the day we went to get some yummy yummy gelato! As we sat down to eat this wonderful creation, Perri Jo told us an interesting story that happened to her in this quaint town of Assisi.

She told us how they were trying to feed the birds, and an Italian called her an 'idioto Americano' for feeding the pigeons. Then later in the day she was called a 'stupid Italian' by an American. You might say she had a rough day, but it turned out for a funny story.

As we walked through the town we encountered both Jesus and a green monk. (These were two men posing as statues) We took pictures of the monk and gave him some euros and he blessed us with the ringing of his bell and by giving us a piece of paper with inspiring words written upon it, of which Charity had to fight desperately for. This monk had a sense of humor, which was quite entertaining to watch!

Now about the things we actually went there to see...

Church of St. Claire

The only pic I got inside...
The next was the church of St. Francesco (I forgot how to spell it)

I know there aren't as many pictures of the churches (that were amazing and beautiful) but we couldn't take any pictures inside... :( Oh, and they also had monks inside the Francesco that kept saying, 'silencio! shhhhhh.... silence!!!' into a microphone every ten minutes. Which we all kind of laughed at. But it was an amazing place!

Ciao for now!

Kaci and Charity :)

Orvieto and Arrival in Montone!!

2009-05-17T11:55:00.007-05:00

So after being picked up by the adorable Italian bus driver, we proceeded to go to the town of Orvieto, where Kaci decided that she forgot her... oh no.... BELOVED SUNGLASSES! We hurridly purchased a new pair for 5 euro. Yay!

We then got on a tram which took us up a beautiful mountain/hill side thing, where we arrived at the Duomo (we forgot how to spell it). The wow factor was like.... BAM! times 10 billion. There is no words for it's awesome - seriously.

Afterwards Brian, Charity, and Kaci went to lunch. We frantically searched for a non-touristy restaurant where we could eat a "real" Italian meal. Brian then tried to order in Italian.... he did ok. Although, the woman couldn't understand a word and went to get her mother who spoke like.. 5 words of English if even that. We ordered some amazing stuff though, in the end. Brian liked his pasta very much. :] In the midst of leaving, the wind decided that the day the Americans came to Italy would be the time to blow the tram tickets out of Bryce's pocket and into the abyss of the Italian countryside. Sadly, we had to pay for new ones... the Italian woman was quite the crab about the whole situation. She clicked her pincers furiously at us.

The arrival of Montone: ORANGE.

That is all we saw as we approached our new home. Hotel Fortebraccio: friend of wayward American students looking for Italian adventure. We were greeted by the most "super" Italian, Super Mario (said in an Italian accent), and as Della calls him, Ratatouille.... he speaks 5 languages including French, which explains the name. Duh. That night we went to dinner and met the most amazing couple who would be our guides for the next month: Rebecca and Matteo. AWESOME.

Ciao for now, yo.

Charity and Kaci.

Don't be late to the gate! Yet the gate was late...

2009-05-17T11:01:00.006-05:00

So finally our story for you can begin.... yay internet!

We arrived at the airport at around five am... eww! None of us had very much sleep so you can imagine how our day went! Luckily none of us got stopped at security, and we proceeded to the plane. Which boarded twenty minutes late. We flew from Tulsa to Newark. Which is in New Jersey I found out. Once in Newark we had a six hour lay over! even more eww. But we found ways to pass the time such as: moving walkways, gelato, and practicing Italiano! And of course making fun of Bryce Brimer, our wonderful papa professor! Who we had to wait on for like half an hour every hour, ha ha! Before the eight hour flight from Newark to Rome, Charity forced me to take a Dramamine, since she sat in front of me and did not want to be vomited on :) Lets just say I woke up for meals only. They told me that we were on the taxiway for an hour before we actually took off, but I was not completely aware of my surroundings at the time.... But we made it safely to Rome in about 7 1/2 hours. Once in Rome, Charity proceeded to throw all of our baggage at us from off the luggage belt. You must remember she is a boyscout! Yay Charity!

Once we had our baggage we were flagged down by our very nice looking Italian bus driver Amelio!

So for introductions we have:

Charity and myself (double perfection) who will be hosting your blog for the next four weeks!

From left to right

Della - Amazing! Shes so sweet!

Kris - Funny, sarcastic, and loves his music!

Bogi (Amanda) - Sweet with awesome purple hair!

Rachel - First time flying! Shes tiny and quiet but very sociable at the same time!

Charity - Hilarious! So lovable! She gets excited about everything! Especially Italian boys!

Brian - Sweet guy, very intelligent!

Bryce (papa) - .... yeah .... no just kidding! Hes an easy going fun guy that is organized! And loves his air guitar!

Perri Jo - She has an amazing smile! Quite funny, and an olympic swimmer!

Carl - Technologically advanced, very creative, and a sweetie!

Denny - Sarcastic but nice. He has hilarious facial expressions! Taking pictures of Italy's amazing graphic design work.

Not pictured but coming soon: Nicole (Bryce's wife) - So so sweet, and quite funny :) She's momma there for us all!

Our first successful blog brought to you by Charity and Kaci at the front desk at the Fortebraccio!

Ciao!

Kaci and Charity :)

Ciao!

2009-05-15T02:10:00.002-05:00

We are officially in Montone! It will be a little bit before I get to post a good blog; we are having internet issues :)... But the hotel is amazing!!! Brand new so its worth the wait for the internet :)
We are off to explore our new home, sorry its so short, til next time! Ciao! Kaci Alicia

Introduction and a little of this, a little of that.

2009-05-11T13:41:00.008-05:00

My name is Kaci Scott and I will be posting from Italy in two days and counting. :) I am a Jr. at RSU in Business Administration, but I have a passion for art. I am super excited for this trip! And I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures!

So, the finals are over thank goodness! Now it's on to packing, laundry, and saying goodbyes! I had an email sent to me saying my bag could only weigh 40 pounds... Lets just say I don't have a reputation for packing light... My suitcase minus the clothes already weighs 13.6 lbs.. I'm a tad nervous; I have my scale downstairs with my bag to weigh every couple of hours, ha ha.

I still am sad to leave everyone behind, but I know the trip will be worth it. The trip, I'm sure, will fly by. I will miss my two pup pups pretty bad tho...

This is my Tobi, with his big puppy eyes. :)

And this is my polar bear, Pokie :)
Also with my wonderful beaux Justin who I will miss so much!

But anyways, like I said, this trip will deffinately be worth it! So I'm signing off to go pack, and to go give Bryce some forms I got a threatening email about. Til next time, feel the love all, Kaci Alicia

The Last One

2008-06-25T18:00:00.002-05:00

Well folks, I do believe this will be my last blog post for RSU Italy. Of course, I could be totally wrong. But it is here that I will leave you with my closing thoughts.

Before I went to Italy, people who had been to Europe told me that this trip would change my life and that I would come back a new person. They told me I would probably love it there but that I would also have a new found appreciation for everything I have in America. Most of this is true. I have come back changed. I have come back with a lot more friends than I had when I left. But I don't think I could say I've come back a new person. I learned a lot over there and saw a lot of things I've wanted to see my whole life. I met some wonderful people and learned a lot about the Italian culture.

Oh! I did discover something new about myself: I'm an excellent haggler! There's all sorts of street vendors in Italy and I haggled for me and all my friends! Those awesome red sunglasses...7 euro! The guys originally wanted 20. I tried to go for 5 but he just wouldn't budge.

Anyways, I'm still the same person I was, just more well traveled. And I definitely have a greater appreciation for the following more American things: washing machines and dryer, air conditioning, level roads, my car, whole wheat bread and pasta, my mattress, being on time, and American Men. Italian men made me grateful for American Men. Seriously. I also have a great appreciation for the variety of all sorts of things that we have available to us in America.

That being said, I don't want to make it sound like I didn't have a blast in Italy. Because I did. I absolutely 100% LOVED IT. And I will definitely go back. I would love to see things in Florence and Rome that I didn't get to see this time. And I love the people and the food and everything there is to see there. I'm just glad to be home :)

So, fellow students and other blog readers, if you are considering signing up for the trip for next year, I HIGHLY recommend it. You will have the time of your life. You will see things you might not have otherwise gotten the chance to see. You will make friends that will probably last you a lifetime. And you will spend a lot of money. Seriously...start saving up now. Especially if our economy doesn't start swinging back upwards. It's totally worth it...but start saving now!

If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here or talk to Gary Moeller (head of the RSU art department).

Now I take my leave of you, friends. It's time for me to get back to reality. It was a pleasure being able to share all of this with you. I hope you enjoyed it.

Ciao,

Jennifer Hanley

Roma Amor!

2008-06-25T17:11:00.011-05:00

I offer you a tour of Rome:

The Pantheon

Just me and the oculus (the hole in the top of the Pantheon)

Rapheal's tomb (in the Patheon)

The Trevi Fountain

Me and Kendra (at the Trevi)

St. Peter's (known to us as "The Pope's House")

Obligatory myspace photo of me at The Pope's House

Inside of The Pope's House

Beautiful right? The Pope has awesome natural lighting!

ditto.

St. Peter's tomb (well...it's beyond those lamp things)

Michelangelo's Pieta.Well...you probably know what this is. It's only the most famous ceiling in the world. and I obtained an illegal photo of it (ha ha ha).
The Last Judgement in the Sistine (also illegally obtained...well...I don't know if it was actually against the LAW but we weren't supposed to take photos).
Bernini's Ecstacy of St. Theresa.

Boromini's Church of the Four Fountains.

My favorite restaurant in Rome. Oh. my. gah. That was the best hamburger I've EVER eaten! Seriously. I think the Pope made that hamburger.

This is just some old structure you may know as...THE COLOSSEUM. No biggie.

Myspace photo of me and my new bff, the Colosseum.

Kendra, Becky, and Rachel just hangin....at the Colosseum.

The Arch of Constantine.

Part of the Roman Forum.

A view of the Roman Forum through the Arch of Septimus Severus.

The monument to Vittorio Emmanuele II, the first king of unified Italy. (This is right in front of the Roman Forum)

Some street views of Roma.

Our last days in Montone

2008-06-25T16:53:00.006-05:00

Our last night up on the hill we ate at the Pizzeria and had a yummy meal and lots of laughs. I took a few last photos and I'll post them to give you all one last view of the town we all knew as home for three and a half weeks.

On our last night at the Adamo, Giovanni and Beatrice and their family (these are the owners of our hotel), threw us a big seafood feast and it was GOOD!
this was our bathroom that we (me, Kendra, and Charlotte) shared for almost a month!
Rob showing his love for the Jitterbug.
Me all fancy on our last night in the Adamo.
Archway into/out of Montone

The place we hung out at and bought gelato from often.
The piazza we always hung out in.
My last Montone sunset (sniff).
Meagan and Charlotte at the Pizzeria. Below are Charlotte and Rachel.

We also had a big barbeque at Luca's (the blacksmith) house and it was totally awesome! The food was great, the people were unique and entertaining and the house was gorgeous. and kinda quirky. They had a trapese swing in one room. and yes...some of us hung upside down from it. That's Meagan hanging upside down from it, by the way (the picture is on it's side)
Oh...that crazy Rob :)
This is Enrico (Matteo's bro), umm...can't remember the other woman's name, Rebecca Bachetti, and Rebecca Reed.
And Cayla entertained everyone for a while by playing a guitar and singing. She's very good! Of course, we all sang along and teared up a bit when she sang "Time of your life" by Greenday.

I think I speak for all of us when I say we will miss Montone and it's people. They were incredibly kind and hospitable and I thoroughly enjoyed my stay there. For those of you considering this trip next year, I highly recommend it. I had a blast! And it was truly the experience of a lifetime.

Brandon's Birthday Party

2008-06-25T16:46:00.003-05:00

Well folks, we're all home now. But, there are a few things I need to post about before I wrap this blog up. Thanks to my lighting fast internet courtesy of Cox, I can actually do that now. Seriously folks...Italy's internet is slow and unreliable. It's a good thing they have all those pretty buildings and really old stuff. Nah...just kidding. But I am really glad to be home.

I did want to post some pics from Brandon's birthday party though. It was a blast. The best part is we all jumped in the freezing pool to commemorate the occassion. Well, not all of us. First Rob jumped in because that was Brandon's birthday wish. Then Jitterbug Jim (Professor Ford to the rest of you) jumped in and then me, Whitney, Charlotte, Kendra, Meagan, Cayla, Alice and Brandon jumped in with them. And yes, the water was cold as a...well...fill in your on euphanism here.

But, it was LOTS of fun!

Photos courtesy of Lynn Crockett (cuz I was all wet!)

We're Baaaaack.....

2008-06-23T17:55:00.002-05:00

....and we're stuck in the Newark airport. But Charlotte had internet so I'm posting to let everyone know that we're home...and we're stuck. Yay. and awww. Anyways, at some point our flight will leave here and we will be home and then tomorrow or the next day I will put up a bunch of posts on Rome and Brandon's birthday party and other fun stuff. Okay...that's all for now.

Florence in a nutshell....

2008-06-16T08:38:00.010-05:00

The facade of the Duomo.

Alberti's Gates of Paradise on the Baptistry by the Duomo

The Ponte Vecchio

Sculptures in the Piazza della Signoria

Santa Croce where Michelangelo is buried.

Rebecca, Bree, Cayla, and Lynn in front of the Baptistry
Me, Rachel, and Kendra
Me and Kendra at Pitti
Palazzo Pitti
View of Florence from Palazzo Pitti

Rachel in sunglasses that we bargained for 6 euro (down from 15)
You have to rub the nose of this boar if you want to come back to Florence!
Rob and Jenn White being silly
Donna Jo, Greg, and Pam waiting for the bus
Brandon waiting for the bus back to Montone

RSU goes to Florence

2008-06-12T15:52:00.004-05:00

The RSU group has traveled to Florence - here are a few photos from Nicole Nascenzi, RSU PR Nicole Nascenzi and Prof. Bryce Brimer on a bridge over the Arno River in Florence.

Prof. Gary Moeller talking about the Duomo
....the Duomo

Professors Jim Ford and Laura Gray

Truffle Hunt

2008-06-11T07:01:00.005-05:00

Dinner after the hunt was amazing!
I met a wonderful Dutch couple whose names were Willy and Barry. We talked politics and economy and healthcare. It was fun!
Bryce showing off the truffle bounty.
Whitney and Jennifer W. getting excited about goin a'huntin.
The truffle dog Napo who did a very good job sniffing out the mushrooms.
Sergio and Pepe (not a truffle dog) keeping a lookout.
The group of us weaved our way through the trees as Napo ran around sniffing for truffles.
Isabella (Matteo and Rebecca's daughter) showing off the truffles.

Spoons

2008-06-11T06:56:00.007-05:00

We love SPOONS! Seriously...it's a full contact sport with us. We play card games a lot when we have free time. Spoons and Hearts are our favorites. The other night Brandon was the winner of the Spoons championship.

Laser Light Spectacular

2008-06-11T06:40:00.005-05:00

This past weekend there was a light festival in Montone. Light artists came and put their works in different parts of the town.

This is me taking a myspace photo :)
One of the first things we saw was this guy had taken images of famous Renaissance art and architecture and then he projected them into the buildings of Montone. All evening the images moved across the buildings.
The next one we saw was in one old structure there were green laser lights shining all over in different patterns and shapes. Also there was smoked pluming out intermittently and it was all very....trippy. But completely awesome. The whole night was completely surreal and amazing and very much a once in a lifetime thing. It was very much a "only in Italy" evening.

Arezzo and San Sepolcro

2008-06-11T06:27:00.003-05:00

This the big piazza in Arezzo. The Basilica of San Francesco is off to the right and at the cafe on the left, Meagan, Kendra and I had expensive gelato. The waitress was quite rude and was impatient while we ordered and then when she brought us our order she said rather abruptly "You pay now!" That's her below serving another table. After the expensive gelato and rude waitress we went into the basilica to see the Pierro della Francesca frescoes. I don't have any pictures of those because cameras were not allowed.

This is the top of one of the buildings in the piazza in Arezzo. I just thought it was neat. Hence the photo.
Kendra and Charlotte mimicking the flying baby angel heads we saw in a lot of paintings.
We also got to do a little shopping in Arezzo and Shari and Bree both came away with these snazzy shoes. I mostly just bought little things in museum gift shops because I'm saving my moola for Florence and Rome.

By the way, I didn't really have any decent photos of San Sepolcro because it was a rather quick excursion. However, tomorrow we leave for Florence and you can bet there will be TONS of photos from there.

Festival of Lights Montone and a few misc. pics

2008-06-08T14:12:00.007-05:00

A cookout in the Piazza:

Bryce Brimer and Daniel Lang (notice the matching hats)

Montone held a Festival of Lights this weekend and the group enjoyed the amazing light show...a few photos from Prof. Brimer:

Finito!

2008-06-05T09:27:00.002-05:00

Remember Tuesday at the blacksmith? Well today Kendra (middle), Charlotte (bottom), and I (top) finished our metal projects. And we all contributed to the construction of the pieces then Luca (the blacksmith) helped us finish the pieces off...you know...so they didn't look like crap. There are still some people that need to finish their pieces but I think that will happen next week.

Tomorrow we travel to Arezzo and San Sepolcro to see the works of Peirro della Francesca and others. I will post again with those pictures when we get back. I know...I still haven't posted the pics from last weekend but I'm busy people! So back off!

Speaking of busy, there's a magazine over here called Valley Life that's published in both English and Italian that has asked me to write an article about the trip and I did :) I'm going to be published! In Italy! Woo hoo :) Alright, that's all for now.

Ciao people!

Our Mascot

2008-06-03T12:13:00.003-05:00

This little dog belongs to the family who owns the hotel we're staying at. We think her name is Brichola which means "pebbles" or "little stones" which I don't entirely get but she's adorable anyways. And every time you pet her she gives you that look. I just call her "pups" or "puppers". I know...so americana right?

Tuesday at the Blacksmith

2008-06-03T12:05:00.004-05:00

Those of us in Bryce Brimer's afternoon class went to the blacksmith today. We each brought a design of what we wanted to make and today we started work on it. We'll go back on Thursday morning to finish it. Some of us (including yours truly) actually got to do some of the hammering on the molten metal. And yes, it was awesome. I now have a blister on my thumb from hammering molten metal. I am woman, hear me roar. When Luca (the blacksmith) and I finish the piece, I'll post pictures.

Also, my camera ran out of batteries when taking pictures of the weekend's festivities but Cayla Spears took some pictures so I'll get together with her and post those later this week and fill you all in on what took place.

students at work and play in Montone

2008-06-02T14:08:00.005-05:00

More photos from Prof. Brimer:

An picturesque abandoned house in Montone.

Whitney and artist Daniel Lang.

Prof. Moeller and Rob having fun between classes.

Greg Howard working with the local blacksmith Luca.

Rachel trying her hand at blacksmithing.

Luca the local blacksmith who has been really helpful teaching students his trade.

Having a Good Time

2008-05-30T05:44:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to let everyone at home know we're having a great time :) We have class and critique during the week and we all eat dinner together at either the pizzeria in Montone or at our hotel. For the most part, everyone gets along and we're having a blast. Montone is very relaxing and peaceful and we love that but are looking forward to the energy of Rome and Florence.

Daniel Lang is amazing and has been very gracious in his critiques. The other night there was a slide show of his work and he talked about his inspiration, methods, and preferred imagery. I hope you all have at least googled him because his work is amazing. I'm still working on getting some images up on the blog but I'm technologically limited here. Hence the reason I haven't been posting daily.

To me, one of the best things about this trip is not only that we get to experience all the art and culture of Italy, but also that we have a camaraderie with each other in the group. I know that I'm making friends with people now who will hopefully be lifelong. We are also meeting new people in Italy, most of whom don't speak english, but they are all very friendly and accommodating.

I shall post more next week. This evening we are taking a trip to an artist's studio and I'll take pictures and let you know about all the festivities that occur over the weekend.

Ciao!

Dinner at the Pizzeria

2008-05-30T05:34:00.006-05:00

More photos from Montone

2008-05-28T12:01:00.003-05:00

These are some photos Professor Brimer took during the first Communion celebration.

Here is part of the group:In the foreground is Greg Howard and in the back is student blogger Jennifer Hanley.

Bree Bedsworth works on a floral design before the ceremony starts.

First Critique with Daniel Lang

2008-05-26T07:05:00.006-05:00

Today was our first official day of class. We climbed the mountain (which we all have different names for) and drew and painted in the morning. Then around 11:15 we had a critique with Daniel Lang, an amazing American artist who lives in Montone for half the year. He lives in New York the other half, but he is actually from Oklahoma and you can find his work in both the Philbrook and the Gilcrease.

He is a soft spoken, kind, and humorous man with an incredible knowledge of art that he is sharing with us. I'm running out of time of the computer today, but the next time I post I'm going to try and put some of his work up and give a little background info on him. Until then, feel free to Google him.

Now it's back to class. The group I'm in today is with Dr. Ford and I believe we're going to start learning a little art history and study the literature that accompanies it.

Ciao for now!

First Communion Festival

2008-05-26T06:40:00.007-05:00

This was a truly magical experience. First of all, the whole town comes out and lays flowers on the street in patterns and designs all along the alleys and walkways (which are also the streets by the way). Most of the students helped and a few of us created our own designs in each square. Most of the designs though were done by the townspeople. What we assume is that each person has a section in front of their down that they decorate. In some areas it was definitely a case of each person trying to out-do their neighbor.

The laying of the flowers alone was wonderful but then around noon the procession started. The first to come through was Jesus on the cross under a little gold embroidered canopy held up by three men of the church (clergymen?) and then there was a band, then a big canopy with what I assume was the priest or bishop (I'm not up on my Catholic hierarchy) holding a religious item of some sort. This was followed by the altar boys and girls and then the young children (dressed in angel costumes) who were receiving their first communion. They walked up and down and around most of the streets and stopped once in front of what was either the church or the school (it may have been both) and then stopped again in the piazza for the ceremony.

Now, I'm not Catholic, and I'm not even very religious, but it was an incredibly moving experience listening the the priest/bishop and watching the children and then watching, all at once and in unison, every villager cross their chest. Not to get too much into religion, but in whatever form you may believe God exists, I felt that there on that day. I even feel it now as I remember the experience. It was breathtaking and emotional and incredibly spiritually moving. I teared up a little bit and others said they did too.

Not to sound cliche but I know I'll remember that moment for the rest of my life.

Beautiful Montone

2008-05-26T06:33:00.004-05:00

I'm going to do a couple posts today because they are each about different things. First, I just wanted to provide you with a couple views of Montone. On my previous post, I showed you Montone from afar but these are interior views.

We're here!

2008-05-24T08:21:00.006-05:00

Well, it took us about 25 hours to get to Montone but I must say the wait was well worth it. You know the stereotypical idea of Italy where there are rolling hills and old buildings and lots of vino? Well, I do believe that is Montone. However, on the drive to Montone from Rome, there was an amazing mix of industrialization and older buildings and culture.

Okay, the first photo is me after that 25 hours of travel and about 2 hours of intermittent sleep. The second photo is the view of Montone from our hotel. Now, what we did not know was that our hotel is in the valley and the actual village of Montone is on top of a very big hill. It took us about 45 mins to hike up that hill. And we hiked up that hill the same day after we had traveled 25 hours. It was the longest and hardest walk of my life. But the third photo is the view from the top. It was the most beautiful view I have ever seen in my life.

Well, we have been having internet problems at the hotel so I will try to post as often as possible but I really wanted to post ASAP to give you all my first impressions. All I can say is that is just breathtakingly beautiful and I'm almost overwhelmed trying to take it all in. Almost but not quite. It's just wonderful. I'm trying to be poetic and descriptive but I'm still quite tired. I will be writing in a journal while I'm gazing out on those beautiful views so the next time I will try to put in some of my poetic musings when I'm able to put some on paper.

"Talk" to you all soon!

And we're off!

2008-05-21T22:48:00.003-05:00

Alright, it's almost 11 pm. That means in 8 hours I and the rest of my intrepid travelers will be boarding our plane. Everything is packed. The lists have been checked and double checked. I know I will forget something anyways. Tis life. Or c'est la vie as the French say. I need to find out what the Italian version of that would be.

So the next time I post something I will be in Montone. :D I want you to imagine the biggest smilie face emoticon you can possible think off and that is how I feel. And a little tired too. But still...very pumped.

Okay...I'm logging off for now. I'll see you all in Italy (you know...metaphorically speaking).

2008-05-19T21:33:00.005-05:00

Well folks, it's getting closer and closer. I now only have two full days in between me and a Boeing 777 bound for Rome. I've starting packing and am fully packing my suitcases so I can weigh them and shift things around as I need to. We are allowed to take two 50 lb bags that we can check in and one carry one and one "extra item" like a purse or laptop bag.

Now, of course we ladies know how to work that extra bag like nobody's business. We bring the biggest purse/bag we own and stuff our smaller "real" purse inside another bag. But we should be able to work the system! Do you have any idea how much extra crap we have to carry around? I mean really! The makeup, the hair products, the skincare stuff...oy vey! And yes, I did just say oy vey.

Anyways, the cat (Tigg) is getting rather concerned because I've had my suitcases out in the living room and have been putting stuff in them. He knows I'm leaving him and he has been very clingy and sad the past day or two. My sis and I came home from running errands and he was sleeping in my suitcase. Awwwww! So sad!

Alright, that's all for me now. I'll do one more quick post before we leave Thursday morning.

BTW, I think the whole "intrepid student blogger" thing is going to get REAL old REAL quick. But I do feel like I need to have something to give my posts a smooth finish...any suggestions? Oh, and nothing rude people...the comments are being monitored by RSU and if ya'll are jerks and post obscene things on the site then comments will be disabled and I don't want that. I want to hear from you guys back home :) So behave!

Less than a week!

2008-05-15T21:20:00.007-05:00

Alright, we've now got less than a week before we board a plane at the Tulsa International Airport and jet off to Rome. Okay, we're actually jetting off to Newark and then we're jetting off to Rome (after a 5 1/2 hour layover). So, as you can imagine, I am quite busy getting things together. I'm making lists and checking them twice for everything that I'm going to take. This is the beginning of one of my lists with the things that I need to buy hilighted. Anal right? Hey, whatever. It gets the job done.

I've made a list for toiletries, clothes, medicines, accessories, art supplies, and the all important: miscellaneous. I've done a little research and found a couple good sites for those about to travel extensively:

Rick Steves' Travel Tips Rick is cheesy but his site offers great packing tips and lists.

TSA for Travelers A good place to check if you have ANY questions about what's safe to bring on the plane.

Europe for Visitors-Italy Good all around...explore.

Oh! Also, I went to Radio Shack and picked up my power converter:

It's dual watt so it has a setting for things like laptops, phone and ipod chargers, etc, and a setting for 1600 watt devices like hair dryers and curling irons. Guess what ladies? Did some research and it's not a good idea to bring your expensive ceramic flat irons to Europe. It's very hard to find a converter that will work with them and won't fry anything. So I'm just going to bring my tiny 1600 watt hairdryer and curling iron. I'm going to get some mousse and just go curly/wavy over there. I think it's probably best. I don't know how humid it is in Italy but I'm guessing there's a decent amount of moisture in the air and I'd be fighting the frizz anyways.

Oh yeah, I just checked the weather over there. Right now it's 4:30 in the morning over there, 54 degrees and 91% humidity. Sounds like home right?

Alright guys, that's all for me now. I'm doing my shopping this weekend to get all of my stuff together and tomorrow is the last meeting before the trip. So I have to go. Lots of stuff to do!

This is your intrepid (and tired) student blogger signing off!

14 days and counting...

2008-05-08T15:55:00.003-05:00

Well folks, this is your intrepid student blogger, (Jennifer Hanley) and there are a number of things I feel I need to discuss in this post. The first order of business is this:

WOO HOO!!! FINALS ARE OVER!!! Do you hear that heavenly sound? It's a choir of angels singing HALLELUJAH!!! HALLELUJAH!!! HALLELUJAH!!!

Okay, now that I have that out of my system...on to other items. Firstly, I am on the prowl for an automatic converter for all my appliances to work in Italy (my hairdryer, flat iron, phone charger, etc) but that is proving much more confusing and expensive than I thought. I guess I was under the misconception that you just had to buy a little plug thingy and there ya go. That's all you need. I assumed that would cost under $15. How wrong I was. There are cheap plugs but they only work with dual voltage appliances. I haven't checked yet if any of my appliances are dual voltage but I'm guessing they're probably not. So I have to buy an automatic converter kit and guess what folks, that costs in the neighborhood of $45-$60. That is not an expense I had figured in.

Anyways, that's life right? Poor me, I'm going to Italy and I can't figure out which converter to buy. Right about now you're saying "cry me a river!". Well, it's an issue and I'm the blogger so :p

Furthermore, now that finals are over I am going to start officially blogging more. I will share with you all of the trials and tribulations I go through as I prepare for this monumentally exciting journey. And then, of course, once we all reach our destination of Montone, Italy I will blog on a regular basis about all the fantastic adventures we have. There will be pictures but I promised RSU we'd all at least appear sober. Or at least we have to keep the bottles of vino out of the picture. Hmm...am I even allowed to blog about this? Don't worry, folks, it's all legal for me. I'm 25.

Moving on...now seriously folks, it's going to be exciting. The trip of a lifetime. Hopefully not once in a lifetime but ya catch my drift. Next time I'll try to include some pictures so you all will have something to look at. It might not be exciting though...just warning you. It will probably be a pic of my luggage or which ever converter I end up buying.

For now, this is your intrepid student blogger signing off!

Soon to be off to Italy

2008-04-18T11:05:00.001-05:00

Hello all, just to introduce myself, my name is Jennifer Hanley and I am a student at RSU and am taking part in a trip to Montone, Italy this summer. We will be there for a month and I am so excited I can barely contain it! I look forward to sharing with all of you the adventures that I and the other students on the trip take part in. I hope you'll follow along as I relate my experiences of Italy.