Studies Abroad - Sept 5-8

We had our first week of classes this week and on the whole I think it will be a cool and relevant semester. My first class is Italy in China. This class happens only once a week for 3 hours and it’s basically an anthropology class that studies the interactions of Italy and China primarily through observations of Chinese immigrants in Italy. It applies very directly to my major and 6 miles away there is a population of 30,000 Chinese immigrants in the largest concentration in Italy. My next class is European Society where we learn about Europe and the European Union through political science and sociological lenses. It should be cool to learn about the development and state of relations within Europe.  And so far I’ve really liked the lectures. Then I have an art history class that focuses on Florentine Renaissance art. It also has weekly excursions into Florence where we get to see first hand the artwork we’re studying. The course emphasizes the political and cultural implications of art rather than a more theoretical or aesthetic approach, which I think I’m going to like. And of course finally, I take Italian. Hopefully I’ll be getting better at the language. On the whole I think this semester is going to be very different. Literally all of my classes are directly relevant to the city around me and the culture I'm living in. It's almost anthropological. I think and hope that it will make it more real and dynamic. 

This week was basically filled with a lot of syllabi, some homework and various excursions around Sesto. On Wednesday night after dinner I took a train into the city with a few other students and went to the Duomo where we watched a little parade where a bunch of kids brought little lanterns and walked around in a parade. It was a nice way to spend an evening.

The main outing that really needs talking about is my trip into Florence on Thursday for art history class. We headed out early and got to the Medici Palace by 9:30. Our professor started the tour inside by showing us the private Medici chapel. It was a small, but beautifully ornate room painted richly with a fresco of the procession of the three kings that was impressively detailed and complex. Among those in the procession there were likenesses of the Medici. The room contrasted strongly with the relatively simple and clean look of the outer halls and rooms. Basically the chapel became the one private place where the powerful Medici family could act like kings without upsetting a people opposed to that sort of power. Even the outside of the building is very plain and fortress-like in order to convey power without throwing it in everyone’s face. The chapel was very cool and it truly was fit for a king. We then briefly toured through other rooms of the house, but the main lesson came from the chapel where we were shown the political implications of the art.

After that we headed to the San Lorenzo church across the street that essentially served as the Medici’s private church. There we learned a lot about how classical architecture influenced the architecture and aesthetic of the Renaissance. In class our professor told us about how the Renaissance began when the people developed a sense that the Romans and Greeks had lived in a classical and better golden age and aspired to return to that time, thus creating the idea of a middle or medieval age. It led to a period that emphasized innovation and tradition in unique ways, which led to a slightly different, but still very classical style.

After class I wondered around the Duomo area for a while. I checked in stores and wandered the streets basically just biding my time. After an hour or so my professor’s next class ended and I met up with Laura, Luigi, and Hillary to go to the Uffizi. We started heading to the best of our knowledge towards the Arno where we knew the Uffizi was. Shortly after we passed through The Piazza with the replica of David and found a Pizzeria where the cast of the Jersey Shore worked during their stay in Florence. So we decided it was as good a place as any and we grabbed some pizzas to go. When we got to the museum we used our student cards to avoid the line and get in for free (awesome!!!). The other three had an assignment to find a painting of a historical (non-biblical) event to write about.  This actually proved to be a challenge since 98 percent of the Uffizi is portraits and either mythological or biblical art. Eventually after lots of walking we left and headed back to Sesto for the day.
Other important note. When I woke up this (Thurs) morning I felt terrible! Wednesday night I felt a bit of sickness coming on and then when I woke up the next day...BAM. My throat was sooooo sore I didn't want to function as a human. I still went to Florence and did the art stuff but I was pushing through some sickness. It got better for the middle of the day, but when I got back to the villa I was running a fever and achy and had chills. Bad stuff. So basically I rolled around in bed after 3 on Thursday. Not great. But right before I went to bed my throat started feeling better and my lymph nodes seemed less swollen so I have hope for our day trip tomorrow.