What a week I've had. Last night was another big milestone--my first night in my host family's house! Yes, folks, believe it or not, Amy and I survived our entire trip to Italy, and made it back to Paris late last night in one piece. So much is different in my life here that I hardly know what to tell you all.
I suppose I should do a quick wrap up of Italy, before I launch into this current phase of my year. Florence was beautiful, and the weather was nice almost the entire time. After having such a hard time getting there, though, Amy and I decided to cancel our plans to travel around a lot in favor of resting (dealing with sickness for both of us) in Florence with Amy's friends. I suppose I regret not seeing Cinque Terre, or Rome or Venice, but good ol' Firenze was quite enough to keep us occupied, and I enjoyed my time there immensely. We ate lots of good food, drank lots of good wine, and enjoyed some amazing Italian treats--gelato and tiramisu, mainly.
I think my favorite place was San Miniato al Monte, a monastery/church/cemetery that we accidentally hiked to one afternoon. There's no way I could describe our experience of this place on this blog, but I will say that it was...I don't have a word for it. This place is up a high hill, and has a view of the city of Florence--you can see it nestled in among the mountains, with its red roofs, bridges, and of course, il Duomo (cathedral). But the view, though breathtaking, wasn't the most incredible part. This church was built in the 13th century, and has also served as a monastery for as long. The cemetery was like nothing I had ever seen before--centuries-worth of people buried with statues or portraits on marble, or in the most ornate mosoleums. There
was no grass, and the cemetery was so full. Ok, I can see that I am doing a terrible job of describing it. I took some pictures, and as soon as I can recharge my camera and use my own pictures, I'll post them. The coolest part, though, was hearing the bells ring for mass, and then later walking past a low window and hearing the monks (Benedictine, I think) chanting. So we walked around to the front, entered, and sat in semi-darkness, beneath low, graceful arches (amazing acoustics!), and listened to the mélange of chanted sacred Latin and spoken Italian. The room was thick with a reverence that you could practically smell. Maybe this doesn't sound incredible to you, but if you had been there...Ok, I'm running out of time (as always, it seems), so I should finish up. It is sunny (and cold!) in Paris today, and I am feeling a mixture of excitement and dread at the prospect of an entire year here. I still get upset sometimes, missing friends and family from home (and free water, tehe). I am also dealing with a cold, which has been discouraging, but I will meet my host mom tonight, and hopefully she will want to take care of me ;) My roommates tell me that she is quite the motherly type, which is a good sign. I'll update more on the house situation and family when I have actually met them all--but I have been told that the mom and dad, two daughters, one boyfriend, two dogs, and one grandmother (in addition to the three Americans) now live in the old house. It is quite a fun house, I must say--full of interesting clutter. D'yon is my roommate, and we live in what used to be the attic--we discovered last night that what we thought was a desk was really a piano, covered in papers and books. I'll have to post a picture of the room, it is quite unique.
This is a view of part of the cemetery at San Mininato. Can you see how crowded it is, how ornate the mosoleums are?
Inside the church, it was beautiful--but not over the top--especially compared to the grandeur of il Duomo. The place where we sat and listened is actually behind and a little below the altar you see. If you're carefuly, you can see some of the lower vaults in the back--really a rather quiet, private place to listen.
Still grateful for your care and prayers,
em
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