The First Full Week

Today is the start of our completely free weekend, which finishes our first full, incredibly busy/exhausting/wonderful week of school in Siena. We're still in a sort of orientation though, which is part of the reason why we've been so busy. Everyday we have 5 hours straight of Italian class. We've been learning an incredible amount in such a short time - the past tense, direct objects/articles, and lots and lots of new vocab. Luckily homework is never too stressful, nor is there ever that much of it. Monica (my host mom) even told me two nights ago that my Italian has already improved greatly and that I'm getting very good at speaking. This was one of the best things I could hear. After spending 5 hours in a classroom studying and speaking a different language (which I'm essentially brand new to) coming home and having to speak more Italian is soooooo taxing. But apparently I'm getting better! So this is great. Everyday after our Italian class, we have some sort of orientation presentation. Monday was a bit of a shorter day for me because we all had to go to the post office to sign some forms, but only half went on Monday, I went Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon we learned about the different community service options there are for us to partake in throughout the semester. This is not required of us, but it is greatly encouraged since it gives us an opportunity to meet people and most importantly, practice our language skills. Some of the options that I'm most interested in are helping teach English to either elementary or high school students for a few hours each week, volunteering at an elderly home, or.....rescuing stray cats! Seeing how I am missing my own kitties immensely, this just sounds amazing. They told us that essentially all we do is go play with kittens. And the best part is that this is not a set-in-stone deal, we can do multiple service options and switch it up from week to week if we want. Wednesday there were presentations of the different courses offered by SIS (Siena Italian Studies - the name of the program where I'm studying). Unfortunately, Lewis & Clark students are kind of our own entity. We do not take the SIS classes, but take a Cultural Anthropology and Art History class all together. However, if we would like, and schedules permitting, we can audit one of the SIS courses. The one that I really, really want to audit is the studio art class. We study different artistic styles and then spend the semester painting, drawing, etc. At the end we compile our pieces into an art show. Also, the teacher is still a college student here in Siena and seems very nice. She said that most of the time she brings wine and snacks to class to enjoy while we work. Hopefully, this works with my schedule because I very much want to take it! Wednesday we took our "Reflective Writing" class. Pretty much they gave all of us a journal which we are to write in and then talk about what we wrote once a week in a group. Thursday us Lewis & Clarkians had the presentation of our two courses. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THE ANTHROPOLOGY ONE. Because, we are going to study/read both Aldous Huxley and Ernest Hemingway in context with Sienese history. Both of the authors are some of my favorites, both spent time in Siena, and wrote about their experiences in, and impressions of, the city. My literature major senses are tingling and I can't wait to get to apply my area of expertise to my time here in Siena! Friday was a rather easy day. We had our first Italian test. I think I did pretty well, some parts were difficult but overall I feel okay about it. Afterwards we got to visit our first museum! We visited the Civico Museum located in the city center: Piazza del Campo. It was the building were the Sienese government was established back in the 13th century. There are still magistrate benches and other pieces still in tact. All was incredibly to see. Then in the afternoon we got to go to one of the many hot springs in Tuscany. It was such a relaxing experience and a good chance to sit back and talk with people. Friday night was another opportunity to experience the "nightlife of Siena." A large group of us went to the English Pub (one of our favorites),  then a bar nicknamed "The Shots Bar" (it's essentially just as it sounds, they serve shots. 3 for 5 euro, so a pretty great deal), followed by one of the discotecas (nightclubs). A full week, but ready for the weekend and the beginning of week two! Hopefully as things die down I'll be able to start posting updates more regularly. Ciao!