WEEK SIX
WEEK SIX
Once again I have asked David to contribute to this week’s blog. He and Ruth will be leaving early on Wednesday morning and this will be his last opportunity to write for us.
David and Ruth have made such a wonderful contribution to this program and their enthusiasm and caring are going to be missed by us all.
It has been an extremely trying week for Souheir and me because we received news that our youngest son Tamir, who was working on a film in Alexandria, Egypt, had been struck by a taxi and was in critical condition. Souheir flew out immediately, and while I am happy to report that he is now stable and out of danger, it is clear that Souheir will not return to Venice. So many people have been kind throughout this entire ordeal, and we cherish their friendship enormously. The Semester in Venice Program will continue as planned, but without my best friend and confidante. The students have been wonderfully supportive throughout this week, and they miss Souheir’s smile too.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air…
Prospero in The Tempest by William Shakespeare
Well, maybe not actual spirits, but it will seem that way in a couple of days when Ruth and I have left these magic islands much as Prospero left his enchanted isle to return to his former kingdom. As usual, time moves too quickly and we’re only two days away from our departure. Not only will we miss Venice, but we will be leaving behind a wonderful group of dedicated and enthusiastic young people who have made our little sojourn here even more rewarding than the many charms this place has to offer. And while this has not been the happiest of weeks for those of us who love the Rawlings family, it has ended on a considerably more optimistic note than it began, for which we are all extremely grateful.
The students continued their Italian immersion classes as well as tackling our agenda of theatre classes and excursions, beginning with the home of Carlo Goldoni, who wrote A Servant of Two Masters, the play which has been one of the focal points of our studies. His birthplace has been turned into a museum dedicated to his work and other 18th century Italian drama when Venice was home to 15 thriving theatres.
After class on Wednesday we once more invaded John’s apartment for the presentation of the students’ original commedia dell’arte improvisations based on their experiences in Venice, one of their pivotal assignments for the course. They had been given the choice of performing alone, in teams, or all together and happily they chose the latter. The result was clever, funny and original, poking fun at the vagaries of this city, themselves and the “faculty”. You haven’t lived until you’ve seen Jessica’s imitation of Professore Giovanni, complete with a long-nosed zanni (clown) mask, wool coat and hunched shoulders. The performance was followed by cicchetti (appetizers) and a lesson in the proper preparation of risotto con funghi (rice with mushrooms) by Professore Giovanni, now wearing his chef’s costume. Professore Davide contributed baked stuffed tomatoes to the sumptuous repast.
President Jane Karas, her husband John and son Lawrence (now known as Lorenzo) arrived on Thursday and fought fought of jet lag by joining the class on a boat trip to San Lazzaro degli Armeni, the fabulous Armenian monastery on the island of the same name. It served as the leper hospital in the 1700′s. It is still an active monastery and houses a collection of ancient Armenian books. Saturday brought the much-anticipated trip to Verona, another adventure on the Ferrovia.Verona is a delightful city, home of two of the most important architectural treasures this side of Rome. Its Arena and Teatro Romano. We were met at the arena by our guide for the day by the dynamic Katya, a proud Verronese whose Russian name resulted from her parents inability to agree on an Italian one. The breadth and depth of the knowledge of her city’s history, and her pride in her home town was touching and exhilirating and added considerably to our experience of this charming metropolis. The teatro Romano was built in the first century BC, while the Arena, capable of seating the entire population of Verona at the time ( 30,000) and the third largest in Italy, was erected in thefirst century AD primarily for the entertainment of the Roman troops stationed there. This “entertainment consisted primarily of gladiator battles, the execution of prisoners of war, and animal baiting.On a gentler, more romantic, note our walk from the Arena to the Teatro Romano included a stop at “Juliet’s balcony” and “Romeo’s house”, the “House of the Capulets.” While it is no doubt true that Shakespeare adapted his great play from an Italian author’s retelling of the ancient tale of two warring Veronese families and the “star-crossed lovers”, the actual evidence that either of these sites is, in truth, the locale of actual events is a bit questionable. In fact, “Juliet’s balcony” was relocated to the spot at which it now stands in the early 20th century. Nonetheless the romance of the legend retains its power even in these jaded times leading the majority of visitors to indulge in a traditional ritual somewhat akin to kissing the Blarney Stone that involves a certain intimacy with a bronze statue of Juliet. (I’ll reveal nothing further here.) And one of our students was so moved by the romance of the place that she felt compelled to recite a few verses of the play from a perch nearby the doomed heroine’s balcony. The day ended at the archeological museum situated in a former convent perched high above the Teatro Romano affording a breathtaking view of the city and the Adige River that loops through it. It was a delightful day graced by the first truly warm sunshine we have enjoyed here.
In closing, I feel compelled to say that my experience with this group of students has been one of the most refreshing of my career, both as a performer and an educator. This is an inspirational group of young people. Their openness to new experiences, their eagerness to experiment and learn, their willingness to explore, to experience a different culture, absorb a new esthetic, to not only eat but to prepare foods of an unfamiliar cuisine, speak volumes about not only who they are but where they come from. And where they come from is the Flathead Valley. I feel very good about that.
Caitlin’s Blog
Wow what another great week! It’s been a non-stop activity week, but still very enjoyable. We got to visit a couple places, including a very cool island with an old church on it. The church was beautiful and ancient, holding many artifacts and art. The grounds were stunning, a nice peaceful spot. With all the language classes (this was our last week of the first level!) and activities this past week, I am now enjoying a peaceful and relaxing Sunday afternoon watching movies and eating with a bunch of my friends. But with all the fun stuff I got to partake in, the most enjoyable was by far our trip to Verona on Saturday.
We got on the train at 7:41 in the morning on Saturday. I was tired and immediately settled into my seat and fell into a nap. I opened my eyes later to a beautiful clear morning somewhere in between Vicenza and Verona. The mountains were pristine, snowcapped and beautiful. I looked out the window to my left and I saw a horse ranch. I noticed a horse being worked and others being ridden. This made me miss home and my horses so much! After I got over that longing to jump out of the train and beg the people to let me ride a horse, I started getting excited to be in Verona. The day was absolutely gorgeous and I had heard so much about Verona. When we finally arrived, we jumped in a taxi and we were on our way to the Arena. This was so cool. The acoustics in there were amazing and we all got to shout. I could have a perfectly audible conversation with Erika across the whole stadium. Next we went to Romeo and Juliet’s supposed houses and of course, we all had to touch the golden breast of Juliet. After that we went to the old theater there. It was simply stunning. After a tour of that we were set loose. We all walked around, got a delicious lunch and then of course gelato! I managed to limit myself to one gelato, which was very hard. After walking around for a little while longer, enjoying the sun and the sights, we all jumped into another cab and headed back to the train station for a long ride home.
I had a great past week with all my friends and learning new things. On Monday our level two language classes start! I don’t feel ready, so we’ll see how it goes. Ciao!
Jessica’s Blog
This last week was a little less packed than the other weeks we have been experiencing here in Venice. Well, maybe I can’t say that because, as crazy as it may seem, I think I may be just simply getting used to this hectic jam packed schedule of ours! We have gotten through our last week of Language Level one classes in Italian, and I certainly feel that I have accomplished a great deal. The classes are very challenging and I never have one day that I don’t learn so much that my head feels like it’s filled to bursting. Tomorrow we begin our Language level 2 classes and meet our new teachers.
Other than language classes we have been continuing on with our Theatre classes too. We had to perform a play that we made up ourselves and rehearsed a few times. It was a 10 minutes play going over the comic little things that happen in our everyday lives here in Venice. I am proud to say that the play would not have been the same without my close impression of John giving us a tour of the city. It was a play that provided a lot of much needed laughs, and it was so good we went through it twice! After performing our plays we all crowded in the kitchen to get a tutorial on how to make Risotto with Funghi from the renowned Italian/Australian chef John Rawlings. It was very delicious and has given us the confidence to attack it on our own.
On Thursday we had a field trip after language class that took us to the island of San. Lazzaro. San. Lazzaro is a beautiful, very peaceful island not far from the main part of Venice. It is the home of the still functioning Armenian monastery. They took us on a tour of the monastery and showed us the beautiful library with ancient books and documents. They even had a mummy in one room that you could still see the skin and toenails! Icky, but so interesting to see.
Friday was also a fieldtrip day after language class, and we met up with John on the steps of San. Salute. This was a beautiful church with a circular layout symbolizing the equality of all the worshipers. It was an amazing church, and we were fortunate enough to have come during the time they had some sort of service. The men in the service walked around the church, stopping at every altar and singing. Their voices were so amazing inside the church with its great acoustics. After San Salute we headed off to the San. Salvador and got to see the contrast between the two building structures. San Salvador was a traditional cross shape church and was very plain on the inside except for some very beautiful paintings done by Titian. The bright colors he used were brilliant and added liveliness to the church.
Saturday was a day long field trip to Verona. It was a beautiful sunshiny day, and we took a taxi to the Roman Arena in the middle of town. The Arena was simply amazing. I tried to imagine seeing beasts and gladiators waiting in the cells beneath, and fighting to a mass of cheering people in the ring. I still can’t see how watching people kill other people and animals was a fun thing to do. The acoustics of the Arena were also a very impressive thing to behold. We shouted “ole!” and our voices echoed back at us with ease and volume. What fascinated me the most about the Arena and the town itself were all the ancient spiral shells you could spy in the pink rocks used for sidewalks and the seats of the arena. We were also able to see the beauty of Verona from the hillside that contained the Amphitheatre and the castle on top. It was built by the Romans and still remained a beautiful thing to see so many years later. I was so blown away by the ancient beauty of Verona that I have no words to describe it. The giant snowy mountains in the background behind the city reminded me of Montana, but of course, ours are bigger, and much more beautiful! Ha-ha
Alyssa’s Blog
This week has been a rollercoaster. Some of the days were planned from dawn to dusk with activities for our classes, and the others that were open we made the best use of our time possible doing different, fun things.
It was a rather emotional week with a scary incidence involving the Rawlings’ son. We have grown very close to John and Sou and have been very worried. Fortunately, after some time things will be ok, but Souheir went to be with him in Egypt and we will be missing her a lot. Souheir – if you are reading this WE LOVE YOU!!
On the bright side, we saw a lot of amazing things this week. John took us to a couple churches and San Lazzaro, the island where Lepers were kept in isolation under watch of the Armenian Monks. Random, a little? The Armenians and Venetians were mutual enemies of the Turks, so the Venetians gave them an island to escape the Turks, but on the condition that they housed the Lepers. They have a few incredible libraries with some very archaic books. They even let any students come study their collection! It is a beautiful island with lovely gardens and a spacious monastery. No wonder Lord Byron spent his time there! The story is, he used to swim from the island to the Lido all the time. He also had his own little study with a library. I have yet to go to Florian’s in San Marco, but apparently that was a favorite spot of his too! Along with Charles Dickens, and some other famous people (mostly writers.)
We saw the house where Goldoni, the playwright of “The Servant of Two Masters,” grew up. That was a beautiful building, and apparently the neighbors who lived in the same building had a pretty large puppet stage and Carlo would watch as a little boy. That explains how his first play could have been written by the age of 8!
On Friday, in preparation of our trip to Verona, I wanted to go somewhere to read Romeo & Juliet and have a bite to eat. I decided on Vedova, which is a really cute traditional Venetian restaurant with reasonable prices. While on the vaporetto, just before the Ca’D’Oro stop where I would get off, I saw Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie’s taxi boat parked next to some building. I thought it might be nice to go find them but my hunger took me straight down the alley to the restaurant. Just as I was sitting down, I saw flashy lights and stood back up to peer through the open door and at the end of the alley, I saw a woman who looked just like Angelina followed by a bearded man who I’m pretty sure was Brad Pitt. They were looking directly at Vedova and laughing and having a good time. They weren’t being followed by a crowd of people so who knows. But Venetians ARE very respectable to celebrities and give them their space!! It’s wild to think that I would never see them in America, but I come to VENICE and at all times they are within a couple miles of me. If it’s appropriate, next time I will definitely get a photo with Brangelina!!
Verona was of course, a wonderful time. We decided that on the “cool scale” (being beauty, history, liveliness, and easiness to walk) it definitely competes with Venice. We will be making some more trips over that direction!! We went to the old Roman amphitheatre that sits on top of the huge “hill” where the city of Verona started. The theatre was at one time, built over by houses and forgotten. Thankfully, a rich businessman bought all the land and houses and dismantled them to discover the theatre ruins once again. It was absolutely a beautiful place, the orchestra above the river and the seats facing the city below. We smelled a wonderful aroma that was like a bouquet of fresh basil and flowers. That is something that in Venice, where there isn’t much ground for plants, we forget about!
We also saw the huge Arena that was begun building in 1 AD. That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen. It is the best preserved arena in the world. Think Gladiator. In fact, today we are having a movie day because that’s what we want to watch, after seeing something like that first hand. We hollered “Ole!” from inside and it was so powerful that we scared everyone else in the arena.
Of course we saw Romeo and Juliet’s supposed balcony, though it was built in 1923. It’s ok though because the history of the families can be traced and the placement of the balcony is about perfect. I read an excerpt, “O Romeo, o Romeo. Where fore art thou Romeo?” And a few more lines. And of course stroked the lucky-in-love breast of the golden Juliet.
We have had the pleasure of hosting the President of FVCC, Mrs. Jane Karas, and her husband “Giovanni” and her son “Lorenzo” along with us on our adventures! I was surprised to find that she has actually traveled to quite a lot of countries! A backpacking excursion in her youth. How exciting!
Our experiences in Venice are morphing into new, unexpected things all the time. I can already tell that I have a new perspective on the world around me: people, in general, and especially when they speak my language as a secondary language; choices, that these are the things that I’ll remember forever; family and friends, that we were closer than I thought and will only grow closer, reflecting what I’ve learned from the people here about their relationships; and finally, myself, overcoming challenges and fears to make the most of my time here, learning everything I can, striving to make every situation positive, and in general, just having the best time ever!
XOXO
Alyssa
Erika’s Blog:
Its incredible, the superstations of a people, and how you, a tourist, can be simply carried away by them. So there I was, in the streets of Verona, the sun soaking in through my sweater after a long winter, my brain buzzed from the moments we’d spent dancing and singing through the amphitheatre, and I began to notice tourists turning in towards a simple brick archway. I was intrigued and curious, so I followed. I turned into this dark tunnel only to be assaulted by a series of love notes plastering the walls, stuck on with earrings and bubble gum. Telephones lined the walls to call sweethearts. And then, there she was the statue with the gleaming golden breast, the statue of Juliet. I’d been told about her, this statue erected in honor of that timeless tale of Romeo and Juliet. Even though the location probably wasn’t real and the balcony had been built there only about 80 years ago, the setting was right and it was difficult not to be carried away by the magic of it. She was the golden goddess of that courtyard and she commanded the people that gathered around her with flashing cameras. They all waited there turn to stroke that golden gleaming thing, to fondle it ever so slightly in an attempt to bring good luck in love into their lives. It wasn’t like she was anything amazing or special or even that beautiful, but the fact that people believe in her and believed in her powers to bless their love lives is what made her special. I suppose it’s like most sacred objects, they are only as strong as the belief that people have in them. She is powerful symbol of the city and of love, even though it came to bad ends for her, but I suppose it’s the hope in the idea of a great love such as hers which makes her powerful.
Kyle’s Blog
Level One of Italian classes has officially ended! Starting Monday, we will then have Level Two. The past week included more aqua alta for us to traverse. Aside from the occasional socializing, the final enactment of the theatre class play, and school, very little highlighted this week. Nothing positive anyway: my thoughts and prayers go out to John, Souvenir, and their son – following the event of a terrible accident.
We visited the city of Verona this Saturday. Despite the fact that I am not feeling well this weekend, Verona was a very pleasant trip to have taken. This city is simply beautiful and historically riddled with artifacts. The surround area of Verona was equally magnificent; the great Adige River snakes right through the middle of the town, and the snowcapped moutains in the background reminded me of home. On top of everything, Saturday was a bright, sunny day!
Time sure has gone by quickly, but I suppose it has to go somewhere. Here is to another week in Venezia…
Goldoni's House
Puppet Theatre in Goldoni's house
Canal outside Goldoni's house
Crossing the Lagoon
The Student "Production"
San Lazzaro
Window in San Lazzaro
Waiting for a traghetto
Getting on board the traghetto
Entering the Arena in Verona
Sitting inside the Arena
Emperor Davide makes a decision for the Gladiator
I asked for an epic pose for an epic place....I got John Travolta
Streets of Verona
Entrance to Casa di Giulietta
President Jane Karas and her son 'Lorenzo' in the courtyard of Giulietta
Jessica with Giulietta
"Romeo..Romeo".....yeah Alyssa
Piazza Erbe
Torre dei Lamberti
Piazza dei Signori with Dante's statue
Scaligeri tombs
Looking across the Adige to the Teatro Romano
In theTeatro Romano
View from above the Teatro
Palazzo della Ragione
Tree in San Lazzaro's garden
