VENICE 2010

WEEK 4 VENICE BLOG

February 15, 2010

Week 4 blog

Our students have completed their second week of Italian Language classes and seem to be holding up well. Immersion classes take discipline and perseverance, and it is not unusual for students to react negatively in the early stages of this kind of instruction. I’m happy to report that none of this group has done so, and that they are sustaining their enthusiasm for their ‘new language’.

Carnevale went into its second week and we have all spent a great deal of time gawping at costumed folk that run the gambit from complete fantasy to wonderfully authentic copies of period clothing.

The group is quite comfortable in their new home now, which means that I see less of them on a daily basis as they are off with their own adventures.

Last year Souheir and I made friends with a fellow student at the Istituto. His name is Ryno Swart and is a well known South African painter. He is here again this year for the month of February, and we have ‘shared’ him with the rest of the group. He has attended some of our social gatherings and has struck up a rapport with our group. He is having an opening of a small exhibition of his paintings in a new bar in Santa Margherita, and asked if I would help him frame and hang the work. I spent Monday afternoon visiting art and frame shops (with at least two stops for coffee in between), and had a great time. Later that afternoon we all gathered at the Rawlings apartment and read through the script of “The Servant of Two Masters”. Masks were required, and snacks and drinks were served. The students are getting to know this piece quite well.

On Wednesday afternoon some of the students attended a mask making workshop at the Istituto and then afterwards all of them came to the Ackroyd apartment where we watched a superb video of the same Theatre Company that opened Carnevale last week in San Marco performing ‘Two Masters’. Ruth and David supplied excellent goodies for dessert and a great time was had by all, even if it was raining cats and dogs outside.

On Thursday the students were to see their first Commedia on the street and we all turned up at San Marco and watched a performance of “Due Gemelli di Venezia”. It was a different troupe of actors than we have seen in the past, and while we didn’t enjoy them as much, the students were treated to the ‘real thing’. Thursday’s big excitement was yet to come, however, and at 6.30 we all met in front of Venice’s world famous opera house, La Fenice. Souheir, David and I had managed to buy tickets to the opening night of ‘The Barber of Seville’! Cheap seats mind you….’up in the gods’…the highest seats with restricted views. What a night! The student’s mouths were mostly wide open in awe for the first few minutes. They certainly have never been in a building quite like this. Such a treat. An evening I am sure they will not forget. Our little contingent of students from Montana were a special part of the opening night…But I think I will let Alyssa tell you about that!

On Friday afternoon it was back to San Marco for another commedia performance. A different troupe, a little more mature and polished, in a play called “Amore”. The final weekend of Carnevale has been sunny and of course jam packed with people. On Saturday David, Ruth and I went down to San Marco and across to San Giorgio, fighting our way through a lot of people before ‘retiring ‘to our end of the island and a quiet cup of coffee in a local bar in Via Garibaldi. I have certainly reached a point where I will be happy to see these visitors leave. I want my quiet, wintery Venice back.

Ciao,ciao

John Rawlings, Director FVCC Semester in Venice

Kyle’s Blog

Carnevale’s attractions have been incredible to witness firsthand. Elaborate costumes, enormous amounts of people crowding the streets, music day and night, and all kinds of entertainment throughout the many squares of Venice!

The festivities, however, can only be fully enjoyed with friends. Carnevale produced energy, of course. Nevertheless, I found that without friends it would have been near impossible to enjoy the event in full.

I guess the bigger picture of what I am saying is this: being alone would have been the pits, even in such a beautiful city! Something I have appreciated immensely is simply getting to know such a diverse multitude of people. Anyway….

It is only now that Carnevale begins to wind down that I look back on the past week. Every day, due to late nights and tight schedules, has left me overwhelmed. Opera at Il Fenice, lots of walking and hanging out at cafes, parades, marching bands, Commedia dell’Arte, school (going well by the way!), costume contests, giant insects, fire show, a flying ball of fluff, street performances – ah! All out of breath. Hopefully you get the idea. Life has been much more fast-paced in the last week, and Carnevale has been a very exciting adventure. It is time to sleep. J

Caitlin’s Blog

Well this week has been full of new and exciting things. Carnevale was in full swing this weekend, and we went out to enjoy many of its festivities. From Commedias to many different costume contests and parades. Our apartment group (Erika, Kyle and I) seems to have a knack for turning around corners and running into processions or parades. I must say that the oddest thing we’ve run into was a procession of black-cloaked figures and rats. I don’t even have any idea of what was going on, but it was weird. We also got to view a parade of massive bugs…and I managed to get smacked in the face by a preying mantis leg!

The costume contests have been so cool to view; my favorite so far was the masked-costume contest. Some of the contests have been so odd as well, like the drag queen contest. Some of those “men” were so womanlike that they would have made gorgeous women. I’m still not totally convinced that they were all men. Carnevale has definitely been a different experience. All the colors and costumes have provided many great picture ops.

Erika’s Blog:

Carnevale: a season of deceit, falsehoods, delicious passions, sensations, surprises and general craziness. Around every corner there are wonders to behold and strangeness to be found. Fascination, wonder, beauty, and mystique are its themes. As we strain our way through the masses, filled with masks and elaborate costumes, I can’t help but be caught up in the plethora of colors and general festive attitude of the city.

We pull our way through the crowds, dashing through the flashes of cameras crowded around the more ornate costumes, only to be confronted with large mechanical preying mantis towering overhead, slowing working its way towards the water, as if to fly away. We continue with the crowd, and around a corner, we discover a small band of drummers, followed by a parade of Plague Doctors accompanied by a group of soldiers carrying a cage full of actors dressed as rats, led by torch bearers and dancers on stilts.

Enter a campo and you discover a small reggae band and a group of bohemian gypsies dancing and selling hand-crafted goods from tents in the middle of a square that was empty when you walked through it only hours ago, as if they appeared from thin air. Music of different cultures echoes through the allies and side streets, beckoning like a siren call, a perpetual serenade to the passerby.

Jugglers, flag dancers, drummers, painters, fire-dancers appear like phantom figures from a distant past to present their craft like so many artisans before them in these ancient streets. This is normal for this season, this random spontaneity of celebration and gaiety, this unpredictable urge to start singing and dancing through the streets, everyone’s faces covered with masks, painted smiles, hair sprinkled with confetti, laughter, meeting strangers and becoming close but still remaining strangers- it’s all so foreign but it allows for a person to become whoever or whatever they wish to be, which adds to the magic. It feels like walking in a dream sometimes because there’s almost too much joy to actually be reality. It’ll be strange to return to normal Venice after this, to wake up from this thing we simply title “Carnevale”.

Alyssa’s Blog

**The following is a story of true events. Nothing has been fabricated or altered in any way. Any coincidence of Alyssa and the habit of dropping things is entirely real. No humans were harmed in the making of this.**

I felt in horror as my necklace slipped away from me. Before I could look I felt it roll over the tops of my fingertips. On the fifth terrace of La Fenice opera house, in the middle of a big number during the second act of The Barber of Seville, I watched, mortified, hearing the clink-clank-clunk of my pink pearly necklace drop five stories. When it crashed to the floor the bassist jumped like a tiger was attacking. The entire house jerked to look to the left of the stage, next to the orchestra, where down-turned heads peeked over every ledge. The first floor, second, third, until the fifth where there was a wide-eyed brunette standing with her hands over her mouth. It was opening night.

John, Souheir and Erika may have had the best view, directly across from our corner booth. With us, David was wallowing in the corner, desperately wishing he had stayed in his own theatre box. Ruth was trying to stay calm, and Jessica, Caitlin and Kyle couldn’t stop laughing. Thank goodness they kept the humor in the event, because I felt like I was awaiting my death sentence. I kept envisioning merciless ushers running up the stairs to escort me out. Luckily, I found one (seemingly unaware of the event), and when I told him what happened (to get over the language barrier in a hurry it was like playing charades) he actually laughed. Not lightly, it was a combustion of laughter. Then I showed him the distance from where it fell.

A short while later, a song or so, he returned with my pink pearly necklace, in one piece.

Can I take a moment to stress that this necklace dropped five stories, hitting every balcony structure possible, without hitting a single person? Not a head leaning out of the boxes, not a person of the audience, and not an orchestra member?! And even after the crash landing, it was still in one piece?! (I can take credit for that one, I put it together. [We are what we repeatedly do, excellence then is not an act, but a habit. - Aristotle!!] I should make jewelry for high-impact occasions more often!

Though terrifying and embarrassing are fitting, the best word to describe my first time at the opera is… unforgettable. =)

Jessica’s Blog
Wow! This week has been one busy time! I have been trying to concentrate on the extremely involved process of learning the Italian Language, as well as attend performances for the Theatre of Venice class, and on top of it all trying to get the most out of Carnevale! It has been a struggle, but I only have one more week to go! Phewww!

Although Carnevale is an amazing experience, I think getting rid of the masses of tourists and their mayhem will be very relieving. Trying to balance school, and get all there is to see of Carnival is one big huge struggle. I have barely had time to even do my laundry or keep our apartment clean!! GO GO GO, is all I have known.

There are way too many people in the streets and the vaporetto is filled to the point that I am chest to chest with the person next to me. It’s craziness for sure. Despite the craziness though, it has been a blast seeing all of the events, and costumes. The night is zany here during Carnevale. The streets are filled with music and merriment on every corner, and the costumes that you see are equally as amazing, as they are hilarious!

I think I saw a man zooming around San Marco square on a fast snail shell, a Gingerbread man, and many many more! David and John were able to wrangle us up some tickets to the Fenice also, which was so beautiful. The most memorable moment of that event was my roommate Alyssa dropping her necklace from the very top balcony onto the orchestra! Oh the things I will never forget!

Goldoni reading

guess who?

Commedia!

La Fenice

Up in 'the gods' in La Fenice

Intermission

Alyssa in San Marco

After commedia in San Marco

At Ryno's exhibition

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VENICE WEEK 3

February 8, 2010

Blog Week 3

So many things to talk about.

On Monday morning I met the group at the front steps of the Istituto Venezia and took them inside where they started their Italian Language classes. It was a cool morning and they all looked so scared. I felt like I was taking my children to their first day of class. I had the feeling that they were right on the cusp of asking me not to leave them. I said my goodbyes and slipped out the door.

At 1.00pm when I met them after the class, they were full of stories about fellow classmates from different parts of the world, and of course, how much their brain hurt! It has been a great first week and I can already see and hear them using more of the language every day.

On Monday and Wednesday afternoon David Ackroyd held his first two classes on The History of Venetian Theatre in one of the Istituto’s classrooms, and began his story of the evolution of theatre and it’s manifestation of Commedia.

I met the group for lunch after class on Friday and took them to a favorite Kebab shop just off Campo Santa Margherita. It’s run by an Egyptian family that have sort of adopted Souheir and me. Kyle has decided that this is going to be a major venue in his lunch selections. It was raining and we stood under the eaves of an old building munching away…

THEN David and I took the group to a most wonderful place. A mask shop! But not just any mask shop. The workshop of one of the most important mask makers in Venice. Guerrino at Mondonovo was one of the local artists who helped revive the festival of carnevale and its masks. He was a major contributor to the restoration of the opera house La Fenice, and travels to many parts of the world delivering workshops. Andrea, a translator from the Istituto came with us and we spent an amazing hour or so in a workshop jam packed with masks and other ‘stuff’. Erika said she felt like she was in Santa’s workshop!

On Saturday evening we were all to meet in Piazza San Marco to watch some “opening events”. The crowd was not too large (due in part to the fact that the weather was cool, and rain was threatening) and we planned to meet beneath the giant bell tower. When we arrived all of the girls were in costume…not just masks (see the photographs). I can’t begin to tell you how gratifying it was to watch them enter into the spirit of this celebration with such enthusiasm. I even managed to get Kyle to wear my mask for a while (well…a minute!).

We moved right up to the stage and watched a version of Goldoni’s play “The Servant of Two Masters” presented by a theatre company from Milano where the Arlecchino character was played by one of commedia’s most famous actors. This is the play that the students are studying with David, and have been reading.

Sunday morning arrived with bright, even warm, sunshine. We met in a rather overcrowded Piazza San Marco and watched an ancient ceremony that marks the official commencement of Carnevale. The volo dell’ Angelo…The flying of the Angel. Some “lucky” young Venetian woman is selected for this honor where she is dressed in an angel costume (what do angels wear?) and then lowered down a line that is strung from the TOP OF THE BELL TOWER to the Piazza below.

Costumed people are everywhere, masks worn by many more, and the whole thing teeters on the edge of craziness. All in all…A wonderful time. We met after lunch to watch a very large procession of people dressed in period costume, accompanied by drummers and flag twirling ‘soldiers’ wend their way down Via Garibaldi, down the fondamente, all the way to San Marco.

After the procession had passed we celebrated with gelati from the world’s best gelato store (Giorgio gives me extra helpings for these spontaneous endorsements!), and then said goodbye.

The group looked a little tired when I left them this afternoon. There is still another 8 days of carnevale left!

This week’s blog is something of a work in progress. I am still discovering new techniques with wordpress. This is the first attempt at video and the major discovery is that you can’t change the orientation of the frame as you can with still photography!….If you turn your head to one side it’s not so bad! We will continue to add more pictures as this week progresses.

Ciao

John

John Rawlings

Director, FVCC Venice Program.

Kyle’s Blog

Canevale has begun! For it to be the beginning of such a lively event, I do not have a lot to say. I am tired after so much walking and late nights, running on coffee. The excitement here is incredible. Anyways, I found myself too spent to stay out this Sunday afternoon, so I went back home.

I was disappointed for having not stayed to explore all the colorful scenes of Carnevale – festooned throughout Venice. There has been music, dancing, parades, enormous crowds, etcetera, and etcetera. Fortunately, this celebration lasts more than one day.

Much to my surprise and joy, however, Carnevale came straight to my door! In the middle of a quiet period on Sunday afternoon, a crowd adorned in bright, space-like costumes stormed San Basilio (the campo in which I live); with drums, cowbells, tambourines, stilts, batons, jugglers, dancers, and all kinds of…umm, performers. Ciao.

Caitlin’s blog

Well this past week has been full of new and exciting things. We started our Italian Language course at the Istituto, and Carnevale started on Friday. The first few days of this week went by slowly, the Italian courses making my poor brain feel like it was going to explode. But on Thursday, the quiet streets started filling up with tourists. Carnevale was nearing. On Saturday night the whole town turned into a party and people crowded the streets. Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and beautiful colors and costumes could be seen everywhere. On Sunday, my favorite event yet occurred.

One of my roomies and I had decided to go home early and rest up before school on Monday. So, after watching a very intriguing parade of costumes and music galore over by San Marco we jumped on a Vaporetto and headed home. Not twenty minutes after we arrived home, I had just sat down in bed with a big cup of tea and my laptop and I heard the loud beat of drums, people yelling and various other sounds. I just smiled to myself thinking that somewhere a few people were having fun celebrating Carnevale. Well a couple minutes passed and the sounds got louder and more numerous. I decided to investigate and looked out the window. Coming down the street directly below our west-facing windows was a massive parade. There were jugglers, drummers, instruments, dancers, stilt people, acrobatic people, costumes and colors everywhere! The parade went under our window and into the Campo that our apartment sits above. The parade dispersed into the square and people flocked in from all entrances, drawn to the music and laughter. After the procession stopped, I decided to take a better look. This parade seemed to be “Star Wars”- themed with a Venetian influence. There was one guy who even had an R2D2 robot made out of a vacuum cleaner. Another guy, I can’t even begin to figure out what he was dressed up as, decided it would be a good idea to climb up on the roofs of the buildings and dance around. The procession stayed in our campo for a little while and danced and made music. After about fifteen minutes the parade decided to move on and our campo once again became its normal self, although I will never forget the little parade that went through.

Erika’s Blog:

Today we went to see the Flying of the Angel. I don’t know how they get this girl to even consider doing this, but it happens every year as the beginning ceremony of Carnevale. Let me paint you a picture: the bell tower is several hundred feet in the air. They attach a single rope from the top of the tower that descends past the stage. They then continue to attach and then suspend a young woman dressed like a Venetian-styled angel, off this rope and slowly inch her down above the crowd until she gets to the stage. You couldn’t pay me enough to do this, and apparently she does it for free because it’s a huge honor to be the woman chosen to do this- yes it’s an honor to be asked to risk your life as you’re lowered over the edge and sent plummeting to your death, held only by a thin wire. If it were me, I would be clinging to the ledge, screaming “forget family pride, get me out of here!” No amount of prying would be able to get me off, and I’m not afraid of heights. And as soon as they send her off the ledge, they start playing the halleluiah chorus, yea that’s encouraging! She’s already scared to death and they play halleluiah as if to usher her into heaven early. And she’s expected to wave and play to the crowd in the midst of all this, so not only is she expected to “fly” but also to try and be friendly to everyone. I’m fairly certain I’d be barely able to move let alone wave at the crowd. It was terrifying to watch and very exciting to see her alive on the stage. I don’t know how she didn’t simply collapse into a puddle, but it’s all about appearance and maintaining the family honor, so she walked off with dignity…I assume to collapse back stage!

Alyssa’s blog

Buongiorno mi amici!! “Good day my friends!”

This week has flown by. It was our first week of Italian courses. Four hours a day! That makes for an intense twenty hours per week. I am starting to hear Italian gibberish in my head!! We walk to school (no cars here!) it’s a ten minute jaunt to the Instituto Venezia. It is located in the Dorsoduro sestiere, in the Campo Santa Margherita. In addition to our Italian class, we also started our History of Theatre in Venice class this week! It’s that relationship that shaped the island’s mystique.There is a quote about Venice that in my book, no one can top:

“In the winter, Venice is like an abandoned theater. The play is finished, but the echoes remain.” -Arbit Blatas

This is the ambience that Venice has had through the beginning of our stay. This weekend though, as we are approaching Lent and the end of winter we’re beginning to experience a new side of Venice. For this reason also, our theatre class has jumped from the beginning of history to three quarters into the era of the theatre form Commedia dell’Arte. CARNEVALE HAS BEGUN!

Masks, gondola parades, extravagant get ups, concerts, shows, marching drums, trumpeters, kids dressed up in their superhero costumes (it’s like Halloween for two weeks – but the candy’s not free!)

The first experience we had was to watch the opening performance of The Servant of Two Masters, which we are of course studying in our theatre class. The crowd started at the vaporetto (the bus system on water.) I’m not sure what the capacity is for a boat that size but I’m pretty sure we topped it. It was standing room only and everyone was going to the same place. When we passed San Marco in the boat, it looked as though there were people for miles. It was dark, so it was like a black mass overtaking the campo. Swimming through the sea of people seemed like an impossible task. We managed to get over the bridge parallel to the Bridge of Sighs by the Doge’s Palace, and then we hit the worst. Jessica and I were stuck in the crowd just before we even got to the San Marco Campanile. The crowd wasn’t that bad all the way around though. We could see where the wall of people broke free and people had space to walk. The crowd was actually halted by the incredible costumes that people were wearing. They are very, very amazing. Molto molto stupendo.

The play was funny, from what I could gather. It of course was in Italian, so I was grateful for their over-accentuated actions to clue me in. I especially liked the part where Arlecchino, chased, caught and ate a fly. (He’s always hungry)

The nights have transformed from silent, serene beauty, to half masked parties that roam the alleys and campos. It’s so different compared to what we’ve experienced!! The campo where our school is, Santa Margherita had a DJ and a band, a ton of people in costume, mostly students, and glass everywhere. Our favorite local spot went from quaint café by day to crazy bar by night. Wild! But a lot of fun.

We all have our masks and capes, that was our mission of the week. I got mine at the mask shop just down the calle from our apartment. It’s owned by a nice Italian named Juan. It’s a “custom” mask. =) We also watched a very famous mask maker make a mask. (say that ten times fast!!) He has been doing traditional style masks since almost the year that Carnevale was reborn in the 1970s.

This week has given us a new experience of Venice! It will only continue to surprise us.

Ciao mi amici!

Alyssa

Jessica’s blog

Hmm…..3 words that are very similar but are packed with more meaning that anyone could ever know unless they were right here in my shoes: Carnevale, Carnevale, Carnevale!!!! Those three words are what I am going to sum this week up to. There are more people than I have ever seen crammed into narrow streets and small squares. Now I think I can relate to those cows that freak out and moo all the while they are being herded into a tiny pen at the rodeo! That’s what it feels like to fight your way through San Marco to get to, well, anywhere really. This little city we have been wandering around and playing in has become an insane mad house full of pushy, picture crazed, bizarre nuts with white wigs and decorated faces. Oh how wonderful it is though!! We have even tried to fit in with these crazy people in our own masks and capes! I feel like a super hero when I have my outfit on and I’m working on what my name will be. Luckily I have almost two whole weeks to figure it out!

In front of the Istituto

In the mask shop

Caitlin, Erika and Kyle in San Marco

Alyssa and Jessica

Jessica

"The Servant of Two Masters"

Arlecchino

Erika and Ruth

The "Angel" leaving the bell tower

This young woman was the"angel"

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WEEK 2 IN VENICE

January 31, 2010

BLOG JANUARY 31^ST

We have completed our second full week of study, and I’m happy to report that Souheir and I have spent another week with an engaged, enthusiastic group of students. It really has been very satisfying to watch these young folk discover their new city. It has been a very busy week where we spent most of our time outside, moving from one side of the city to another, and then to the outer islands.

On Monday we were treated to a private tour of Venice’s famous clock in San Marco called the Torre dell’ Orologio. It,and Big Ben in London, are considered to be the two most famous clocks in the world. It was the world’s first digital clock, and keeps time in many more increments than just seconds, minutes and hours. Our tour guide was a friend of ours who works for the Museo Correr, and she organized the tour so that just as we arrived on the top floor of the tower (outside in a bitterly cold wind), the clock struck noon. 132 times! You will need to contact the group to let them explain how and why this happens. We spent the afternoon in Ca’ Rezzonico. That evening Jessica and Alyssa organized a birthday party for Kyle at their apartment in the Frari area. They supplied the pizza crust and dessert and the rest of us brought toppings. It was a great time, and I think a birthday he won’t forget.

On Tuesday we spent the morning over on the island of Guidecca looking primarily at Andrea Palladio’s three great masterpieces of architecture. However, nowadays most students find the focus of this tour to be the beautifully restored palazzo next to Palladio’s Zitelle….which just happens to belong to Sir Elton John. Of course we had to have an obligatory photo in front of this palazzo, and just as we were all lining up it began to snow! The students were great troopers, but by the time we rode a vaporetto back to San Marco and walked through to Sant’ Apostoli we were all very cold. It was my treat at a pizza shop and after we had restored some of our body heat, we walked to the Ca D’ Oro where we spent the rest of the afternoon.

Souheir was organizing the arrival of David and Ruth Ackroyd, and after I had turned the students loose, I hurried across the city to meet them and introduce them to their new apartment. We actually considered cancelling the next day’s plans , but Wednesday was a beautiful, crisp but sunny day and we set off on a long trek that would take in 5 major churches and end in the Jewish Ghetto to take a guided tour of the synagogues. That evening we had a welcome dinner for Ruth and David at our apartment where we all cooked Spaghetti Vongole (clams). On Wednesday we all travelled over the lagoon to Torcello and Burano. These are both wonderfully picturesque places and the group is still talking about the day. On Torcello we visited the ancient churches of Santa Maria dell’ Assunta and Santa Fosca, but I just turned the students loose on Burano and found them wandering in different parts of this little fishing village. We met at our prescribed time back at the vaporretto stop and then rode a larger boat back to San Zaccaria via the Lido. On Friday morning we visited two more of Venice’s wonderful churches and then completed our day in the Scuola di San Rocco near the Frari.

Next week will be a very exciting and even demanding week for the students. On Monday at 9.00am they begin their Italian Language classes at the Istituto, classes with David on the History of Venetian Theatre, and will have their first taste of Carnevale which starts next Saturday. Next week”s blog will not be posted until Monday so that the students can include their reactions to the opening events.

Ciao,

John

John Rawlings

Director FVCC Semester in Venice Program

Alyssa’a Blog

I am getting to know Venice better and better! This week I graduated to what I would say is a step up from tourism – walking mapless! I can use the Vaporetti system without needing to check what the order of stops are, let alone which direction my next stop is! Every time someone passes me with their face in a map I just smile to myself. It’s a liberating feeling.

Today we were near the Rialto, where the fish market is. We went shopping there today. I like to spend most of my time in the fruits and veggies section (all of the dead sea creatures kind of freak me out), and let Jessica handle the rest. She’s the “man” of our apartment. She cuts up the chickens, guts the fish, etc. She will also be going to beauty school upon return and will be doing nails in the future. This girl rocks! But I did wander about for a bit snapping some photos.

A terrible flood happened in the city about a week ago last year. The water was up nearly a meter and a half above sea level! Flood season is usually in November and December, but flukes do happen. I’m waiting to buy my rubber galoshes until I need them! Today though, there was some high water near the fish market.

I don’t know much Italian – yet! We start our Italian classes on Monday! It’s really difficult being in a store without a dictionary and no one to help you! We made pizzas for Kyle’s birthday this week and were looking for “baking powder.” Even with a dictionary we couldn’t find it. We had a nice employee helping us and we were describing things that baking powder does with cake, and expanding, etc. He got the idea and gave us something powdery. When we got home we realized it was angel food cake mix! We resorted to another recipe that called for instant yeast (another problematic ingredient), went with beer yeast, added some corona, and muah! Delicious pizza crust.

Kyle’s Blog

It is hard to believe that after only two weeks I have already begun to recognize strangers’ faces. On the other hand, in many cases, it is not so hard to remember some unique characters. Venice is full of them.

There is the Vulcan. He can be found during the day in the Billa as a “security” (quotations imply irony in this title, as he scares the crap out of me). His garb includes a very paramilitary, black kind of outfitting. He wears glasses, defies gravity with his over-gelled hair, and stares at people while his head is pointed toward the ground. He is usually talking on the phone or texting while…working.

I am reminded of the very frightening, altogether humorous, and somewhat effeminate Vampire. In the day, one may find him prowling the streets – unharmed by the suns rays – decked out in a studded leather jacket, and wearing his long, dirty hair down to his lower back. If I were to guess his age, if he were mortal, I think early to mid 50s would be appropriate.

There was a day I remember when it was so cold out, our group started to jog in place. Much to our surprise, this drew in a very old woman wearing a scarf on her head — very old-fashioned. I have no idea what she was saying, but she enters the middle of the group and starts dancing! Then, she leaves.

I remember the time I had the first chance to teach English to a local. There I was, window shopping with the others, and repeatedly saying the word seventy. The reason for this does not matter. All of the sudden, an Italian man comes up and starts walking with me, saying all kinds of words that apparently sounded like seventy to him. With great care, I continued saying seventy, until I finally had to say “sette-zero.” The language gap was bridged and we went to have some coffee together and talk about Italy’s involvement in WWII and about the upcoming World Cup in South Africa. Ha-ha, of course that last part is far from truth.

Ah, yes. Here is a good one. So, the group is stopped in a campo. One of my roomies has an itch on her back, so the other comes to her aid – what friendship! However, the scratching was apparently not effective enough, as an elderly man then pointed out. He said it in so few words, though, saying “più forte! Più forte!” in a grumbled voice. Più forte of course means “harder.” He proceeded then to push the failed back-scratcher out of his way, and tackle the task himself.

Finally, there was the man who really made me laugh. As we were walking down an alleyway, one of my roomies decided to point at some thing, saying “Oo, oo.” Funny enough as it was, as we continued to walk, some guy starts pointing and imitating what my roommate had said. The humor of it cannot be explained well enough in print, but take my word for it.

Caitlin’s Blog

I don’t know what it is about Venice and her food, but I am constantly hungry. Out of all my roomies, I by far eat the most. I am very fortunate to be forced to walk all around Venice every day. If it weren’t for that, I’m pretty sure I would be 50 pounds heavier. Well the fact that I want to shower helps too…because if I were to gain weight the shower would not permit me to use it. The pizza here is simply delicious and its not that greasy stuff at Pizza Hut. It has no grease and has the oddest, but amazing toppings ever. I was happy to find a place that literally sold half a pizza for €2. My new favorite place for sure. How can you go wrong? I mean delicious and cheap. I was also happy to find that Nutella is so popular here as that was one of my favorite things to eat at home. I am always eating Nutella and bread, probably more than I should. Oh and the chocolate here is so good, I don’t know what it is but their average, cheap chocolate bars beat our expensive chocolate at home any day. And unfortunately “Milka” chocolate at our Billa is cheap to begin with, but is also on sale all the time. I always carry it in my purse. I do force myself to share with the group, but I still eat way too much. And somehow my love of gelato overrides the freezing temperatures here. There was this one day when we were walking around, the wind was blowing and I do believe that it also had snowed a little. Basically it was frigid. We had stopped for Calzones for lunch and of course the shop had gelato. Well they just so happened to have my favorite flavor ever…Mint Chocolate Chip. I got a scoop and ate it quickly. My love of ice cream had clouded my judgment because the moment I stepped outside after finishing I knew I had made a grave mistake. I was so cold. But for some otherworldly reason I didn’t care. I had gotten to eat gelato. What was I going to do? I was freezing and miserable. Get a hot chocolate of course! What better to chase down ridiculous amounts of sugar with more sugar. The molten lava pudding is heaven. I could drink that stuff all day. It is the best when it is so hot and thick that a little skin of chocolate forms over the top of the drink. Oh and how could I forget, the whipped cream. If the molten pudding is heaven, then the whipped cream is the clouds that float in heaven. It is so thick and delicious. Now don’t worry, I do eat other things besides unhealthy stuff. I eat salad, oranges and apples. I figure that ought to balance it out enough. I have always loved to make salads; my favorite one to make for our dinners is a mixture of lettuce, spinach, chopped apples, grated parmesan cheese and a delicious homemade oil and balsamic vinegar dressing. It’s quick and easy. Well let’s hope that my constant walking and the shower together will keep me skinny. This next week could start a whole new battle though, seeing as for school we will be sitting down all day. I might have to actually start watching what I eat. Uhoh.

Erika’s Blog

For those of you who enjoyed the blog last week, I’m sad to disappoint, but this week’s blog doesn’t have anything to do with pigeons. I’m still an avid anti-pigeoneer, but I’ve truly regretted saying anything on the subject because the rest of the group has taken it upon themselves to torment me with taunts of dropping bread crumbs on my head so I’ll be attacked from above. John says one day I’ll be a reformed pigeon lover and I’ll probably end up opening some kind of pigeon sanctuary…that would be ironic. I will say, just to continue commenting on the animal’s here, the outer islands of Torcello and Burano seemed to be infested with cats. Around every corner, there were a trillion cats…like a plague…but I won’t get started on my other mortal enemy because I KNOW I’ll end up stepping on toes that way.

What I really want to talk about is this chair. Now, I know you’re asking, who in their right mind would take time out of their day to contemplate a chair, let alone write about it? Well, let me tell you, this is no ordinary chair. First of all, its sits beneath an olive tree outside of a Santa Maria Assunta on Torcello. It’s a simple carved thing of stone, but at the same time, held the appearance of something truly comfortable in its rudimentary apparel. I didn’t say it out loud, but I had the sudden urge to flop into it, like I do the couches back home…it seemed to be calling out to me. I came to discover later that I wasn’t the only one the chair was calling to, but Caitlin was the only one who whispered it to me. But right as I began moving towards the chair, giving in to my deepest hearts desire, I was informed that the chair, which is believed to be the Throne of Attila the Hun, was sat in by young women as they raised their plaintive pleas toward the heavens to become pregnant and bare strong “men-children only”. The horror of it all rained down on me. The fact that I was steps away from a baby-granter, moment’s away from becoming pregnant with a willful male child came crashing down on me and I scorned the chair for trying to trick me into it. It’s a magic and crafty chair, so all young women on your way to Venice, beware of the chair in Torcello, because you might not be lucky enough to be told of the chair’s magical powers before you give in. However, later on the way back, we saw several young men sitting in the chair, completely unaware of its magical powers, so the question comes to mind: Does the chair’s power cancel out with a man sitting in it? Or is this going to be terribly awkward?

Jessica’s Blog

What a strange thing it is to be here when it is snowing! I am sitting in my “living room” listening to the sound of snow dripping off the rooftops into the canal. Whenever I see snow here, its almost as if I have never seen the stuff before, because it just seems so unreal in a place like this. It has snowed twice this week, but not enough to keep us inside! We went to countless beautiful churches and the sun finally decided to come out for us on the day we ventured out to Burano and Torcello. Visiting these islands put a bit of color into my week, literally. Burano is a small island filled with brightly colored apartment buildings and small quiet streets. We were set loose on the island and couldn’t get over the picture perfect scenery of color. Not to mention the best fresh fried fish and chips on the planet! Its funny to see how amazing laundry looks when its hang drying from a bright pink building.

Torcello was also just as amazing, and reminded me slightly of home. It is more of an agricultural island, with hardly any people, and is ancient beyond belief. Greenery surrounds this place, and there are cats and gardens on every canal. Life seems to be at a literal stand still on Torcello, peaceful and relaxing. The Santa Fosca on Torcello is one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen. It was built in the 11^th and 12^th centuries and is among the oldest churches built in Venice. My parents will be happy to know that I avoided sitting on Attila’s Throne outside of the church, and won’t be giving them male grandchildren anytime soon! Venetians seem to be a very superstitious lot. J

Torre dell' Orologio

Inside the clock

Caitlin on top of the tower

Agnese the tour guide

Some really cold people on a clock tower

Kyle's birthday dinner

birthday cake

In front of Elton's house

Freezing on the Giudecca

It's really snowing now!

In a sotto portego in S Polo

At the gate to the new ghetto

In front of the Cipriani on Torcello

In Burano

Erika in Burano

In front of Miracoli

In the fish market

cappuccino in Torcello

Canal in Burano

Burano

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WEEK 1 VENICE 2010

January 24, 2010

It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon here in Venezia. I have small shrimp and a filet of sole waiting in the kitchen for tonight’s risotto, it is cold and grey outside, but a toasty 22c in our Sant’ Elena apartment, and I hope from the tone of this introduction you are aware that I’m feeling relaxed and content.
This is the end of our first week of ‘Classes’ of the Venice Program. We never set foot inside a classroom, and the week has been a continuous exploration of churches, museums, workshops and the streets and canals of our adopted city.
The students have been extremely accommodating of this process, for not only have they had to walk for most of the day, but they have done it in some rather inclement weather. While we have yet to experience any rain in the 10 days that we have been here, (rare for Venice), it has been very cold. As Montanans we are quite comfortable in sub freezing temperatures and so it came as quite a shock when 33F numbed us to our core. The difference of course, is that the humidity was registering 100%!
I spent the week telling the story of Venice as I introduced the students to their new homes, modes of transportation, food (and how to buy it), and ways of moving through the city. They have all been ‘lost’, made major discoveries of their own (often revolving around food), and are working out their own favored ways of getting from place to place. Souheir and I spent the week slowly introducing our favorite places and experiences, watching them grow in confidence each day. They showed great patience as we waited for the ponderous wheels of Italian beaurocracy to grind through our student visa process, and admirable flexibility when I had to change plans because the weather drove us indoors. I finished yesterday’s walk by introducing them to my favorite gelateria, the finest compliment that I could give them for being so much fun this week. We have made a splendid start to our time here.

Ciao,
John
John Rawlings Director FVCC Semester in Venice program

This year we are going to structure our weekly blogs in a different way, and each student will make his or her own contribution… Here they are:

BLOG 1 Caitlin Sterchi
The moment I stepped out of the airport I knew I was in for something new and exciting. Venice is amazing. There are not words to describe the beauty and history that lives here. My mind has been on overload these past couple weeks as I try to grasp and understand all the things I have seen and learned. I must say though, the four bronze horses in St. Mark’s Basilica have taken the cake for me. They just took my breath away. I suppose that might have something to do with the fact that I love horses anyway, but these four statues are magnificent. They tell of a time long ago and they have withstood the ages. Along with the horses, the hot chocolate and gelato have caught my attention. The hot chocolate is basically molten pudding. It is a little bit of heaven. On the other side of delicious desserts is the gelato. I have to make sure I eat it in moderation or else I will come back home with the “Venice 15” instead of my “Freshman 15.” Luckily the shower in our apartment is so small that I cannot fit in there if I gain any weight. Maybe the tiny shower is in fact a blessing.

BLOG 1 Kyle Koslosky
While in Venice…Things to see/where to go:
 Café-hopping
 Shopping
 Explore the many campe and piazze
 Gondola rides
 Churches
 Italian food
 Italian women
 Italian wine
 Fresh fish
 Fresh produce
 Italian women
 Lagoon islands

Those are just some of the ideal attractions a tourist might highlight. However, after a week, I feel compelled to share some deviations from the typical list that I have experienced (and trust me, the list could not be exhausted, so these are just a few examples):
 A security guard at our local grocer, who I am convinced is of Vulkan descent.*
 A gondolier serenading a coworker with Darth Vader intro music*
 Ah! Gondoliers again! This time, transporting a boat-load (pun) of Asians in a race around pylons. Oh the look on their faces!
 Getting lost, only to discover more amazing architecture just around the corner from an alley
 Getting all the dirty little secrets of the city…from an Australian!
 Dying (exaggeration) of laughter every single day with two very cool roomies

*The sci-fi theme is totally coincidental – or so I’m led to believe.
Venice really is an amazing city unlike any other. Again, words aren’t going to purvey a strong enough idea of how cool it is. I am really enjoying living here and I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I was to have this opportunity.
By the way, the weather has been surprisingly good here. The wet-cold here is like nothing else! Burrr. But, on the plus side, it hasn’t been raining at all since I arrived…which is very unusual.

BLOG 1 Alyssa Hands
After living the Venetian way of life for just over a week, I’ve already learned more than imaginable. This is unlike any cultural experience I’ve had on vacations because I am completely immersed in their world! I’m living in an apartment over a canal. We have the same chore of the shutters that we open every morning to greet the day and close every night. Of course, we don’t think it’s a chore, we think it’s really fun! We hang dry laundry outside of our three story windows over the court or canal. We walk to the local grocery store, called the Billa, and bag our own groceries. The language barrier is tricky, but we will soon be breaking that! While learning the daily life of Venetians we are also learning about their fascinating past. There is symbolism of their history, successes, defeats, ideals and innovations everywhere. These people and this place are incredible!

BLOG 1 Erika Corne
A word on pigeons: I don’t care what people say about these birds, they are truly the scum of the earth. It disgusts me to no end that people will dare to allow these creatures to rest on their backs and arms, inspiring them to approach with the lure of food. And they even proceed to photograph this madness! How they survive after such an encounter is beyond me, especially when one knows exactly where these winged minions live and where they have in fact been, the unmentionables of the city. It is true when one calls them ‘rats with wings’, these gluttonous, putrid creatures that stuff themselves on the remains of the city. They are a scourge that should be eradicated. I strongly believe that one day a year, the children of the city should be allowed into San Marco with small blow guns and it should become a contest to see how many of these feathery fiends can be decimated. In short, pigeons are just not pleasant and to believe thus would be folly.

BLOG 1 Jessica Ransier-Mong
The magic begins everyday just outside our apartment windows. A canal runs right past our kitchen and the Frari church can be heard from the bedroom. Walking through the narrow streets and passing centuries old buildings still in use, standing next to Venetians in the tiny grocery store to buy eggs, hopping on the Vaporetto to meet in the Palazzo San Marco, all of these little details combine to make the great adventure that is Venice, Italy. I am officially in love with this enchanting city. I am so glad I have decided to come on this trip, it is really worth it all. I am very excited to see what is to come!