Auld Lang Siena

Here's a clip of a traditional Italian music concert in Palazzo Communale in the Piazza del Campo. Some of my friends' host parents sang in it!

And I just want to give a shout out to my mom--she and I once had a heated argument about whether or not singing was on the decline in America, and I suppose possibly maybe there is a slight chance her argument may have been at least partially valid... She was feeling nostalgic about Pete Seeger's 70-somethingth birthday concert and the idea that Americans don't sing together anymore, and I was staunchly arguing for the sake of argument that to the contrary, my friends and I quite enjoyed singing selections from America's Top 40 and that just because the songs have changed doesn't mean the practice has waned. But watching this concert in the Palazzo Communale sort of overpowered my argument...if Americans put together a concert of "traditional" "folk" songs, would anything on the list still be recognized today? Towards the end of the Siennese concert, the whole audience was singing along with all the songs, and I noticed both young and old people knew the words. I'm not sure I can think of a song that both my grandparents and I could sing all the words to.

Anyways.

Here are a couple pics of My Life in Italy:
Agrituristica Gabbiano, where we did our orientation
The tower of the Palazzo Communale on the Campo (and Angela's eye in the corner)
The view from the wall of San Gimignano, a city about an hour away from Siena
What we really came to San Gimignano for...the world famous gelateria! This is the line outside (and I'm proud to say we went through twice).
And finally, a glorious self-portrait at the beach! Look how un-sunburned I am!
(bathing suit courtesy of Siobhan Murray)

OK enough for tonight!!

A domani!

Is It Always a Beach Day?

It's been clear skies and perfect weather every day since I arrived; not a drop of rain has fallen, and today my host family (the Martinis) took me along with them on their third trip to the beach this week. Somehow I had thought my first dip in the warm Mediterranean waters on couldn't possibly live up to expectations...

Before getting to Italy, I was fully prepared to experience the typical "honeymoon" part of my semester, which we've been warned turns to homesickness and discomfort while the reality of being in a completely different culture with a whole new set of people begins to set in, and then to look forward to an upswing as our language skills improve, we get over the culture shock, and start to dread the end of our stays.

I guess I'm just still waiting for the honeymoon to end. But I keep getting the sneaking suspicion that my "healthy" dose of cynicism may be out of order.

I've seen three weddings in the past week, eaten more gelato than I will ever admit, and walked one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever been on (and can now attest that while European tradition of topless women may be waning, but man-speedos are still going strong). And even if the spotless weather had been interrupted with some rain, that just means the parched sunflower fields would have perked up a bit, and augmented the palatte of olive groves and vineyards which borders allllll the highways here.

A lot of study-abroad lit and travel writing warns that visitors often have a fairy-tale image of the places they travel to, especially Italy, and this image quickly unravels when confronted by everyday life. And so when I saw the medieval streets of Siena, and my first hazy golden pink Tuscan sunset, I assumed that something this picturesque couldn't possibly have a living, breathing, vibrant and modern culture too. What I'm trying to understand is how tourist-magnet events like the annual Palio horse race in Siena can be more than just a tourist-magnet, but actually a sincere expression of the fierce competition between the different neighborhood "contradas" which compete for the glory of winning. Now that I've walked through their wild, ear splitting weeklong parties and been encircled by late night drumming parades of proud contrada members, I'm realizing this isn't just a quaint little reenactment of an important historical tradition, but a tradition that's still got a LOT of steam.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that I expected Siena and Italy in general to be completely different from what I expected...andwas surprised that my expectations of having my expectations be wrong were right anyways. Confusing enough for ya? Whatevs, I'm just going with the flow and having a good time, and replacing whatever expectations I might have with actual experiences.

I'll try to post the video clip I took of two of my friends host parents singing in a traditional Italian folk concert, and some more pictures once I find my usb cord...