The (Sur)realities of Italy

Today we began our literature class: Italy and It's Culture in British and American Literature. It's in English (thankfully) and we're basically just reading excerpts from different books about Italy and examining how our culture views Italy...and how realistic those perceptions actually are.

It made me think about my own perceptions of Italy and what I was expecting...and what the reality is. So far, I've been pleased with what I've seen: the history, the architecture, the food, the gelato, and the way the city is. I've always idealized Italy as something of a paradise, and being here makes me realize that it's a real place, just like my own hometown.

However....

it is a beautiful, surreal, and fascinating place at the same time, and in that way, my expectations have not been disappointed.

The other day I returned from town and walked up the steps into the dorm. The entrance area is a big open room with winding stone steps and a stone floor. Connected to it is a small chapel, where the choir was practicing that day. As I was walking up to the dorm I could hear their sound resonating on the stone and filling the whole building. It was so beautiful I had to sit down on the stairs and listen until they finished their song. It really made me feel for that moment that I was in a movie, and that music was the soundtrack. For that surreal moment, I felt like Italy really was a paradise.

The campus makes me feel that way on almost a daily basis, also. Heather and I went exploring a little bit this evening and found several little paths made in between the hedges. There are little winding paths with benches along them and a low wall that faces a field. On the other side of the field are yellow houses with red roofs and those characteristically-Tuscan trees: tall, deep green, and skinny. We walked down into the field as the sun was getting low and just stood (ok, not really, we actually frolicked a little bit, because after all, it's ITALY!!). It was beautiful. So many things here are beautiful. I don't know if I ever want to leave!