Piacere

This past Thursday was our first day of classes. After breakfast in the Mensa, Group B headed off to our first voice and speech class with Kevin Crawford, who had told us at orientation that he studied under a man who believed that there were, “No larynxes; only courage,” and if you couldn’t make a certain sound, it was just because you didn’t have the courage. So going in, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but we had a wonderful time, and Kevin is amazing. Next we had Movement with Claudia, a lovely German ex-circus performer who enjoys wreaking havoc on our thighs. As sore as we were the following morning, the class truly was quite enriching, but that didn’t stop us all from crossing our fingers that round two the following day would be slightly less painful. (Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.) After movement, we had lunch and then all of the theatre students headed into town to meet Monica, our head of student life and a true joy of a woman, at the duomo (or rather, Cattedrale San Donato) for a walking tour of Arezzo. She told us stories about the town’s history, and showed us many of her favorite places, as well as some practical spots like the ATM, train station, and information center. After the tour (complete with gelato break) ended, we were free to roam around town as long as we were back at the villa for dinner, so a few of us took a leisurely walk through some little shops on our way back. We bought some essentials: wine and postcards. Later on, we all hung out in the Limonaia, which is a small building adjacent to the villa that serves as the rec room where we store all our food, play cards, do homework, get WiFi, and just enjoy each other’s company.

As previously mentioned, come Friday morning, Villa Godiola was filled with a chorus of groans and complaints such as, “I can’t walk,” “Ahhhhhhhh I’ve never felt such pain,” and, “I think somebody removed my legs while I slept and replaced them with limp slices of bologna.” As fate would have it, Group B had movement class again first thing that morning, and given our current state of near paraplegia, we were less than excited to do all the lunges and turning and sitting and standing and general leg work that we’d experienced the day before. Luckily, Claudia took some pity on us and let us do lots of rolling around on the floor, which sort of helped the indefinable agony we all felt in our legs. But only sort of, because after she stretched us out, we start working on our handstands, which also required lots and lots and lots of lunging. RIP thighs. After movement, we had our first Philosophy and the Arts class with Emilija, which honestly was a lot to sit through after two hours of intense movement, and also because half the time, I wasn’t sure what we were even talking about. But I’m hoping I’ll warm up to the subject in time. Next was lunch, followed by our first Italian class! This one I found to be a lot of fun. Lorenza, our professor, spoke to us in Italian the entire time, but somehow made us magically understand everything she was saying. We scribbled down her words furiously, and got to practice our conversation skills a bit. After Italian, we had some free time, which I happily used to take a nap. Then it was time for the official ADA Welcome Dinner, including all the undergrad music and theatre students, the MFA acting students, and the entire staff. There was wine, cheese, pasta, pizza, and every type of delicious food you could think of spread out in a huge buffet, and the tables were candle lit to commemorate the occasion. After dinner, we all headed over to the Salla Danza (one of the rehearsal studios) for an Open Stage night where anybody who wanted to perform could sign up in advance and share any kind of short piece with the whole group. There was singing, hula hooping, impressions, bluegrass, and some comedy from the student emcees. I had signed up to sing, and I was shaking, because there are few things more terrifying than standing at the front of a brightly-lit room filled with extremely talented people and baring your soul by sharing a song (without accompaniment because you’re not cool enough to know any instruments), but I pushed myself to do it because I knew I’d regret it if I didn’t. When it was my turn, I sang Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and asked the whole room to sing along during the choruses. The room came alive with harmonies when everyone sang together, and the beauty of the sheer unity and companionship of it nearly moved me to tears. It was one of those rare, “Yes, we are all here right now, and we are all together,” moments that make you thankful.

Saturday morning, we walked to the weekly street fair in town. Vendors set up tables and tents and sell clothing, food, shoes, and a whole host of other things. It's a lot of fun. After we bought a few wonderfully tacky Italian t-shirts, we wandered over to a fruit stand. I wanted to buy one nectarine, but I didn't know the Italian word for nectarine, so I pointed to them and said to the vendor, "Come si dice en Italiano?" He told me...but ironically enough, I don't remember. Then he said in English, "Where are you from?" I said, "Sono americana di Connecticut."An Italian woman who was standing nearby chuckled, probably amused at my shoddy attempt at Italian. I then told the man in Italian that I only wanted one nectarine. He handed one to me, and when I tried to pay, he refused, and even threw in some small plums for free. I guess they really do appreciate when you try to speak the language. Later that night, we wandered back into town and ate dinner at a Kebap place, and even though it was pretty much the opposite of Italian food, it was magically delicious. 

Sunday was a calm day that included a walk to the grocery store, some feeble attempts at homework, having pizza delivered to the villa, and an EBAS class that focused on spinal alignment and awareness. It was very different and challenging, but already quite rewarding. And then today we had more class. Everything here is wonderful. A presto!