Ciao Ragazzi!

 

Arrivaderci Frank!

Ciao amici, so here I am in Florence, a little more than halfway through the semester, a strange and confusing time to reflect upon. I feel as though I am already unintentially mentally preparing myself to the transition of returning to Storrs, CT and I find myself conflicted both about how I feel towards being here in Florence, and also about returning to the States.

Aside from that cryptic introduction, I want to say that the time spent here has been absolutely amazing. The spontaneous family dinners have been proof that all you need for a great meal is some pasta, vegetables, chicken, cheap wine, expensive olive oil, and maybe a language barrier. The sites and museums around the city have still not stopped to constantly deceive us with the importance of their collections inside by their convenience and attainability (apparently it IS possible to stumble upon Michelangelo’s gravesite without knowing it). Traveling has also become something that is expected of you to do every weekend, and because of how easy it is, I’ve seen and been to more places than I originally intended coming here (I’ve also spent more money than I intended as well).

It’s really interesting to compare my expectations of this experience with how it actually turned out, including what I would be doing here in terms of work, where I would travel during time off, what I would be doing with my free time, etc. One main difference is definitely present in the work that I do here. I’ve had more free time to develop my sketchbook further, but less access to studio space so the result is an entire new vocabulary of drawing that I would not have developed if I had not been in Italy. I’m also hoping that my lack of photo documentation of this experience won’t haunt me later, since each one of my drawings is a direct reflection of what I was looking at and what I experienced (at least to me, so I guess it’s a little selfish).

Anyways, I still hope to meet the rest of this semester with an open mind because I know for a fact that there are still experiences to be had, even though part of me is already looking forward to come back to a heavy work-load, multiple deadlines, and late nights. The reason for my excitement to go back is not as much homesick as it is an anxiousness to use what I’ve discovered here towards getting my career started. I do believe that this experience has had an incredible influence on me and I’m excited that it’s both almost over, and that there is still a good deal of time left to spend here

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