Firenze, Orientamento, e Nuovi Studenti

What's new? After the end of the Abbot's Congress, I returned to working on the grounds around Sant'Anselmo. The mornings here have become quite nice as the weather started cooling down. I still wear shorts when mowing the lawns and working in the garden. People make fun of me. It has always been my opinion that mowing a lawn can be a work of art. I like to think that the residents here enjoy my straight lines in the grass when I mow. Perfetto. Maybe after my completion of service for the BVC I should start my own lawn service. Something to think about. Besides working on the grounds, I am a server for meals now during pranzo (lunch) and cena (dinner). This reminds me of my days as a waiter at Old Chicago, the only exception being that I can't sign people up for the World Beer Tour here. I enjoy it though. Beginning in November sometime, I am probably going to begin working in the portineria (front desk). The reason for waiting until November is that I need to get my Italian up-to-snuff. Crunch time. I am now at the level of a 4-year old, piu o meno.

I was able to travel to Florence or Firenze, in Italian, this past weekend. It was awesome. Here are some pictures:

Piazza at the Cathedral


pondering life


Okay, this was the highlight of the trip. Climbing to the top of il duomo of the cathedral and looking at the entire city.


anche questo


e nuovamente

Prego. It was quite incredible to be up there. After coming back from Florence, the new students began arriving one-by-one. The new academic year kicked off today. It is pretty neat to sit in the refectory during a meal and look around at how diverse a global population there is here. There are so many countries being represented at Sant'Anselmo. You truly see the whole world during a meal. Being able to meet some of them has been really interesting. Along with the new students there comes a new and positive energy. I had the privilege to join many of them for the orientation activities this past week. One highlight of the orientation last week was going to Subiaco where St. Benedict established his first monastery in the mountains some 1500 years ago. I was honored to get the opportunity to go. The natural beauty of Subiaco was phenomenal. See below.

The cave where Benedict lived

Subiaco was definitely a highlight. Other than that, I am still enjoying very much being in Rome. I discover something new about my time here everyday, both internally and externally. I find that vespers with the community in the evening before dinner is the best time for me to slow-down and reflect about the day.

In short, goals for the future: improve my Italian (a lot), continue to meet new people, challenge myself, explore, and that's good enough for now. I will try to update this blog more often than I have been, even if it's something short and quick. In the meantime, be excellent to eachother.

Nuove Immagini!

A shot of the River Tevere at night.

View from the tower at Sant'Anselmo. The taller white building is the Vittoriano in the Piazza Venezia in Central Rome, about a 10 minute walk from where I live.

A Swiss Guard standing watch at the Vatican. They literally do not move.

Lukas (black shirt) and some friends from Italian class at the Campo dei Fiori. Lukas is the other volunteer here at Sant'Anselmo for the year from Germany.

This is a posed picture of me throwing a coin in at la Fontana di Trevi. I really did throw a coin in before this was taken. Legend has it that throwing a coin into the fountain brings good luck and ensures a visit back to Rome in the future. Sweet.

River Tevere with the Castel Sant'Angelo in the background. I've run to the castle a few times from Sant'Anselmo along the river. Really neat.

A new stage and stepping out of the comfort zone

It's 11:11pm in Rome right now. I tried to go to bed an hour ago as I have a long day ahead of me tomorrow. However, I cannot sleep. This time the inability to fall asleep has nothing to do with the incredible heat of my room or the flies that occupy it (I have to keep the window open). Rather, it has something to do with a newfound sense of purpose, excitement, and the inability to shut it off for 8 hours. So, it's time for another update.

I have now been at Sant'Anselmo for one month. The time really is flying by. Although I am beginning to feel more and more at home here, I STILL cannot believe that I actually live here. The purpose of this blog is three-fold: A) Tell you what I'm currently up to; B) Explain how things have changed since the last post; and C) Attempt to offer a glimpse of what all of this means to me at the moment. So, here goes...

A) What I'm up to: Last Friday was my final day of Italian class at Dilit Language school. The last four weeks have been very intense in the classroom as I went from practically zero Italian to now having a basic knowledge. I must make clear that this "basic" knowledge is very primitive and lacks little if any sophistication. The good thing to keep in mind is that it will only get better from here on out...one can only hope. So, having my afternoons free now, my job description is now changing quite a bit. I will continue working on the grounds, for the time being, as well as working behind the scenes for the Congress of Abbots that is currently going on here for the next 10 days.

B) What has changed with me: I now understand why the people here at Sant'Anselmo tell me to "stay flexible." This has nothing to do with stretching or calisthetics in the morning in order to develop vigor before work. Instead, I'm finding out more and more the necessity to stustain mental flexibility because, starting today, every day will be different for a while. This week begins the Congress of the Abbots which is hosted every four years at Sant'Anselmo. I am not entirely sure of the details of the Congress, but about 250 Abbots from monasteries all over the world will be arriving at Sant'Anselmo these next few days for the Congress. Today was jam-packed full of excitement! I spent today preparing documents, attending a couple of meetings, greeting the incoming Abbots, showing some of them to their rooms (many of whom I couldn't understand a word they said...and probably vice versa), and washing dishes after dinner this evening. Tomorrow, I will do this all over again, but maybe in a different order, maybe something entirely different, probably the latter, I am not really sure. All I know is I better stretch after my run in the morning...

C) What does this all mean? Well, to put it as simply as I can, it means that just when I think I have a routine in life, things can quickly change directions and all I can do is go with it, stay enthusiastic, and enjoy it along the way. I've known this reality in life before, yet I constantly forget all about it when I get into a routine. The first four weeks I was here, I had a routine and it was nice. Yet, that is not why I applied to the BVC and it's not why I came here. I came to Rome to challenge myself, try something new, step out of my comfort zone, and learn a thing or two about myself and this big unique world. So, for me, these new challenges really force me to step out of my comfort zone. Back home, in the United States (both in Omaha and CSB/SJU), I was around people whom I knew, a language I used freely and easily, and I usually had a routine. I come to Rome knowing nearly nobody, though I'm quickly making friends (the people here are so welcoming), and trying to speak a language I've just learned to people I've recently met. There have been a few uneasy moments where I've questioned "Why am I here?" Yet, each new day brings more and more reassurance that this is where I need to be right now. That through this experience I'm going to continue searching and figuring out the person I'm suppose to be. Maybe not, but I do know that the only way it COULD happen is for me to continue feeling a little uncomfortable every day and experience an element of "how do I get through this?" I know there are people here working WAY harder than me, so I'll keep that in mind. All I can do is continue to make it my goal to try my best, be honest with myself, seek new challenges, and hopefully grow in the process.

Writing this has made me a little tired, so I think I'll hit the hay.

More pictures coming very soon (maybe some artwork too)...

I can't believe I live here...

Being that I've now been in Rome for almost two weeks, I think it's sufficient to give my first update on what's been happening since I journeyed to this incredible city. On Tuesday, August 19th, after 12 hours of traveling, I arrived at the airport in Rome. I didn't sleep a wink on the plane because I was so excited I could barely sit still. I watched a couple movies, read a little, but my mind wandered constantly towards thoughts of excitement about the unknown of the upcoming year. Sleeping was impossible. Arriving in Rome, I was greeted by Michael and William, two monks from Saint John's who are currently working at Sant'Anselmo - the monastery/university where I will call home for the next year. That's part of the deal with the SJBVC, I work and volunteer at Sant'Anselmo and I am able to live with the community here. Pretty nice gig so far. So, in transit from the airport to Sant'Anselmo, Michael asks me if it would be okay for me to start my Italian class that afternoon. I was incredibly eager to start learning Italian as I knew that would be the initial barrier to overcome in living here. So, I forgot about the jet lag for the time being and started getting excited...yet again.

After unpacking and settling into my new room, I took the 5 minute subway ride to the center of Rome where Dilit, the international language school, is located. It was a bit overwhelming the first day in trying to keep up with the teacher (she only speaks Italian in the classroom) but the exciting demeanor of the other students kept me interested. The class has been phenomenal so far. I have just completed Week Two of the Level One program and already my Italian is vastly improving (which isn't saying much being that I had zero Italian prior to coming here). Although I would not say it is very good, my Italian is at a state where I can survive in the city, ask people for directions, greet and dismiss myself, etc. One of the most interesting components of the Italian class is that I am the only U.S. American out of about 16 people in the class. In class, I have met people from Sweden, Holland, Brazil, Yemen, Australia, Spain, France, Switzerland, and Canada. In just one short week, I have met more people from different countries than I have met in my entire life before this. It is truly remarkable to meet people from all over the world and the even more amazing thing is that many of us share so much in common. In the evenings after dinner, I have been meeting up with them to explore Rome. I am thankful that I have been able to find some good friends so quickly since arriving here. They all speak English pretty well too, which is nice for me...for now.

Italian class makes up about 3 hours of my afternoon. In the mornings I am working at Sant'Anselmo, primarily outside on the grounds. I wake up at about 7:00 every morning Monday through Friday. I go for a quick run, shower, eat breakfast and then start working around 8:30. So far, I have been mowing the lawns of Sant'Anselmo, weeding, sculpting/trimming bushes and shrubbery, as well as planting flowers. I am really enjoying the work so far. It gives me a chance to work outside (the weather here in the morning is awesome) and get down and dirty a little bit. I finish working before noon. The other volunteer here, Lukas, is from Germany. He is 20 years old and will be here a year also. We work together in the mornings and get along great. He was here a month before I arrived so he was pretty eager for another younger person to get here. It makes the morning go by a lot better with someone to talk to, work with, and joke around with.

After work at 1:00pm is lunch. Now lunch here in Italy is an experience. Lunch in Italy is what dinner is in the U.S. By that I mean that it is our biggest, best, and longest meal of the day. I think it's safe to say that it looks like I am not going to be starving this year. We eat well. You might not recognize me next time I see you as I'll probably be 20 pounds heavier, hence the running everyday. It would be an understatement to say that the food is great here. It exceeds greatness. It is a true Italian meal just as you would imagine it. I always need a cup of coffee or two after lunch in order to avoid dozing off in class in the afternoon.


The evenings and weekends have given me opportunities to explore Rome with Lukas, the other people from my class, as well as by myself. This city is truly one of the greatest cities in the world. I have seen so much so far and from what I hear, I've just caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg. From the Vatican, Colloseum, Circus Maximus, Pantheon, and A LOT of neat churches, castles, and monuments. I could go on, but I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and even they can't do Rome justice for how great it is to experience. That's it for now. I miss everyone back home tremendously and wish you all the best in this coming year. If you get an itch to go do that Europe thing sometime this year, visitors at Sant'Anselmo are always welcome. Peace out and stay cool.

Motion

Motion #1
Oil on Canvas
Spring 2008




Motion #2
Oil on Canvas
Spring 2008

Wanted to capture motion, intensity, and determination. These will probably be the last running portraits I create for a while with drawing and painting.

Waiting

Waiting
Oil on Canvas
March 2008

This is a self portrait I've been working on over the month of March. Again, I'm learning more and more when it comes to painting with every one that I dish out. I was pleased with the perspective I used with this one. I guess I wanted to make this one ambiguous in regard to what I'm looking at, what I'm thinking, what I'm feeling. To be honest, I don't really know what was going through my head when choosing this pose. I just want to paint in the exact way that I feel right at the moment. I suppose this one can be explained in that it seems like, lately, I'm always waiting for something. When I can't make up my mind, I'm waiting. That feeling of waiting can finally kick me into gear though. I don't know what lies ahead. But I do know that sitting around waiting for it, worrying and such, that a lot of other great things can really come and go. So, in short, live in the moment, plan for today, and let it flow.

Portrait

Phil in Jupiter
Oil on Canvas
February 2008

This was a portrait I did of a classmate in Painting class. We had the task of painting a portrait of someone (besides ourselves), so I painted Phil and he painted me. This was my first time using oil paint in color so it was definitely a learning process. I experimented a lot with mixing colors for this one and using warm tones as well as cool tones in making the right pigment for human flesh. Not as easy a task as I imagined.

Why Jupiter? Well because the background looks like Jupiter and Jupiter is the name of a really good 311 song. The song is positive with a good rhythm, much as I think painting can be. Phil's a positive, upbeat dude as well, so that worked.