Tired in Tuscany

For the past ten minutes I have been wracking my brain trying to come up with something clever and entertaining to write but all I can think about is the fact that I am tired. Last night I slept straight through the night for the first time since arriving, but I still did not get a full eight hours. My duties with the program have kept me fairly busy, the hilly layout of Siena has kept my legs sore (in a good way- toned legs here I come!) and my Italian has been stretched to its limits by communicating with the residence staff on behalf of the students about thinks like lack of hot water, clogged drains, and broken window latches. (Il lavandorio e bloccato = the sink is clogged!) The fact that I am in such a beautiful place helps to make the exhaustion worth it, but my brain and body still both need a rest! So, in lieu of a longer written post I hereby present some pictures from the past week. Enjoy!


A view out my residence window at dusk.

Another view out the window. (How lucky am I?)

Via delle Sperandie (the street where the student residence is located).

Another view of the street (notice the laundry drying?)

Laundry and rooftop gardens!

These little signs can be found on the sides of most buildings in the neighborhood of our residence, marking the territory of the contrada we live in. It is called "Chiocciola" and its symbol is the snail.

The view outside the residence front door (bonus points if you can find the snail in this picture!)

The courtyard at the Rettorato of the University of Siena; we were stuck there on Monday afternoon while it poured rain for about twenty minutes.

Group dinner at the Selva contrada. They were kind enough to host our rather large group and they fed us a wonderful dinner of pasta, salad, bread, and grilled lamb and sausage, with ice cream for dessert. (It was really good!)

Professor McClellan and myself at the dinner. Professor McClellan is teaching a very interesting course on the history of sport; his class gets to try and recreate ancient and medieval games!


5 comments:

Cheryl and William said...

SO FUN! I think the class on medieval games would be fascinating. And the view is STUNNING!!!

Marianne said...

It's so beautiful Sarah! You'll catch up on your rest...eventually! You look lovely. I am still loving the bangs!


Oh! The snail is on the garden wall! Bonus points for me! Care to explain why your mascot is a snail???

Unknown said...

I'd like to know why snail also, however it makes sense as you once said that Italians moved slowly... Also, your view is amazing! What? It sort of reminds me of Southern Utah... just a bit. God is great. Ha ha. Love and miss you!

Weston and William's Blog said...

Love the pictures! Wow- what a view!!!! Get some sleep girl! Thanks for sharing :) I love youg blog!

Anonymous said...

Sarah I love the pictures of Siena (notice I spelled it correctly). The pictures of you are wonderful. Try and take some more. I would love to take Dr M's class on Ancient Sports. I think it would be fun. I would probably enjoy this more than the dance I took on ancient dance as an undergrad. Please keep posting and know that we love and miss you. Take care and God bless.

Dad

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I am currently working on PhD in History at the University of Toronto, but I often travel to Siena, Italy to do research for my dissertation.

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