It’s been a series of learning, more than just school.

Time seems to move at a different speed when you are so engrossed in a task of this nature. Learning compressed is the only way to explain this. Each day is not only a series of classes, practical and note taking but also moving into a different culture that seems to be so directly opposite than my norm.

The school work has been fantastic. After the break it seemed to pick up speed at a rate I don’t think any of us was quite prepared, or ready for. We have an ever changing schedule based on ability to make trips and schedule in a lecture. Even now, I can’t tell you what my schedule was for last semester. I had to have the schedule hanging by my door to check every night before bed so I would make it there on time. The last week of class was a type of stress I haven’t felt in years with so much due and so much responsibility directly related to the artwork we were touching.

I don’t feel nervous when I work, mostly because everything is reversible but it is still a pretty awesome experience. There is always the ethical debate that constantly changes the atmosphere of restoration that weighs in the back of my mind. On top of the fact I’m not really ever clear on what is expected when I do a retouching which adds an element of immediate failure in my estimation. How can I achieve what is necessary if I don’t know what it is? Good thing I went to Cal Poly because they also had a, “learn by failure” policy and so in some ways it’s a natural process for me.

Now before I write this next part let me preface it with I am entirely grateful to be here, with the art and the school and the whole experience. Having said that, I have to say that Italians aren’t really that welcoming. I guess I am used to walking down the streets and seeing people smile, not just in general but at each other. Here it’s not so much like that. I can understand being sick and tired of foreign students, hell I am for that matter but there is an overall sour look to the people on the streets that I just don’t get. Surrounded by all this and yet…grumpy! I honestly have never seen a group of people so uniquely alike in their stature as they walk around. And can I just say the women are far worse. They seem so sour all the time that I’m just not sure why. I could speculate for days on this but I think you get the picture.

I’m glad to be on break. I feel like each day even if I don’t leave the house I am returning to the world at large. My friend Jason and I were joking because we see so little of Florence while entrenched in the semester that we could literally be almost anywhere and studying. Okay, that is an exaggeration because we do get to go on some VERY cool trips but you again, you get the picture.

Thank you Florence, you may not welcome all of us, but some of us are going to get you to give up your gifts regardless.