Oh, Tuscany

Ho arrivato!!! I feel like I've been here seven weeks versus a day. Well, if you take away the whole I know absolutely NOBODY thing, then I feel like I've been here seven weeks. My insecurities swelled up within even the first couple of hours of arriving. I have a small (aka big) problem with large crowds so it was intimidating when 37 people showed up and they came in with their friends and established history and stories, kinda bringing a little bit of home with them. Here I am, little 'ol me, scared out of my mind, don't know what to say, thinking of something witty and then the time passes when it's even applicable. Bah. Lame. So these simple things make me miss my friends a tremendous amount and made me realize how much family they actually are to me. Despite this minor temporary set-back, I am exciting about living with and getting to know these people who all have a fearless passion for what they do. Dance and theatre live in the same world and that's what we're all here for. We're here to learn from each other and grow with each other and be a part of the shifting and changing that will happen in the next few months. After I'm done, I'll have known these people my whole life. They're all artsy and friendly and alive and it feels good to even be in their presence because they are in love, not with each other, but with life. And that's what it's all about. So even if I'm lurking around in the darkness, being the creepy girl, tagging along to random things, not saying anything, laughing at jokes I don't really get, I feel like we're all going to be really good friends. And soon enough, I will laugh for real and get the jokes. You better believe it. It's already happening.

So there's the whole people thing. The country side. Well, I'm in tuscany so you can imagine that it is absolutely breathtaking. Yesterday as we were driving in from the airport, the sun-kissed Tuscan hills were mind-blowingly beautiful. And even today, they're mist-covered-ness didn't stop them from still being mesmerizing. I think that we have the best view right where we are in our little villa which is actually older than the United States of good 'ol America. It used to be a summer home for a Cardinal (not sure which one) as well as a place where the Medicis studied. It's got some history needless to say. It sits on top of a hill (the deadliest hill ever climbed...even more deadly than the one we had to climb in Lugano, Switzerland...now that's saying something) that gives us a perfect view of the valley. There is a roof that is accessible by a staircase that's on top of our theatre space that allows you to see clearly for a really long time. Last night was a clear, crisp night and a couple of us (I was the lurker girl) went to the roof and the city below us was lit up and alive. It was like looking down into a pool of water that was reflecting the stars off its glassy surface. The lights twinkled and danced and I couldn't believe I was back. I'm actually back in Italy. Back.

I'm experiencing under-the-surface euphoria and am kinda numb about the whole thing at the same time. It's sooooo much to take in all at once. And it's hitting me at once. I need to break it down. Along with the amazing scenery and my creatively independent, fun-loving, care-free, amazingly artsy future friends there is also this whole theatre thing that's the actual reason that I'm here. We've had most of part one of our two day orientation and I'm getting the impression that this is going to be intense. Which is what I wanted. So today we're going over the classes we're going to take and we have community meetings with everybody and have cabarets every once in a while . . . and then . . . there is this golden opportunity that I am taking hold of kinda like grabbing a baby elephant by ears. One of our people, i guess, instructers (?) (His name is Mike, how 'bout that) is a published playwright so he is going to teach a Comedy Playwriting workshop!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How exciting is that?!!! WAY! That's how exciting it is. We are going on two excursions with the whole group. One to Roccastrada to see our commedia instructor, Marcello, in a one-man show. He has been doing this show for years and won't be doing it for much longer so we're hopping on that ship before it sails. This man is amazing!! Marcello Bartoli is his name and Commedia dell'Arte is his game. He won the "Maschera d'oro" for best actor and only a few others have won this award (which include Dario Fo). He's the founder of a theatre company called I Fratellini and has played many many principle roles. Amazing opportunity here. And then we have our movment instuctor, Claudia, who was a part of the circus in Berlin and just moved to Arezzo a couple of weeks ago with her Greek boyfriend...random. Greek(?). I love it. On our tour of the campus, we went into the mask workshop area and saw some of the masks that students from last semester had made, why these students did not take these masks with them I do not know, but they were the real deal. For real commedia masks. No joke. And they looked like they had been professionally made which is huge! because I am artistically challenged when it comes to make intricate things with my hands. I could do it with my feet, but they're saying we have to use hands. I am so excited about this entire experience and we are just getting started. We've already had a love fest which included lots of group hugs and have jumped into the deliciousness of food here.

I'm definitely looking forward to what is coming up next and I don't want to tell you everything quite yet.

Pictures next time.