The Villa had a little joke thanks to Terry Forster (my roommate’s Dad) that Villa le Balze had the makings of a fabulous novel. One of our directors is named Kelly D’Innocenti (Kelly the Innocent) and our Italian teacher’s name is Imperatrice di Passio (Empress of Passion). Well, the Villa certainly has a great setting for a novel, but sadly, I only had time for a few blog posts. With that, I present you, the last blog…
During my semester at Villa le Balze, I have realized that Florence is much more than a Renaissance city. In the beginning of the semester, I spent most of my free time exploring the museums, and churches of Florence. For example, I visited the Uffizi, Or San Michele, Palazzo Pitti, Piazza Michelangelo, the Strozzi Palace, Palazzzo Medici-Ricardo, and Santa Maria Novella, among many others. At these historic sites, I saw how fourteenth-century Florence was a center for European cultural and artistic splendor. Atop the Campanile, it is easy to think that Florence has not changed much. The skyline is dominated by the Duomo, which is surrounded by uniform roofs, house colors and shutters, all reminiscent of Renaissance Florence.
The Vasari Corridor!
My classes at the Villa only compounded this fixation on Florence as a Renaissance city. In Theology, we learned about the complex history of the Papacy, the warring city-states, and the confluence of different religion. This was complemented by Government, in which Professor Spini gave us a sense of the multiple identities of Florentines as a Florentine, Tuscan, Italian, and citizen of the EU. In Italian Cinema, we learned about how much Italians take pride in their homes, artistic creativity and history. “Open City” showed Italian resistance in World War Two. “Blow Up” showed the magnificence of Italian cinematography and imagery, and “Cinema Paradiso” is an homage to Italian cinema in itself. Most importantly, the class taught me that Italian directors have an uncanny ability to take regular children and make them into prodigy actors (notably in “Io non ho paura”, “Cinema Paradiso” and “Life is Beautiful”). In Italian language we learned how fourteenth-century Tuscan dialect helped shape modern-day Italian. We also learned critical phrases such as che barba! (how boring!), and ho un fame de lupa! (I’m starving/hungry like a wolf!).
In the first part of the semester, it was much harder to meet Italians. Surprisingly, using idiomatic phrases from a textbook and being able to count to 18 are not skills conducive to friend-making. This difficulty made me focus on the more ancient and Renaissance Florence because I felt isolated from the modern city. A unique aspect of the first half of the semester was the freedom to explore a somewhat empty Florence. Due to the unseasonably cold weather and because it wasn’t during the peak of tourist season, we were able to walk to the front of the line of the Accademia, and walk through Piazza della Signoria without dodging Japanese tour guides frantically pointing their umbrellas at tourists significantly more interested in a sign labeled Gelateria. I feel very lucky that I was able to see Michelangelo’s “David” with no one obstructing my view, and experience the inside of the Baptistery in quiet solitude.
The first part of the semester was wonderful in that it gave me the historical and cultural context to understand Renaissance Florence, but gradually my classes began discussing more current phenomena. In Government, we learned about what Italians, and more socialist Florentines think of Chancellor Angela Merkel. In City of Florence, we heard some criticism of Florence’s dynamic mayor. In Italian Cinema, we saw criticism of Fascism and the Holocaust turn more towards issues like class struggle, sexual politics (see “Swept Away”) and kidnapping (“Io non ho paura”). At a dinner hosted by our Italian Professor’s house, we were able to meet her daughter, son and two nephews. A few weekends later, Emma and I went out in Florence with her nephews and some of their friends and spoke quasi Italenglish, and had a wonderful time hearing about their experience all’Università di Firenze, and their soccer team.
I focused on modern Florence more in the latter part of the semester mainly because I had exhausted my original to do list. Therefore, I experimented with Tuscan cuisine and saw two operas (La Tosca & Anna Bolena). I sat and read in the Edison bookstore, drank tea and wrote papers in La Cité, people watched, and even went for one run along the Arno. I also finally was brave enough to enter the Alexandra in Wonderland of Miu Miu, Gucci, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana. However, most of my purchases came from vintage stores as I did a class project on vintage clothing in Florence (your welcome, Mom and Dad!).
As the tourist buses continued to fill the city, and the famous Tuscan sun finally emerged, my friends and I began to joke about being more similar to real Florentines than the obnoxious Spring Breakers. Although a Florentine would laugh in disgust at this, it was at least a nice sentiment that we had grown to know and love the city—however, there’s nothing like leaving your I-phone in a cab to remind you of your foreign-ness… I will always look back at my time in Florence as an opportunity to see the absolute best of human creativity, but also find joy in wandering the streets by myself, eventually finding the Arno, and watching a rower scull his way under the Ponte Vecchio.
A dopo, Firenze!
