Week 3

It is Tuesday, January 19. It is going well here in Tuscany. It was raining the past few days, but it is a little sunnier and warmer now. When it rains and for about a day afterwards, it is very humid. The landscape below the hill becomes filled with fog. I have finally got a bicycle to use for exercise. The hostel keeper, Sergio, a very nice man, has lent me his two bikes. Earlier, I was wanting to rent a bike from a shop in a nearby village, but when I phoned them, they told me that it would cost 300 euros to rent one for two months. So I was then going to try to find a bike to buy and see if that would cost less, but before I did that, Sergio told me he would let me use his bikes. One is a mountain bike, and the other a cruiser. Saturday I took the mountain bike out. I visited the Cortona cemetary. It is impossible to ride a flat course here, because the terrain is so hilly. But that makes for good exercise too. I have biked a couple more times up to now. Tomorrow I hope to go swimming at the public pool of the neighbouring town. Last Friday, I had my first school trip. it was for my history of Medieval Rome class. We visited plenty of churches, and the Arch of Constantine. My favourite stop was the church of San Clemente. The "modern" one, built in the 12th century, stands above the former church, built in the 5th century, which itself is above some structures of antique Rome, including a Mithraic temple. Saturday and Sunday I stayed in Cortona. For mass on Sunday, I went to the Cathedral of Cortona. There are so many churches here for such a small city--twenty churches. The patron saint of the city was actually an inhabitant of Cortona. She is Santa Margerita di Cortona. My classes are going well. I particularly enjoy mortuary anthropology and the history of Rome. I went to a museum today for my classics class. This Friday I have my second field trip, for the same class, history. This time, we will go to Spoletto, which is southeast of here. A bunch of people are planning to go to Venice for the Carnaval. I will go too. I have almost got over my cold. I hope all is well in Canada. I have heard about the earth quake in Haiti. It is extremely tragic. I found out that the brother of my French professor of last winter term died. I feel isolated here, so I try to check the news online every once in a while. That is all for now.
mc