Week 9

My term in Cortona is just about over. On Wednesday and Thursday I will write my final exams, and I'll check out of the hostel on Friday. I have made up a tentative travel plan: northern Italy, maybe a short dip into France, Croatia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, maybe Spain, and then finish in the UK and maybe Ireland. I am very much looking forward to traveling. It is making it hard to concentrate on my studies. I have two papers to write and three exams to study for. Since the trip to Campagnia, I have not traveled as much. Last Thursday, the 26th, we had a party for the birthday of a young man who works at the hostel as a sort of assistant/supervisor. The theme was superheros. There were some good costumes. I decided to be Zorro, so I dressed all in black, with black gloves, and I made a mask out of one of my socks! The big excitement last week was the wrap up of the Olympics and, for me, the men's hockey team's quest for gold. For both the quarter-final and the semi-final matches, I went to bed early and then had to get up early in the morning, 1:30 and 3:30 respectively, to watch the games. Since the games were not broadcasted on Italian television, at least not the channels we get at the hostel, we/I had to stream the game online from a website that was hard to find. Anyway, we found a way. Then, we got about 25 together for the gold medal game on Sunday night. It was awesome. It began at 9:15 pm our time--good timing actually. Of course, we had to stream it online again. I was impressed by the speed and defence of Team USA. It made for a close game. The result: Canada 3, USA 2! I'm sure all 3 floors of the hostel could hear us when Crosby scored in overtime. Last weekend I wrote a short final assignment for my anthropology class. It was a reflection/analysis of the field trip to the catacombs. On Sunday there was an antique market in Cortona. I went and bought a little keychain. On Tuesday for my anthropology class, our professor sent us to the local cemetary to study identity and fashion in mortuary practices here. On Wednesday, many of us went to Siena to listen to some speeches given by the Canadian ambassador to Italy and the former president of the University of Toronto. The topic was Canada's response to terrorism; it was an extra-curricular. I quite enjoyed it. The professor's main point was that the state must not "overreact" to the terrorist threat. Civil liberties ought to be balanced with public security measures. I agreed. The University of Alberta paid for a charter bus to take us there and back, and we were back for supper, albeit a late one. Yesterday, Friday, I had my last field trip of the term. It was for my Classics class. We went to Rome (my fourth time there on this trip). We visited some ruins: the Column of Trajan, his market and basilica, the forums of Augustus and Julius Caesar, the Pantheon, and the Capitoline Museum. Last night I went out with my friends to the local pub for karaoke night. I requested a song, but they didn't play. I assume they didn't have it. Anyway, we were all singing along to the songs we knew. Some were in Italian too. This weekend I will focus, again, on school work. Tonight I will go to the swimming pool down the hill and meet my friends at a restaurant for a fancy dinner. Ciao.
Michael