Day 58: Pool Parrr-taaayyy

Wednesday - July 14, 2010:

Are you worried about me? Well, no need. Don't worry -- the Chigi Palace has not swallowed me whole... yet. It got real close today, considering we literally had class all day. But I'm still alive and kickin' -- so no need to fret.

Like, I said I was consumed by class this Wednesday so I didn't have the time/energy/strength/spare creativity to post. My apologies, so I will catch you up on my day real quickly.

I had high aspirations to get up and run before class, but my late night surge of energy left me feeling sleep deprived -- resulting in hitting my snooze five times and, thus, no morning jog. But I did manage to get up and walk to class. We first had class with Andrea Sorrentino, the costume designer who gave us our tour of the Tirelli Costume Factory yesterday. For class, he lectured us on the history of costume in Italy, which was basically a brief summary of the class I took this past spring (minus the all essay exam). During the lecture, he did a few sketches of different women's undergarments so we could get a visual of what they looked like. Of if I could only sketch like Andrea! They were phenomenal sketches -- I wanted to take them and frame them. I guess he should be a good sketcher considering the famous designer, Roberto Capucci, was his teacher... he learned from one of the best!

After Andrea filled us with knowledge of Armani, Valentino and Versace and taught us the difference between a crinoline cage and a panier (Google these torture garments -- I wouldn't have survived back then), we then had Livio Iacuitti. This is the same sweet man that lectured us on Monday. But today he taught us the process of detaching a Fresco from a wall. It was a very impressive lecture and I am amazed that this man has successfully detached 500+ year old Frescoes in Italy. Just like the art restoration, it is such a tedious task.

These two classes went from 10:00-12:30. After Livio's lecture, we had to have three more Current Events and Social Issues Lectures (Because, long story short, 3 girls traveled to Paris this past weekend and their flight back to Rome on Sunday got cancelled. And a flight back on Monday and Tuesday was $400+, so they had to settle on an 18 hour train ride back as last resort. So they didn't get back until Tuesday afternoon, meaning they missed the 4 hour presentations on Monday, so they did theirs today). So Katie, Stacy and Chelsea gave their A+++ presentations before we broke for lunch.

Due to the extra presentations, our lunch break was cut short and we only had 2:00-3:00 for our break. Our schedule told us our afternoon class with Maurizio started at 3:00... but the Italian schedule must have said 3:30 because we waited and waited and waited outside in the blazing sun for someone to open the door to the Chigi classroom. Italian time... they say teachers being 15+ minutes late late is normal -- we told them that at Auburn if a teacher is 15 minutes late to class, that means we get to leave. Another cultural difference! So Maurizio finally comes after 30 minutes and he gives us a lecture on branding. Then his wife, Rossella, finishes up our afternoon lecture time with a Greek Mythology Power Point. She wrapped up her philosophy talk at 5:30 and we all bolted back to our room to cram in rest, Skype time, snacking and computer time in the one hour break before our scheduled dinner.

Even though the last thing I wanted to do after being in class for six and a half hours was socialize at a pool party, I put on my "big girl panties" (figure of speech) and went. That's # on my list -- "Get up, dress up and show up." I should probably fill you in -- we have a pool party at 6:30 at Marco and Mary Lou's house! So, the entire group leaves the palace and we walk to their house.

Marco and Mary Lou have a PAD! Their house, or rather, their villa/lot of land on which they have multiple houses, is so cute! It's like a little hide-away, hidden by palm trees, terracotta roofs and gravel walkways. We got there, Mary Lou shooed us out of the kitchen and sent us to the pool area. We were greeted by three splashing children immersed in Mary Lou and Marco's pool. Yes, Maurizio and Rossella's precious children joined us in our pool party activities! I am so excited because I am obsessed with these children, they are so cute. So we hung out by the pool, testing the kids on their English (the boys, Bruce and Mario, are 9 and 11, respectively) -- they have both attended English Camp in the mountains of Umbria, Italy... how cool is that? And both passed all of our tests with flying colors -- they spoke great English, I was so blown away!! And then there's Vega.. their little 6 year old girl. She is so hysterical. She doesn't speak a lick of English, so she couldn't understand us, but she just smiled and played along with all of our jokes! Even Maurizio got in the pool and joined in on the rough-housing activities! It was the cutest thing.

{Pool party timeee!!}

{A Maurizio family tower!!}

{Mary Lou and Marco joined us by the pool also, sharing as many stories as time would allow}

{Peek jumped in the pool with her clothes on and then floated... It looks like she's unconcious but I promise she's not}

{Lindsey, Katelyn and Ashley listening intently to Marco and Mary Lou}

{Vega (who's embracing the European-ness and going topless), Mario and Bruce playing darts}

And then we were called for dinner, and we all bolted up the steps and to the kitchen. On the menu was cold pasta with tomato, feta and basil... quiche and salad. It was a great dinner -- I should've known since Mary Lou was cooking! So we all sat outside at different tables, enjoying the night. There were tiki torches lining the sidewalk, adding to the tropical feel and there were citronella candles all along the tables -- reminding me that it really is summertime (there is something about the smell of citronella candles that instantly gives me a visual image of me sitting on the screened-in porch of our lake house, playing cards. I miss it!) Dinner was so fun -- we just got to relax and enjoy summer. I didn't want it to end! But sadly it did. And we said our thank you's and goodbyes and all headed back to the Chigi.

{The eating area! A little green oasis}

{Mary Lou and Marco eating up by themselves... I want to be like them when I grow up, they are precious and love life and love their kids and love everything. I'm obsessed}

The pool party totally redeemed my all day class day -- thank you Mary Lou and Marco! They said we were welcome to come back anytime and I told them that they might not want to say that because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to take them up on that offer... afternoon dip in the pool? Yes please!