Update!

So!  I apologize for not having posted in a while, but I'm just getting oriented her in Orvieto, and now I have several sagas to relay, so hopefully you'll find this more interesting than the average post! :)

Tuesday was a "orienting yourselves to Orvieto" day and we did a tour of the town with the program director showing us all sorts of cool and useful places in town (including the shop where we get styrofoam boxes for shipping wine, so Dad and Auntie Deb, there are bottles coming your way! :) ).

Wednesday was an excursion to the public library in town which houses (according to the locals) one of only two sonically perfect spaces in the country (and, according to the locals, perhaps the world!).  Professor Doll (the program director) had us watch an Italian film made just after World War II and the fall of fascism in Italy.  It was entitled (in English) Bicycle Thieves, and was a very interesting, if depressing, movie.  The director wanted to show what life was like at that time, free of of any softening.  Interestingly enough, the director (as part of this honest effort) hired only non-professional actors.  I recommend this movie if you're looking for an interesting movie to wrestle with, but it's definitely not an easy, fun watch...

Thursday was the dinners at the houses of various Orvietani (the residents of Orvieto) who are all friends of the program.  I and four of my fellow students went to the home of Luca and Elisa (Elisa is the sister of our Italian instructor/cultural guide, Alessandro).  They have three children; Chiara (Clare in English), aged 6, Francesco, aged 3, and Maria, approximately 1 year old.  We arrived at 8pm for dinner (as per usual; they eat dinner late here), and were greeted at the door by all three children and Elisa.  Once we came in and took off our coats, we were immediately grabbed by the children, who gabbed at us in Italian the whole night.  Chiara and Francesco wanted us to play with them, so we hit a balloon back and forth for quite a while before we sat down to a delicious dinner.  The first course was a lasagna (pasta al forno here; order lasagna and they'll give you just the pasta!) and the second was a salad and a chicken and peas dish.  Everything was delicious!  We managed to create an Italian--English--Spanish mixed language that served as the mode of communication for the evening.  Seeing as we've only had one lesson in Italian, we did pretty well!  We did our best to communicate, and since the food was great, we had quite the nice evening!

Fridays we don't have classes, so yesterday we headed out on a hike to the other side of the valley across the other side of town.  Orvieto is a city built into and on top of a cliff, so we had to go down the cliff (they have escalators going up and stairs going down), cross the valley, and head up the hill on the other side to a Capuchin monastery most of the way up the hill.  It was quite a hike up the hill (I use hill since it's not technically a mountain, but most of my fellow Illinois residents would probably call it a mountain), and required several stops, but once we made it even just part of the way up, the view was gorgeous!  Since I forgot to pack my camera in my backpack I packed for the hike, there are no pictures of that (sorry!!!) but since I fully intend on making that trip again, I think I can say in all honesty, pictures of that to come!

Once we made it up the hill, we headed into the monastery.  I don't think I can really put into words the calm that just swept over all of us just in passing through the threshold of the monastery.  No, it wasn't because we were there and there were no more steep inclines; we had to climb up further to get to the actual buildings.  It was just truly peaceful there.  Interestingly enough, just 50 years ago, this monastery had been uninhabited and in ruins, and the site of lots of witchcraft and kids escaping to do stuff they wouldn't get away with anywhere else.  It was after WWII that an ex-general from the Italian army who'd had a powerful conversion experience and become a Capuchin monk decided to ask the Vatican for permission to rebuild the monastery and exorcise the demons from the area.  He rebuilt the monastery (which is still inhabited by a small number of monks), and is actually a local hero.  The monastery was gorgeous with its view overlooking the entire plateau on which Orvieto sits, and its olive trees, magnolia trees, and simple, beautiful buildings.  I really can't express the peacefulness of that place.  It was a pleasure to be there and just sit and admire God's creation.

After that, we made our way slowly back to Orvieto and the monastero San Paolo and collapsed completely exhausted on our own beds!  We didn't even do anything else all day until we had our scheduled dinner at the Locanda del Lupo!

Some of us went to a candlelight demonstration in the town; the local bishop (for rather convoluted reasons that really only make sense if you're here and are introduced to the culture) is being dismissed for mostly political reasons, and the Orvietani wanted to show their support for the bishop despite what is considered a for sure decision from the Vatican that will be announced tomorrow (Sunday).  The bishop is a dearly loved figure here; he really has made an effort to become part of the lives of the Orvietani, and they really love him for that.  He has actually been a good friend of the Gordon-in-Orvieto program, as well, and we here at the program will feel his loss as well!  So, needless to say, it was a rather emotionally charged atmosphere.  But it was well received by the bishop, and I think the people appreciated the opportunity to show their support for the man who has reinvigorated the spiritual life of the Catholic Church here in Orvieto.

Today was our excursion to Assisi, mostly known nowadays for being the home of St. Francis.  We started at San Damiano, the site of Francis' calling from God to "rebuild His church."  It was a beautiful site, surrounded by olive groves.  Assisi is on the side of a mountain and overlooks a rather sizable plain, and the view from San Damiano overlooked the whole thing.  It was absolutely amazing.

From there we headed past the church of Santa Chiara (St. Clare), another local saint and a contemporary of St. Francis.  I ate my lunch on the steps of what used to be a Roman temple to Minerva!  The clash of contemporary life in a hugely historical setting has fascinated me about this culture!  After lunch we headed into the Basilica of San Francesco (basically, the church created to honor and dedicated to St. Francis).  This is a huge church!  There are two levels to this church; the basilica/church at the top, and another church underneath.  It's still a functioning monastery, and is absolutely beautiful.

I have to go, as we're actually going to dinner early, but I will fill you in on any other important details later!

Buona sera!

P.S.  The photos were taking forever and a day to load, so I'm going to dinner and I'll do it tomorrow.  :) Sorry!

Buona sera! Ciao!