Day 21: crunch time.

As September begins to end, so does our Renaissance Studies class. And with it, comes the pressure every student knows well: finals. While most college students are a mere quarter of the way through their semester, we've had the equivalent of 4 months of this class, compressed into 3 weeks. Tensions are not as high as one might think, considering that 22 students must memorize 80 paintings and over 50 terms, write a paper on a piece of art from the renaissance, and prepare and give a group presentation on elements from the Orvieto Duomo...all in 3 days.
My paper is on Donatello's Mary Magdalene statue, and while it's challenging, I've enjoyed researching it, so it really hasn't been that stressful (of course, I haven't finished it yet). I'm paired with John for my presentation, and we must research the presence of Dante's purgatory in the frescoes in the San Brizio chapel in town. This would have been much less enjoyable were John not such a gifted musician and entertainer. While studying in the Sala last evening, John whipped out his ukelele and began his narration of Purgatorio in musical form. The tune caught on, and every now and then you might hear the sounds of "Dante......Dante......" drifting through the corridors.
On the whole, finals week is not that bad here. And even if it were, I feel that the fact that I'm surrounded by the Italian countryside would make it enjoyable. Nothing seems quite so bad when you can look out your window past the tufa cliffs and see the mountains rising in the distance. This place is magical, and I adore it more with every day I spend here.