Tuesday

Yesterday morning I woke up at 7, and Becky, Annie, Kate and I worked out until 7:45. After a quick shower and a breakfast of french toast, we tidied up. Today the monastery had to be extra clean and presentable because the bishop and mayor were coming to visit. They arrived at 9, when class started, so we began our class without our teacher, since Dr Skillen was giving them a tour. At 9:30, they came into the classroom, and after a brief discourse on the goings on of our class, the bishop blessed us, praying that we would use our intellect to the glory of God (or something along those lines). Skillen of course had us recite the opening lines of the Inferno in Italian for them just to show off.
A bit after that both classes got to go down to the Refectory and talk a bit with the bishop and mayor over some refreshments.
Yesterday was a beautiful day, but unfortunately, almost all of it was spent inside studying. Our exam was today, and since Skillen has a habit of going on tangential rants during class, none of us had any idea what we were supposed to be studying.
At 6:45, we presented our group project, which was a combination of mini lectures and a game show/skit and discussion. While the preparation for it was a lot of work, the actual presentation was pretty fun. The game show was called "Judgment Day" and had 3 mini games within it called Where in the hell is Dante?, in which contestants had to guess which circle of hell Dante was in, based on what was acted out. The second round was called Damn Right, a game in which a damned soul's sins were presented and contestants had to send them to the right circle of hell. The last game was Fit the Crime, and contestants had to label the appropriate sin and give sinners the correct punishment, according to Dante's Divine Comedy.
That went over well though, and everyone was pretty happy since we got to have cake and wine.
Dinner was pizza night, and while I love pizza, it was unfortunate because pizza night always runs long. Last night especially so, since it was Eli's birthday and they served cake and Mauro sang to him. Finally, at around 9:30 we headed back to the monastery, but before we could study, we had a quick choir practice. It was after 10 before I started my studying, and it was the start of a long night.
I don't know what relevance it will hold in the future, but if you ever want to know what happens in the first 11 cantos of the Inferno, Purgatorio, or Paradiso, I'd be happy to inform you.
Tomorrow we will recite the first 18 lines of The Inferno in Italian, and after that this class will finally be done. The new teachers arrive this weekend, and no one will be sad to see the end of Skillen's Dante class. Monday begins British and American Writers in Italy, taught by the chair of the Gordon English department.