venti giorni

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

I have never felt closer to admittance into a psych ward than I did today.

We walked ‘til our feet were blistered, took notes ‘til our wrists kinked with carpal tunnel, stood till our knees locked, baked in the sun until our skin was leather, and looked at a million identical churches until our brains were the same consistency as our pasta dinner.

Dramatic? Maybe. But remember, I’m a psych ward patient!

It must have been something in the water, because every single one of us was dragging today. Even the passionate art history students were feeling the burn. I’m almost certain 7 of every 10 things out of our mouths were complaints. We’re all so tired and exhausted and burned out and stressed. We take our final exam on Monday. We’re away from the hotel and our notes/computers from Friday ‘til Sunday while we’re in Pisa and Cinque Terre, so we have to do all of our studying before we leave. On top of all the stress and lack of sleep, today had some of the longest notes and most monotonous string of churches.

We saw the Franciscan Church of Florence. It included the Bardi Chapel, the Peruzzi Family Chapel, the Tomb of Leonardo Bruni, and the Pazzi Chapel. After that, we ventured over to the Florence Cathedral and saw many monuments to great military leaders and paintings of the Last Judgment and Dante’s Divine Comedy. Lastly, we conquered the Church of San Lorenzo, Medici Family Library, Church of St. Lawrence and its New and Old Sacristies. (Imagine how bored you were reading that list… It was almost as boring seeing it in real life!)

It took all we had to stay in the game. I felt like I was strapped into a strait-jacket, in a pitch black room with all four walls closing in, and someone tapping at a slow and steady pace on my forehead. Psych ward material, right? As I neared a public freak-out, we were finally dismissed.

With only 3 hours to kill before dinner, I came back to the hotel and spent time catching up on my journal, emailing my homies (that’s YOU –cue warm fuzzies), and studying for the final.

By the way, I have never even touched green beans in my entire life and I scarfed down every last one on my plate tonight. I hope that puts into perspective for you how desperate I am for food. All I’ve eaten for 3 weeks is carbs and cheese… I was desperate for any sort of vitamin, even if it meant plugging my nose and swallowing green beans whole! Luckily, once or twice a week, they’ll serve fruit for dessert. I’d take an apple over tiramisu any day!

Have I mentioned how excited I am to see you guys? 9 more days! EEK!

Xoxo,

Wit