Here Comes the Sun and the Palio

Saturday, May 24th

Yesterday (Saturday) was a fun and relaxing day. I was able to sleep in a bit and hang around before going out for the day. Lauren and I went around Siena and did a little shopping. We went to OVS, which is basically the Italian H&M or Forever 21. It has good prices and fun clothes. I bought, if you can believe it, a pair of gypsy pants. I've been seeing them all over Italy (apparently they are a very popular style over here) and decided to try on a black pair. AMAZING. They are the most comfortable and wonderful pants I have ever worn. They are, in essence, publicly acceptable sweatpants. I am in love with them.

Once I had purchased the pants of my dreams, we took a trip to the grocery store for some lunch food then sat in a park while we ate. It was a beautiful sunny day, just perfect for an outside lunch. It was one of those days where I fully realized that I am in Italy, and I couldn't be happier about it.

not kidding

After our lunch we went on one of our required Siena Walks (where we found a Mexican restaurant...in Italy) and then sat in the Piazza del Campo in the sunshine while we did some reading and studying for our final. Despite sitting out there for over two hours, I didn't get sunburned! Incredible! Lauren suggested something about afternoon sun angles and the atmosphere and science stuff that is probably correct, but I like to think that it means I got tanner (and it just hasn't shown up yet).
Either way, it was a lovely and relaxing day.

What I've noticed recently is that Siena feels like a home, a place where I live, not just a vacation spot. It's so normal—people eating in parks, going shopping, arguing, laughing—which for some reason I didn't expect. I expected it to be more foreign, but people are people, regardless of where you are in the world. Obviously I will be happy to be home with my family and friends in my own country, but I am definitely enjoying my time as a foreigner.

Sunday, May 25th

This morning we had church again, which was great. However, I have discovered that it is much easier to feel sleepy and stop paying attention when the meetings are in a foreign language. Constantly translating in your head takes considerable brainpower that might just start to wane by the third hour of church, especially if you didn't get much sleep (i.e. don't stay up really late Saturday night).

After church Shauna and I stayed in to work on homework because everything is still due on Tuesday, and I've got a long way to go. We planned to do a Siena Walk this afternoon with other people from our group, but a little thing called "Sunday naptime" got in the way. Because how can you have a Sunday without a nap after church? You can't, that's how.

Later on, after waking up and working on homework again, we took a break to go to the choosing of the contrade for the Palio.

Let me explain.

a small section of the piazza

The Palio is a huge horse race in Siena that happens twice a year, in July and August. Siena is divided up into regions, called "contrada"s, which are represented by different animals (for example, my host family's contrada is the Snail). In the Palio, ten contrade each put in a horse to race. Seven contrade are determined ahead of time, and the remaining three are chosen at random and presented in a ceremony, like the one I went to tonight. It seemed like the entire city of Siena was in the Piazza tonight! So many people, and such excitement. Siena is one big community and we could really feel that at the event tonight.

Overall this weekend was great but I probably should have gotten more schoolwork done . . . Tomorrow I meet with the director and learn more about my internship, and possibly start on Tuesday! I'm excited to find out more about the work I'll be doing for four weeks!

A domani,
Ciao!