The Clock in the Church

I have been meaning to write about this ever since I returned back to Cannes. Last weekend I traveled to Florence. It was an exhausting trip, full of good food, walking, being lost and confused, dancing, long bus rides, and lots of historical discovery.
One part of the trip, that hasn't left my mind since I saw it, was visiting The Duomo of Florence. Basically it's the really big church that the city was built around. The outside of the church is quite extravagent, but upon entering the large space is mostly plain and simple. The altar in the front of the church is special and has more statues and colors, overhead there is a large fresco depicting judgement day. Although not aimed for a comical effect, I thought the skeletons were funny.

This cathedral seemed like most cathedrals I have seen, large and awesome, but in the back of the church is a clock. Built in 1443, it still works to this day. There are 24 roman numberals, sunset is maked by 24, the four is iiii not iv, and it moves counterclockwise.

At first I just thought this clock was cool because it stood out against the plainness of the interior of the church, and is an historical wonder. But of corse, I thought more. It seemed funny to me to have a clock, a measure of time, in a church, a place of worship. But not as funny considered that the Duomo was not just a place of worship but a symbol of power. Does time matter when making the effort to be with God in a designated place on Earth? Regardless of that answer the clock shows how much power the Catholic church had. The Church was able to plan, design, and construct this time peice, and designated it as law. It was decided how the time should be measured- with 24 roman numerals, and that it was important to have this information available in the inside of the the church, and was constructed with the intentions of lasting longterm- of which it was a success in doing.

When I was gazing upon the clock, I thought about time in my own life. I have been in Cannes for 3 weeks- 3 very memorable week that I will work to relive in my mind forever. I also feel that no time has passed at all, which makes me think how fast June is going to come. This adds to my urgency of living every moment as much as possible. Taking this mindset with me, I definitely rocked Florence, and I know I will be talking about my experiences here for quite some time to come.

Il est important de dire l'évident.

quick before i go to class

at night
I tried to climb
an orange tRee
I only found
the leaves I
could not reach
the orange
the group walked
and my boots slammed
against the
sidewalk to
catch up

Expressions Françaises Utiles

J'étudie le français chaque jour. J'apprends beaucoup quand je ne suis pas dans la classe. Ci-dessous, c'est une liste des expressions Françaises Utiles.

• d'accord: O.K.
• ouistiti: what you say when you smile, meaning small monkey
• des oufs brouillés: scrambled eggs
  
• un frigo: casual for the refrigerator
  
• Je m'en fiche! : I don't care, no preference
• clocharde: bag lady
• Bon Anniversaire: Happy Birthday
• le rêve: dream
• mon chéri/ma chéríe: my darling
• C'est une blague: It's a joke
• le ciel est blue: the sky is blue
• C'est claire! : It's understandable/clear
• Il est Réalisateur: He is the director
• La vie est belle? : Is life beautiful?
• Faites l'amour pas la guerre! : Make love not war
• Amour et Paix : Love and Peace

I'm glad people read this

Hello blog readers, I would just like to say thank you for reading my blog. It makes me happy.

A small update. This weekend I'm going to Florence. I hope I don't suffer from Stendhal Syndrome . I think it's funny that even exists, at least according to wikipedia.

Today I saw a movie, Je Crois Que Je L'aime. I only partly understood, being that it was in French. But it was a romantic comedy, and the plot was straight forward so I got the point. It was dificult to have to focus my brain to understand the language for such an extended amount of time without any other distractions, but about a quarter way into the film I almost forgot I was hearing French, a foreign language, and instead just understood it as the language that I am trying to learn. So I quickly aculmated to having to understand the film in French. The theater we went to was within walking distance of school and it was a nice sunny walk along the sea. Entrance cost only 3 Euro, which is always appreciated. It was the first film I had seen in the movie theater since.... I don't remember when. So it was enjoyable to sit in a red seat. Also it made me smile to go to a movie at 2:30 in the afternoon on a Tuesday because that seemed to be a popular time for the senior citizens of cannes to enjoy the movies. And I would also like to add that the senior citizens of Cannes are definitely the happiest and able to enjoy life that I have ever seen.

J'écris

Un

Blasts of confetti
in the air
you understand
I can feel it here too
Now, with a new perspective

Deux

Read Kerouac
Listen Yorke
I write
Cannes, France
only now

Trois

I'm a foreigner
in a new place
I haven't been lost
not surprised
I choose my words
language
communication

répéter s'il vous plaît

Wordy and Dramatic

Being away from home is a completely obvious factor in the study abroad experience. It’s so obvious that it seems almost unnecessary to even think about, however it can be a very overwhelming a prominent thought, especially in my mind. Before I left I didn’t think of the distance or the time away as a problem. Ever. Really it seemed like that would only a benefit of studying abroad- that I would get to leave. And I also thought that the distance wouldn’t really matter because I could still communicate with people via post, phone, and the Internet. Funnily enough I have decided that sometimes these other forms of communication can make me feel even more far away from home. It’s a bummer when no one is online to talk, or I find myself waiting around for a response on fb or email, or I call and there is no answer. And it’s even worse when I get a response that has bad news or something painful or hurtful entailed. But then again, there’s always the other side when I get an unexpected message or someone just being a fantastic friend. So it’s important to take the good with the bad, because together they create a balance, but when I’m in an exaggerated state of being –example in a foreign country- it’s harder to keep that importance of balance in mind.
I have decided that the best way to correct this negative effect of communication is to put a stronger emphasis on the now and the here, especially in my relationships with other people, which maybe until now I didn’t care too much about, since I had this extreme mentality that I was here really just for myself, which I am, but in order to help myself I have to be able to communicate effectively with people here both with people in France and with other exchange students. However, even now it is hard to communicate with people here because people are often on their computers, ipods, or cell phones quite often. Or the case is sometimes that people here are more preoccupied with what is going on at their respective homes or past events. Granted we’ve been here only a little more than a week, and routines and people are still settling down and working themselves out.
So my point is after this very wordy and overly dramatic that it is important to live, act, and think in the present, here, and now.

Dimanche

Monaco is its own country.

A perfect place to explore on a Sunday.
The buildings are colorful and all right on top of each other.
The streets are windy and narrow
It was the sunniest day I've seen in France so far
One giant rain cloud
but the sun was shinning right through it
making the sky really pretty.
my camera ran out of batteries.
i made some sketches
went to an aquarium,
i stared at some colorful fish for a while
we went to the Monte Carlo casino, and then we left
and went to this crazy medieval place called Eze,
and climbed a whole bunch of stairs to an amazing view of the area.

I've been in Cannes for one week.
It's still new, but much more comfortable.
But going to a new place, even only 25 minutes away
made me remember how BIG THE WORLD IS
overwhelmingly so
i have much more to explore the next four months

La langue française

I would like to take the time to write a non cryptic message about how much I have come to appreciate the French Language. Starting classes this week has given me fuller understanding of how important and necessary it is to be able to communicate with another person in a different language. I feel like I learn so much both in and out of class each day, improving my French, and I can only imagine what my language ability will be like at the end of these four months. Something interesting about learning a new language is how I've held onto the Spanish that I have learned, and how for some reason I have a tendency to speak in Spanish when I don't have the words in French. It can be frustrating to communicate because I can understand others easily but don't always know what to speak.
We have class Monday through Friday from nine to noon, and for the month of February we are only taking French class to allow us to really focus on the language without the work of other classes. As we progress we will be placed in higher level classes depending on how we improve. Soon I intend on writing my blog posts in French, since I will be using French to communicate in every other aspect of life here.

On an unrelated, but equally as important topic: I am trying to figure out where exactly I should venture to during Spring Break. I have a whole week and nothing planned and I should figure this out soon... if anyone has any suggestions please leave a comment or let me know.

I also intend on uploading my amazing and lovely pictures and videos to flicker soon, more anticipation is necesary.

making lists

my notebook is full of lists
this is a transcription

pdx apple fritter with mom
obama convo overheard
the dutchess- inflight to chicago
big green & small and mighty
science museum free
water cycle- world of mirrors
dinosaurs ecology darwin

On land and in the sea life on Earth is powered by a single energy source.

Monet made my makeup messy.

Things that Rock:
the Mediterranean Sea
balconey from room
french maid service
not showering
night air

this is incomplete. off to sunday brunch.