The students only had class Monday-Wednesday this week, and then had free time to travel and explore! This weeks Adalife bloggers are theatre students Blake Peebles, Rowan Halpin, Sarah Cook, and Sophia Richter!

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It’s a long weekend, and everyone has headed off to various corners of the continent. Some to Austria, some to Amsterdam, and everywhere in-between. There are only five of us left here on campusfor the remaining 4 days, and while you may think that would be boring, it’s anything but. The Villa is old, magnificent, and when it isn’t filled with the sound of pianos playing and theatre students “tremoring”, quite peaceful. The average sound of ADA is one of bustling activity and art-creation. Nearly always, every room is filled with folks of both musical and theatrical background working together towards a greater understanding of art, or more often than not, just goofing around and making stuff. Now that they are all gone, however, there is an eerily peaceful silence that presides over this place that is the abandoned villa, and the honest-to- god majesty of the Arezzo countryside. Some highlights: you can only find when you get up a 7am to juggle on the roof of the Teatrino (at night, the noises coming from the building make it seem haunted, If you’re into ghosts this rules, if (like me) you are not, this gives you a good excuse to take full advantage of the unburdened wifi and watch anything you want in the light and warmth of the living room. In the mornings, you can walk the entire property with a jaunty gait as though you are a wealthy noble surveying your property. No one is around to see you, so take full advantage of the pianos and practice spaces and belt your heart out, juggle your hands off, or do what I did and re-create scenes from famous movies using makeshift sets from the things you can find In the Teatrino. And last but certainly not least, nap on the couch. It’s so gosh darn comfy. Well I’m off to stand on the Teatrino roof and lose myself in the beautiful night sky until my comrades-in- art return. I bid you, blog, a fond adieu.

Rowen Halpin (Skidmore College) Sarah Cook (Barnard College) and Sophia Richter (Muhlenberg College) came up with this list for the future ADA students!

#VillaHacks

Here’s our list of tips and tricks for surviving in our Medici villa!

– To open the Limo: turn the key all the way to the right. Keep turning it even when it feels like it should stop

– Your zafu is your own personal couch when all the couches are taken

– Fill up your water bottle in the Mensa: the water is colder

– Bring your zafu to lectures with Scott

– Just get two pieces of tiramisu, you know you’ll want it (this also goes for lasagna)

– Get to the Mensa early

– Never tell people you’re going to Pam, they’ll ask you to buy them everything

– Always tell people you’re going to Pam, it’s a great walk and a great way to make friends!

– Get the philosophy reading done early

– Keep a constant supply of Nutella in the Limo

– If your room doesn’t have shutters, tablecloths from Tiger make great curtains

– If the toilet won’t stop flushing, hit the button a bunch of times until it stops

– Hoard toilet paper (the rolls in Italy are small)

– Search for Darren Criss’s message in the ADA

– Don’t worry, tiger has it.

– Buy people coffee when you have an extra 60 cents, it’s nice and they will return the favor in the future!

– Go to Cinque Terre (when the weather is nice)

– Indulge all your cravings–trust us, you will definitely walk it off

– Learn how to joust, otherwise the Italians will know you’re foreign

– Feeling stressed? Tremor. Got a headache? Tremor. Just bored? Tremor. #TremLyfe

– Befriend the people in the other program!

– When in doubt, ask Monica!