Music students Tyrese, Savannah, Mary Pauline, Chrissy, and Alan share some of their weekend adventures and discoveries they’ve made in their time here so far.

Tyrese Byrd, Furman University

Hi! My name is Tyrese and I am a Music student from Furman University. This weekend a group of the music students decided to take a trip to Florence to see Rigoletto by Giuseppe Verdi at the Teatro del Maggio Musicale. It was an incredible experience and opportunity to see this opera for the first time. The singers and orchestra were amazing, and the production beautifully done Even more enriching, was being in an audience of native speakers, in the country in which it was set. Being at the ADA and in its central Tuscan location has given me an immense number of chances to explore Italian music and culture in Arezzo and beyond. I look forward to spending a whole semester here!

Savannah York, Furman University

That Time I Flooded the Bathroom

Me and six of my friends decided to take a trip to Florence to see the opera Rigoletto at the Maggio Musicale. The opera was wonderful and the apartment that we booked was incredibly nice. I was honestly expecting a one room apartment for all seven of us to sleep in for the night. This place had 16 foot ceilings, a full kitchen and AIR CONDITIONING!! The day was going really well and everything seemed to be working out perfectly for our group until we got back from the opera. I decided to take a shower before bed and take advantage of the beautiful bathroom that we had. Little did I know that as I took my 20 minute shower, the bathroom was slowly flooding. I proceeded to step out of my shower into two inches of water. When I finally got over my initial shock, I ran to get help from sweet angel Chrissy. Chrissy laughed at me for five minutes and then helped me clean up the water. We had two large towels and two hand towels to clean up the great flood. We took turns laying out the towels and wringing them out in the shower. Eventually we were just cleaning up water with equally wet towels. It took us 45 minutes to get the floor to the point where it was just wet as opposed to a full on pool. The next morning, the floor was dry but the towels were still soaking wet. We left the towels hanging in the bathroom and checked out of the apartment to catch our train back to the Academia.

Chrissy Hicks, Furman University

I was homeschooled during high school, so I missed out on what seems to be everyone’s favorite part of high school: prom.  Last Thursday, I had one of the best nights of my life when our events group planned a High School Musical themed prom.  I don’t think I have ever been as surprised and honored as I was when Shalick announced that I was part of the Prom Royalty.  As cheesy as it sounds, I believe I will always remember everything about that prom from the the great outfits everyone was rocking to the music played by our amazing DJ Katie Jennison to the streamers and balloons as perfection.  That night was one of the best gifts I have ever been given, and I can never thank my friends who organized it enough.

Mary Pauline Sheridan, Furman University

 Chinque Fail-e

This past weekend, a group of friends and I attempted to travel to Chinque Terre for a weekend of beautiful views. Unfortunately, we didn’t quite make it, but ended up having a lovely weekend that we jokingly named Chinque Fail-e. Here is a poem that reflects exactly that.

Cruising out of the Academia

Into and out of many trains

Not sure where the bus went, but we are casually stuck on the top of an unknown mountain

Questioning our directional and language skills

Unpredicted outcome

Expectations adjusted

Funny jokes

A weekend of awesome memories

Interesting stories to tell

Laughable experiences

Excursion I’ll never forget

 
Alan Smith, Furman University

For the past two weeks, I have been doing morning warm-up/conditioning. Just after an early breakfast of toast, yogurt, and coffee (!!!) we pile into the Sala Danza and work with one of the three warm up leaders. Conditioning with Sam is physically demanding. From fast yoga work to across-the-floor exercises, I always leave with my heart racing. It is exhilarating. As Sam said this morning, “In the mornings, we do exercises that stretch the body, because our minds are awake. In the evening, we do exercises that stretch the mind, because our bodies are relaxed.” Waking up at 7AM to grab breakfast before these conditionings, I think my mind and body need to be woken up. Last week, we had warm ups with Dory and Nhandan. Nhandan’s Sun Salutation in the teatrino was incredibly centering. With its repetitive motions that required total body involvement, the mind was free to focus only on breath and body. Almost like a meditation, the warm-up left everyone feeling more connected to themselves and the world around them. With the lovely Dory Sibley, we started the first sitting of Scott Putman’s Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS). This summer, I attended the physical theatre intensive, and this was our daily warm-up with Dory. It was nostalgic, like coming home, to start over and find my body again with Dory. Already, I feel my body becoming accustomed to these early mornings and becoming stronger through these sessions. I can’t wait to see how my body feels at the end of the term!