Perugia, Fat Tuesday/Middle School and Ash Wednesday

Last weekend I took a trip to Perugia, the capital city of the Umbria region. It was about a two hour train ride there, so we left bright and early. It was another really cool city, with beautiful views, lots of art, and great food. We spent a lot of time roaming the city, and also spent quite a bit of time in the art museum. They have a great collection, and lots of art from the byzantine, gothic, and renaissance periods, which I've been studying in my art history class. Here are just a few pictures from my trip:

The Perugia Fountain by Pisano

Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday were this week, and here, the whole Easter/Lent season is really important. Tuesday was my morning at the middle school, and the teacher brought in Cenci, a traditional Italian pastry for the class to eat. I learned a lot from the students about their carnivale traditions. On Wednesday, a group of us decided to go to an Ash Wednesday service. We went to one of the Catholic Churches in Sesto, and it was very different from what I am used to. First, the service was in Italian, so following along was a challenge. Second, the Catholic format is a bit different from the Methodist one I am used to. Regardless, it was a really cool experience, and really nice to take a little time out of my day to reflect and remember the importance of this time of year. Being in this Catholic state, it is somewhat inevitable that you will think a lot about religion. All of the artwork we study is religious, there are so many beautiful churches, and the culture is completely surrounded around Catholicism. This atmosphere has sparked a few really great discussions among the other kids in my program that I've really enjoyed being a part of. It's been a long time (probably since high school youth group) that I've really had a good discussion about faith, the institution of the church, etc., etc.

Well tomorrow is the start of my "spring" break, and I am off to Spain for the next 11 days. I will be traveling to Barcelona, Sevilla, and Madrid with a few kids from my program, and I so excited to get a taste of Spanish culture! Unfortunately, there will be no new blog posts for about a week, so you'll have to wait patiently.

A presto!

Danielle