A rather frustrating morning--though I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation though it will probably be in Italian! Just about out of Euros I decided to brave what I had heard are frustrating ATMs in Gorizia. Since I found most of them out of operation, I went into one bank and stood in line for what seemed an inordinate amount of time only to learn that the bank doesn't give cash advances. Only the ATM outside, which I had already learned was not in service. On to bank two, where I was told to lock my purse in a safe outside. At least that's what I though the teller said. (I was stuck in a glass revolving door, which made me realize that I really DO have a bit of claustrophobia!)
Next month, this episode will seem very humorous, I'm sure. It certainly makes me wish I were a bit more knowledgeable in Italian.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Nothing to Do with Travels in Italy
However, I was on the Amazon page and saw the cover to the new book at Bram Stoker .
Seeing it for sale makes it seem real.
In the spirit of shameless self promotion, get your local library to order a copy.
Seeing it for sale makes it seem real.
In the spirit of shameless self promotion, get your local library to order a copy.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
A Very Hot Day in Gorizia
This morning I walked to the castle a bit later, so it was much warmer. Consequently chameleons galore. I got pictures of the little critters as well as pictures of more architectural sights. When Jay returns with the camera cables (assuming he doesn't lose THEM...he DID find the missing glasses). You'll see how they blend in with their surroundings. Who knows? I may be surrounded by lizards and not know it, a thought that creeps me out a bit.
I also went on to the museums and saw fashion, archeological stuff, paintings, and a whole lot of exhibits of World War I, the only exhibit that had English (quite good actually) materials. The materials did little to glorify war (and certainly not that war).
It would have been nice to have written material on the fashion exhibits, as there was material on lace making, weaving, ceramics, and hat making. Of course I didn't take any photographs inside--except for one photo for my friend Sara who observed once that so many Renaissance paintings have dogs in them. This museum had a painting of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Jesus, and there were two dogs in the foreground obviously NOT paying attention to what was going on right behind them. Also a really remarkable Saint Jerome though I stupidly didn't get a photograph of that.
I also went on to the museums and saw fashion, archeological stuff, paintings, and a whole lot of exhibits of World War I, the only exhibit that had English (quite good actually) materials. The materials did little to glorify war (and certainly not that war).
It would have been nice to have written material on the fashion exhibits, as there was material on lace making, weaving, ceramics, and hat making. Of course I didn't take any photographs inside--except for one photo for my friend Sara who observed once that so many Renaissance paintings have dogs in them. This museum had a painting of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Jesus, and there were two dogs in the foreground obviously NOT paying attention to what was going on right behind them. Also a really remarkable Saint Jerome though I stupidly didn't get a photograph of that.
Friday, June 11, 2010
More Fauna in Gorizia
This morning on my walk up to the castle, I encountered two new residents of Gorizia, a snail nestled into the ivy on one of the walls and a very lively lizard who skittered across the same wall about a block away. In fact, I may well be surrounded by chameleons as this one was so well camouflaged that I probably wouldn't have seen him if he hadn't moved.
And speaking of critters, I'm remiss for not mentioning the winged lion over the castle entrance. As you can see above, that lion is on the cover of Bob Wood's quite remarkable Gorizia Notebook (Finishing Line Press), a book of poems inspired by one of the summers that Bob spent here. And to make it even more of a family affair, the photograph on the cover was taken by Stephen Dobranski, the husband of Shannon, who manages all of LCC's study abroad programs. And a lot of other things, truth be told.
I also ran into another example of the Gorizia lion, this time on a memorial to the dead from World War I.
The students have mostly gone off on their journeys (primarily to Cinque Terra), so I'll probably spend a leisurely weekend, catching up on my work and maybe doing some sightseeing.
Arrivederia,
Carol
And speaking of critters, I'm remiss for not mentioning the winged lion over the castle entrance. As you can see above, that lion is on the cover of Bob Wood's quite remarkable Gorizia Notebook (Finishing Line Press), a book of poems inspired by one of the summers that Bob spent here. And to make it even more of a family affair, the photograph on the cover was taken by Stephen Dobranski, the husband of Shannon, who manages all of LCC's study abroad programs. And a lot of other things, truth be told.
I also ran into another example of the Gorizia lion, this time on a memorial to the dead from World War I.
The students have mostly gone off on their journeys (primarily to Cinque Terra), so I'll probably spend a leisurely weekend, catching up on my work and maybe doing some sightseeing.
Arrivederia,
Carol
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Not So Lively Today
After all these years of teaching I still can't always predict what will work with students. After being impressed with the students' insights yesterday on The Boy in Striped Pajamas, I was looking forward to more insights today. The assignment was an essay by Laurence Rees, "The Nazis" A Warning from History." Rees is also the director of one of the documentaries we've watched this term, Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State. If you're interested in understanding Rees and the team that put that documentary together, there's an excellent web site-- PBS, where you can see some of the passion that intrigued me in his essay.
One of his most interesting observations was what he himself describes as a "rather prosaic observation that the vast majority of people just want to get on with their lives and make the most of their situation." He goes on to note that Nazi Germany targeted certain groups, including "work-shy people, homosexuals, those on the political left, and Jews" and that people who didn't belong to those risk groups were able to ignore what was going on.
Pretty much the same thing that comes across in The Sorrow and the Pity and in Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise, a novel that I read last weekend. Nemirovsky, a Russian Jew whose family fled when the Bolsheviks took over, died at Auschwitz. (Although I had read of Suite Francaise what motivated me to read it was seeing it at the home of a member of my bell choir. She told me that her book club was reading it.) Both works demonstrate that the French bourgeoise tended to collaborate with the occupying forces because they had too much to lose.
It's an obvious point but probably a truthful one, and I wonder whether my students' lack of enthusiasm stems from their own political apathy. I've been reading their blogs today and am alternately impressed by their insights and occasionally by their blindspots. For example, one student commented on the beggars and the Ferrari dealerships in Rome, and I wondered whether he had ever been in Atlanta. Obviously he has been since Tech is downtown! He just hasn't been encouraged to look around much.
Ciao,
Carol
One of his most interesting observations was what he himself describes as a "rather prosaic observation that the vast majority of people just want to get on with their lives and make the most of their situation." He goes on to note that Nazi Germany targeted certain groups, including "work-shy people, homosexuals, those on the political left, and Jews" and that people who didn't belong to those risk groups were able to ignore what was going on.
Pretty much the same thing that comes across in The Sorrow and the Pity and in Irene Nemirovsky's Suite Francaise, a novel that I read last weekend. Nemirovsky, a Russian Jew whose family fled when the Bolsheviks took over, died at Auschwitz. (Although I had read of Suite Francaise what motivated me to read it was seeing it at the home of a member of my bell choir. She told me that her book club was reading it.) Both works demonstrate that the French bourgeoise tended to collaborate with the occupying forces because they had too much to lose.
It's an obvious point but probably a truthful one, and I wonder whether my students' lack of enthusiasm stems from their own political apathy. I've been reading their blogs today and am alternately impressed by their insights and occasionally by their blindspots. For example, one student commented on the beggars and the Ferrari dealerships in Rome, and I wondered whether he had ever been in Atlanta. Obviously he has been since Tech is downtown! He just hasn't been encouraged to look around much.
Ciao,
Carol
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Another Good Class Discussion
Buon pomeriggio,
Georgia Tech students are always interesting, and today's discussion of The Boy in Striped Pajamas (one of the films that they chose) showed them at their best. In fact, they were visibly moved after the screening yesterday.
This morning at breakfast, a number of them seemed to want to discuss their response to the film, and the discussion continued a bit later when we went to class. It's a powerful film, and I personally disagree with much of the early criticism that objected to the focus on one small German boy (whose father happens to be an SS commandant in a concentration camp).
In fact, the film does a lot of different things: it explores what happens when families disagree (the mother and the eight-year old boy come to question the prevailing ideology while the father and daughter continue to accept the party line); it looks at history through the eyes of two naive characters (one a Jewish boy in the concentration camp, the other the German) neither of whom understand what is happening; and finally it reveals what happened to people during the Holocaust, demonstrated most clearly by clothing hung on hooks outside the gas chamber. Absence speaking louder in this case than presence.
I confess that I picked up a number of details when I saw it this time. The first time, when I saw the film in the theater, I was so taken with the children that I didn't notice the chimneys in the background. They are almost always there--at least in the scenes that take place outside. I also didn't notice how the film demonstrates that everyone seems to be "fenced in." It's most obvious in the case of the concentration camp, but the family is also behind a gated fence, and Bruno is discouraged from exploring beyond his own yard. In fact, almost everything seems to reinforce that people were encouraged to keep in their place.
One of the most interesting things about this particular DVD, which I shared with the students, were interviews with John Boyne, who wrote the novel on which the movie is based; Mark Herman, who adapted it and directed it; and most of the major actors all of whom had done their homework to try to understand the period. In addition, the video commentary was done while the movie was being filmed so viewers had a good chance to see exactly how some of the shots were set up. Very interesting for students who are making their own films (though with hand held cameras instead of lights and all the equipment that are available to major studios). While many DVDs now include extras, this is one of the most interesting I've encountered.
Ciao for now
Georgia Tech students are always interesting, and today's discussion of The Boy in Striped Pajamas (one of the films that they chose) showed them at their best. In fact, they were visibly moved after the screening yesterday.
This morning at breakfast, a number of them seemed to want to discuss their response to the film, and the discussion continued a bit later when we went to class. It's a powerful film, and I personally disagree with much of the early criticism that objected to the focus on one small German boy (whose father happens to be an SS commandant in a concentration camp).
In fact, the film does a lot of different things: it explores what happens when families disagree (the mother and the eight-year old boy come to question the prevailing ideology while the father and daughter continue to accept the party line); it looks at history through the eyes of two naive characters (one a Jewish boy in the concentration camp, the other the German) neither of whom understand what is happening; and finally it reveals what happened to people during the Holocaust, demonstrated most clearly by clothing hung on hooks outside the gas chamber. Absence speaking louder in this case than presence.
I confess that I picked up a number of details when I saw it this time. The first time, when I saw the film in the theater, I was so taken with the children that I didn't notice the chimneys in the background. They are almost always there--at least in the scenes that take place outside. I also didn't notice how the film demonstrates that everyone seems to be "fenced in." It's most obvious in the case of the concentration camp, but the family is also behind a gated fence, and Bruno is discouraged from exploring beyond his own yard. In fact, almost everything seems to reinforce that people were encouraged to keep in their place.
One of the most interesting things about this particular DVD, which I shared with the students, were interviews with John Boyne, who wrote the novel on which the movie is based; Mark Herman, who adapted it and directed it; and most of the major actors all of whom had done their homework to try to understand the period. In addition, the video commentary was done while the movie was being filmed so viewers had a good chance to see exactly how some of the shots were set up. Very interesting for students who are making their own films (though with hand held cameras instead of lights and all the equipment that are available to major studios). While many DVDs now include extras, this is one of the most interesting I've encountered.
Ciao for now
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Another Beautiful Day
Buongiorno,
Another uneventful walk up to the castle this morning. For those of you who aren't here, go to Baroque Church and imagine me looking DOWN over that church. Then imagine that I am standing almost directly above the building where I teach.
I mentioned several days ago to the students that I hadn't seen any of the guard dogs against which the signs warn, and one of them piped up that he had --apparently behind the gate. What he described sounded like a mastiff rather than a Rottweiler or Doberman. I'd imagine that would be a sufficient deterrent, sign or no sign, as one of my colleagues at Tech had two of them, and they were certainly imposing beasts.
What I have seen are cats. Lots of cats. The prevalent type seems to be a dilute tabby that looks like Furball though with shorter hair. I encountered an extremely friendly small tabby yesterday on my walk and hoped to see her again this morning. Instead, I saw a young black cat who resembles my mom's former cat Cleo. That one was a bit more skittish.
In addition to cats and dogs, the best part of my walk is the smells. Lots of honeysuckle and roses as well as flowers that don't have a strong perfume but which smell glorious all the same.
I guess you can see that my adventures are pretty tame. For insights into a different kind of adventure, go to Jay's Motorcycle Adventures .
Ciao for now.
Another uneventful walk up to the castle this morning. For those of you who aren't here, go to Baroque Church and imagine me looking DOWN over that church. Then imagine that I am standing almost directly above the building where I teach.
I mentioned several days ago to the students that I hadn't seen any of the guard dogs against which the signs warn, and one of them piped up that he had --apparently behind the gate. What he described sounded like a mastiff rather than a Rottweiler or Doberman. I'd imagine that would be a sufficient deterrent, sign or no sign, as one of my colleagues at Tech had two of them, and they were certainly imposing beasts.
What I have seen are cats. Lots of cats. The prevalent type seems to be a dilute tabby that looks like Furball though with shorter hair. I encountered an extremely friendly small tabby yesterday on my walk and hoped to see her again this morning. Instead, I saw a young black cat who resembles my mom's former cat Cleo. That one was a bit more skittish.
In addition to cats and dogs, the best part of my walk is the smells. Lots of honeysuckle and roses as well as flowers that don't have a strong perfume but which smell glorious all the same.
I guess you can see that my adventures are pretty tame. For insights into a different kind of adventure, go to Jay's Motorcycle Adventures .
Ciao for now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)