Il Giorno di Ringraziemento
HAPPY TURKEY DAY!! Today will be my first ever Thanksgiving in Italy and I am very excited.
We’ve been experimenting with a few cooking ideas for a quite a while now. First we tried to get Margherita to bake the pumpkin for pumpkin pie, but that did not turn out so well. The pumpkins ended up really dry and crusty like and we were not able to use that for the pie filling.
Then two days ago, we had a cooking trial for pumpkin pie and cornbread. It was amazing! The pumpkin pie was made first. Chelsea mixed and kneaded the dough for the crust while Amanda and Dr. Webb made the pumpkin filling, and Mr. Ed and I were cracking walnuts for the topping. Since I was done cracking walnuts while everyone was still working, I decided to take the left over dough from Chelsea's crust and experiment with it; I mostly just played around with it. I guess I just got really bored after I had finished the walnuts. Messing around with the dough was pretty fun. For some reason, I decide to cut out a shape of a hand and made a turkey from it; I even cut out the beck and the wattle. Dr. Webb and everyone else had liked it so much that the hand turkey ended up being on top of the pie. While I was putting the final touches on my hand turkey, Jenna started the trial of cornbread.
The first to be baked was the pumpkin pie. About twenty minutes after the pie was in the oven, Amanda put my turkey on the pie and I came downstairs to Dr. Webb’s apartment to put arrange the walnuts on the pie. The pumpkin pie cooked for a total of about fifty minutes. After the pumpkin pie was done, it was time to bake the cornbread.
After the entire test trials were done cooking, it was time to rate and critic the food and to perfect it for today. The pumpkin pie was amazing and so was the cornbread! I did not think that either recipe needed adjustments.
Yesterday, we had to make a total of six pumpkin pies for today. We were lucky to have had the crew we had because everyone pitched in and did a part of the pies; it was almost as if it was an assembly line. It was just like the day before at the test trial where Chelsea made the crusts, Amanda and Dr. Webb made the fillings, and I made the toppings. We were pretty efficient. I had fun making all six pies with different designs on them. On two of the pies, I wrote out the word “Happy” and “Day.” On another pie, I made a hand turkey. On another pie, I got creative and made a pilgrim like hat and a really cool looking feather joined by a small heart in the middle. On another pie I was able to do the lattice and for the last one, I decided to braid a few strands of dough and make the crust have a braided texture.
The first three to be baked were the pies that consisted of the word “Happy,” “Day,” and the hand turkey. When I arrange the pumpkin pies correctly, they ‘spell out’ “Happy ‘Turkey’ Day;” our turkey was brown too! As for the pie with the pilgrim hat and the feather, the hat puffed up and it was as if the hat came to live because it gave it a three dimensional figure to it; it was pretty neat.
Well it is now time to go help Jenna with her cornbread; so I will be back to explain more about Il Giorno di Ringraziemente in Italia soon.
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It is now mezzonotte and we just got back from our Thanksgiving dinner at Santa Maria dei Servi. It was a long but very fun night. After Amanda and I helped Jenna with her cornbread, we rushed off to get dress and head down to the Servi to help set up tables and do last minute things. We were in the first shift to be down there and helping. Amanda and I ended up staying from four until a little past six working, more than our shift. I had a lot of fun helping Sergio decorate the place because it seems as if he likes to decorate himself; it was fun and perfect working with him. He let me arrange many things that Alessandra said he preferred to do himself so I felt honored to be able to help in such ways. Later on, I got bored and played with a few crops I saw laying around and made a gorgeous centerpiece with walnuts, leaves, hazel nuts, and persimmons. Alessandra and Sergio liked it so much that they wanted me to make more; so I ended up making eight center piece plates and placing them around the columns.
As soon as that was done I ran back to the palazzo to finish getting ready; which only took my about fifteen more minutes. Then Amanda and I had to escort Samantha down to the Servi because she was sick and we did not want her to be alone in anyway, we made sure that someone was with her at all times; but she seemed to have enjoy herself.
It was seven o’clock and people started filing into the dining hall of the Servi. Around seven thirty was when the rush of people coming in had slowed down. My host family, my service learning teacher, and my friends made it to dinner tonight with an exception of a few people. My host family even brought gifts for Nicole and me; it was a gorgeous necklace for the each of us. It was amazing to see them all spending the day of thanks with Le Ragazze Americane in Italy! Who can actually say that they spent Thanksgiving in Italy with people that care? The Immortal 9 can!
People started to leave around ten o’clock. As more and more people left, we started to clean up; it took us quite a while to wrap everything up and reorder the dining hall.
Well, all I can really say is that, tonight was a very successful night and the first of many American holidays celebrated in Italy! Tonight was amazing and I am thankful for all the people that I have met here and all the memories we share together, there is nothing more that I can ask for, except of course my real family.

Today in Sara’s class, we were all abruptly reminded about family dinners tonight! There will be four girls going tonight to a family dinner, Samantha and Lauren, and Nicole and I. Tonight, Nicole and I are going to Chiara’s family. It was a shock to only be allowed a few hours to know beforehand but luckily it all turned out okay. Since I have never been to a family dinner with ‘strangers,’ I was nervous all day long leading up to tonight’s event. I had no clue of what to expect or how the family would be like. Sara had said that our family was one of the new ones this year, which made me even more nervous because no one had known them yet.
It was time to get ready and calm down before I go see the host family for dinner. Being that I’m shy and very quiet in front of people I do not know, I could not process the fact that I was going to eat with people I have never met before without my professors; I had to think of some kind of an ice break to get to know the family. Luckily I am not going by myself; I would probably die of not knowing what to say.
Well it was time to go downstairs to the lounge beside the class room and patiently wait for our host to come and take us to dinner; Bekah came down with us in case someone needed a translator. After a short time of waiting, we decided to go down to the main door incase the hosts did not know where to go. Right as we came down, Nicole's and my host came. At the time, Chiara was on the phone and confused us all because she mentioned in Italian something on the lines of, “there are five girls waiting and I don’t think we have enough room for all of them.” The five of us, Samantha, Lauren, Bekah, Nicole and I, were completely confused but then, Bekah jumps in to tell Chiara that there are only two girls going with her.
After Chiara got off the phone, it was our cue to go with her to her house. I had thought that we had to walk to her car and drive to her house, but her house is fairly close; it was just straight out Porto Fiorentino and towards the Coop (apparently, I seem to pass her house every time I go to school for my service learning). It was only a few minutes of a walk. Walking up the steps, I was feeling nervous all over again; then we were greeted graciously by her mother and her sister standing at the door so that made me feel a lot better, like a load had just been lifted off my shoulders. I figured that the family would be kindhearted and all but I was just still too nervous about what would happen throughout the night.
At the time of our arrival, I immediately gave my gifts to the mother, but she had refused to take it until I smiled and said, “Niente,” which means, “it’s nothing.” The father was not home yet because he was at work, but during the time he was not there, Chiara gave Nicole and me a tour of their lovely house. I was nice to be in an Italian house for a change. I have always wondered how the Italian house would compare to the American house; they do not differ very much at all, the big difference is that they speak Italian.
Even though the father was on his way home, the family decided to start dinner anyway. I was able to know a little bit about the family and relax some. Luckily, I also had Nicole; she was able to speak to them without a problem of nervousness or anything. Having her gave me a little room to think about what I wanted to ask or my input on certain topics. Soon after, Chiara’s father comes home and joins us at dinner table.
Throughout dinner, I learned quite a bit about my host family. My host’s name is Chiara and she is twenty-four years old. She and her family have been in Sansepolcro for a long time now but she and her sister, Marta, does not like it here because they said Sansepolcro is too small and they have been here for too long. Marta is Chiara's only sibling and is only eighteen years old. Marta attends the high school that Jenna goes to on Fridays and Chiara works around the corner at a clothing store. Their mother is a nurse and their father is a representative for Sansepolcro.
Since we were going to go to Matera this weekend, Nicole and I had asked about what it was like down south compared to Toscana. Chiara’s mother did not have much to say negatively about the city which was good to hear. She did tell us that the movie Passion of the Christ was filmed there and that it is a beautiful city and that we must visit it. This made me really excited because I had watched that movie and I cried my eyes out; I have always wanted to go see the place of filming for that movie.
Over all, they are a cute Italian family. They asked us a lot about how the American culture was, how we had liked Sansepolcro thus far, what we were studying, and where we have been in Italy. It was nice to have a gracious family to welcome us to the family bonding in an Italian culture. It was quite an exciting and wonderful experience. And I cannot wait until I get to see Matera for myself!

It was early Saturday morning and I had to get ready for our little Science and Society excursion. The weather was cloudy and damp, but it was not raining at the time; it was also fairly cold because I could see my breath. On our way to Gubbio, the sky gets a bit foggy and hard to see.
On our way there, I noticed a part of the road that was covered in litter. Normally, the roads in Italy are clean and litter free, so I have no clue why this particular spot was littered on. Whoever did the littering must have no sense of cleanliness for our environment. It just seemed to be completely rude of them to trash the land that they live on. I understand that the United States is pretty trashy on the side of the roads and all but the trash is pretty evened out and not just in one spot of the road. But yet in Italy, the roads are all clean, except for this random spot out of nowhere; I just felt like I needed to get off the bus and clean it up, but that was not the case because we were headed to Gubbio.
Our first stop in Gubbio was the Mausoleum of the Dead 40. This mausoleum was a memorial in honor of the forty random people that were shot to death by the Germans. Of the forty, thirty-eight of them were men and two of them were women, a mother and her daughter. The ages of the men and women ranged from the youngest at seventeen and the oldest at sixty-one. Inside the mausoleum, there were the tombs and memorial of each person with their name and a picture of them. However, of the forty tombs, there was one tomb that only enclosed of a name and no picture was posted of the elderly gentleman. It was really touching to hear about the story of the forty martyrs and have one of our guests to be a son of one of the martyrs.
After the Mausoleum, the bus driver drove us into the center of the town for us to migrate off into. The first activity that we all wanted to do was to go on a lift into the tall part of Gubbio. The lift seemed to close for lunch so we all hurried our way towards it. We finally made it! It turns out that it was only five Euros to ride up and return, so I bought my ticket. My being afraid of heights, I had to find someone quick to ride with, so my riding partner was Jackie. As the toll lift came down and around, people had to ‘jump’ onto it because it does not stop, seeing that made me petrified of trying the lift. It was nauseating to be high up in the air but also jump on the lift, I was thinking in my head, “Yea, no thanks!” But soon, it was Jackie’s and my turn to get on. There were big red circles on the ground to show us where to ‘jump’ on at and Jackie went first. By seeing her jump on made me nervous because it meant that I was next. Here I go! “THUD!” and “CLICK!” was all I heard. It turns out that I made it safely and it was just my weight bearing on the lift and the click of the gate that I heard so there was nothing to worry about.
As I was up high in the sky, it was amazing to see all the scenery around me; as long as I did not look down, I was perfectly fine. I was in awe seeing almost all of Gubbio from above on the lift. It was as if I was daydreaming about the gorgeous scenery. As Jackie and I were getting close to the top, I was panicking about how I would get off because it seemed as if people were merrily jumping off. As we were getting closer, I knew it was time for me to turn around and face reality. At the top was a young man helping us get out and down from the lift, and he wasn’t too bad looking either, he was fairly cute! But back to reality, as I was led to jump off, I felt like I was going to fall flat on my face, but luckily the guy grabbed a hold of me and I was okay. I made it to the top!
It was an amazing sight up there; there are no photos that can do justice for what was seen that day. As we walked up to the church, in our good luck, there was a wedding going on at the time, just like our time in La Verna.
As we circled around the top, it was time to return back down to the center of the town before the men on duty of the lift closes off for lunch. Going down for me was a bit different. I am more scared of going down lifts where I can see as oppose to going up things that I cannot look down on. Luckily, I was with Jackie again and she jumped on first, so her height covered my ability to look over the edge and freak out. Like before, I started to panic about jumping off the lift. If I could choose, I would just stay on the lift until it stopped for me to get off, but this was not the case, it could not stop like that. I did not seem to panic as much as I did the first time just because I knew how it was to jump off the lift; it was just a matter of doing it again.
As we returned to the center of the town, we all wandered to find a nice but reasonable place for lunch. We ended up wandering for about half an hour to an hour; however, it was a nice way to enjoy the town. Half of the group went off by themselves and found other places to eat, and a few of us stuck with Dr. Webb and John Rose. As Dr. Webb would always say, “If you follow John Rose, you will never starve!” so that is what the rest of us ended up doing.

Today was my first day of Service Learning! I woke up around seven in the morning and was ready to leave around eight, eight fifteen. It was not a long walk to my school, but it was a cold, wind chilled morning. Since I was not exactly sure where my school was, Amanda had walked with me; and our schools are right beside each other as well. I was feeling very nervous the closer in distance I was to the school; but I was still very excited for finally being able to teach again since I am missing my classes in the United States while I am abroad. But hey, I am in Italy!
I arrived at Scuola Elementare C. Collodi and was in the main office at eight thirty on the dot. The secretary of the office had called Mariateresa Chieli, my teacher, to tell her that I had arrived, but she had not arrived just yet. Mariateresa comes walking in surprised to see me; although I had no clue why because I had met her beforehand. I guess I showed up a bit early for my service learning but according to her, it was all alright; it was just a little miscommunication between her, Sara, and me.
Right when Mariateresa arrived, we went straight to class talking and walking on the way there. Walking up to class was nerve wrecking for me because I was not sure if I would be able to communicate with the students or not. The door opened and all the students stared at me with curious faces. They all greeted me with a big “HELLO!” It was unexpected but also a very nice welcoming. Mariateresa had said that I made the class a bit nervous because I was so much different from them and they did not know how to react. Slowly the students got more comfortable with my being in the class and started to talk more. We started out the class with physical descriptions, of me. The cool thing was, according to Italians, I am fairly tall; it’s funny because all my life I have been called the short one, until now. Mariateresa seemed to describe people a little differently then how we would describe them; for example, we do not say someone has black eyes or ginger hair, instead we say brown or dark eyes and red hair. But in the end, all the students were fairly good at describing me. They all wrote down the description in their workbooks and even drew a picture of me! Some of the students even noticed my blue nails and drew that as well; these students were amazing artists, way better than me by far. After all the class was done, they all wanted me to write in their workbooks on how well they did. It was very nice to be admired by the students even though I have not known them long. Towards the end of the class, most of them made cards for me to take. It was the most precious thing they could do! I already cannot wait until next Friday for service learning.
This class had around twenty-four students with many names being repeated amongst the students. The students were around nine or ten years old. The students understood a lot more English than I had expected them to; their English was probably better than my Italian. I was very impressed.
My next class had bout twenty-four students as well but these students were a bit older; they were around eleven or twelve. With these students, I had about the same first reaction from them as I did with the first class. These kids impressed me even more than the first though because Mariateresa did not have to translate much for them. I was told to talk about myself a little for the kids to kind of get use to me and start talking. After a brief five minute introduction, I was ambushed by all the questions the class had for me. I answered one after another; and when the students had asked in Italian, I felt great to be able to understand them and immediate answer them correctly. I never realized how much Italian I have learned thus far, and to use it in everyday conversations helps me improve even more.
After about twenty minutes of answering questions, Mariateresa says “Basta! Enough!” So then Mariateresa started the lesson; and like the first class, we did a description of me as well, but not a physical one, just more like an introduction to who I was. My job was to draw myself and describe and introduce myself on the board in first person. Mariateresa said that first person was easier for the students to understand because the English third person was a little too complicated.
So far it was a great first day at the school. In my second class, I met Sophia, Margherita’s daughter; and it was nice that she recognized me. It was fun to let all the students describe me or ask me questions about myself. The most outrageous question that a student could ask me though, was “Do you have a fiancé?” That question shocked Mariateresa and me. It was a question that I never thought anyone; especially a student would ask me.
After the students had finish writing down their descriptions, they all asked for me to sign my name on their papers. It felt like I was really wanted among the students and that they really liked me. It was nice to feel like a role model for them and to know that they appreciated me. When I had to leave, I remember this one boy who sat in the front and was just so upset at the fact that I could not stay longer. He walked slowly with his head down back to his seat and thumped into it. It was the cutest but the saddest thing I ever saw. I just felt so bad and that I need to stay. Once the class found out that I was coming back next Friday, they were all so happy that words cannot justify their enthusiasms.
I was being warned by Mariateresa about her next class; she said that they are very obnoxious, rude, and very loud; she emphasized the “very.” This was also my last class for the day. It consisted of students around eight or nine years old; and there were about eighteen of them. These kids really were loud. The little boys acted as if they were the jokesters of the class; laughing and making jokes out of everything.
I was able to meet Mariateresa’s youngest daughter, Susanna. She was a character; sweet, smart, and welcoming. She was probably the only student that kept a conversation with me; all the other students were either too shy or too obnoxious. Since in this class the students were younger, they were on a lower level of English. For class, we talked about what I had liked and my basic information; like my age, my name, or my birthday.
Although this class was not my favorite, I still had a blast with them. The trick to making the students behave and settle down is to give them a cool prize afterward; so Mariateresa told all the students that if they settled down, are quiet, and stay in their seats that I would go around and sign my name in their notebooks or where ever they would like it. It was so funny to see all of the students shushing each other and sitting quietly until I went around. Some of the students asked me to sign my name in more than one place. Some of the students opened their planner to my birthday for me to sign. The students were so much calmer when they get a ‘prize’ for doing well.

Chiara passed out our exams for her today; not the best but good enough for now I suppose. We went over the exam and its entirety. We also met our new Italian professor today. Her name is Francesca and so far she seems really nice and I think she will be able to do as well as Chiara. She helped us while we went over our test when Chiara was not able to. As we finished going over the test, Chiara passed out magazines to us for us to find a picture to describe for our oral portion of the exam. We had to be able to describe about what the people in the picture was wearing, where they were, their physical and emotional appearances, as well as their ages. Chiara and Francesca also asked me random questions about myself and how I had liked Italy thus far. After everyone had finished the oral part of the exam, a few of the girls brought in pastries and juices for us to have a little farewell party to Chiara. As a farewell gift, she was given a Meredith umbrella. She will be truly missed and hopefully Francesca is as good of a professor as Chiara is. But at least we get to see her for one more day for sure tomorrow in Perugia.
In Italy Today, we had a guest come talk to us about the Italian political party from the Democratic side of Italy. His name was Michele Boncompagni, and he is a secretary of the Democratic Party of Italy. It was interesting to learn about the more modern day politics of Italy. The earliest date he talked about was in 1991 when the Left Democratic Party was founded after the dissolution of the Italian Communist Party. Michele talked about politics up to today.
Well it’s time for me to pack for my weekend in Ferrara and Venice.

Today was an interesting day! First off, I would like to say that we got an extension on our Art History term paper; instead, it is now due tomorrow morning as we board the bus to go to Florence.
In Italian class, we received our check test/pre-test today and it was not really that bad. I did not get an A or a B but in my opinion, average is okay for a preliminary test; it just means I need to study a little harder.
Lunch was nice today even though John Rose had left us to go show the trustees, faculties, and alumni around in another city with Dr. Bailey. Instead of John Rose sitting at the head of the table as always, Mr. Ed sat there. Everyone starts to pass all the food down to him and Jackie took a funny picture just for John Rose; the picture was quite funny but for John Rose’s sake, it was kind of cruel.
Before Art History had started, we were able to see Barbra set up all of her jewelry for the jewelry show and sale for the trustees, faculties, and alumni. We got a sneak peak for when we have time to buy her gorgeous work.
A package had arrived for Dr. Banker and Dr. Webb had asked me and Amanda to wrap it for her as a gift to him. We wrapped it all up neatly and I added a cute little bow on top in the Meredith ribbon colors. It was time for class. As class started, Dr. Swab, Mr. Ed, Chelsea, and Dr. Webb marched in with Dr. Banker’s gift. It turns out that the gift in the box was a set of books entitled Sassetta: the Borgo Sansepolcro Altarpiece: Volumes I and II; the Sansepolcro Altarpiece by Piero della Francesca was the one that Dr. Banker had found documents on and helped write this reference with a few other scholars. It was an important day for him. We were all so proud and lucky to have such a great history professor as well as his wife for our art part of the class.
After class, I had an hour to do as much homework as I could before the wine tasting had begun.
Here come all of the trustees, faculties, and alumni in the dining room for the tasting. It was very crowded but still fun nonetheless. There were snacks in between to add or heighten some taste of the wine. There were a total of three wines to taste; and according to our accountant/wine tasting host, there is a specific technique to taste wine. First, we were taught the correct way of holding a wine glass; who knew there was a wrong way. The correct way was to scissor the base of the glass at the bottom with a thumb on top to stable the glass. Apparently, the way we hold the glass is important because our host said that if we hold it at the bottom of the glass where the wine is, we would taste more like the soap on our hand then the actual taste of the wine. Then we were told to hold the glass of wine up to the light to see if the wine was clear and is not contaminated by any other substance. Next, we looked at the color of the wine. If it was white wine, the color varies from a slight green yellow color to amber. If it was red wine, the color varies between the hues of red from bright red to deep burgundy red. The color of the wine tells the age of the wine. Thirdly, we smelled the aroma of the wine to determine its contents; whether it contained flowers or fruits. When we smell the wine, it has to be a big sniff and normally it is the aroma of the first thing that came to mind. The first whiff was the most important so that the aroma does not disappear or gets dispersed throughout the room. Then we swirled the wine to see the consistency of it and to determine if there is a high alcohol content of a low one. The faster a leg drips the less alcohol it has to one that would drip slowly. The next step was to taste it! I am not so fond of wine, but I had fun tasting the different types and I had a lot of fun learning the techniques to a successful wine tasting. And the wine was not that bad either; they were actually pretty good for my taste. It was a lot of fun sitting in between “Double Trouble.” They were just a blast to converse with and their personalities were so much fun to have around. I will truly miss them.
It was time to get some more homework done before Dr. Jackson takes us girls out for gelato. As we walked around towards the Goblin, all the usual restaurants and stores were closed; even K Café was closed. As we got to the piazza, we then noticed that the Goblin was closed as well. Then we went to check the gelateria in front of the palazzo, and it too was closed. Since all these places were closed, we decided to go another day and we all headed home to finish up our homework.
Well it is time for me to finish my term paper for Art History and I can’t wait for Florence tomorrow!!!

Today has been a busy, busy day. We have been cleaning and making sure everything is in order all morning. Today is the day that the trustees and alumni are coming so everything had to be in tip-top shape. We did various chores from mopping to dusting plant leaves. This is the start of the busiest weekend here in Sansepolcro.
The trustees, faculties, and alumni came around two o’clock. Dr. Webb had to reserve a bus for them because there were so many people; they all stayed in three different hotels. I was in the group to go to Porta Romana to pick up the trustees, faculties, and alumni to take them to their hotel, Palazzo Magi. Off the bus came Mrs. Mary Louise and Mrs. Jean with open arms. I did not understand why at first, but then they had asked if I am the niece of Kim; it all made much more sense. They both gave me a big hug and gave me a gift from my aunt and my cousins. It was the sweetest thing that the two women could have done for my aunt and my cousins. Right after them, Mrs. Ann comes and gives me a big hug as well. She happens to know my grandparents through their church and said that she remembers when I was wee tall. The next couple who spoke to me was Dr. Allen Page and his wife, Barbra Page. I could not remember meeting Mrs. Barbra before today, but of course I knew Dr. Allen Page. They have known my grandparents since I was young as well. It was gracious of them to bring a gift to me from my grandparents. I am very glad to have received index cards, to study Italian, and after bite repellant, because I have received many of those lately. It was just overwhelming and joyful to be able to meet everyone. The only odd thing is that I now hear both of my names and it takes a little bit of adjusting too because only my grandparents call me by my American name; but it’s all good.
After we had gotten every trustee and alumni settled in his or her hotel, we went back to the palazzo to add finishing touches, have a quick lunch or snack, and get tote bags and maps all organized and ready to be passed out to all the visitors. The tote bags were specialized with the study abroad advertisement of Sansepolcro. There were enough totes so that all of the students who live in the palazzo were able to get one as well. Then it was three; time to regroup everyone and take them to the palazzo for a small open house and acquaintance.
As we returned all of the guests to the palazzo, the house tours began. Everyone greatly got acquainted with others and had a lot of side chattiness. Everyone seemed so blessed to be in Sansepolcro for the start of new Meredith history. After our little get together, we had a little break before we headed off up the mountains for an afternoon trip.
It was time to go to Montecasale! Montecasale was Saint Francis’s favorite monastery located a little bit up the mountain and is about twenty minutes from where we call home. This place had great scenery and was very calming. Once we got off the bus, all that was around us were cats, birds, and a few dogs. Saint Francis was a patron saint of animals. We were gladly accompanied there by Sara and her father, Luigi Andreini (aka Gigi). Gigi knew almost everything there is to know about Saint Francis. Gigi was our tour guide for the day. We were able to see where Saint Francis had slept as well as some of his friars; Saint Francis’s bed was a high up pile of rocks. I was amazed by how he could withstand such bad conditions; but some of his philosophies were to do what Jesus had done for the people or do in return of what Jesus had done for us. Everything at the Montecasale Monastery was interesting in so many ways. Every now and then, we were joined by one of the Franciscan friars. He was just about the cutest person ever with a height almost exactly like mine. (I learned that everyone back then were pretty short.) I was lucky enough to be able to take a picture with Friar-Nicolas; I was just as surprised as John Rose was about Friar-Nicolas saying that it was okay to take a picture with him. Afterwards, he showed a few of us the garden of where the friars plant their own fruits and vegetables. At that moment, the sun started to set behind the mountains and it was gorgeous. Then it was time to head back down within the walls of Sansepolcro.
Once we got back, the trustees, faculties and alumni had a short little break and were headed off to dinner at Fiorentino Ristorante with Dr. Webb and John Rose. While they had dinner, Dr. Webb supplied us with delicious pizzas.
The main thing that we girls had left to do was to rest up for the full and busy Sunday we had in stored for us.
Bounanotte!