Contrary to popular belief and after more than a year and half of absence, the wanderjahre has recommenced and can no longer be classified as brief. I'm back in Italy, this time in Emilia-Romagna (and Ravenna in particular), for what appears to be a much longer period of time. Having finished my studies at Arizona State University on as successful a note as possible, I took a few months to return to Saint Louis and contemplate my future, whatever that means. To be completely honest, in a modern context that basically serves as a euphemism for laziness and an optimistically worded aversion to entering that dreaded and (usually) unavoidable byproduct of maturity that some term the 'real world'. So, after engaging in several months of the aforementioned soul-searching and career designation, it dawned on me that if I had any hopes of entering upper academia, at least in the United States, I was now relegated to waiting for the upcoming (2012) fall semester. Needless to say, sitting idly and passing time in a torpid and banal manner just wasn't cutting it and at the behest of my Italian professor from ASU (for which and to whom I am eternally grateful), I began the process of applying to graduate school in Italy at the revered University of Bologna.
Based on my insatiable appetite for art and it's underlying history, and also based on the fact that a degree in US history really wouldn't serve anything in this particular context, I chose a 2-year Laurea Magistrale in Art History and Conservation. After myriad and at times enervating bureaucratic roadblocks, I managed to secure a place pending an oral examination of my Italian proficiency. The rest, as of right now, is a bit of trite history unfortunately unworthy of recounting in this venue. I made it, no thanks to the Italian government and disorganized public service systems, and am currently in my third week of classes. More on those later, perhaps.
I'm based here in Ravenna, a relatively small city placed conveniently on the eastern coast of the country and renowned as Dante's final resting place. Were it not for some great UNESCO protected mosaics, that might be just about all this city has going for it. Nah, in all seriousness, the city is gorgeous and truly antique...both in the far-reaching and thoroughly impressive history and the mindset of the local people. I have my issues with the language but can speak relatively fluently, usually without error, although because I have been speaking (American) English for 23 years I am blessed/cursed with a unshakable accent and it is immediately apparent that I'm a foreigner. While some claim that Italians love Americans, the Ravennati, as they're known, don't really care too much for my presence here. That's all well and good, I didn't exactly come here to seek approval but it does make for an...interesting time when one attempts to make conversation at a bar or local place of business. Too much history might in fact be a bad thing, but I'm content with my choice and have my hands too full with obtaining a graduate degree entirely in another language to stop and worry about such trivial matters. I wouldn't mind an explanation regarding the frigid response I seem to encounter more often than not, but Umberto Eco wrote (in a rather literal translation) that "The only truth is to learn to liberate ourselves from the insane passion for the truth." Alla prossima,
EPK
