Since we last spoke, the SportsCenter version:

• I attended a church service in the chapel built around the original sword in the stone.
• I watched a monk (in full monk garb, mind you) play soccer with a gaggle of ten-year-olds.
• I successfully hitchhiked home by faking a limp - twice.
• I shared tea with the great grand-nephew of Lord Alfred Douglas (a "colleague" of Oscar Wilde's).
• I served drinks at la festa (party) di contrada Tartuca.
• I became a painter.

Right, so art classes are in full shwang, and I find that our program's activities are scheduled, organized, graded events of what I would be (should be) doing anyway. This weekend we bused to Florence, visiting museums and painting from sculpture. I kept turning corners and being confronted with these masterpieces we had discussed in a different class a week earlier - "Oh, hi there. Weren't you carved by Michelangelo half a millenium ago?"

Two more weeks in Italy means two more weeks with Ilio and Maria; my nights consist of a mix of encouragement to eat ("Mangi! Mangi!") and to bring home "una bella ragazza Italiana." I often exit to the battle cry "20 anni!" as Ilio celebrates my youth. He became much more interesting last weekend - Maria was away visiting her family for the day and I had some solo time with the signor. He iterated the importance of only drinking wine with dinner, and then mixed with water; I also received kudos for skipping lunch. The next night he put on an excellent show for his wife, expressing his horror when I repeated such behavior and agreeing with his wife's concerns that my mother will think ill of them when I return underfed. I laughed. Hard. Oh, and Maria tried to sneak me a nightcap after dinner. Tricky!

Anna took us to San Galgano abbey as well, near the resting place of the original sword in the stone. Pictured here, the abbey is around 900 years old; it was strange to think that the trees around it are young compared to the structure. To see what those stones have seen...

I came to Siena to change - to change my geograpy, my society and myself. The decision was impulsive and without significant deliberation, therefore I realized why I came to Siena after I arrived. Stripped of all familiarities - friends, family, culture, home and language - I soon dedicated significant amounts of time to introspection. I used to inwardly scoff when I heard someone say they wanted to "find themselves," but I'm beginning to understand the extent to which the incessant noise of the American routine begins to deafen that which most needs to be heard. I was so affected by those I kept around me that I wasn't sure who I was when I left them. My study abroad experience shall be educational in much more significant ways than designed by any unversity. As I sign off, know that for me, December 19th will not be the end - it will be the beginning.