galleria d'arte moderna!

Piet Mondrian

Hi friends!

After seeing so much medieval & renaissance art it is nice to see something modern for a change.  Last week I went to a fantastic art exhibit displaying American modern art from the Guggenheim collection. It was awesome and really different!  I had also tried to go to the Guggenheim museum in Venice when I was there but in typical Italian fashion it was closed for repairs the day we tried to go.  We got guggenheimed!  The collection was of the late Peggy Guggenheim, an eccentric heiress & art collector whose father died on the Titanic!

Miro

These photos are actually from the Modern Art Gallery in Rome.  It is a great collection of art that often gets overlooked and overshadowed by all the old stuff.  My old friend from high school, Jasmin & her husband & some friends were in Rome visiting last week.  I had a wonderful time playing tour guide.  It turns out that Jasmin & I both have an obsession with Rick Steves!  So, we visited all the sites in the historical center of town & the colloseum, etc.  It was great fun & they had brought me a box of Emergen-C packets from the USA.  I know, I know... dorky but, I really miss that stuff!  Grazie Jasmin, it was awesome to catch up with you!

Kandinsky

My friend Kelly had gone to Ireland for a while to visit an old flame & she returns tonight.  I've been missing her & am excited she'll be back for a moment before departing for the US.  It's so nice to have an old friend to pal around with.

I've made a big decision!  I'm going to leave Rome at the end of the month!  I'm going to go down to Sicily & do this WWOOFING that I've been talking about.  If you aren't familiar, it is doing some farm work in exchange for room & board.  I've had friends that have enjoyed it & have always wanted to give it a try.  My mental state has been suffering having so little to do here in Roma & I think it will feel GREAT to be outside doing some physical labor.  If you didn't know, I used to be a field biologist & have done a ton of work outside with plants, doing habitat restoration or working in native plant nurseries.   So, it isn't too strange for me to want to do something like this farming.  (my friends that don't know about my love of the outdoors here react like I'm crazy when I say I am going to go work on some farms.  They don't know that underneath my Italian woman facade... I am a hippie!) I find gardening & rural tasks to be highly relaxing & meditative!  Here's some more info:

WWOOF Italia

So, I'm going to take an overnight ferry from just north of Rome down to Palermo.  Yay!  Then I'll make my way to my first farm assignment.  I hope to be able to do a bit of blogging from there to keep you posted.  I hope also to have the time to see a fair bit of Sicily, it sounds really enchanting!  I am pondering bringing my trusty Franchi (my bike!) down there on the ferry to enhance my adventure.  I'm not sure how easy it is to train around with a bike...  I am going to do some research to see if traveling with Franchi will be a fun option.

Here is some modern art for you (well, relatively modern):

Giacomo Balla

realistic!

Klimt

Van Gogh

Cezanne, one of my favorite artists!

Monet

the atrium with cracked glass floor

Psyche

this was a really amazing hercules by my favorite venetian sculptor, Canova

Chirico

Sadly, I'm going to give up the yoga teaching at the end of the month.  Really I just wanted to do it for a sense of accomplishment.  A bit of a "tude booster" as Elysia would say.  :)  I don't think it would have panned out into something financially sustainable.  I had 6 students last week & the room that I thought might fit 10 or 12 felt pretty full with only 6 people in it.   I may have been overestimating myself.  But, it has been fun & I think those that have been coming are really liking it!  My students are American, Canadian, British & Italian, they are really sweet.

Also, I'm going to have to say goodbye to my little buddy Giovanni that I teach english to.  He's a super cutie, I'll miss him snuggling up to me while we read about astronauts or sharks.

Transition is hard & it is hard to make decisions when you don't have a lot of really amazing options to choose from.  I was realizing that as much as I love Roma I've just been lingering on here hoping for something to happen.  Despite my efforts this isn't really a smart or sustainable option when you've got limited funds.  So, I feel relieved to have made the decision to go.  It was a hard one to make because... why wouldn't I want to live in Rome???  Rome is the best!  Well, I feel like I have made the more practical decision, maybe not the most fun one but, I've been having a good, long, fun break over here for quite a while.  And, I don't plan to leave Italy until June so....  there is more to come!

In the meantime, let me know if you have any job opportunities lined up for me.  I am open to new ideas!  The idea of starting up another chiropractic practice seems very daunting!

I hope you have a great week, many hugs & kisses to you all!  xoxo