I suppose one of the trade-offs of living in a coastal community is the heavy precipitation. It has rained almost non-stop for a week now, and when it is not raining the mist is so thick it is like living in the clouds. Unfortunately the rain meant that our skiing was cancelled (no fun to ski in the slush) but hopefully it will be possible to ski next weekend and the weekend after that is our ski marathon!
So instead of going to the mountains today I went to Miramare Castle with one of my wonderful friends. It was quite an adventure to even get to the castle, as the nearest bus stop was a 50 minute walk away. Luckily the walk was through a beautiful park right next to the water. We then toured around the gardens of the castle and walked next to the marine conservation park adjacent to the gardens. We also had a chance to go inside the castle and it was beautiful. There were so many paintings and other pieces of art and it had been really nicely restored. There were hardly any other people there so the experience was even more magical. Leaving proved to also be an adventure as we ended up wandering around until we finally found an exit only to then find ourselves stuck in the International Center for Theoretical Physics campus. Once we managed to find our way out of that maze we ended up back on the main road – but had to walk for half an hour to the bus stop and then wait half an hour for the bus. I am so glad that I did not go alone because who knows if I ever would have found my way back!
This past Thursday I also had a very special experience visiting the Red Cross Refugee center in Udine. We went as part of my pottery class, so we brought clay and tools to make tiles with the refugees which we will cook this week. We will return this upcoming Thursday to make a mosaic with the fired tiles. I am still having trouble exactly quantifying how moved I am with words and how to explain what I felt however it was an experience I don’t think I will ever forget.
Other than that we just had our Middle Eastern and Asian Cultural week and show which was incredible and I learned a lot and got to experience some aspects of these cultures. The show itself was very very moving, with lots of powerful dances, dramatic acts and readings. Moments like these remind me why I am here and what an incredible movement UWC is.
I cannot believe it has almost been a month since I returned to the college. The time has passed by extremely quickly, it feels as though we begin the week and suddenly it is already over! I am trying to take in as much as I can.
Until next time,
Stephanie
vitamin sea at uwc adriatic 