Hey Tia San,
Hey thanks for the
news! I hadn't heard anything much from
the family. It has been quite a while
since we've communicated; I'm not even sure where to begin:
Well, I'm enjoying my classes very much. The topic is something completely different
than what I am used to doing back at UTA; we're studying Berlin, and trying to
understand what are the qualities of place there. The idea is that all kinds of architectural
elements contribute to what gives somewhere a sense of place; in the case of
Berlin it is a pattern of courtyard buildings, lots of empty spaces left over
from the bombings in WWII, a grunginess of materiality, old brick buildings,
hidden alleyways, etc. Then we take
these elements and try to make a project that describes them, or puts them into
context with some sort of project.
I am currently working on this project and in March we are
going to exhibit it at a professional forum; I'm looking forward to it, but it
is also demanding most of my time these days.
I went to Italy for New Years and Christmas; for Christmas a
classmate of mine invited me to stay with her family in northern Italy. She lives in a small village in the
mountains. The area has been part of the
Austrian empire, so they speak German, and Italian; and I believe there is even
a regional dialect that is hardly recognizable as German or Italian.
Then I went to Milan for New Years. A friend of mine came from the Texas to visit
his sister who is living there, so I met up with them and spent a week in
Milan. It is a nice city, relatively
modern when comparing it to European age.
It reminded me a lot of Argentina, Buenos Aires in particular. There were many 4 or 5 story neo-classical
(almost French) style apartment buildings, with beautiful adornments on the
outside. The weather was also great; a
bit chilly but bearable. We also managed to get up to Switzerland for a day and
visit some small towns around a large lake.
It was really beautiful; it looked a bit like the town we went to visit
in the Mountains in France next to that lake on the Swiss border.
My German is at a somewhat conversational level. I can speak with people, but grammar is
extremely difficult, and perhaps it's just my impression, but it seems a little
less forgiving in terms of communicating,
The people are extremely nice, it's more that I can't seems to
articulate myself quite perfectly when I want to get more involved in the
conversation.
I have met a lot of great people in the area; everyone is
relatively relaxed; they participate in a lot of mountain sports here, so a lot
of skiing, hiking, mountain biking, that sort of stuff; but it's a way of life
here. It is nice, about a ten minutes’
walk away from here I get out of the neighborhood and begin walking on paths
going through the wilderness. Truly a
blessing.
Besides that, I miss home of course. I am a little more than half way through now;
I'll be coming back at the beginning of August, so I still have another
semester to wrap up. I hope to do some
more travelling over the summer. For Easter
I'm heading into France. I'll be staying
with Olivier, and I hope I'll get the chance to see a lot of old friends, and
my host families as well. That should be
quite nice in fact.
How about you, do you have any travelling plans in the near
future? Say hi to the family, un beso
enorme
Lucas
