My sit spot this week was a bit different. For the weekend of April 13th and 14th, my program went to Sorrento, a city in the south of Italy about an hour from Naples. Sitting by the ocean, in the crisp, sunny weather was incredibly relaxing and very different from my sit spot in Bologna. […]
Category: Sylvia
#3: Water and Energy
I am posting this blog about a month after I wrote it (and so these observations are from March), as well as the photos! I am excited to show the changes as we are finally getting through April, and into May. As I’m sitting, my “roots” encounter dry earth, pigeons, cigarette butts, and fresh daises […]
#2: Market Day
The sights, smells, and sounds were very different in the park today than when I last went. Fridays and Saturdays there tends to be a big market in the piazza adjourning, which also stretches up along the park. Closing my eyes, I hear viral Tik Tok songs, smell fried food, car exhaust, and rain, and […]
#1: In Bologna!
The sit spot I decided on is on my way to class, Parco della Montagnola. Italian cities are pretty paved over – there is very little greenery – and so this is the most natural space I was able to find. From my dormitory, the walk is shaped like an L, with the park at […]
8: Final Reflections
It really is too warm at home, much warmer than it was in the UK! Way warmer than it has been in the past. The earth is a lot more dry now, and I can hear airplanes, birds, wind, squirrels, and cars from the road. The trees are pretty bare, so no rustling leaves, except […]
7: Back Home
My sit spot this week is a little bit different – I am not longer in the UK, but back home, in the Midwest. Although I can’t describe the change in my sit spot, I can describe the change between my sit spot at Worcester and the sit spot I am using back home. It […]
6: Art, Literature, & Media
I ended up climbing a tree while my friends were visiting – a tree perfect for climbing, horizontal and with a trunk almost flat over the water. My friend ended up climbing way high into the tree, while I stayed back, looking at the roots and the water pooling around the edge. I started to […]
5: Environmental Justice
For sounds, I can hear the dry rustling of wind in the leaves, which is a soft chorus, and a crow cawing above me, as well as the thin, reedy sound of a songbird. I can also hear the muted, faint roar of cars and trains from the station. What was especially funny was, on […]
4: Local and Climate Change
When I returned to my sit spot, it was unfortunately early November and quite rainy. I smelled wet leaves and smoke when I closed my eyes, and the chill smell of fall (I’m not sure how else to describe it). It was very quiet except for the sound of the rain and the gardener dragging […]
3: Roots and Energy!
It was very rainy and very chilly. However, being able to stand and hear the rain was a really lovely experience. My roots encounter: cold ground on a physical level, a bit wet, the chill leaking through my soles. I am wondering what the plants and trees are doing, rooted into the cold ground. Are […]