Home  Latest News Pastoral Message from Italy...
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Pastoral Message from Italy... |
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To Our Dear Friends,
It's been a week and a half since we've been gone, and we wanted to write and say "hello" and let you know we arrived safe and sound in Italy. While it's true that absence does make the heart grow fonder, and we think of you with smiles on our faces, we are also having an amazing time! We spent the first weekend in Rome, and as it was our first time there, hit as many high spots as we could...the Coliseum, the Vatican, the Villa Borghese art gallery. What a wonder to experience the city where so many of the roots of Western civilization--politics, theology, art, science and history--had their genesis! I think it's a pretty safe bet to expect things to be showing up in sermons!
Following Rome, we went to the real heart of our Italy trip.. As I write this, I'm sitting upstairs by an open window in a Bishop's Villa, outside the little walled village of Arezzo, Italy. It is in the heart of Tuscany, all very beautiful and romantic. (It's also hotter than blazes, as it turns out they didn't have air conditioning when they built the villa in the 15th century. They still don't, and it's often in the high 90's! But I digress.) Today the villa is the location of the Accademia Dell Arte, a school in Italy that teaches American university students the art of Commedia Dell Arte. We are here for an intensive 3 week immersion in theatrical training in Commedia. There are 20 students in our program, most of them 20 somethings. As you can imagine, Mark and I are the oldest students here, which I think may have some of them a little worried initially. After a week, though, I think we're fitting in okay, as I just got invited today to go out for a drink with the girls and and talk with them about relationships! The same for Mark and the boys.
But I digress. It turns out that not a lot is known in the United States about Commedia, although it is an Italian theater form that has been around since about the 13th century. But if you know the work of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields, or Laurel and Hardy, then you know something about Commedia. It is incredibly hard work, very physically demanding. We sweat so much that it's not uncommon to have 2-3 showers a day. We also walk the mile and a half into town for groceries or meals most everyday. The best thing about all this exercise is that is that I feel absolutely no guilt about the cheese and pasta meals that are in such abundance here! Our teacher, Mikhaly, is an Italian master of Commedia from MIlan. He is a phenomenal teacher and performer, and one of the kindest teachers I have ever met. Mark and I already see some wonderful ways that the material we are learning may be incorporated into our work at Valley.
Well, I'll close for now, as dinner is beginning. Please know we love you, and hope things are going well for you. Those of you who are in town at VPC, take good care of each other. Ciao! (And much love), Cheryl
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