Double Dante and Date

Charlie, Sarah, Nikki and Catherine coffee up for Dante

Today was a double Dante day-we had a 3 hour morning session and a 3 hour afternoon session on some pretty intense parts of Purgatorio  (Cantos 19-28), and were also finishing up previous Cantos. The weekend helped but I think all of us were feeling the strain of unraveling Dante's thick skeins of words.

There is a tension that comes from wanting to go through the process that Dante clearly outlines for readers (delving into metaphors and language and following threads to the end in discussion) and the task of knowing more about the poem (from those who have followed the threads previously). It was tough to balance. I think that Dante wants readers to enter the poem on a personal level, and to engage a community of learners to explore further. It is one of the many things our seminar seems to get right. Still, I wish there were more time to discover things on my own in the poem, or through discussing it rather than relying on notes or expert lectures. 

Rick's first day in Siena-finding an old friend

Having first Linda and now Rick here in Siena gives me other chances to explore. Rick is already more familiar with many of the city's attractions than I. He climbed the Torre on Sunday and hit the Civic museum, Duomo, Baptistery, the Crypta, the Museo delle Opera (works of the Duomo) and climbed the Facciatone today. Puts me to shame! 

Tomorrow will be a chance for us to do our first big trip outside of Siena together-Firenze. I am excited to go to the Baptistery there on our own, and to have Rick experience the onsite classes at Sta. Croce, and the Museo delle Opera (works of the Duomo). As he himself has said, he is the Dante scholar in the family-I know these sites will resonate for him profoundly and I just can't wait!