Day of Hell... Museologia final

Ciao all,

Contrary to what the title may lead you to believe, all is okay now. But, today was the longest and most torturous day of my life. All 5 of us (Me, Andrea, Maggie Rossi, Grace and Jeff) had been studying for our Museologia final since we arrived back in Florence early last week. Elisa was drilling info into our heads in our tutoring sessions that lasted from Friday until yesterday. Elisa had prepared us for the exam program and warned us on interview tactics. Today was judgement day.

We all arrived at the classroom on time, and our teacher took attendance. She wasn't very clear as to how long we would be waiting to take the exam, so we decided to stay in the classroom while the students ahead of us were doing it. (For exams at Italian Universities, the professors have a sort of "conversation" with the student in the front of the classroom, and other students can sit in the room and listen, if they so choose.) So, we stayed and listened. Bad idea. The first student was Italian and got a 30/30. Awesome. The second student was American and got a 28/30. We were pretty sure she knew nothing so we felt much calmer after that. Very quickly though, things started to go downhill. As people were stumbling more and more, the grades were certainly lowering. She failed just about all the Americans after that first girl. No one knew anything, she was mad, and the questions were getting harder.

We waited in that classroom trying to study, but we were so distracted by our nerves that it really wasn't working. My heart was beating so fast the whole day and my body was shaking so much that I couldn't write! I'm sure the 5 of us looked like we were going to throw up on each other. Anyway, all that stress throughout the morning did nothing for us because around 1, she broke for lunch. We had no way of knowing that we wouldn't be going until the afternoon, but had wasted all of our energy on freaking out the whole morning. So, we all took a walk and got a little lunch. I could barely eat, so I just got a little bit of cous-cous. We headed back around 2 and she started again. 3 people in, Andrea had her turn. The professor asked her some of the strangest questions, and then some questions that I had wanted to be asked! She ended up passing and doing well (first American to pass since early that morning). Next, an Italian went and following her, was me!

I sat down, and my mouth became immediately dry. I must have sounded retarded trying to form words in Italian with proper grammar at a steady, conversational pace. My mouth was so cotton-y that I couldn't even pronounce "universitaria" correctly. My first question was IMPOSSIBLE. I had no idea what she wanted as an answer. All morning, we had heard people failing on this question and still couldn't figure out the answer. She basically asked me "What happened after the war?" In my head, I asked myself, "What the heck is she talking about! There were soooo many wars in history and art history starts all the way back in BC. What's THE war?" It became established later on because she saw that I was stumbling a bit. She wanted the 2nd World War. Ohhhhhhh duhhhhhh why didn't I think of that war before all others!? Ugh. Anyway, the question was still so vague that I told her everything I remembered from the 1950s on. Not all of it was right, but I couldn't figure out what she was fishing for. Finally, she moved on. The next question involved the Accademia. She wanted to know where the art inside came from.

Well, a lot of the art was produced by the students and professors of the Accademia, so that's what I told her. She didn't like that answer. I then told her that the David arrived there in 1873 when it was moved from Piazza della Signoria. She didn't like that answer either, even though the fact was correct. Again, I went through every law and fact in the book until I found what she was looking for. La soppressione degli enti ecclesiatici (the suppression of the ecclesiastical agencies) in 1866. This was the time when all of the religious art came out of the churches, and was dispersed. Some of this art went to the Accademia. This is what I told her and finally she had gotten what she wanted. I think she may have asked a few more questions, and then my time was up. I ended up with a 25/30 (first module) and a 26/30 (second module). Phew.

However, I couldn't get the full feeling of relief until about 15 minutes later, when I stopped shaking and sweating. My signature on the professor's papers looked nothing like my actual signature- I couldn't hold the pen steady enough to write it! When I got outside of the purgatory, Andrea was there and Elisa had arrived. I guess Elisa had heard everything I had been asked. She hugged me (I know, so weird, right?) and then told me that I did well to continue talking, even when I wasn't sure of the answer. She said that the professor is always very picky and there's no way of telling what kind of questions you'll be asked. Slowly, Jeff, Grace and Maggie finished their exams. Everyone came out with the same grades. No one failed, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure those other Americans in the morning hadn't studied much because they stumbled over the simple parts and didn't recognize any names or events. But, I knew that it would have been unfair (but possible because this is Italy) for us to fail. We knew everything and fortunately, that helped us with the trouble areas.

I had remembered Elisa telling us, "Whatever you do, don't stop talking. If you don't know the answer, talk about something similar or something that happened in the same time period. She can be very moody, so don't look her in the eye. And, always smile." So, that's what we all did and thankfully, it worked. I think I would have thrown my books at her if she had failed me. I stressed and studied soooo hard that I can't even explain.

After this one, I'm sooo glad to have a break, but I officially HATE the exam system in Italy. It's completely based on emotion. If you are a nerve-y, emotional person (like me), you are at an immediate disadvantage. Had she given me a paper with questions, I would have passed much more painlessly. But this was complete torture. I have never stressed so consistently for such a long time period. So glad it's over! Obviously, we're going out tonight to celebrate.

On the 27th, I have to do it all over again. However, I don't think it will be as bad because only about 40 students took Storia del Costume whereas about 150 students took Museologia. Plus, the professor is MUCH nicer and way less moody. The material for Storia del Costume is also a little more open-ended when it comes to answering questions. So, that's good. But, I'm not going to think about that until the end of the weekend.

Maria Pia is making mushroom risotto, my favorite, for a celebration. Tonight is going to be awesome.

A dopo!