Week 1: Exploring the Untextbook--Too Much to Choose From!

Alrighty, so it's getting pretty late here in Italy and all these hills and all of the walking and orientations are kicking my behind.  That, mixed with the overwhelming amount of options (all of which I wish I can/could explore!), is bound to lead to a blog post which is both brief and bumbling.  Here goes!!

The four reading units that--at this moment, at least--I am interested in are. . . Drum roll, please!

1.  Italian Tales:  Being in Italy and all, and knowing only the ancient Roman and Greek mythology as I do, it would be utterly fascinating to read some of the popular folktales and fairytales of this wondrous country!  Add in the fact that these include stories much like the ones I was raised on, and I'm hooked!  And can we please have a rooster as a Pope?  That sounds pretty awesome, haha.  As long as it's an educated, confirmed, virtuous rooster, of course.

2.  Europe (I or II):  European history, culture, languages, folklore, food, etc. all excite me, even more so now that I have the opportunity to travel to some of the places and experience some of the things we have always heard and learned about.  I am always looking for more information on cultures I know relatively little about, and I feel these fairy tales could help me at least feel like I relate to these foreign countries on some level while learning a bit about them.  So yeah, let's go!

3.  Celtic Fairy Tales:  I feel like I'm beating a dead horse here, but EUROPE!!  Plus, I have always had a soft spot for tales of selkies, and Nessie, and leprechauns and . . . well, Irish/Scottish/Welsh stories.  They're just so rich and often different than a lot of other tales.  So even if I wasn't planning on going to Ireland and possibly Scotland, I would still be really intrigued by this unit.

4.  Arabian Nights:  For once my explanation of my interest has only to do with my interest.  (See if you can puzzle out that late-night, slap-happy, circular logic, haha.)  The Arabian Nights are stories that I have always wanted to read but have always been kind of wary of jumping into on my own.  1001 tales is just daunting.  But the whole premise of these tales and the romanticism and nesting of it just enthralls me.  I am sure I will be as enchanted by Scheherazade as all of her listeners!!


G'night all!  (I'm too tired to think of/look up another Italian phrase for goodbye. . . So, yup.  G'night!




Image Information.  Scheherazade.  Illustration by H.J. Ford in The Arabian Nights' Entertainments, 1898.  (Found in the Untextbook.)