Bios, The Round Temple, and Calcio!

Before telling you about my weekend escapades and the recent revelation  of the new love of my life – Michelangelo Mersi da Caravaggio, I would like to devote some space in this entry to describing some of my classmates at the Centro. I have yet to broach this topic, and I am sure you have been wondering about the fabulous cast of 40 classics majors I live with.

I will start with the three ladies that I am talking about when I say in the blog that, “I am doing something with my girlfriends.” My first victim is Mrs. Alex Olsman, my doppelganger (as she describes me) – except about a foot shorter with lovely long dark locks – from PENN. Liz and Ro (Roseann), the other two girls who Alex and I spend most of our time with, respectively hail from Bowdoin and Georgetown. We like to call Liz “Lizzie McGuire,” after the famous teen Disney character who travelled to Roma and found love. Ro, in addition to being a classics major and sporty spice (yes she goes to the park with the boys to play soccer with Italians several times a week), is also premed.

Ro, Lizzie McG, Myself and Alex!

Now I have selected three characters whom I have become particularly fond of.

Blount <3

1) Blount Stewart

Words do not describe this wonderful human being. Blount (pronounced Blunt) attended the prestigious St. Albans school for boys in the DC area, and now is an undergrad at Columbia University. He and I sit next to each other in ancient Greek and Alex and I gravitate towards him during exploratory field trips, frequently forming a trio. Blount not only sings in one of the most prestigious choirs and works as an usher at Carnegie Hall in New York City, he also plays lacrosse and is a pro at fixing all things that have to do with technology.

2) Caity Caitlin

Caitlin is my roommate at the Centro. She is calm and collected every single moment of every single day, wonderful to talk to and great to have as a buddy, making sure that we get up on time everyday and are ready to go with the correct materials. Unfortunately our only class together is Ancient City. She also wonderfully deals with my random daily rants/outbursts and slightly messy tendencies that take away from room number fourteen’s aesthetic appeal. She and I have started a tradition of going for Sunday night dinners together a restaurant nearby the Centro called Carpe Diem.

3) Bryan Beth

Bryan is a crazy body builder who attends the University of Washington. I became particularly fond of Bryan at the wine symposium hosted by the Centro last Friday. I wasn’t having the best of days, arrived slightly late and slid into the chair next to him. We previously hadn’t had much of a chance to chat. After talking his ear off over-dramatically about unimportant issues, he told me I looked lovely (which certainly improved my mood). After taking a small taste of each glass of wine, he would pour the remainder of his cup into mine. He doesn’t drink much because he is very health oriented, so it was a great situation.

I hope that gives you alittle bit more insight! Now back to the usual banter. What I realized this week — ICCS is more then just a program. It is most certainly a privileged cult that accepts new members each semester on a pilgrimage in the mother ship of Rome. I have come to this conclusion because of two experiences. Number one – each student has access to the amazing library of the American Academy at Rome, the home of the best collection of classical works in the entire world to which only PhDs (and rarely graduate students) are granted access. We received a personal tour of the library, which is located in a grand all marble monument in the style of an ancient villa. Second, on our Thursday field trip, we were permitted admission to one of the most well preserved and ostentatious temples (that of Hercules) in the Ancient region of the city called the Forum Boarium (the cow trade market) that is nearly 100 percent of the time gated off. Our entire group stood inside the big black fence that protects the temple from tourists and explored it in peace. It was quite wonderful.

Gated inside the premise. 

The Round Temple!

On Friday I spent three and a half hours in the church of Santa Maria del Popolo. Although hindered by a mass and choir practice, my art history professor fought through the noise and gave a wonderful presentation on the monument and its contents. Again I learned about something in depth that I had only formerly studied in textbooks. We walked around the side isles of the massive church for the first two and a half hours, observing various pentagonal chapels of the dell’Rovere family (the famous imperial popes). Our teacher showed us development in the paintings in the church from the medieval period to the High Renaissance style. The climax of the tour was a twenty-minute lecture on the Chigi Chapel – designed and executed by Raphael. Our teacher explained that the Chigi Chapel is the first to be considered proto-Baroque. Up until it, it was common practice for wealthy patrons such as Agostino Chigi (the patron of the temple who at the time was the richest man in the entire world) to have more then one famous artists working on commissions. For example, in Florence at the Medici Courthouse, both Michelangelo and Leonardo were working on various projects – as close as gigantic parallel wall frescos in one room. In the baroque age however, this practice ended and single artists would obtain single commissions. The Chigi Chapel is particularly stunning because Raphael used all three media – painting, sculpture, and architecture – to create a message of salvation after death. God looks down from the oculus (tip top of the dome that covers the chapel), and the very new style obelisk tombs that flank the chapel reach up to him. Raphael was a harmonizing genius, as everything in this tomb works in a symphony to attain the singular message. In the last twenty minutes of our Popolo marathon we observed a niche beside the altarpiece that contained two famous Caravaggio paintings. We did not spend a lot of time talking about the paintings because we haven’t quite finished with our study of the Renaissance yet – but they are the two most beautiful pieces of Art I have seen in my entire life – the Crucifixion of St. Peter and the Conversion of Saul. I cannot wait until we delve into the life of this Caravaggio – a painter currently unknown to me. Alex and I are planning a day trip to the Museum devoted to him in Rome for later this semester.

The Crucifixion of Peter 

On Saturday night, I took an adventure with fifteen other centristi to the Olympic Stadium to watch my first soccer match ever, Roma VS Inter! This night was definitely one of the most fun that I have had in Italy. The Olympic stadium and surrounding complex is massive. I couldn’t figure out if the surrounding walls curve over the spectators towards the top, or if this is just an optical illusion. It was a beautiful night (until about 3 minutes after the game when it started pouring rain), and I especially love how the field appears to sit directly under a starry sky. I devoured an Italianized hotdog which was heaven – a typical fenway frank in a focaccia with some sort of cheese, more like a piggy in a blanket on steroids now that I reflect on it. Roma won in the last minute after a long and scoreless hour and a half. Everyone went crazy, singing their hearts out and banging on the walls on our bus ride back saying inappropriate things about Milan. Luckily I was wearing my eight dollar knock-off Jersey so I fit right in. I was slightly disappointed later when I looked up my player (the number on my jersey) and found that he was not the most gorgeous one on the team (like Tom Brady or Beckham). He was slightly short and way too muscular for my taste!

Centro girls at the game! Notice the stadium in the backdrop.

Loving my hotdog.

Week four is going to be a long hall – 5 straight days of waking up at 7:30AM and more field trips and explorations. I have to complete preparations for two oral presentations (even though they are not until November) before we leave for our week-long excursion to Sicily and I spend some time traveling on fall break. For Ancient city, I am studying and presenting the Eumachia building in Pompeii (when we go there). Eumachia was basically the Paris Hilton equivalent of the Ancient world – a loaded heiress who controlled the clothing industry in Pompeii. I snagged that topic as soon as the list went up! For Art History, I am still working on picking my topic – but most definitely will be day tripping to my assigned location St. John the Lateran (the first Christian Church in Rome that contains a stunning baroque fresco cycle) with Brittany, who is my partner on this topic.

Arrivaderci amici!!!!

Hard Core.

The descent to the Aqua Claudia.

Hanging out inside the aqueduct, Professor Serfass (my ancient Greek instructor) is to my left.

Pre spider attack (notice how small the space is).

Dinner in Trastevere.

Aqueduct Time

Yesterday, the first day of fall, was one of the longest and most strenuous days of my entire life, and one I will certainly never forget. The schedule read:

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

7:30 Breakfast

8:00 Bus leaves for Alba Fucens

10:00 Arrival at Alba Fucens + Site Orientation

11-12 Group Project

12-1 Lecture

1:30 Bus to the Aqueduct sites

2:30 – ?? Aqueduct Explorations

I didn’t really think much of it when I glanced at the paper before leaving the Centro and checking weather.com; it was just going to be another long Tuesday trip that illuminated our discussion in class on Monday.

The bus ride through the Apennines to the Alba Fucens archaeological site brought back repressed childhood memories: day long rides through the US rocky mountains my sister and I endured when we were little kids on family ski vacations. The day was not particularly nice – overcast grey skies and scattered clouds – adding an aura to our journey into the mountains. Sunny skies are more suited to days when we explore the remains of the bustling city itself.

Our bus followed a winding autostrada. We crossed over valleys between mountains on bridges with monumental masonry. Looking down into these valleys I could see fog rising against the green. No one believes me, but I swear I saw a shepherd with a stick leading a huge flock of white sheep as we drove through one plateau.  I can see why the Romans called these mountains the “foot hills.” Looking at the rolling peaks from a distance, it did seem a perfect place for an easy day hike. But, as I learned later that day, beauty can be deceiving (even in the case of mountains)!

We loaded off the bus at Alba Fucens and looked down a hill at a grid of ruins. Our day began with a long climb in the opposite direction of the ruins to get a view of the entirety of the sight. In a three-hour lecture the day before, our teachers discussed the early Roman colonies, why they were formed, how much of a reflection of Rome they physically were. The Romans founded Alba Fucens (located on the edge of the Apennines – the mountain range – directly to the east of the city) in 303 BC as a result of their wars with the Samnites, a rugged native mountain people who inhabited the area. Alba Fucens is very different from Tarquinia and Cerveteri (the Etruscan locations from last week’s field trips) as it was founded centuries later by the Romans themselves during their sweep of the Italian Peninsula (i.e. phase one of their rise to control the entire Mediterranean).

Ancient writers wrote about the specifics of the Roman tactics, analyzing the question of how they rose above all other nations throughout Europe to control the Mediterranean. These past two weeks in Ancient Greek Class, we have been reading and interpreting a selection of analyses from the Greek perspective (peoples from across Greece observations on the Romans) under the guidance of my brilliant (literally) Professor Serfass. We have come to realize as a class that we must take what these Greeks say with a grain of salt, as they ultimately link everything back to their own country, and embed in their writings the notion that Romans learned everything by studying Greek culture. For example, the text we studied –by the Greek author Plutarch (who wrote biographies of many important ancient people) claims that that the greatness of the second Roman King Numa is due to the fact he was taught by Greeks and in the Greek way. I still can’t decide if I am team Italy or team Greece. The reality is that yeah, the Greeks were the philosophical and artistic masters who the Romans could not surpass (don’t get me wrong there were some great Roman intellectuals and creativists), but at the end of the day the Romans ruled the world… and these pompous Greeks were certainly under the dominion of the Romans as much as any other “barbaric” nation in the empire.

Enough digression - We hung out in the ampitheater by the hill for a while, and after being entertained by two of my goofy classmates playing gladiators with their umbrellas, checked out a church that held the remains of a temple. We finally descended to the site that was once the town’s center (a nice and compact grid area probably no larger then a football field), and engaged in a group project in which we walked around and identified the purpose of the various buildings based on the nature of the remains. We haven’t had much practice at this task – so it was great. Afterwards, our teachers in a long and organized fashion lead us through the entire complex, helped us determine the errors in our guesswork and instructed us in what to look for. I nailed the identification of only one group of remains – the bath complex – which was pretty obvious because of the underground “hypocasts” or stone heating devices that have a unique formation that I observed in a pit of excavation. All in all, I realized that the Romans were more similar to modern day peoples then I imagined. The teaching fellow Dora guided us to an area of town with the remains of what looks like a modern day bar, and we learned this would have been a sort of fast food joint. It was an incredibly taxing morning, but I appreciated learning about classical archaeology and engaging in fieldwork, things I have shied away from in the past.

After eating our cestini (lunch), we headed to the Aqueducts located at the edge of the Apennine range (closer to the city). The manager of our program, Franco, joined us on this trip, and announced over the microphone that he had a very special surprise in store for us. The bus stopped at a large, locked gate in the middle of what seemed to be nowhere, and we unloaded and walked through a path covered with a canopy – the sort you would find in a winery with interlocking vines - and found ourselves in front of a gorgeous monastery. Franco’s friend, who only spoke Italian, greeted us and walked us to a door that looked dormant – like the one to the secret garden. To my surprise, the door opened to a treacherous staircase that I could barely see hidden among a mess of uncultivated plants. To the side of the stairs was a cliff, which looked down upon the shining blue/green Arno River. After going further and further down the stairs and finally almost reaching the river itself (this took about half an hour), we entered a tunnel – literally the path of the Ancient Aqua Claudia – that took its water from the Apennine ranges. We walked in the Aqueduct for probably about twenty-five minutes. The Romans engineered these Aqueducts as early as the fourth century with an early form of concrete (a masonry which did not contaminate the water flow) and were able to supply the entire peninsula with drinkable water. Incredible! On the walls of the tunnel it was possible to see where the water level had been due to calcium deposits, which resulted in a different coloration upon half of the wall. Interestingly in some areas there was black ash, apparently from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD, showing just how catastrophic and far reaching the disaster was. We climbed all the way back up to the path, and proceeded down another on the opposite side of the monastery, this time aiming for the Aqua Marsha.

I did not enjoy this descent. Although there were no crumbing staircases this time, I had to push through a mess of thorns, overgrown weeds, and rocks while going down a massive hill. Not to mention I was wearing shorts, and was constantly being pricked and overcome with itches. Let’s just say that by the time we finally arrived at the entrance, it took nearly every fiber of my being to contain my inner JAP. I took a few deep breaths and entered the cave with the first group (I will admit to being slightly aggressive to make sure I went in the first wave, because there was no way I was standing in the hellish entanglement for another half hour). I was slightly disappointed, for all we endured to get down there, it was basically the same thing as the cave on the other side. I knew it was time to go when we were stopped at an end point in the tunnel for Dora (the young teaching fellow) to point something out and I flashed my flashlight on the wall only to see a spider about as big as my hand. I shone my light across the wall and saw at least 30 more of the same species in pattern formation – not to mention this was in a space that was less then 4 feet wide so their proximity to my body was less then a foot. At this point I (probably rudely) interrupted Dora because I started hyperventilating and screaming that I needed to get out (Ok I cracked) – BUT when she realized the situation she had the exact same reaction and started moving more quickly than I did.

We finally departed on the bus at 6:00 (we had been at the aqueducts since 2:30) and headed back to the centro for a divine dinner. SALMON! Thank goodness!!! In our lectures about Roman religion, Professor Serfass explained that one of the few places an average Roman would have the opportunity to eat meat was the feast that followed a sacrifice at a temples (when they would burn only certain parts of beasts to the gods). These feasts would occur on specific holidays. If I were an ancient Roman, I would have kept a calendar that marked every single festival day to make sure I reaped the benefits!

Soccer Game this weekend! Whoooo Azzurri! Homecoming Italian style?

Isabella.

Pictures!

Alex and I on the Necropolis at Tarquinia.

In the piazza in front of the Museum at Tarquinia.

Kodak Moment in front of the Tiber

Etruscan Bangles

My Three Sicilians and a Week of Etruscan Explorations

After our relaxing beach day at Santa Severa, team Centro ventured out for another night on the town. My four girlfriends and I headed to downtown Trastevere and had an upscale dinner – I ordered tonno e verdure (tuna and vegetables), which was delicious. Before heading to our next destination, we made small pit stop and shared a pitcher of fresh mojito at a bar that offered an amazing discount to studentesse like us. A friendly bartender named Marco put together the concoction, crushing fresh limes and mint leaves and stirring in the other ingredients. We finished that off pretty quickly and headed to a region further off called Testaccio – an area in the city known for its vibrant nightlife.

We landed at a street in Testaccio filled with discoteca. Each club was like Johnny O’s on one of the busiest nights in Ithaca – a large crowd pushing forward and two large bouncers. I headed over to one called “Albi” with a group of 3 girls and 4 guys and, using my collegetown experience, attempted to get everyone in. I shoved my way to the front of the line with my group following, and immediately made eye contact with a bouncer who introduced himself to me as Simon. Simon then asked how many people were in my party - here I had to do a little bit of lying - and I told him I had half as many ragazzi with me. So when he lifted the cord to let me in I aggressively stood right next to him and pulled everyone through with a smile saying “e lui e lui e lui e lui…!” (and him and him and him and him). Success! We paid the cover and headed to the third floor where we found an open balcony dance floor – this club was pretty cool/huge I will say.

The dance floor was hopping. Three gigantic (like talking Kevin Garnet height) and very handsome young men made their way over. Compared to all the other Italians they stood out like sore thumbs because they were so freaking tall! They told me they were soldiers from Sicily – I am a skeptic so I thought this was BS – and for the duration of the evening I enjoyed watching them break out their best moves and belt out lady gaga songs.

Sunday was uneventful… just homework, quiz preparations and a few coffee breaks. I had my first cappuccino (it was only a dollar!), which was delicious. Bright and early Monday morning it was time to progress past the first week studies of the foundations of Rome to the growth of the city itself and outside influences – namely, the Etruscan peoples who inhabited the area just north of Rome. I find myself enthralled with Etruscan culture – especially the material remains. Why are the Etruscans important to me, a young classicist/art historian? They occupied distinct individual cities in a geographical region north of Rome between the Tiber River and the Arno River (essentially modern day Tuscany).  The earliest settlements in this region (consisting of some gatherings of basic huts of wattle and daub) existed alongside villages south of the Tiber in the region called Latium where Rome is located. The northern settlements developed into actual city-states much earlier in the game (i.e. about one hundred years before Rome and other cities in Latium), and therefore this region influenced Rome when it began to develop into more then a collection of huts on a hill.

Etruscans were very urbanized and had an advantage due to their abundance of mineral based natural resources (i.e. iron ores etc); they were a hot commodity on the international economic playing field. Not only did they export items (for example to locations further south in Italy), but they also imported from far places like Greece and Turkey.   The Etruscans matter because 1) they brought back home other cultures as a result of their international economic prowess and 2) they spread Etruscan culture southwards to Rome.

Most Etruscan items have been uncovered in burial grounds located outside major cities. These grounds contain the best-preserved remains of Etruscan culture, for most Etruscan urban centers were built over during Medieval times. The Etruscans loved their necropoli (burial grounds), and the more ornate/grand the tomb, the better and more well off the deceased in that tomb. This week we had the opportunity to visit two very distinctive Etruscan necropoli – one at Tarquinia, which is famous for the beautiful and well preserved frescoes that adorn the walls of its princely tombs, and another at Caere (modern day Cerveteri), which is famous for its unique, massive tumuli (mound tombs that look like hobbit houses). The necropolis at Tarquinia was phenomenal. About twenty excavated tombs scattered over a massive hill are open to tourists, and after about an hour of lecturing, we explored the tombs on our own and completed a small descriptive assignment. Alex and I headed through the necropolis, down the long staircase into the heart of our first destination: the Tomb of the Gorgon. After descending deep into the earth we came to an abrupt ending (it was completely dark at this point) with a sort of glass window. Like usual, when figuring things out for the first time in Italy, we had no idea what to do because of a lack of signage. After about five minutes we discovered a small green button on the right wall of the narrow corridor, pressed it, and then presto; the room lit up before our eyes. Looking right at us on the back wall was a painting of a massive grotesque head with snaky hair, wide-open eyes, and a yucky tongue sticking out. The tomb itself was a singular chamber with two side rooms. On the sidewalls the artist rendered three women in paintings like those we had seen in Pompeii and later Roman art. The artist – most likely a Greek who had moved to the area and been commissioned by aristocrats – rendered their bodies in a clear black outline, and filled in the lines with bold hues. Their skin was a dark nearly chestnut tone, their hair a dark brown, their clothes a light blue/white. They seemed to be organized in a procession/ceremony.

We explored the Tombs at Tarquinia for the rest of the morning, took a brief trip to the Tarquinia museum that housed sarcophagi and goods uncovered in the tombs (a lot has been lost due to looting in previous decades), returned to the bus and headed to go to our next site: Cerveteri.

At Cerveteri, we stepped into what looks like a hobbit village from the Lord of the Rings: a bunch of massive mounds covered by vegetation in the middle of the woods. Alex has been teaching popular colloquial acronyms used at Penn, and it was at this point in time that I finally correctly used one when I stated, “THIS PLACE IS SO BL.” “BL” I have learned stands for bootleg – and is an adjective meaning archaic/obsolete, especially in terms of organization and upkeep. There were stray cats running around everywhere and there was no great organization like that at Tarquinia.

After the usual brief site orientation our instructors unleashed us to explore the area. I didn’t enjoy this necropolis as much as the other students at the centro – my classmates were climbing in and up and down and around into uncharted areas and clivi (little niches in the walls filled with cobwebs).  Thankfully Scott, the professor in charge, took me under his wing and led me to what he called “tomb awesome,” basically the biggest and baddest tomb of the forest village. It was pretty awesome. After descending down a very large flight of steps (the temperature in the tomb was about fifteen degrees less than outdoors, that’s how deep were talking) we found a large spacious room with three smaller (yet still large) rooms in the back for sarcophagi. This entire tomb belonged to the Magnelli family – and housed multiple generations of inhumed bodies.

We returned to the centro late, had a standard dinner, and I passed out after completing some Greek homework. The next day was nice – no class until 4:00 so I slept in! Greek was fun – we translated passages from various historians who gave theories about where my new friends the Etruscans came from (for example one dude Herodotus thinks that they are actually Turks who were left their native land because of amine). I made it through another class with the brilliant boys thankfully – it took some over preparing, but well worth it. That brings us to today.

This morning we set off on a field trip to the Villa Guilia just outside of Rome, which the Pope Julius IV originally built as a Villa for himself. It is now a Museum that houses a wide collection of Etruscan artifacts. The professors set post in various rooms, and for about an hour and a half we rotated through the museum to each station and heard lectures about artifacts. My favorite of the day was professor Serfass’ stop at the Tombo Degli Spousi – the tomb of the spouses. It is a massive terracotta sarcophagus with a ornate top on which two life-size sculpted humans embrace each other. During our free time, I headed to the Etruscan Jewelry display center, which included pieces found in the female sarcophagi. Each piece is so ornate, intricate and nearly all gold and full of gems. Stylish Bangle bracelets, dangly earrings, cameos, and simple necklaces gleamed before my eyes. Those Etruscans certainly did have style!! It is clear that the Etruscans valued aesthetics and beauty. I have fallen in love with Etruscan Jewelry!

Week two is over. The trajectory for this weekend: an Art History field trip to the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel tomorrow morning, an adventure to the Jewish ghetto on Saturday morning for Yom Kippur services with a few observant friends, and a fabulous break the fast at night. Love and miss you all so much. <3<3

Isabella.

Pictures.

Day Trip to the Forum! Sorry Nerva I stole these first two from you :)

The Tempietto!

My Fountain that I keep on talking about.

Campo di Fiore!

Enjoying Roma

Fun at Santa Severa - we told our friend Andre we were burying him and sculpting him into Posiedon.

Finishing Up the First Week.

 The end of my week was exhausting, yet by far the most rewarding.

Wednesday afternoon my advanced ancient Greek translation class met for the first time. Translating Ancient Greek is certainly not my strength - although last year I made it through Professor Pucci’s Friday morning reading quizzes filled with random verbs thanks to my good fortune of having inherited the phenomenal Zinman family memory. My Professor, Adam Serfass (from Kenyon College), has invented his own syllabus for this semester.

“This course has several goals. First, students will come to read Greek prose with greater speed, accuracy, and nuance. Secondly, students will be exposed to a wide range of Greek authors who are rarely read in the original at the undergraduate level yet are counted among the most important sources for Roman history; these include Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Polybius, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, Josephus, the New Testament, and Eusebius of Caesarea. The course thus offers an opportunity for students to compare and contrast a range of unfamiliar authors’ methods, styles, and preoccupations. Lastly, it is hoped that students may make better sense of their own encounter with Rome – a city that, in both its ancient and modern guises, may sometimes seem inscrutable and impenetrable – by reading these ancient authors whose relationship to Rome as outsiders is not entirely different from their own.”

Basically we are studying selections from historical narratives of Greeks writing about Rome while it was developing. These sources are crucial to historians' understanding of the development of Rome from a small village on the Palatine to a massive empire that spanned the entire Mediterranean world.

After getting settled in our seats, Professor Serfasshad us go around the table and announce our names and undergraduate institutions. I thus learned that the three of the gentlemen in my seven-person class hail from Stanford, Penn, and Columbia - and nearly had an anxiety attack. The one other girl in the class has taken four years of Greek, but thankfully I didn’t find this out until later. After discussing the syllabus and the article we were assigned to read for the first day (which I did a nice job preparing for), it was time for a diagnostic quiz. Four years ago, I would have run to the bathroom hysterically crying after attempting this impossible examination. Luckily I had spent time talking to Professor Serfass before the class and realized that he will be a phenomenal teacher. I am just going to have to leave the anxiety driven cry-a-bel of my childhood behind. Even though I will not receive an A in the course its ok, the subject matter is so unique and I definitely can not miss out on the opportunity to study it. To my relief, when I checked my email after dinner I was greeted by a message from Professor Serfass that he had reviewed our diagnostics, and “there is not a single student in the class whom I consider to be under-qualified.  And the exams have no bearing on your grade in the course.” Phew!!

Our field trip to the Roman Forum and the Palatine hill the next day was cool – each professor spent time lecturing about monuments in the areas we explored, their development over time and how the remains stand today. It was the first of what will be many trips to the forum and Palatine to study the ruins this semester. 

We started our field trip on the Palatine, discussing the written legends of Rome's founding and examining the present archeological evidence. I especially enjoyed listening to professor Serfass discuss Lupercalia, a Roman fertility ritual that would seem entirely outrageous to a twentieth century person. Basically a bunch of prepubesecent Roman boys from rich families would go to the Lupercal cave (where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were said to be suckled by the she-wolf, and sacrifice goats. They would then dress in the skins and paint their faces with the blood from the sacrifices. They would also make whips from the goat remains and run out of the cave and down he Palatine Hill into the forum in a sort of frenzy, striking females with their whips. Like … not so normal! But what does one expect, it’s the Romans.

The forum is located in a valley between the Palatine and Capitoline hills (two of the famous seven in Rome), and it is breathtaking to look up at the hills from the valley spotted with luscious cypress trees and ruins piercing the cerulean sky. When the villages on the Palatine and Capitoline united to form one nation in the earliest days of the empire, the ancients drained the valley (which was previously a marsh) to create the forum. The forum was a public center for both sets of inhabitants, wherein nearly all social, political and economic transactions would occur. Being on site at these two locations has brought everything to life. It is impossible to visualize things from simply looking at maps of squares and columns found in texts books. Now that I have spent time walking through the forum I can understand its organization and why the Romans set it up in the way that they did.

We visited the Curia Julia, the Senate house rebuilt by Caesar in which there is an exhibit of some recovered ancient items (statues reliefs etc). One relief on display that particularly struck me was that of a depiction of the rape of the Sabine women (which I had read about in detail the night before) – the women who the early Romans captured and took for wives after tricking them into coming to Rome watch a chariot race. Although in poor condition, one can see the anguished expression on the woman’s face on the right side of the relief as she is slung over a horse galloping away.

For most students, the half day Thursday field trip marks the end of the week. But for me, since I am enrolled in the Renaissance and Baroque Art History course, I am only 2/3 of done. Thursday afternoon I have an hour and a half lecture, and the following morning a three and a half hour field trip, both for Art History. The first Art History lecture was procedural – syllabus etc etc, but I could already tell that I am going to love the professor. Straight away, he gave us detailed handouts, explaining his expectations on our writing about art and his suggestions on how to give an on sight oral presentation (things I will have to do over the semester). This practice should benefit me throughout my academic career. The field trip was amazing – we went to the Tempietto (a late-antique style dome) designed my the architect Donato Bramante, the legendary place of St. Peter’s tomb, the Borgesini Chapel in the church next door, and the Farnesina Villa (owned by the nuovo riche sixthteenth century banker Agostino Chigi) which contains Raphael’s famous Galatea mural and the gigantic Painting of Alexander the great and Roxanna’s consummation (OH MY _OD!!!!). A small shiver went down my spine as I looked at each of these items I had only read about in my textbooks and seen on crappy slideshows. The consummation wall fresco truly has a luminous purple aura, and one room below right before my eyes was the impossible contraposto (pose and balance) of Raphael’s Galatea.

Classes were over! I had a nice lunch with my girlfriends (who are all also in the art history course) in front of the Fontana di Giglio (my fav). We returned to our rooms to rest and do some homework, and later had a delicious dinner at the centro with a little bit of wine. That night we hopped around Camp di Fiore, and then early the next morning ventured on a day trip to Santa Severa, a small beach town to the north of the city accessible by public transt. Santa Savera was beautiful and peaceful, and Alex and I had the most fantastic gelato sorbet on the beach! And now its Sunday – time to study for my Monday morning quiz, whoooopie.

<3 Isabella.

Pictures!

My two overweight bags... whoops :).

The Centro at Dusk! Notice the neon Madonna on the facade.

Il Obelisco dell'Esquilino!

Food Shopping with Emperor Nerva.* This is Alex.

*At the Centro we have each been assigned an emperor name. Whenever Scott (the head teacher) wants to check if everyone is present, he asks where his emperors are and we each yell ours out . To my luck, they decided to flip the alphabetical order of last names so i was first on the list, and got the first and by far the best emperor, Augustus. TG not some rando like Gordion the second or nut job like Elagabalus. I think everyone here is secretly jealous.

They would sell olive oil in water bottle style packs in Italy.

Finally Here!

Ciao Amici!!!

I successfully made it to the eternal city! It has been quite the few days.

My trip overseas went incredibly smoothly. To begin, I was blessed with a wonderful AlItaliaemployee at the check in counter at Logan Airport who turned a blind eye to not just one, but two extremely overweight suitcases. Secondly, the seat next to me on packed Alitalia Flight 615 turned out to be unoccupied, so I had a nice big space for my long legs. Thirdly, the in-flight movie was “Letters to Juliet,” featuring the actress Amanda Seyfriend (who plays Karen Smith in Mean Girls) as the protagonist Sophie who accompanies a sexy Brit named Charlie and his grandmother on an adventure through Tuscany. The trio attempts to find the old woman’s long lost Italian lover named Lorenzo. Corny, but nonetheless an enjoyable motion picture with great cinematography that made me increasingly excited for Italia! Lastly, both of my bags arrived intact only two carousels away from Brittany’s - a fellow student also heading to the ICCS Rome who I had arranged to meet at the airport. Her flight arrived on time, as did mine (bright and early at 7:45 in the morning). The only word that comes to mind when I think about the ease of this transit is my go to acronym – TG!! (THANK_OD!!)

We wheeled our suitcases out of the airport towards the taxi line, and were warmly greeted by a taxi driver who resembled a guido version of Josh Becket (he did indeed have big diamond earrings, gelled air and a goatee). After he loaded our four bags into the back of his white Mercedes station wagon and we settled in for the ride into Roma, I, in what I am certain was impeccable Italian, began to instruct him where to take us. La Via Alessandro Algardi nella Trastevere! I was a little deflated when he interrupted me mid-statement and handed me his GPS device, into which I proceeded to type our destination. Along the ride I practiced my Italian with him. We discussed his dog named Luca, who “ha un occhio azzuri e un occhio verdi e ha quindici anni!” (Had one baby blue eye and one green, and was fifteen years old). About twenty-five minutes later we arrived at the Centro.

I can now attest to what I have heard about the Centro building. It is truly stunning. An old nunnery, it fits perfectly into its neighborhood upon the Janiculum (the hill) of Trastevere (the region directly across the Tiber river that overlooks the ancient district of Rome). My immediate examination of the building’s dimensions makes me realize how much of an art historian I am becoming. It fits beautifully into the small piazza it overlooks, and strikingly fashions a Madonna statue outlined in neon blue set back into the façade. What makes its integration into the surrounding area possible (it is much larger then most of the other buildings in the vicinity) is the simplicity of its monochrome pinkish outside walls and simple brown shutters. I love the nonchalant simple slab of stone found on the left wall of the façade next to the high gate of entrance engraved with the ICCS letters.

My first few hours in Rome were procedural- obtaining keys, filling out forms, unpacking, and then taking a nap. In the late afternoon, after pulling myself together, I ventured downstairs to meet other students. I am a relatively outgoing person, comfortable throwing myself into conversations or inviting myself into people’s plans (as most of you know), so upon hearing a group of ragazzi (dudes) beside me chat about going into the city, I interrupted their and told them I was joining(not even having really introduced myself). To my relief, it took about 1 second for the girl to my right, Alex, an UPenn double major in Classics and Art History, to assert that she was coming too. So off we went. It was quite the evening, walking down the Via Trastevere into the city making a few stops here and there. We dined at a delicious trattoria by Piazza Navona with free drinks. In the events that led up to our choice of this specific pizzeria I had another realization - I am definitely a Cohen. I convinced our party, consisting of four guys and Alex, to leave the restaurant we initially sat down at because the service was bad, it was way over priced (a tourist trap!), and I had a suspicion that the man on the street who lured us fibbed when he offered us an free appetizer of mussels and bottle of wine. It took some convincing, but I did receive “mad props” for this one shortly after.

We returned to the Centro relatively early to make sure we had enough sleep for our early start scheduled the next morning.

Monday – The Program Starts

The ICCS program certainly lives up to its reputation of intensity and regimen. My alarm is set for 7:30 a.m. every weekday. The bell rings at 8:00 a.m. and we proceed to the bottom floor dining rooms for breakfast, finishing by 8:30 a.m. The first morning after meeting academic and management faculty in the air-conditioned rooftop classroom, we split into groups for a walking tour of the monuments in the immediate neighborhood of the Centro guided by one of the academic staff members. My favorite was the massive fountain that overlooks the city called the Fontana del Giglio. It is absolutely stunning at night especially as the water shimmers an aquamarine blue underneath an intricate, classical style marble façade.

Already I am assigned over 70 pages of reading– some Livy, some selections from my Rome text books, and an article with background info on the authors I will be studying in my Greek Class.

The first official evening of the program was a blast! The staff hosted a spectacular dinner for all students and faculty in the beautiful garden/terrace backyard of the Centro. Candles surrounded the tables, and we feasted on a delicious buffet of foodand wine. I enjoyed the break from bread, pasta, and more pasta and devoured a big plate of bistecca and grilled eggplant and zucchini slices tyrannosourous rex style while listening to our program manager, Franco, (with whom I am slightly obsessed), give a toast. Perhaps I drank a little too much wine and enjoyed the Trastevere nightlife with my new friends alittle too much, but we checked in early in fear of our 7:30 am alarms.

Tuesday. A great day for an Obelisk hunt.

The academic staff divided the forty of us into squadra of four, and dispatched us to downtown Rome on a mission to find two specific obelisks. On the previous morning we learned that dozens of obelisks were transported from Egypt and erected in various locations in Rome as symbols of power. We were to return to the Centro by 4:30 p.m. ready with a presentation on our “prime” obelisk. My group was assigned to discuss the Obelisca dell’Esquilino. It was stressful, but we successfully located our obelisks and completed our presentation. The Obleisca dell’Esquilino was in fact erected with its twin (which now sits on the Quirinal Hill in another part of the city) infront of the Mauseleum of the emperor Augustus but was violently torn down by Ostrogoths when the Empire was in its last years. Pope Sixtus V resurrected it on the Esquiline behind the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore to act as a marker to lead pilgrims through Rome during the Christian counter reformation.

WOW! What a day. It concluded with reading in the Centro library until I passed out. But the alarm stuck again at 7:30 a.m. and it was two hours of lectures this morning.Which brings me to right now. The trajectory for the rest of this week: Greek at 4:00 today, and then two more 7:30 wake ups tomorrow and Friday. Tomorrow morning we go to the Forum Romanum for an on site lecture day, and Friday is my first Art History field trip – it is still unknown where we are headed. I am quite excited for the weekend already, but still am not even close. My girlfriends and I have been planning a trip to the beach at Ostia about half an hour away for Saturday. It is just a one dollar train ride! This is all for now, I will update again early next week for a debriefing on the weekend and end of the week field trips.