Rome,
Italy
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The last two days of class were spent at the Roman Forum, the center of politics and commerce of ancient Rome. Much of the ruins are barely in existence at this point, but I find the remaining pieces very compelling and interesting. I have to say that I enjoyed it more than I expected to. However, I'm not sure that I really enjoy it in the way it is specifically intended for me. By this, I mean that I have never been a person who is terribly interested in history. I get the significance and all, but as far as factoids and stories go, I unfortunately lose interest very quickly. This really is slightly regrettable, given the fact that this is an important component to what I am studying. But guess what? Being here has reinforced for me something that I find personally very valuable: that I don't need to be any way or anyone but exactly what and who I am. That goes for everything! It's not that I don't enjoy seeing these ruins, but I just prefer to look and use my imagination, rather than hear all the historical facts that I find so boring. I guess it's more of a visceral experience for me and I wish I could just BE there in quiet and absorb it all on my own. My tendency is to fight these kinds of feelings, and assume that I am SUPPOSED to be a certain way, or have a certain level of interest, or whatever it may be. But for some reason I now feel entirely freed from these chains. I might not get the same type of experience and knowledge that someone else will, but I will get something else, and that something is what's important to me.
So I will not use this post to go on and on about the structures in the Forum, or tell stories about how old they are and whom they were for...because, well, I don't care (and of course because I don't care, I don't have many of these facts stored in my brain anyway). What I do care about is simply that the remains of these structures are amazing, and the experience of seeing them on a quiet, beautiful morning, was a pretty marvelous experience for me..
Temple of Castori
