Settling into the Ancient City
Trip Start
Jan 24, 2009
1
2
10
Trip End
May 17, 2009
Rome, Lazio, Italy
Friday, February 6, 2009
Anyway, on to the events of an exhaustive first week of classes. . .It turns out that I did get somewhat shafted with the rooming situation. I went up to the third floor yesterday, and some of the rooms are much more spacious, with each guy getting his own side of the room. Oh well, there are some people in the same boat as I am! I've been spending a lot of my time outside my room, though, and I like studying in the library, which is filled floor to ceiling with books. Adjoining the library, there's a beautiful garden with a fountain and seating, as well as lemon and orange trees; this will be a relaxing place to study in the open air once it gets a little warmer. You can also get onto the roof terrace via a staircase from the garden. I went up there the other day and witnessed a spectacular view of Monteverde, our neighborhood on the Janiculum. I'll have to take some photos and post them for you.
As expected, the food here is superb. The staff at the Centro cooks us three meals per day on weekdays, each of which is an event unto itself. Breakfast brings eggs, fresh fruit, yogurt, and of course Nutella; lunch consists of two courses (piatti), the first always some sort of delicious soup, pasta, or risotto; and we all arrive at the dinner table early in anticipation of three courses (including dessert). My favorite dishes so far have included beet risotto, hazelnut and pistacchio gelato, and various types of pasta. To supplement our dinner, Franco, the Italian administrator of the program here in Rome, is planning a special wine symposium on Friday in a bid to transform us into fine wine conoisseurs. He wants to make sure we buy and drink only the best! Most of the gelaterias just opened again for the spring, so I'll have to start taking advantage of that for a mid-afternoon snack or dessert on the weekends.
The beginning of classes last week happened quite suddenly: on Tuesday (01/27) we were divided into groups for the Obelisk Project. Basically, our professors for the Ancient City course assigned each group two ancient obelisks in the city to visit and research. With only our maps and bus passes, we were to find our way to each obelisk and compile as much information about it as we could. This included transcribing and translating the inscriptions and gathering info about the provenance of each obelisk and how it came to be erected where it stands today; the project culminated at 5:30 pm, when we had to give a powerpoint presentation about our findings. Luckily, my group was given two obelisks I had already seen on my 2006 trip to Rome: the obelisk at the center of St. Peter's Square and the 'elephant obelisk' in the Piazza della Minerva, a stone's throw away from the Pantheon. On our way, we of course got to wander around the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain, etc. Our only snag came when trying to return to the Centro--we couldn't get home. After boarding two wrong buses, the metro, and walking through puddles, we finally made it back (and gave a great presentation)! The point of this exercise was not only to get us actively engaged with the ancient city and its monuments, but also to provide us with a crash-course in navigating our way around Rome.
Over the last three days of the week, we took field trips to sites and museums that highlight the "palimpsestic nature" of the city. We explored the Stadium of Domitian under the modern Piazza Navona, which still preserves the shape of the ancient structure. At the nearby Crypta Balbi museum, we again went underground to view the remains of Roman streets from different time periods from the first century BC to the Middle Ages. We also visited the Epigraphical Museum in the Baths of Diocletian in preparation for our inscription commentary project due in March. Last Saturday, I also visited the Palazzo Massimo, a museum that houses ancient Roman and Hellenistic Greek sculpture, with one of my friends from the program. I was astounded at the number of famous sculptures we just happened upon, including the Discobolus and statue of Augustus in the garb of Pontifex Maximus. Unfortunately, we got there about 45 minutes before closing time, so we had to rush our way through to see all the floors. Luckily, though, we'll be going there later on with the Ancient City course.This week, we began our study of the Etruscans and their ties to the Greeks. On Tuesday, we took our first full-day field trip north of Rome to Tarquinia and Cerveteri, the sites of two Etruscan settlements and necropoleis. At both necropoleis, we were able to go inside the tombs to see wall paintings and the carved stone klinai, or couches, on which the dead were laid. I especially enjoyed visiting the Banditaccia necropolis at Cerveteri (ancient Caere). The site was simply beautiful and fascinating, as you can see from some of my pictures. The monumental stone tumuli are now covered are impressive to behold, and the necropolis is laid out as if it is its own small city, with streets and the house-like interiors of the tombs. On Thursday, we went to the Forum Romanum in order to consider the early development of this political, religious, and social center of the city's earliest period. Although I had been to the Forum before, I was floored when I set foot on the Palatine Hill--the view is gorgeous, and you're able to see everything down below. We concluded our time there with a visit to the Carcer Tullianum, part of an ancient prison that housed prisoners of state. Interestingly, Sts. Peter and Paul are said to have been imprisoned there, and apparently the impression of St. Peter's face can be seen in one of the stone walls (I wasn't convinced).We also toured the American Academy in Rome, a prestigious place of study for leading Classicists and archaeologists. They have one of the best Classics libraries in the world, and we are the only undergraduate students to be allowed access to these resources. Every year the Academy awards a small number of "Rome prizes" to Classicists, archaeologists, historians, novelists, musicians, etc. who do research at the library for residencies of one year. We are extremely fortunate to get to use this library. . .if I end up doing a senior thesis, I'll definitely be frequenting the AAR!So far, classes are going very well. While challenging, my Latin class works quite nicely in tandem with the Ancient City course, featuring a variety of authors and their thoughts/information about Rome's monuments, people, and rich history. I'm enjoying Italian as well; my conversational ability is getting better simply because my professor conducts the class completely in Italian. Mi piace molto l'italiano! The only things I don't like are the nicknames associated with my Italian name, Beniamino--my professor alternately calls me "Beni" and "Mino." Che peccato! I've decided to just audit Renaissance and Baroque Art History, because taking 5 classes here is quite an undertaking and takes away from the time I have to explore the city in my free time. The professor is utterly brilliant, though, and I plan to go on all the Friday morning field trips. Today (Friday, 2/6--sorry it's taken me so long to write this), we went to the Vatican Museums: the Pinacoteca, Raphael's Stanze della Segnatura, and the Sistine Chapel. I encourage you to take a look at some of the pictures I've posted. Also, from now on I'll try to write much shorter entries a few times per week. Thanks for keeping up with my semester in Rome! I'd like to hear how all of you are doing.
Ciao! -Ben
Comments
Viva Rome!!!!
Ben,Your mom shared your blog with me and I simply love it. You should think about being a writer for travel magazine. When I read your words, it makes me feel the culture and sense your actual envirorment.
Keep up your studies but remember you cant live on learning alone. Take some risk and meet lots of different and diverse people. Party a little more occassionally and its never too late for a little love interest. You are whats called not only and intellectual but a hottie!!!!
I toast you and your wonderul opportunity and thank you for sharing it with even a grandma. We are all very proud of you!!!!