Thursday, January 14

Buon giorno!

We began the morning with Julie’s class, discussing our Rione assignment where each partner group is assigned one of the neighborhoods in Rome (Tim and I will be doing Trevi) and explores and observes the people and atmosphere, and does a report on it. We also discussed the short story “Salvation” by Amor Dekhis, which was about a young man who was struggling with his identity as an immigrant in Italy and how he copes.

In Lisa’s class, we took a long stroll to the Peace Alter built by Augustus. Conner told us all about Augustus and his rise to power, and then we had a chance to observe the intricate detail and symbolism present on the alter. We also discussed the controversy about the modern building that the alter is housed in. Many Italians do not approve of the building due to its modern architecture. I personally agree with that idea, from the outside I had different expectations of what the alter would look like simply due to the modern feel of the building. Many students in our group disagreed with this, stating that the modern architecture and technology only shows respect to the monument, that those preserving it are only paying respect to the alter by using technology to preserve it.

Later that evening, we watched a movie called Facing Windows, which was a love story about Jews living in the Jewish ghetto. Personally I had a hard time following it because it was in Italian with English subtitles, but the overall story was very touching. Tomorrow we will be taking a day trip to Ostia to learn about bathing in Roman society.

Carisa and I in front of the Peace Alter