Yesterday we had our first class with Professor Modiano. Her class is called "Gifts and Sacrifice," so for our first lecture (10-2 with a lunch break) we got an introduction to ideas about gifts. I never knew there were so many in-depth and complicated thoughts/theories surrounding "the gift." I think the second half of the class will be more about sacrifice, although the two ideas are definitely tied together. It actually seems like it will be pretty interesting and relaxed, which is good!
For Art History we visited the Ara Pacis Augustae, a.k.a. the Altar of Augustan Peace. The Altar was built around 10 BC and was built to honor Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, and the peace he brought to the empire after his military victories. It's housed in a modern building that also serves as a modern art museum-quite an architectural juxtaposition to the altar itself, and controversial among Romans as well.
And then today we went to the COLOSSEUM! Technically called the Flavian Amphiteatre. It was so cool. At all of these ancient sites we go to for Art History class, I try to imagine what it was like to be there back in the day, and thinking about gladiator fights, huge crowds, mass executions... pretty crazy stuff. Plus the building itself is obviously so colossal and architecturally amazing.
"Don't spare his life!" (thumbs down is what spectators would do when they wanted the gladiator killed)
Panorama of the inside-on the bottom you can see the cages where they kept animals and stuff. It would have been covered by a floor originally. You can also see all the different levels of seating (divided by class).
After the Colosseum we went to the Baths of Caracalla for Art History class, and had our picnic lunch at the gardens there. I won't put up any pictures of that since I already put some up when I went there before. It was still fun the second time around though!
I guess I should add a few notes about living in Rome. For one thing, it's been fun to go to the Italian grocery stores and find what we need, as well as going to bakeries, butcher shops, etc. A "supermercato" is nothing like Safeway or QFC... they are pretty tiny. But so far I am enjoying trying new things and experimenting with cooking for myself here. Walking around can get kind of crazy what with all the small cars and especially the mopeds/motorcycles on the narrow cobblestone streets and little piazzas. There is always something going on too-for example, the church next to our apartment had a concert or something the last two nights in a row. It all just adds to the energy of the city!
Well, the rest of the day I plan to catch up on the reading for Professor Modiano's class. Ciao!
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