A Moment of Silence

I would like to begin this post with a [virtual] moment of silence for the Egyptian Museum. During all the unrest in Cairo, vandals ransacked the place, tearing the heads off of two mummies and throwing artifacts to the floor. As a passionate lover of the ancient material culture, this news made me incredibly sad, though not as sad as the entire situation in Egypt does. Anyway, a moment of silence, please.....

So last Thursday we had a field trip to the forum! For those of you who don't know what that is and are too proud to google it, it's basically the heart of the ancient ancient city of Rome (like, before the emperors ancient). There were temples as well as a public assembly, and a senate house. This part of the forum is entirely ruins, and there isn't one intact building. It is still quite incredible to see these things...the granite columns of the Temple of Saturn are from around the 4th century BCE. Like whoa. Older than Jesus. We also got to see the 'sketchy' part of the forum, which was behind the Temple of Castor and Pollux (divine twins who appeared to help the Romans in battle and then appeared again in the forum). Apparently there were shops there where one could get their hair cut, their dentist appointment filled, and have a glass of wine-- all in one place. But they tell us that the prostitutes hung out there as well. Bumma. Guess every great place has it's shady spots, and I don't mean because of the trees.

Also in the forum is the "real" hut of Romulus, the mythological founder of Rome. Yes, he's the one who was found by the she-wolf (not Shakira) with his twin , Remus (of harry potter fame) and nursed by her until this random shepherd took them in. Then he founded Rome, or something like that. When he lived, people lived in these mud huts. Amazingly, the remains of some huts exist on the forum. Wanting to have a solid connection to Romulus, the Romans maintained that these huts were his, and took care of them until the 4th century CE (3 centuries AFTER Jesus). All you can see are the post holes in the tufa (volcanic rock that pretty much comprises everything here), but I was still pretty amazed. That shit is OLD.

I also have to mention (for Alex and Lisa), that I have popped my gelatto cherry. Last night (saturday) we went to THE MOST AMAZING GELATTERIA EVER. It's called Dell' Palma and is right by the Pantheon. You go in, go to the cashier, pay 2,50 euro for two scoops, and then take your ticket down to the counter where the magic happens. There's myriad flavors...every kind you could want, in different variations, all calling out to you from behind the glass. I listened to strawberry yogurt and melon. The melon tasted exactly like cantaloupe, and the strawberry yogurt was delicious and creamy, just the right amount of sweet and tart. After leaving the shop, we went and sat outside of the Pantheon, just enjoying the moment. One of the coolest things I've done here so far, and I'm totally heading back there in the near future.

I won't detail the Roman nightlife yet, alas, I feel I have yet to experience it entirely. I will say though, that campo de fiori is the place where the cool kids hang out, just watch out for vespa riders (I swear, they're nuts).

I should probably go and do the study part of study abroad. Damn. Two quizzes tomorrow! Wish me luck! And ciao!