Second Day of Program - Or, What are doing back in school again?!

The guys got up at around 7am and got ready for our first day of classes. The alarm on my cell phone didn’t go off (a combination of me being incompetent and the fact that it’s still on Minnesota time), so I got up a little late. However, I showered and got ready and managed to beat some of the other guys. Aston, Steve, and I walked down the stairs and stepped out into the Campo di Fiori and looked for breakfast. We went to the Joe Rivetto Café, where we ordered two espressos, a café latte, and three croissants for only €3.60. Steve talked to the employee about soccer, and asked what team he wanted him to win the tournament. The employee looked confused and then said, “Roma.” Steve couldn’t disagree.
We gathered in front of the Pio Palazzo – the building where the Rome Center is housed – and waited for the rest of the group to show up. From there we walked to the Capolitine Hill. We walked up some shallow steps – designed to accommodate horses – and ended up situated between huge buildings above the Roman forum. We sat down in front of a statue of Roma – the goddess of Rome – and Lisa told us the story of Romulus and Remus and how Rome was built. We then walked down to the Roman forum itself, where Ashish gave his presentation. He covered a variety of topics, including the functions and purposes of the area and its several buildings, the various emperors who had the buildings erected, the Roman Senate, and vestal virgins. We walked through ruins of a courthouse, the Senate building, the tomb of Romulus, and the building where vestal virgins kept an eternal flame representing the strength of the Roman Empire.
From there, we went to the Arch of Titus, which Laura presented to the group. She talked about the different friezes, engravings, and structures on the arch, which each contained various symbols. She went in-depth on the friezes on the interior of the arch which depicted the Titus’s sacking of Jerusalem and his victorious return to Rome. Apparently, the arch was also at one point the part of a building, but that has since been torn down. Also gone is the bronze statue at the top of the arch, which would have been melted down and been reused in another form. Laura also mentioned the various theories about who would have created the arch, including Titus himself, his brother who was emperor immediately after him, or another later emperor.
From here, we took a small break and went up the Palatine Hill. We walked past ruins of a palace which had contained large dining rooms with fountains inside. We stopped to eat lunch on the hillside where, between the trees, we could see the Coliseum rising into the sky. I almost starved, because although Steve had made Aston, himself, and me lunches, he hadn’t packed mine – apparently that was my responsibility. I managed to get by when Risa, as well as Steve, took pity on me and gave me a little of their lunches. Thanks guys ;).
When we got back to the Rome Center, some of us retreated back to our apartments. Most of the guys tried to get some reading done for Migration and Markets, but we all had only marginal success. It was extremely hot out, so we combined a little siesta with a little bit of reading on fascism. It was a lovely combination indeed.
When class did start at 3:30pm in the Rome Center, Kathie began the lecture by discussing various theories and their substantial points about migration. Halfway through, Resat came in and briefly discussed his personal experience as an immigrant from Turkey, and gave a general overview how Italy is changing its perspective on migration resulting from many things, including changes in government.
After class was over, Lisa took us on a tour of the Campo di Fiori and everything nearby. She told us the good places to eat, where to buy groceries, where to catch buses, where to find the extremely attractive Carabinieri (police), and where she does NOT want us to be. The guys apartment had decided to host a dinner later that night and we had invited the rest of the program, so after the tour was over, we raced to our apartment to get cooking, stopping only to get a little bit of pizza.
We prepared huge amounts of pasta and several different sauces. I was attached to the stove most of the night dealing with the sauces, pastas, and beef, while Geoff did crazy amounts of dishes. Steve worked on the pasta has well and put out other small fires (no pun intended…). Won and George minced garlic and ran errands. Ashish went to go get a few things we were missing (salt, pepper, olive oil and napkins) but instead got lost for almost two hours, while Jon and Aston helped prepare the dining area.
The dinner went very well. Other apartments brought salad, appetizers, and drinks. Dinner was so much and everyone had a great time. It was a great way to start out the program. Hopefully we can continue doing these dinners with a different host apartment each week. We wrapped the night up with a little gelato for everyone. Note: lemon and wildberry is a killer combo for gelato.

- Sam E Al-Khoury