Woah...where did all the time go?

There was only a fuzzy line separating today from yesterday. Since seven students had presentations at 9 o’clock in the morning for Immigration/Migration class, seven students went to bed very late, or not at all. In the morning, everyone assembled groggily in the warm conference room to hear about African immigrants in Italy. This stuffy room usually induces a slow start to the day. However, the presentations turned out to be interesting enough to keep the class awake. After class was released, several students celebrated by raiding the bakery.

Most people quietly spent the afternoon catching up on work and sleep; at least half of the members of the program settled down in the Rome Center girls’ apartment, which has become even more overrun by misplaced honors students since the annexation of the first floor classroom.

At 3:30, 20 lucky people got to tour the Pamphilj Palace. (For a short history of the building, visit http://en.wik ipedia.org/Pam philj_Palace.) Lisa served as the tour guide, and although cameras were not allowed…here is a photo from the tour (on the left).

Directly after touring the palace, Teresa presented to the group on its location: the Piazza Navona, a Baroque pride. For those of you that we’re lucky enough to be there, here are some interesting highlights about the piazza:

It is built upon the first century ruins of Domitian’s stadium
and then refurbished by the Pamphilj family (Pope Innocent X’s family) in 1644, to include Bernini’s beautiful Four Rivers Fountain, the Palazzo Pamphilj, and the Church of Sant’Agnese in Agone.
The outdoor market was housed there, before it was moved to the Campo Di Fiori in 1869.
For 200 years, the square was habitually flooded on weekends, to allow for mock naval battles and splashy carriage rides.

Teresa in mid-presentation on the Piazza Navona! -->

We ended the day with a potluck dinner at Lisa’s apartment in the Palazzo Pio. By the way, a large, chirping cockroach took up residence inside the drain in Lisa’s sink last night. Does anyone have suggestions for ousting it?

Two more days of class left to go. We can’t believe how quickly the program has flown by.



Posted by Amy
Photos by GEOFFREY!