Today was a class day so we spent the morning in Italian and afternoon in Mary's history class.
In Italian class with Mary, Marco and I worked on reading chapter nine of A Ciascuno il Suo, where we learn in the story more about the politics of Sicily in the 60s, and the plot thickens when they go to talk with the widow of the friend who was murdered.
In the Italidea class the girls learned about adjectives and descriptions, and took a field trip out to Farnese and Campo dei Fiori to describes sights... in Italian! Brava.
Later on we had class with Signora Mary, where we learned about Pope Sixtus and looked at some of his commissions, and began an quick introduction on Machiavelli for next week.
After class, since we had a 3-day weekend, everyone got ready for their trips to Prague, Istanbul, and Lyon!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Eggs in Purgatory
Roma Reporta—February 18, 2009
Posted by Reed
Today was a very relaxed day. Our usual Wednesday morning art history class had been rescheduled, since Lisa was with the honors group in Southern Italy; so, we decided to spice things up with an impromptu group brunch. Jenna was the master chef of the affair. She was assisted by her sous-chef, Stacie, who flipped a mean pancake. The meal—and it was a meal—consisted of two courses. For the first course, pancakes topped with Nutella whetted our appetites for the complex and delicious second course. The second course, appropriately named “Eggs in Purgatory” was a unique and delicious brunch experience, consisting of marinara sauce, a fried-mashed-potato concoction, a fried egg, and plenty of parmesan to top it off. As if all of that was not enough, there was also freshly squeezed blood-orange juice to wash everything down. It was a very tasty brunch and an excellent way to start the day.
The Master Chef at Work
After our feast, it was time for history with Mary. With our second paper due on Friday, we discussed several more aspects of the medieval family, but the majority of class today was focused on a discussion of popes and the papacy. To add to our already relaxed day, Mary decided to end class early in order to give everyone more time to work on their papers. Unfortunately, this was the end of my relaxed day, as I had to get right to work on my paper in order to turn it in before travelling to Prague for the weekend. Much of the class was in a similarly hurried state with the paper, since everyone had travel plans for the weekend, except for Heather, who had chosen to stay in Rome for the weekend. Bryan, Alex, Matt, and I went to Prague; Stacie, Carly, and Maya went to Lyon, France; and literally everyone else (except for Heather) went to Istanbul. My apologies to Heather if it sounds like I’m picking on her—apparently we missed some great weather in Rome.
The Final Product: Eggs in Purgatory
Posted by Reed
Posted by Reed
Today was a very relaxed day. Our usual Wednesday morning art history class had been rescheduled, since Lisa was with the honors group in Southern Italy; so, we decided to spice things up with an impromptu group brunch. Jenna was the master chef of the affair. She was assisted by her sous-chef, Stacie, who flipped a mean pancake. The meal—and it was a meal—consisted of two courses. For the first course, pancakes topped with Nutella whetted our appetites for the complex and delicious second course. The second course, appropriately named “Eggs in Purgatory” was a unique and delicious brunch experience, consisting of marinara sauce, a fried-mashed-potato concoction, a fried egg, and plenty of parmesan to top it off. As if all of that was not enough, there was also freshly squeezed blood-orange juice to wash everything down. It was a very tasty brunch and an excellent way to start the day.
The Master Chef at Work
After our feast, it was time for history with Mary. With our second paper due on Friday, we discussed several more aspects of the medieval family, but the majority of class today was focused on a discussion of popes and the papacy. To add to our already relaxed day, Mary decided to end class early in order to give everyone more time to work on their papers. Unfortunately, this was the end of my relaxed day, as I had to get right to work on my paper in order to turn it in before travelling to Prague for the weekend. Much of the class was in a similarly hurried state with the paper, since everyone had travel plans for the weekend, except for Heather, who had chosen to stay in Rome for the weekend. Bryan, Alex, Matt, and I went to Prague; Stacie, Carly, and Maya went to Lyon, France; and literally everyone else (except for Heather) went to Istanbul. My apologies to Heather if it sounds like I’m picking on her—apparently we missed some great weather in Rome.
The Final Product: Eggs in Purgatory
Posted by Reed
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Ragazzi Piccanti
Today was loaded with scores of amazingly fun activities! As usual on Tuesday, we started the day with Italian. The class was more intense and interactive than ever before. In class, Paola taught us two new verbs: sapere and conoscere. Cosa significa sapere e conoscere? Sapere, an irregular verb, means to know something. The verb usually is followed by: 1) a phrase, such as “Sai dove vanno in vacanza;” 2) a direct object, such as “So il francese;” 3) another verb in the infinite form, such as “Franco sa suonare il piano. Non lo so, which means “I don’t know” and is one of my favorite Italian phrases, is derived from the first person singular of sappere. Conoscere, a regular verb, which also means to know, is always used with a direct object, for example, “Conosco Seattle.” After learning these new verbs, we played an intense game of trivia. First, Paola split the class into two groups, the A-Team and the Ragazzi Piccanti. Then she had us listen to a dialogue in Italian. After listening through the dialogue a few times, each group constructed five questions for the opposing team to answer. Things got competitive between the two groups. Stacie and Jenna battled it out over points, but in the end, the A-Team barely squeaked by, earning 3.5 points to Ragazzi Piccanti’s 3 points.
After Italian we had a nice three hour break, in which most of us worked dexterously on our essays for History class. Art History class convened at 2:45 in Villa Borghese at the Galleria Borghese. At the museum, Maya gave her art presentation on four of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculptures: David (1623), Rape of Proserpine (1621-22), Goat Amalthea with Infant Jupiter and Faun (1615), and Apollo and Daphne (1622-25). Although, I enjoyed all of the statues, I found the Rape of Proserpine particularly intriguing as it vividly captures so many human emotions, as well as, vividly portraying the action of the moment. The details on the statue are absolutely mind-blowing, for example: the teardrop running down Proserpine’s face, the different textures of the characters skins, and finally, most impressive, was the impressions of Pluto’s two hands imprinted into Proserpine’s skin. After the presentation, we were free to enjoy and walk around the rest of the museum. Other interesting art pieces at the Galleria included: the statue of Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, Caravaggio’s St. Jerome, Sick Bacchus, and Raphael’s Entombment of Christ.
After looking around the Galleria for about an hour, we made our way to the Piazza Navona, where Jenna gave her art history presentation on Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The Fountain of the Four River’s depicts the allegorical figures of the Ganges in Asia, the Nile in Africa, the Rio de la Plata in America and the Danube in Europe. One of the most interesting facts that I learned from Jenna’s presentation was how Bernini got the commission for the statue. Originally, Bernini’s archrival Borromini, who had reconstructed the façade of the nearby Church of St. Agnus and designed the Acqua Felice, was assumed to be a shoe-in for the commission. However, after the pope saw a model of Bernini’s design, which had been dropped off inside the papal palace, he decided to pick Bernini, reportedly proclaimed, “the only way to resist executing his works is not to see them."
To cap off the day, we ate dinner at a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. We had fried artichokes, fish and zucchini leaves, all of which were delicious! The food was the perfect ending to another wonderful day in the Eternal City.
After Italian we had a nice three hour break, in which most of us worked dexterously on our essays for History class. Art History class convened at 2:45 in Villa Borghese at the Galleria Borghese. At the museum, Maya gave her art presentation on four of Gian Lorenzo Bernini’s sculptures: David (1623), Rape of Proserpine (1621-22), Goat Amalthea with Infant Jupiter and Faun (1615), and Apollo and Daphne (1622-25). Although, I enjoyed all of the statues, I found the Rape of Proserpine particularly intriguing as it vividly captures so many human emotions, as well as, vividly portraying the action of the moment. The details on the statue are absolutely mind-blowing, for example: the teardrop running down Proserpine’s face, the different textures of the characters skins, and finally, most impressive, was the impressions of Pluto’s two hands imprinted into Proserpine’s skin. After the presentation, we were free to enjoy and walk around the rest of the museum. Other interesting art pieces at the Galleria included: the statue of Pauline Bonaparte as Venus Victrix, Caravaggio’s St. Jerome, Sick Bacchus, and Raphael’s Entombment of Christ.
After looking around the Galleria for about an hour, we made our way to the Piazza Navona, where Jenna gave her art history presentation on Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers. The Fountain of the Four River’s depicts the allegorical figures of the Ganges in Asia, the Nile in Africa, the Rio de la Plata in America and the Danube in Europe. One of the most interesting facts that I learned from Jenna’s presentation was how Bernini got the commission for the statue. Originally, Bernini’s archrival Borromini, who had reconstructed the façade of the nearby Church of St. Agnus and designed the Acqua Felice, was assumed to be a shoe-in for the commission. However, after the pope saw a model of Bernini’s design, which had been dropped off inside the papal palace, he decided to pick Bernini, reportedly proclaimed, “the only way to resist executing his works is not to see them."
To cap off the day, we ate dinner at a restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto. We had fried artichokes, fish and zucchini leaves, all of which were delicious! The food was the perfect ending to another wonderful day in the Eternal City.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Jewish Ghetto and Campidoglio
We started our day with not one but two presentations! Stacie presented the Jewish Ghetto and led us around this very small quarter, while Carly presented on the Campidoglio.
The Ghetto was built in the 16th century on the banks of a frequently flooded bend of the Tiber River, and was the forced home of the Roman Jewish population for more than 300 years, between the Counter-Reformation (16th century) and Italian unification (19th century). The Ghetto is very small and at certain points up to 7000 Jews were squeezed into its confines.
The Campidoglio is the piazza on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome which houses the city government building as well as two museums. The façade of the buildings and the brick pattern on the ground are all from the designs of Michelangelo, even though he did not see the project through to completion.
It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!
The Ghetto was built in the 16th century on the banks of a frequently flooded bend of the Tiber River, and was the forced home of the Roman Jewish population for more than 300 years, between the Counter-Reformation (16th century) and Italian unification (19th century). The Ghetto is very small and at certain points up to 7000 Jews were squeezed into its confines.
The Campidoglio is the piazza on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome which houses the city government building as well as two museums. The façade of the buildings and the brick pattern on the ground are all from the designs of Michelangelo, even though he did not see the project through to completion.
It was a beautiful day and we all had a great time!
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