Summing Up Rome

THE OBAMA FAMILY
A few evenings ago in Rome we were having a pleasant dinner and all of a sudden there was lots of activity in the street next to the restaurant where we were eating and a helicopter hovering above. We were eating outside and we were able to watch as Michelle Obama, Sasha and Malia stopped at Maccheroni Restaurant right across from La Nuova Capannina where we were eating! I am sorry I did not get a picture of them, it was just too fast. It was so exciting. Obama has been here in Rome for the G8 meetings and so the whole family is also here on vacation. After Michelle and the girls were done with their spaghetti they went on to get gelato at one of our favorite Gelateries. I will add a picture soon!

I also caught these pictures of a protest of the G8 meetings that was right below the apartment where we were staying. The G8 stands for Group of Eight and is an annual summit meeting of 8 countries that comes to certain agreements. The countries are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States.They make decisions on things that effect all of us like global warming and economics. Some people think that their decisions are important and other people think that there is no way to enforce what they decide. Because of this it is a very controversial group. There are always some protests of the meetings.


ROME SUMMARY
I want to sum up with some thoughts about Rome. If you ever go to Rome you should know that there is just too much to see and to do. You will have to choose a few things that you don’t want to miss and do those. One thing that we did that was helpful was to get a Roma pass. It gave us 3 days of free access to public transportation, two free museum visits and after that museums were half price for the rest of the three days. I think that you can also get these passes for more days. There are two places to stay that I wouldn’t normally think about, but that worked out well for us. First, we were able to rent an apartment that six of us could stay in (three bedrooms with two people each). There was a kitchen and a washing machine for doing laundry. Another possibility was one that another person in our group found and it was staying in a monastery. I guess there are monasteries all over the world that have rooms that you can rent out that are much cheaper than hotels. One disadvantage is that there is often a time that you have to be home before (for our friend it was 10 pm). Look online to compare prices: http://www.rentalinrome.com/ or http://www.monasterystays.com/

Next... Pompeii

Learning Lots in Rome

I know that my loyal readers are wondering what happened to me the last few days. The last time I posted to this blog was on July 3rd and today is July 6th. So much has happened that it is hard for me to even explain it all and the pace seems like it will keep up this way, so I may just have to squeeze in a post now and then. I am sorry, but this will have to be a long one.

Saturday was the 4th of July! I hope you had a wonderful Independence Day. Here in Rome it was like any other Saturday I guess since it is an American Holiday. We did not even see fireworks! On Saturday COMCAR 2009 (Colloquium on Material Culture and Ancient Religion) began. For me it started with friends of ours coming from the United States and joining us in the apartment where we are staying. One of the friends is Betsy Robinson (aka Dr. Robinson) who is a professor at Vanderbilt University. She knows a lot about ancient art and archaeology and she was really excited to be in Rome. There were so many museums that she wanted to see. I was lucky to be able to visit the Muzeo Nazionale Romano with her. She knew what was there and could explain why different pieces were so important. In the museum they have taken wall paintings that were found and created actual rooms so that you can get a feel for what it was like to be in them. The one in this picture is a room from Lyvia’s house. She is the wife of Augustus Caesar and a very powerful woman. This room is painted to make it feel like you are outside in a garden. I highly recommend renting and watching the PBS series called I, Claudius that was made many years ago. It has really helped me to make sense of so much of what I am seeing here. I have a concept of Lyvia and what she was like and how important she was.

In the evening COMCAR started with a banquet for everyone. Here is a picture of the beautiful location. For dinner I had calzone which is a folded over pizza. My friends in Whitefish bay wanted to know about pizza and I am glad to be able to tell you that I have eaten pizza a few times. There is lots of pizza here. The pizza here has pretty thin crust and maybe fewer toppings than American pizza. Usually people order it for their own meal, sort of like a “personal-pan pizza”. The word for mushrooms is fungi, so you can order pizza with fungi, which sounds bad to me even though I am OK with mushrooms. I have not seen any pepperoni. Maybe that is in a different part of Italy. One other different thing about eating here is that they tend to eat several courses when they go out for a restaurant meal. First they have antipasti, which is appetizers and my favorite one is bruchetta, which is sort of fried bread with tomatos and basil on it. Then they eat a pasta course, like spagetti or lasagna. Then they have the main course, which is some sort of meat. Then there is dessert, which you are usually too full for, but after a walk you think you can maybe eat some gelato and so you do. There are two ways to prove that you are an American here; ask for decaf coffee, ask for a doggie bag.

Since the opening dinner I don’t feel like there has been much time to stop and think at all. All day Sunday we walked ALL over Rome seeing things and learning. Both on Sunday and today (Monday) the expert who led the group was Carl Galinski who is a Professor at the University of Texas and is a world-renowned scholar. His specialty is the Greco-Roman world and especially Augustus. He is AMAZING! It seems that he knows so much about everything here. I think he could talk to us for DAYS and still have things to show us that are interesting. I am participating in these days with a group of professors from all over. There is even one from Australia. They are all so excited about all of the things that they are learning and seeing. They don’t seem to get tired, but I am exhausted!


Here are the few things that have made an impression on me in the last two days:

1. Because Rome has been important for so long most buildings here have had multiple purposes. They were often built first as temples and then converted into churches and even as churches have gone through many different stages. In some places there are many layers of plaster and painting like I saw in Ephesus. In other places archaeologists have discovered one layer under another that are difficult to sort out.
2. Archaeologists are careful scientists. Dr. Galinsky told us that we should’t take stories like Romulus and Remus too seriously. There is no archaeological evidence for that story. The first actual building archaeologists found that show Rome as a city is from about 325 BC. They have found other much earlier evidence of people living in the area, but not of an organized city. Archaeologists document EVERYTHING that they do. Now they take pictures of things they find and write descriptions with extremely correct measurements of everything. When archaeologists today look back at something found 50 years ago they can often read the documentation from the original archaeologists and then they can tell how much something has fallen apart since it was first found.
3. Statues and columns in ancient Rome and Greece were painted and colorful! We often think of Greek and Roman sculpture and columns as looking like they are now: all white, but they were actually painted. It is hard to imagine and only now scientists are figuring out ways to find out what colors were used.
4. Roman temples were not used like churches are used today. There was no congregation and people did not go to the temple once a week. They had statues in them of Gods and were usually built by someone to show how important they were in the city. People mainly went into them for certain festivals.
   

Well, that tells you the large outline of things that I am learning. We spent all morning today at the Forum and I will tell a bit about that later. I have taken the afternoon off to have time to rest, do some laundry and write this blog. It is hot outside and most of what we are looking at has been outside.

Now for a few other questions: Linda wrote that the La Pieta statue had been attacked by someone with a hammer several years ago and she wondered whether I could see the damage. I am including a bit closer up picture of the statue (without Dill, sorry). You can click on the image to see a larger size. I did not see any damage, but maybe I would have if I had looked more carefully. As Linda mentioned that is probably why it is behind glass now.

It is interesting the Whitefish Bay kids are so interested in what I am eating and more modern things! I was expecting to have more questions about Rome and Gods and that sort of thing. I am sorry to say that I did not eat gelato yesterday. I think as soon as I am finished writing I am going to head out to eat some gelato. I think I will try hazelnut or maybe peanut if they have it. Wouldn’t peanut and chocolate taste good together? I really can’t tell you about sports in Italy.

I know that they like what they call football, but we call soccer, but I have not seen any soccer or talked to anyone about it, so I am not very helpful with that question. There are posters around about the World Swimming Championships.

It is pretty funny that people do not say anything about me taking pictures with Dill in them. The Bulgarian girls that I asked to hold him thought it was cute and laughed about it. I have enjoyed telling the professors that I am following around about Dill, but strangers just look at me and don’t say anything.

Next time I write I will try to include the Pantheon, obelisks, flying buttresses, and a few other things I may have missed this time! Looking forward to hearing from you!

The Vatican and Spanish Steps

The Vatican is actually a different country with the Pope as its head. Even when you are in Rome, Italy you must cross a border to go into the Vatican. It has its own currency (money), stamps and guards (whose costumes were designed by Michaelangelo). Since it is so important I decided to make that my first big stop in Rome and I spent the day exploring there yesterday. This was challenging because first of all I was kicked out when I tried to go into St. Peter’s Basillica. It is a huge church with hundreds of years of history. Many of the Popes are entombed there and there are also many important relics built right into the church. A relic is an important piece of something religious, like wood from the cross of Christ or the manger.

I was kicked out because I was not dressed properly. It is very hot here and I was planning to walk back to the place where we are staying after visiting the Vatican, so I had put on shorts and a sleeveless shirt. I guess the shorts showed my knees and my shoulders were a problem, so I could not go in. I was determined to go in, so I purchased two scarves and used one to cover my shoulders and the other to tie around my waist like a skirt. It worked! There is just WAY too much to see here and WAY too much history to describe in this blog post, so I am going to choose just a few things. A timeline is very helpful to me. I created one to put here, but I am not happy with it. I will keep trying to find a better way. If you have a suggestion I would really appreciate it. I am going to be adding to this timeline as I see things because I think it illustrates how everything I see here was built at a different time in history. The timeline starts with the Founding of Rome in 753, which I talked about yesterday and goes to the present with Dill and I visiting Rome. In between I have added the things that I saw yesterday and I will keep adding to it.

The first important thing I want to share about is called La Pieta and it is a statue done by Michelangelo that can be found in St. Peter’s Basilica. Here is a picture of Dill admiring it. It was so beautiful and well done that people at the time did not think that Michelangelo who was only 25 could have done it. In order to prove he was the sculptor he put his name on it on a sash. There are TONS of other very beautiful and important things in the Basilica, but you will just have to visit to see them.

After visiting the Basilica (which is free, but you must dress correctly), I went on to the Vatican Museums where the famous painting of God touching (creating) Man is painted on the ceiling. We had to walk through gallery after gallery of really fantastic art, paintings, sculpture, etc... to get to the chapel. When I got there I was totally amazed. There was SO much to see! the painting of God creating Man was only one of the panels of paintings all across the roof and the walls of the chapel. Michelangelo painted the ceiling and the scene of the Last Judgment in the front of the chapel. Many other painters did the other panels. I was disappointed that I could not take any photographs in the chapel, but I did buy a book and so here is Dill looking at the fold out of the ceiling. Amazing!

From here I walked back to the apartment I am staying in, but I wanted to see one more thing on the way. One thing that many people want to see when they come to Rome is the Spanish Steps. They are majestic and at the top there is a terrific view of Rome, so many tourists spend time sitting on the steps and walking up to see the view. One of the teachers from my school suggested that Dill have his picture taken at the steps and I was glad because by the time I read the note I had already taken that picture!

FOOD REPORT
Last night I had a cone with gelato-lemon, cream and chocolate. I really do like the fruit flavors. Lemon was good. I am not sure that chocolate was the best combination with it though! I will put up a new poll soon. I have also been eating wonderful Italian food every night. I am not sure how they do it, but it is all soooo good. Two nights ago I had bruchetta (bread with tomato and basil roasted with olive oil) and linguini with pesto. Last night was tortollini in white sauce. Like the things I am seeing there is so much richness it is hard to explain it all.

Overview of Rome

Rome has been an important city for thousands of years. For the next few days I am planning to give you an overview of Rome with stories. Maybe some of you know some stories about Roman Gods that you could share. Send them to me at janicef@jfriesen.net and I will try to use them! Since many of the things that I am seeing are from different centuries, I am working on a timeline that I can include to give you an idea of all of the different times.

Today I am just going to tell you about the founding of Rome. Rome was founded about 750 BC. That is a LONG time ago. The story of the founding is well known, but no one knows how true it is, but it is a great story. There is a story that Romulus and Remus were brothers. The god Mars and a human woman gave birth to twins. She did not want to have children, so she tried to eliminate them by abandoning them on the Tiber River. The river was in a flood and the twins came to rest at the bottom of a hill called the Palatine where they were nursed by a wolf and brought up by a couple of shepherds. When they grew up they established a city on the Palatine, which became Rome (named after Romulus who killed his brother in an dispute over boundaries. The Palatine was one of seven surrounding hills: the Palatine, the Coelian, the Esquiline, the Velia, the Viminal, the Quirinal and the Capatoline. Rome is known as the city on seven hills. So, if you remember Romulus and Remus; a wolf; and seven hills you know the origins of Rome!

Dill took a bus trip with me yesterday to see an overview of Rome. On the bus we met these two nice Bulgarian Women and Dill wanted his picture taken with them (the guy holding the umbrella is a street umbrella salesman hoping for a sale). We looked all over and decided that today we should go to the Vatican and see the Sistine chapel where Michelangelo painted.

I am closing with a picture of Dill helping James with his research. James is here along with The Professor and a few others presenting at the International Society of Biblical Literature Conference.

Oh…. and speaking of The Professor…. for the 32 years I have been married to him he has been boasting that Italian Gelato is the best ice cream in the world. Finally I have a chance to test it out and see. WOW, he is right! I have now tasted pistacio, peach, melon, cream, After Five (like mint chip), chocolate, and coffee. I am putting up a short poll about which ice cream flavor I should try next. Let me know what you think!

Wrapping Up Israel Two

I just arrived in Italy last night and unfortunately I do not have Internet at the apartment where I am staying... so I am writing this from an Internet Cafe near the Termini Train Station.
There are 9 people who have voted for the name. TOMORROW IS THE FINAL DAY!

The people in Bethlehem are very friendly. Everywhere we went people offered us Arabic coffee (a small cup of strong coffee with cardemon), tea or lemonade. Sometimes they gave us Sprite or Coke. One day when we were visiting the Wi’am office they first brought us coffee and then tea and after that lemonade. I guess it is good because it is very hot there and you should drink lots of liquids! On our last evening there we went out for a typical Palestinian Barbeque. We went to a restaurant where there were grills out in front and lots of chicken being grilled. We sat at a table and the waiter brought us lots of different small salads on plates (humus, tahini, eggplant salad (baba ganoush), chopped tomatoes and cucumber, and others that I don’t have names for. Then they brought a plate of the barbequed chicken to the table. There is always pita bread that you dip into all of the different salads. We had forks, but I think the traditional way to eat is to tear off a piece of pita to pick salad up a bit and eat it. The chicken was delicious.

The day ended with a surprise. Last week both The Professor and I had our birthdays (June 18 and 19) and somehow they had heard about it and so they brought us a cheesecake decorated with our names and with candles. I don’t think this is the traditional Palestinian way to celebrate birthdays though! It was so nice of them. We also accompanied some Wi’am staff while they delivered groceries to people in need. They delivered toilet paper, sugar, salt, rice and olive oil to about 100 people in the last few days. The person who drove us around had an older car that was manual (you have to shift manually). When all four of us (the driver, Zoughbi, The Professor and myself) and the groceries were in the car it could not make it up some of those hills. Twice we had to get out and the professor and Zoughbi pushed the car.

One of the main memories I will have from visiting here is the roads. I was totally amazed at the way that people drive around the town. Many of the roads were so skinny I wouldn’t try to drive ONE car down them let alone two! Also Bethlehem is built on hills, so the roads are more like terraces that weave up and down and sometimes they are pretty steep. Sometimes you do a hairpin turn where you cannot see the oncoming traffic at all. Often there was two way traffic and parking where I would imagine only a one-way street. The people have developed a way of navigating these streets. They never seem to slow down and they don’t wait for other cars, but there seems to be some polite understanding about who gets to go next. I never saw an accident and I felt safe with the people who drove us around, but I wouldn’t want to give it a try!

5 Days to go!

5 Days to Go
Have you checked out Google Earth 5.0? One of the amazing additions to this version is Ancient Rome 3D. I have begun to look at it and will try to share specific places to go and ideas of how to use this in a classroom. Today is my first real day of freedom. No school, no training! I have a few appointments, and I hope some time to do some of the preparation that I need to do!

The only problem with it so far is that it takes a LONG time to load. I guess it depends on how powerful your computer is. I think it won't work on some computers.

Videos you don't want to miss!

Just to get you thinking about some of the things I will be seeing I am linking to two videos. Wow!
The first one is about over 600 caves that have been found under Naples:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8030348.stm

And the second about new technologies being used at the Catacombs in Rome:







Paintings which have not been seen in nearly 2,000 years are now visible

More news about the trip

My husband just sent me this info about something we will be doing on the trip.

Nicola Denzey Lewis will be taking us down underground to a couple of the early Christian catacombs (2nd-4th centuries). No one knows how many miles of underground tombs there are around Rome from that time period. There are burials for all kinds of people, not just Christians. Because these tombs were underground, they were hidden and preserved. So wall and ceiling paintings in the
(the image is from amazon.com and links to the listing)

Christian tombs provide us with some of the earliest examples of Christian art. Nicola is the author of *The Bone Gatherers: The Lost Worlds of Early Christian Women*. Since women were often in charge of burial and mourning, the catacombs also provide us with important evidence for the activities of women in the early churches.

Welcome Second Follower

This is really fun! I just checked and we have a new follower, Selina Eshragi. If you are following you may want to add a marker to our map to show where you are from. I hope I will hear a lot from them when the trip starts.

Plans are moving along. This week we heard from several of the people in Italy and Israel who are getting permission for the group to visit various places. It looks like we will be learning from some world renowned experts. One person we will be learning from is Dr. John R. Clarke. You may want to check out his book called Roman Life. Inside is a CD which lets you walk around a Roman Villa in Pompeii virutally and has explanations of the many things that you see. It will be amazing to have people like this showing us Pompeii.

2009 Odyssey

View Larger Map

I am preparing right now for a 5 week long trip to the Mediterranean this summer. I have an opportunity to travel with my husband to archaeological sites in Turkey, Israel, Italy and Greece. I hope to see many other things and meet people in all of these places. Below you will see a map showing the itinerary for the trip. I hope you will join and put your comments and questions onto the blog. The map is interactive. Zoom in and out and slide it to see the parts you are interested in.