Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Mid-Term Week

Buona Notte!
Of course I must say it, this week has gone by so fast! When we arrived back from the Amalfi Coast, we jumped straight back into classes. It was just as if we had been in a dream all weekend!

Monday night, Jill surprised me and took me to see Harry Potter! It was definitely an interesting experience. The movie theaters here are not at all like the ones at home. We had to take a taxi across town to get to one of the only English theaters in town. Once there, we thought we might get some snacks from the concession stand, however the selection was not up to par. During the movie, instead of having an automatic reel switch, there was a 10 minute intermission (without warning), right in the middle of an action packed scene! Oh well, I got to say I saw a movie in Rome!

On Tuesday, my "Ancient Rome and its Monuments" class traveled to the Pantheon, one of the best preserved ancient monuments in the entire world. When you enter, the ceiling immediately captivates your attention. The largest unreinforced dome in the entire world is bearing down upon all of your senses. The huge oculus, large hole right in the center of the dome, is an amazing sight to behold. A portal is opened into the sky, which lets the sun rays in at certain times of the day, to hit precise points in the cavernous room beneath. Tuesday was a cloudy day, but when the clouds parted and the sun shone down through the oculus, the beam of light hit the niche in the wall perfectly. Nothing spectacular was revealed, like it might be in some movie, but nonetheless the preciseness was amazing.

After the Pantheon, we visited some other monuments, my favorite of which was the Ara Pacis, also known as the Altar of Augustan Peace. This beautiful Italian marble monument is housed in a special museum built around it. This monument was constructed as a victory monument for the return of Emperor Augustus after a three year tour of Spain and Gaul, working on peace relations in that part of the Roman Empire. It is dedicated to the Goddess Pax, or peace. The fragmented monument was found buried underneath a barbershop in 1568; only discovered when the barber was digging a latrine. Over the next hundred years, fragments were found all around the area and finally in 1937 a full excavation took place. The monument was restored and put back together where it could be. The missing pieces have been filled in by plaster, and a full reconstructed monument now stands. The white marble glistens in the light, not letting your eyes stray to other exhibits down the hall in the museum.

On Wednesday, we watched "La Dolce Vita" a famous Italian film, in my Italian class. Thankfully we were allowed subtitles beneath the picture! It is a very interesting movie, but we didn't have time to finish. I will put it on my list of movies to watch!

Tomorrow, we have midterms! Wish us luck!

Talk to you soon!
Love, Kalyn

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