Classe di mercoledi

I am enjoying class so far but I have to admit this is a tough week. Trying to work, read the chapters, draw up the essay outline and make up a rough brochure and then four hours of class ... it's kind of a lot. But the class work is interesting and every day brings us that much closer to Rome!

The material is really interesting. I am a history buff, particularly when it comes to the middle ages and renaissance, so some of this has been familiar but there is still a lot that I did not know, which is great. I love to learn. I am into literature and poetry so dissecting the poems has been fun too.

The poem we discussed for Wednesday was "At the Pyramid of Cestius Near the Graves of Shelley and Keats" by Thomas Hardy. First of all, I think it is kind of cool that I will get to see a pyramid in Rome. What an unusual monument! The poem made me think of a lot of things that we will see ... we may not understand fully who these people were or why they built the things that they built but we get to learn something of their lives by the things they left behind. The name of the class, Layers of Rome, seems so fitting because there are so many remnants of different eras there, side by side. The ancient, the medieval, the renaissance and Victorian each left there unique stamp on the city. Hardy explains that he did not know, or care, about Cestius or his life. Even the pyramid erected in his name had no meaning for him until Shelley and Keats were buried there. Then, the monument to a man who was a stranger to him stood as a marker to draw attention to the spots where these two poets were buried and because of that, it now had meaning to him.

We also talked about our readings in "Roman People" about Rome's second emperor Tiberius and his astrologer Thrasyllus ... how and why the role of astrology was important for many people in ancient Rome.

And we discussed the changing role of the pope after the fall of the empire, how beginning in the 15th century the pope began to have an increasing amount of temporal power and how this led to in many cases, like that of Julius II, corruption, nepotism and simony, which in turn motivated large groups to break away from the Catholic church.

In my preparations for the trip, I have been calling around to local banks trying to find out where I can exchange dollars for euros so I can have a little local cash on me when I arrive. Amazingly, some people didn't even seem to know what I was talking about. So far, the only option that I have been given is to drive to Brownsville, a city 1/2 an hour away, during business hours when I will be at work. Seems ridiculously difficult to get them here but I guess not many people in South Texas travel to Europe so they are not in demand or something. Boo! :( Hopefully I will figure something out soon.