Sorry this is a few days late...
Today (Tuesday Jan 18) has been one of my favorite days in Rome so far! This morning we had a guest speaker, Margaret Brucia, a professor from Temple University. She gave a wonderful lecture about Roman Mythology. I loved learning about all the Roman gods and the difference between Greek and Roman mythology. In high school I took a class about Greek and Roman mythology, and loved learning about all the stories and getting familiar with the various gods. Today gave me different look at mythology, specifically the Roman gods.
After the lecture, our class took an excursion to the Forum. Since being in Rome, I've walked past the Forum a couple of times, but never had the opportunity to go inside, so I was super excited to walk around inside. Margaret told stories and countless interesting facts as we walked around the ruins. At one of our first spots on the tour, Margaret described how for years the Forum was buried beneath layers of dirt. I imagined how different things must have looked in the past, when the Forum was the center of Rome's hustle and bustle. We learned about the arches and their significance of victories in the past. Also, I was amazed to learn about Julius Caesar being killed right where the UW Rome Center is currently located. I have been sleeping over the site of Julius Caesar's death!!!! Margaret's tour was one of the best tours I have been on!! Her knowledge and passion for Roman history (and mythology) was fascinating and kept me hanging on her every word!
After Margaret's tour, it was time for a quick snack then to our orientations for service learning. While half the group went to the school, I headed to the refugee center with some other students. I was so excited about going there!! Once we got there, we got introduced to a bishop and a former organizer of the center (the current organizer was out sick :[ ). We went over some introductions and details about the center and the refugees who were there. After that we went down for a tour of the center itself. I was surprised to learn that the center was only open from 8 am - 2 pm each day...during the other times, the refugees are responsible for finding something to do/somewhere to go. There were not any refugees there when we went (since it was after 2 pm), but it was exciting to see where they spent their days. Many of the walls were decorated with murals and paintings that some of the refugees had created. After we left, I was excited to come back and see what it would be like when there would be refugees there!
Overall, today was awesome!! Getting to walk around the Forum has made me feel so thankful for being able to live in Rome and experience all this amazing city has to offer. And going to the refugee center has me pumped and ready to go to our second visit!!!
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