Coming at you from Rome, Italy on September 14, 2019
Bloggers: Ben and Margaret
Steps Taken: 12,000
Despite the Roman metro system wishing to destroy our very souls and continuously make us late for Professor Stewart’s onsite lectures, we arrived with THIRTY MINUTES to spare at the National Etruscan Museum at Villa Giulia. Dei gratius!*
Today, we had the pleasure of meeting Professor Giampiero Bevegna (pictured in the selfie below), a longtime friend of Professor Stewart. Professor Bevegna, or as he prefers to be called Giampi (with a energetic “pii!” at the end), is an expert of Etruscan history. Trust us when we say this man eats, sleeps, and breathes Etruscan history – his enthusiasm and energy for the topic were infectious throughout the museum and his lectures.
Our focus for the day was Etruscan burial tombs and artifacts. The Etruscans were a pre-Roman civilization that inhabited modern day Etruria, Italy. The Romans were heavily influenced by the Etruscans and adopted a significant number of Etruscan practices and mannerisms. After Thursday’s focus on Latial burial tombs, Giampi’s lecture drew connections between the burial tombs seen in Latium and those in Etruria. An important part of the development of the Etruscans was the shared cultural exchange in the Mediterranean Sea among the Etruscans, the Phoenicians, and the Assyrians.
His lecture also highlighted unique aspects specific to Etruscan culture, including their distinct pottery known as bucchero (a shiny grey/ blackish pottery used in everyday life and common votive objects) and other votive objecrts.
We are all looking forward to Giampi joining us in October for two days when Professor Stewart travels to London!
After returning to the Dartmouth Rome Center near the Campo di Fiori, the beginner Italian students (Ben, Margaret, Shawn, Halle, Leo, Mack, and Alex) went on a field trip to practice their spoken Italian. Led by our Italian instructor Luigi, a master connoisseur of Italian gelato and coffee, we visited two of the best gelato and coffee places in Rome. We were required to practice our ordering and paying exclusively in Italian, a skill we all managed to pull off! MULTO BENE, FICO FICO!
The intermediate Italian class had a lovely adventure through the city guided by Francisca, a language assistant. After a fifteen minute walk, they arrived at Rome’s oldest gelato shop and quickly learned the word for crowded, affollata. Then, they continued their stroll through the city, visiting the pantheon and piazza navone. Eventually they ran into the Italian LSA group, who they were eager to practice talking with.
By the end of the day, we were all tired and excited to make it back to our apartments, write our essays, and enjoy our free day tomorrow.
*Thanks to god