exams and dig assignments

Sorry for my silence of several days, I've been pretty busy.

Wednesday was the day of our exam on Roman topography, my roommates and I spent the morning studying and then we wrote the exam at 2. After the exam we had a lecture on digging and on Archaeological methods in Italian archaeology. Following the lecture, Darius came in to give us our new dig assignments. He sent 10 of us to San Omobono, 6 people to the Roman Forum (oh my god!!) and the last 25 (including me) to Gabii.

After the exam almost the entire group went out for supper at the pizza place around the corner from our apartment that makes incredible pizza and the owner/manager Claudio is very friendly (perhaps overly) but we like him.

There were fireworks at the Castel Sant Angelo that night for St Peter and Paul day so that was our after dinner destination. And since the next day was our first day of digging we went home after the display.

So, Thursday was the beginning of our archaeological adventure. We all had to meet at 7am at the Piazza Ippolito Nievo to get a bus to Gabii. It's a 40 minute drive so we get a nice air-conditioned nap on the way. Upon our arrival, we got a safety debriefing then site tour of the greater Gabii area and lastly a tour of this years excavation areas. Area B is a grave site, I don't know what area D is, I work in Area C which is a structure (possibly a house) and Area E is a new extension from Area C so it is yet to be discovered what it is.

After the tour it was lunch time so we sat down for sandwiches with the other Students at Gabii who had been digging for a week and a half before we arrived. After eating Lauren, Erik, Delphine and I we assigned to area C and given over to Jamie the tremchmaster. He is a very nice British archaeologist and I'm pleased with my assignment. He talked to us about what was going on in Area C and introduced us to his team. by the time he finished talking about things like stratigraphic unit and proper trowel use, it was pretty much time to go home, we spent about 15 minutes doing some work (at least I got my trowel dirty)

Then it was more naps on the bus ride home and a cold shower since our hot water heater has been broken for days. Catherine and I met up with Parin, Julian, Shannon and Danika for supper (zuchini flower and mozzarella pizza) and then walked along the Tiber which is lines with market stalls we sat in an open air bar and sangria and chatted. We were home by midnight since our meeting time had been changed to 6:45 so we could arrive at Gabii with all the other Gabii students who live in Frescati nearer to the dig site.

Friday at Gabii was a rather mundane day of work for Area C (other areas were finding awesome things) because there was a huge mechanical excavator and dump truck extending the trench to try and expose the extent of the structure we're excavating since the previous baulk had begun in the middle of the structure. This meant we spent the day in the far end of the trench weeding and cleaning off the surfaces that had been closed last season so that there can be an aerial photograph taken of the whole structure once we finish excavations.

8 hours of weeding later we were thoroughly filthy and ready for an air conditioned bus ride back to Rome and showers. After cleaning up Catherine, Parin and I went out for panini at a place recommended by my friend Alec who had spent the last semester in Rome and happened to be nearby our apartment. then we met up with a big group of people and went out for drinks in the Campo de Fiori. Catrina and I ended the night with some patriotic red drinks then we all went home to sleep and recover from our two day work week

I can feel my trowelling muscles growing

beach day and delicious dinners

The past two days have been positively lovely.
Yesterday we were given the day off since we had class on Saturday so most of us went to the beach.
It is an hour long train ride on a sketchy train which is always full so you have to stand up for the whole time, plus trains always seem to be filled by creepy Italian men or grumpy Italian women
My roommate Allene and I went a little later than most people because we had some errands to run and decided to meet everyone at the beach.
So after our exciting ride once we got to the last train stop we caught a bus to a beach farther down the coast that was supposed to be cleaner and less crowded that the ones close to the train station.
It was gorgeous, white sand, blue Mediterranean water, warm sun, lovely.

I lay out for 5 hours and reapplied sunblock religiously and came out with nothing but an largely imperceptible bit of a tan. no really I promise that I'm slightly less horrifyingly pasty.
The group I spend the most time with (University of Southern California students) came later than everyone else (*cough* hungover *cough*) so after the group that came early left I went to sit with the second wave who were further down the beach.
We soaked up the sun, chatted and Julian got his hair nicely french braided by Shannon (he looked dashing)

we stuck around until it was 7pm and gripping hunger set in.
Then it was the hour long trek home and a delightful (ice cold thanks to Italian water heaters) shower to remove the 5 billion grains of sand and salt from my body.
After removing all traces of ocean, Catherine and I went over to the USC boys' house where Catherine and Parin cooked dinner for 7 of us.
After a lovely supper of mushroom risotto, we all started to study for the test we have on Wednesday this quickly devolved into watching funny baby and animal videos on youTube.
We gave up pretending to study and walked home around midnight, two girls from USC, Shannon and Danika live just up from Catherine and I so we all walked home together.

This morning we all met at the bus station to go on a tour of this super cool villa on the Via Appia. It's really well preserved and comparable Hadrian's villa though definitely not quite the same quality.

we spend the morning walking around the archaeological park looking at the conservation work in progress in the ridiculous heat then had to wait 20 minutes for the bus home again.
By the time we got home it was siesta time so I made lunch and took a nap. Upon waking up I got a message from Shannon that her dad who was visiting Italy wanted to take her and her friend out for supper. So 7 of us were treated to a lovely meal in the Campo dei Fiori we ate everything from gnocchi, seafood, steak with balsamic to salads, ricotta parfaits and tiramisu. delicious.
Thoroughly stuffed we made plans to meet tomorrow for cappuccino and study before our exam at 2 (I'm sure it will be a breeze)

ciaociao

Not that lazy sunday

yesterday was a lovely day. I got up at 10am and decided to go visit the flea market that happens every sunday in at Porta Portese in Trastevere. It is a huuuge market with stalls that sell everything imaginable.
I spent 2 hours walking around looking at everything not noticing the time. I ended up leaving with a pretty sweet rucksack (I needed one for my dig tools) that involves leopard print pony hair. I also got some nice vintage photos one particulary hilarious one is of a black man holding up a young leopard with a chained collar. I would love to know the story behind that photo!
after I got home from the market, Sara and I made lunch before going out for a walk. We ended up at the circus maximus where we happened upon Allene and then the three of us went to the main shopping district for some retail therapy. I got a super cute top at H&M and eyeballed some things at Zara that I might have to go pick up later.
we shopped until 7pm at which point extreme hunger set in. we walked the long trek home and I
made supper for everyone (minus Ann Walt who was off sailing) and we ate as a little family.
After supper I went out with a few people for drinks and we walked around trastevere. The night cameto a perfect end with crepes (yum)

Last taste of Ostia?....

Today we were given some shocking news.
due to unreasonable demands by the University of Bologna (who holds the excavation permit for us to dig at Ostia) their partnership with the institute where my program is terminated. Which means that we can no longer excavate.

Darius (Darius Arya from those tv archology documentries) who is the program director told us this and my heart dropped. BUT things have actually turned out for the better, using his contacts in Italy he has found us two other digs to participate in with other universities. One is St Omobono right in the city and the other is Gabii which amazingly was my second choice to apply to this summer, I chose Ostia because it meant I was going to live in Rome but I thought that the Gabii site was cooler. That means that I just got the best of both worlds. I'm so excited, but we don't start excavation until thursday

seriously though the Gabii site is kind of a big deal in the archaeological world. super cool.

third taste of Rome and first taste of Ostia!

I'm sitting here typing this eating paprika pringles and drinking red wine. How I love Italy!
Yesterday was another fun day of trekking around to various monuments in Rome. Despite the impression that we give Albert by being fairly silent and looking morose in the heat, I think everyone is having a good time.
We met at the theater of Marcellus and walked all over. from the capitoline to the aventine hill. We saw the forum boarium and the Arch of the Argentarii which I love, we walked by the temple of Hercules Victor and the circus maximus and a million other amazing places.
We stopped for lunch in Trastevere, the neighborhood that we live in, and found a great little cafeteria style restaurant which seemed to be super poplar with local people I had an absolutely delicious zucchini flower and mozzarella pizza. then on our way back to the meeting point we found a place selling elaborate miniature cakes and pastries for 1 euro each, delicious!
we finished the tour by visiting the Porticus Amelia and Monte Testaccio which is a mountain entirely composed of discarded oil amphorae which had been imported into Rome, super cool!
I was browsing through my Rome guide book and we've seen pretty much every roman monument I came across - after tomorrow's tour we'll probably have seen them all!
so yesterday after our tour of Rome I walked to the Colosseum because Katie, Jen and Grayson were staying near there, I called Grayson and asked for directions to there hotel which actually turned out to be right across the street! Their room literally faced the Colosseum and they had a huge balcony, it was crazy! We spent the night drinking champagne, reminiscing and looking at new the Poggio Civitate recruits on facebook, lovely.
It was sad to say goodbye but once it got late I had to leave since I had to get up for our first trip to Ostia in the morning. Plus I'll probably go to sienna for Palio next weekend and see them then!
So Ostia today was amazing! It was a 40 minute packed train ride to get there, hopefully when we go for work earlier in the morning we might get a seat!
It was cooler at Ostia since it was near the ocean and there was cloud cover and a nice sea breeze
The tour of the city was It was so cool to see such a huge city which was so much intact. we spent hours walking among the buildings while Albert told us the city's history and explained its topography.
there were gorgeous black and white mosaics on building floors and many of the walls went up to the old second stories of the buildings which really gave a sense of what the city used to look like.
It's pretty hard to believe that in a few days we'll be digging at such a famous site!
Tonight after getting home from Ostia, making a grocery store trip, finally buying a bit of makeup and cooking supper, (pasta with grilled zucchini, tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil) me and 3 of my roommates (Sara had plans) went out to have drinks.
we had a hilarious time chatting and having some roommate bonding times. We had planned on staying out a long time, but after we left one pub to go to another bar we all decided that we were too tired and walked home instead - such a wild Friday night. though it's probably for the best since we have class on Saturday too this week. I think that a lot of people plan to go out Saturday instead.
I'll update you on weekend shennanigans as they happen
ciao

amazing meetings

so, I didn't blog about the ridiculously long and exhausting while being super cool day (Woody Allen was at the Ara Pacis) that we had yesterday because something crazy happened when I went out for a little trot after we got home.
I was wandering around with no destination in particular in mind, just exploring. I was listening to my ipod not really paying attention to the people who passed by when I found my self on a random alley. I passed by two guys walking down the road without a tce hought and then I heard someone call my name. Weirded out, I turned slowly around and who whould be there but Grayson, a guy I met at Scavi last year!

bizarre. I had only noticed that he was in Rome when I checked facebook earlier in the evening and he had uploaded pictures of Rome (he was 3 feet away from the pope)
so since neither he and his friend David nor I had any plans for the evening we decided to wander togather. (theoretically in search of food)
we meandered towards the Castel St Angelo and passed by a cart selling bulk candy. 7 euro later supper was had. we sat in front of the tiber and ate candy - such a Roman culinary experience...
with regretful stomaches we then marched to the Vatican and then to the Colosseum where we sat while strange indian men tried to sell us souvenir junk (and succeeded: Grayson bought a spinning light up toy after David bargined it doen from 5 to 2 euro)

he then played fetch with some kids with it. It was adorable.

at 11:30 we decided to call it quits but since Katie and Jen were getting in today to rejoin Scavi, I exchanged numbers and we made plans to meet up as a group the next day.
(to be continued and prequelled when it's not 2am zzzzzzzzzzz

class one: dirty feet and the first gelato

the first day of class was delightful, we started my meeting the main professor at the dig, Alberto, at the statue of Marcus Aurelius on the Capitoline
then walked a little ways to sit in the shade for an hour lecture on rocks. ah yes, geomorphology - scintillating
after our chat about sediments, volcanoes (sorry Pompeii) tufa and travertine we started walking and talking about what each monument we saw was made of - rocks.
we made our way then to the Roman forum and were given an overviw of its history in a shady corner before venturing out to be slowly roasted amongst the marble, brick and cement structures.
walking from shady patch to conveniently located next to a monument shady patch became a theme of the day. (thanks for being considerate Albert)
we walked through the forum which really served to put all the things that I'd learned about it into perspective - the plan is much easier to visualize when you're standing in it!
the temple and atrium of vesta holds a special place in my heart and it was nice to walk around the atrium and see the dedicated statues of the particularly pious vestals.

After the forum we had a picnic lunch just up the hill before walking up the Palatine hill. I brought a delish tomato, arugula, prosciutto, mozzarella sandwich (yum)
The palatine hill had an amazing view of the city and walking around and seing where all the emperors used to live was awesome, the sheer size of the palaces was baffling!
In addition to being fantastic, the Palatine is very dusty, I had sandals on and my feet were filthy, I reccommend closed toed shoes to anyone who is planning to walk the Palatine
finished with the palatine we walked down in to the colosseum valley and into the temple of Venus and Rome which had been opened to to go into for the first time in 100 years just this year (awesome)
after that were were dismissed for the day and let loose on the Colosseum (woah)
we all got our nice touristy pictures

and then a few of us decided to walk home. It was pretty amusing how having 3 separate people trying to navagate to similar but different locations can go awry (it took us about twice as long to get home, but home we got and everything was fine. I washed my feet and got a snack (mozzarella and tomatoes) and sat down for a rest.
Catherine, one of my roommates and I made plans to meet up with a few other students andgo to supper. We took the tram down to a restaurant near another room's appartment (whose appartment is WAY better than ours) and went to a nice little restaurant which is right next to their building.
I had a deliciuos Goat cheese and arugula salad with apples and balsamic vinegar. mmmmmm.
then after supper we made a trek to a gelato place which was supposed to be amazing called the Frigidarium and holy heck was it ever good. I got Pistachio, chocolate and tiramisu with whipped cream and a waffle cone biscuit on top. dear god it was sooooo yummo.
having eaten way more than necessary we took the tram home for the evening. Were my roommates and I chatted for way longer than intended (good girl talk though) then I fell asleep before finishing this blog entry so I'm writing this at 7am
I have to go shower and get ready for a day of museums : D but this entry has a few pictures to go with it that I'll add in later.
ciaociao

Arrived alive and according to schedule

My trip to Rome was delightfully uneventful.

Flight to Toronto, flight to Rome, taxi to appartment, done.

Makes for a terrible story, but a happy me.

My roommates all seem really great and despite the fact that we're a bunch of random 20-somethings we seem to get along, even when sleepy, hungry and jet-lagged.

We know the true test of friendship is trench fever though!

Our appartment is very small but adorably decorated in lime green (one tiny bathroom for five gals is going to make for an interesting summer!

We went for a walk before we had to meet for orientation and picked up a few groceries - there is a fruit/veggie market just outside our from door!

We walked to the American Institute for Roman Culture for our orienation meeting then (and passed a real cool looking consignment/vintage store on the way which I will need to check out in the near future!!) and met the Programming directors and other students before going for a pizza dinner at a nice little restaurant just off the Via dei Fori Imperali.

My aubergine and corgette (I'm sooo euro chic with my lingo) pizza was quite delicious and I'm very much looking forward to tomorrow's cold pizza breakfast!

So, stuffed and exhausted we returned home to crash. I've organized my closet space and packed my fanny pack up for tomorrow's 8 hour walking tour!

I'll conclude this entry with an ode to my terrible packing skill in the form of a list of the things I forgot.

- the 4 bottles of sunscreen I bought (11 euro for one new bottle - ouch)

- my makeup bag (including tweezers, nail clippers, eyelash curler, makeup and makeup brushes)

- my backpack

- face cloths

- water bottle

go me.

luckily these are all quite replacable and what lady doesn't love an excuse for new makeup and tools!

Archaeology: Rome Edition

hey cats and kittens, my archaeoblog is back!

(I promise I'll be better at updating this year - surely the internet will be more reliable in a big city)

I'm just finishing up my packing (my flight leaves in 5 hours, ever the procrastinator) and I could just vom from excitment (or perhaps due to last night's partying...)

I fly out of St. John's and into Toronto where I'll meet my first dig friend, and the only other Canadian, Katrina.

From there is straight on to Rome (no Gatwick or Heathrow this year thank-you very much!) We get there at 10:30 am and then it's the first day of meeting everyone, orientation, moving into our apartments and trying not to freak out at the fact that I am living in Rome for the next two months.

Rome. for two. months.

Seriously.

Not much else to update on since I've not left yet but I will make a solid effort to keep you in the loop!