Some End of the Semester Reflection

So, needless to say, I am not so good at keep this blog updated... but here's a short run-down of some of the things I've been thinking about as I prepare to return to the US. (The coming week is my last week of classes here in Catania, Sicily for the semester; I return to Rochester on Saturday, May 16th -after exams.)

Things I will miss about Sicily:
-.35 espresso.... available on every street corner
-downing espresso or cafe macchiato or cappuccino --at a stand-up counter--
-excellent gelato... available on every other street corner
-pasta alla norma (pasta al dente with eggplant, tomato sauce, and ricotta salata- "salted ricotta")
-excellent pizza
-boisterous, friendly Sicilians
-PROGRAM FRIENDS
-tropping around archaeological sites every week
-Alan, our goofy resident director and his adorable little family, including his baby, Massimilliano
-the markets: farm-fresh fruits and vegetables
-the bakeries and salumerias: fresh, cheap, delicious bread and freshly-made prosciutto and provolone sandwiches!
-maid service once a week, including fresh towels!
-being surrounded by Classics majors who make/understand dorky Classics-related jokes
-beautiful weather
-access to ocean, beautiful coastline
-proliferation of bucolic goodness
-Professors Matt and Nigel: Matt's down-to-earth attitude and humor. Nigel's Nigelisms and endearingly dorky enthusiasm for Classics-related anecdotes
-My girlfriend, Anna-Sophia (of course)

Things I will not miss:
-My family does not, in fact, live in Sicily
-Neither do my high school or college friends... or our farm animals
-GARBAGE all over Catania
-lack of recycling
-pasta and bread and meat for every meal
-the ubiquitousness of lunch-meat style ham and things that are breaded and/or smothered in olive oil
-lack of tofu
-lack of tea that isn't lemon-flavored
-bizarre catcalls
-disregard for punctuality
-excruciatingly slow restaurant service
-everything closing b/t 2 and 4pm for nap time
-the Italian version of "waiting in line"
-Italian governmental bureaucracy (waiting in line at post office, etc. for hours; oodles of inactive government workers...)
-apparent downfalls of Italian university system: students neglecting to study, professors who don't know how to positively engage students, etc.
-Catania fashion: (men) gelled hair, too-tight pants; (women) high heels all the time, lots of make-up; (both) big, puffy jackets with faux fur collars, gold or silver sneakers, PURPLE everything

Spring Break

(New Mosque, Istanbul)

Hey all! I realize it's been such a long time since I've updated, but hopefully that is a testament to how much fun I'm having and how busy with coursework I've been.

The 2 (or 3?) weeks ago I had spring break. I went to Istanbul for 8 days with my friends Anna-Sophia, Vicky, and Chris. Anna-Sophia and Vicky are really into Byzantine history, so it was very much a veritable playground for them. None of us spoke a word of Turkish, but Istanbul is a large enough city- and tourism is important enough there- that we had very few problems in that respect. We stayed in a hostel in Sultanahmet, "Old Istanbul," which is by far the most touristy part of the city because it contains or is extremely close to so many of the important sites/attractions. It was named after Sultan Ahmet I, who built the Blue Mosque (1603-1617). It was an amazing experience. Some of the things we saw: the Hagia Sophia, the Topkapi Palace, the Blue Mosque, the Basilica Cistern, the (Egyptian) Spice Market, the Grand Bazaar, the University Square, the Mosaic Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the Museum of Turkish and Islamic Art, the Istanbul Modern Art Museum, the Church of St. Savior in Chora, the "Little Hagia Sophia," and of course the Bosporus and the Asian side of Istanbul.

Overall, there were so many amazing historical things to see (by and large dating from the Ottoman Empire, then a decent amount from the Byzantines, although the archaeological museum also had an AMAZING ancient Near Eastern collection), it was WELL worth the trip. Also, it was culturally quite different from the States or Italy. In general, the Turkish people we interacted with were incredibly friendly and more than to help out confused tourists. I was surprised, though, to see as many women wearing head coverings as I did... Turkey having a secular government and all... I'd say like 40% of non-tourist women, depending on the area.
And a lot of the restaurants were still split upstairs/downstairs with the suggested division of men downstairs and mixed company/families upstairs, although that could be pretty flexible, especially for foreigners. Hearing the call to prayer issuing from the mosques throughout the day was really moving and definitely altered the atmosphere. Things I did not enjoy about Istanbul, however, include: the pushiness of vendors in the tourist areas, the lack of infrastructure/government regulation in certain things, and the lack of sanitation (not being able to flush toilet paper is just not acceptable to me). But other than that, AMAZING sights!!!

St. Savior in Chora, a 5th century CE Byzantine Church (the Byzantines spoke Greek)

Interior frescoes:Interior mosaics:
Some friends in the (underground) Basilica Cistern (Byzantine):
(R to L: Vicky, me, Anna-Sophia, and Vicky's friend Kate who's studying in London)

Anna-Sophia in front of Hagia Sophia (enormous 6th century Byzantine church later converted into a mosque by the Ottoman Empire):
Interior of Hagia Sophia:Floor mosaic from a palace built by Emperor Constantine:
Interior of the "Little Hagia Sophia," another Byzantine church converted into a mosque by the Ottomans (original Byzantine columns on either side):
Typically Turkish- Backgammon and Apple tea (tea is generally sweet in Turkey):

Haec Olim Meminisse Iuvabit

"Haec olim meminisse iuvabit."-
"One day, this will be pleasing to remember" (Virgil's Aeneid 1.203).

Sorry for the delay and the short update... things are busy here with papers and exams and field trips and break coming up two days from now!

My weekend Rome trip with some friends was, I think, just about the pinnacle of my short life. Correspondingly, I took 222 pictures... so WAY too many to post here. But you can view them on my Flickr account: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34883665@N05/. Seriously.... so many pictures. And unfortunately I haven't finished the captions for them yet!

I went with a really good combination of friends; there were six of us in all: Oberlin Emily, Allison, Meg, Vicky, and Julian. After our field trip on Friday, the bus dropped us off at the airport. Vicky, Julian, and I didn't fly out until 9:30pm, so we had time to kill... which meant eating airport food and doing Greek homework and having some serious bonding time. The flight from Catania to Rome only takes about 50-55 minutes. Once we arrived we took a taxi from the airport to the Pantheon to meet up with Emily, Allison and Meg whose flight had left Catania around 7pm. We sat in a restaurant in the front of the Pantheon for a while before going to our hostel, which was on the Quirinale (one of the hills of Rome). The taxi rides to and from the airports were the most terrifying parts of the trip, I think, because there was no speed limit really on the autostada and so we were going about 150 kilometers per hour, which is about 93 mph.

Some of the excellent things we saw included: the Column of Trajan, the Colosseum, the remains of the Roman Forum, Trastevere (a trendy, artsy, young person's district), St. Peter's Cathedral at the Vatican, the Villa Borghese (a museum that has VERY famous Baroque works like Bernini's "Apollo and Daphne" and his "David" and some Caravaggios), and a big clothing/trinket/everything market. My favorite thing by far was seeing Augustus' Ara Pacis (altar of peace)--- literally made me tear up. It was the most beautiful, most brilliant thing I have ever seen. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ara_Pacis.

So at noon on Friday I leave for spring break in Istanbul (with some friends), which will be punctuated by a mini-voyage via train to Sofia, Bulgaria (long story), then another day or so in Istanbul before I get back to Catania next Sunday night. Unfortunately, before then I have to finished a paper, hopefully go to Italian class this afternoon, and pack.

Pictures from Naxos

As promised...Classmates approaching temple site (sea is forward and also, further, to the right).

Matt, the Latin professor, standing one of the walls of a former temple.
Archaic city wall made of lava rocks, looking toward the hills just west of Taormina.
Ancient kilns...

City wall from outside.

Crowned purple vetch??? (Grandpa?)

I apologize for my less than stellar photographic skills. What can I say? :) At this point, I really miss Hannah, for many other reasons as well, but poignantly for her picture-taking expertise.

Last night Anna-Sophia and I did end up going to the lecture on femininity and spirituality. (It turns out it wasn't held by the university; it was held in some sort of political or Labor building.) It was great! I think it was the single best thing I've done for my Italian comprehension skills. I was frankly really surprised that I could follow along with as much as I did, and it helped a lot that the subject matter was familiar (the guy talked about Hindi religion and the "Black Madonna" statues/paintings (esp. from 13/14th cent. Italy)). I also made a long list of words I thought I could pick out but didn't know, so it will be interesting to go through and correct my spelling and try to figure out which words they might have been.

A member of my mother's side of the family (my great-aunt Judy Ann) passed away suddenly a couple of days ago. Whenever something like this happens, I am painfully reminded of how often and how far I am away from home--- continually at this stage in life. I want so badly to be home when tragic and important things have happened--- to process them within and along with that family and small-town sphere. I am always thrown into a revaluation of my priorities--- family vs. academic/career-oriented ambitions, etc.---- and serious reflection upon what it means to become an adult and all the responsibilities and very personal decisions that involves- that sort of thing.

I'm reading the Odyssey right now in my Greek class, so I've been thinking about this poem by the Greek poet C.P. Cavafy (1863-1933) today:

Ithaka

As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon-don't be afraid of them: you'll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, wild Poseidon-you won't encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you're seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind- as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars. Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you're destined for. But don't hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you're old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you've gained on the way, not expecting Ithaka to make you rich. Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn't have set out. She has nothing left to give you now. And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you. Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you'll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean.

Naxos Field Trip

So last Friday we took our field trip to the ancient Greek colonial site of Naxos (modern-day Giardini Naxos). It was the first Greek colony on Sicily, founded c. 735 BCE. It lies just south of the resort town of Taormina, at the foot of some high coastal hills. You can actually see Taormina way up on its hill very well from Naxos. The photo above I snagged from Google; the highest hill in the middle there is Taormina. Here's another quick-reference map of the ancient settlements on Sicily. The lowercase Greek letters denote which mainland cities/regions founded which colonies.
At Naxos, we visited the archaeological museum that contains coins, pottery fragments, and some fragments of temple/sanctuary roofs and pediment art, among other things. They also have a bizarrely enormous collection of anchors from the Archaic to the Hellenistic and Roman eras. Outside in the archaeological site itself we saw some remains of houses of various periods, the remains of the central temple, the city wall, and a kiln. Naxos was never really "on the map" as an important polis per say, but it has an interesting history nonetheless. It was a big wine-producing city, and it was also the strongest Sicilian supporter of Athens' Sicilian Expedition (415-3 BCE). Unfortunately, pretty much everyone else sided with Sparta (the expedition was also entangled in the Peloponnesian War), and Athens was defeated decisively. But don't worry! I'm sure the Sicilian Expedition will be a focal point a little later on in the semester, and I'll explain more about it (including the picture of Alcibiades to the left there).

Okay, pictures are not loading, so I will put them up later. In other news, this weekend I took it easy in preparation for the trip a couple of friends and I are taking to Rome this weekend (departing Friday night and returning Sunday night). Today, it's 70 degrees outside in sunny, which is wonderful because for the most part the highs have been 10-15 degrees cooler than that. Also, it's been getting a little monotonous here for me in terms of leisure time activities, so I'm trying to find out what types of events might be going on at the University and elsewhere around town. I sat in on the Latin reading class today because they're reading inscriptions (imperial and funerary today!), which I think are really interesting. Good times. Also, still love Homer but am actually pretty disappointed that we're only writing one paper for that class.

The Chicken Lady and other Italian Friends

This has been an excellent week for making Italian friends. First, I have to tell you all about the Chicken Lady. We're on our own for our lunches here, which can actually be pretty exciting because it forces you to test your Italian skills. One place that is very close to the Centro (only a few minutes away) is Pollo alla Brace. It's this great little place with a big oven for roasting rotisserie chicken. It's really delicious. They also have good vegetable sides like green beans and eggplant, which is one of my absolute favorites. Another good thing about being in Sicily is that eggplant- prepared various ways- is a specialty. The first day Vicky, Allison, and I went there, this woman got kind of frustrated with our language skills and was kind of bitchy-seeming, but her food was fantastic (especially considering our other quick noon options) so we kept going... and brought lots of friends.

After a couple of times, she started to really like us- I mean, KA-CHING!- and be friendly. Allison and I had the best time when we went there on Monday for lunch. We met her husband, who also works there, and he got out veal and cooked it just for Allison. She asked us what we were studying there and where we took classes and where we were from, etc. She even gave us motherly advice about watching out for those suave Italian boys! We also met her teenage daughter, who was making out with her boyfriend on his moped right in front of the shop... in front of her mom. They almost knocked it over. Hilarious! I love this country.

Tuesday night the dorm held a 60s-themed party to celebrate Carnivale (like Mardi Gras). I wanted to hang out with the Italians, but I only stayed a little while because it was really lame. Everyone was waiting for the after-party that started at midnight, but I didn't go because I had Greek class at 9am yesterday morning. But last night a bunch of us- 1/2 Americans and 1/2 Italians went out for gelato after dinner. Zac, our super-extrovert, is friends with a bunch of them, and his Italian comprehension skills are AMAZING for having just started to learn it 3/4 weeks ago. After gelato, Allison, Zac, and I ended up going to Sicilian Franceso's room (there are 3 Francescos, so it gets confusing) with a bunch of them to watch "Family Guy." It was in English with Italian subtitles, which was actually really, really helpful.

The Italians speak SOOOO quickly, but it's incredibly helpful (and fun!) to hang out with them. Language exchange is fun! I.E. in Italian, they have the verb procrastinare (to procrastinate), but Mario says they rarely use the cognate noun. Instead, they have the words anticipazione and posticipazione; anticipazione refers more to doing things in advance, in anticipation of events, and posticipazione means that you are doing things after you're supposed to, that you've postponed them. "Posticipation" should totally be a word in English, I think. :)

Syracuse Redux

So, I'm writing a paper on the temples from Syracuse right now. It's kind of a drag, but I came across an interesting bit in my textbook. As it turns out, the Temple of Athena in Syracuse (now a cathedral), is "the only Greek temple whose columns still shelter the mystery and treasures of a religious cult." On top of that, that has been a religious site since the archaic period (c. 800-700 BCE) and, with some lapses during which the building was in ruins in the late Roman period/early middle ages, has continually been home to a church, then a mosque, and then churches right down to today. It's fascinating to me to try and think about that sort of continuity.