Roma!!!

So, picture this:
Eating pizza in an Italian café across the street from the Coliseum, sitting on the balcony with a perfect view, a cool breeze makes for perfect weather, surrounded by good friends, and suddenly, over the speakers…Michael Buble!!!
This was my Sunday lunch experience in Rome!


(At the café with the Coliseum in the background!)

Beautiful Roma! Absolutely spectacular! The Coliseum, Roman Forum, Palatine, Capitoline Museum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza del Popolo…completely and totally awesome! I can’t even begin to describe my experience at the Coliseum. We waited in line for tickets and I looked around thinking, “How many people walked right here for the last time? How many people took their last breath here?” It was pretty surreal. I’m always amazed by things like the Coliseum…huge, amazingly elaborate structures, created at a time with no technology for such things. It sends me into some sort of meditative state. It reminds me why I love history.

(In the Coliseum with the girls - me, Colleen, Caitlin, Lauren.)

Did you know I have my own Basilica? Oh yeah, it’s called Basilica Julia. It’s in the Roman Forum. Or rather, its remains are in the Roman Forum. Julia was Augustus’s daughter who was eventually banished from Rome because of her promiscuity. Hehehe!

(Me with my Basilica remnants!)

The Capitoline was awesome! We got to see the famous bronze statue of Romulus and Remus, which was exciting!

(Romulus and Remus.)

I made my wish at the Trevi Fountain, then proceeded to enjoy some gelato while sitting in front of it in all its glory!

(Making a wish at the Trevi Fountain!)

The Spanish Steps were crowded. Cool, but crowded, so we didn’t spend much time there.

(Spanish Steps.)

The Piazza del Popolo was fascinating to me because the Egyptian obelisk that Augustus stole was prominently displayed in the center. I’m glad I got to see it, because I love Egyptian history, but at the same time, it made me mad because I’m a firm believer that structures and structural artifacts should be left where they are found…and don’t even get me started on the fact that he placed a cross at the top of it. Completely and utterly disrespectful to ancient Egyptian culture, but I suppose if you’re going to steal something, you don’t have much respect for the people you’re stealing from anyway. Sorry, tangent…but the obelisk was really cool!

(Piazza del Popolo.)

We’re going back to Rome on Friday to tour the Vatican and such things as St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel! I’m beyond excited!
Speaking of this weekend, we’re headed on Saturday to Pompeii, somewhere I’ve wanted to go for a very long time! Then it’s off to Capri for a beach weekend! Ah, Italy, where will your adventures end?!

I've had some great experiences in the field this week! I will post about them asap after I upload pictures onto my computer!

My first find!!!

Ciao!

I would like to inform you all that I made my very first Archaeological discovery today!

I know it's blurry...sorry. But it's a piece of pottery, possibly Etruscan! It's most likely the rim of a vase! AHH!!! How exciting! Never thought a broken piece of clay could be so exciting, huh?! Yeah it is!!

Obviously, we worked in the field today! Not our field, though. There's an Italian guy, Claudio, who's helping us with our site, and basically we were loaned to him for a couple of days to help clean up his site. Oh well, it was fun because there were things like this everywhere, and it was so exciting to find them!

We started out pulling weeds, but then a girl named Caty and I got to work in a trench! It had already been dug, and basically, we were just clearing out all the loose dirt, but when we were done, Sylvia (our field manager) said we did an amazing job and showed it to the whole group and made them clap for us! It was pretty awesome!

I'm trying to post mo0re pictures but blogger is being dumb. And, all the instructions are in Italian, so I can't figure it out. I'm going to have to work on that when I have more time, because I have about three minutes left right now.

Anyway, very exciting day! I got hot and sweaty and dirty and slathered on sunscreen and got even more dirty and I couldn't be happier. I love it here.

Here at last!

Hey everyone!
I'm currently in Orvieto in an internet café so I thought I'd write a little bit about my trip thus far! I can't write much right now, though, because people are waiting on me...
Flights and meeting my group went smoothly, even though I was paranoid the whole time that something would go wrong. I met a girl at the airport. Her name is Katelynn (Not sure of exact spelling, but you get the idea!). She's really nice and came on the trip last year so she's showing me around a bit. I've also gotten to know my roomate, Haley (Ditto on the spelling.) and she seems cool, too. She spends a lot of time with her boyfriend, though. Katelynn's roomate, Lauren, is a lot of fun, too. And, she's an Anthropology major at OU and she loves Ewan McGregor! I'm pretty sure we were destined to meet! Haha!
That's all for now, cause I feel bad for making people wait, and there's not much else to talk about. We didn't go to the field today, so nothing too terribly exciting has happened. I'll be back soon, though, and hopefully with pictures!
Love you all!

Almost there!

In three days, I will be in beautiful Italia, ready and willing to dig in the dirt! I made this blog so whenever I get a chance to stop off at an internet cafe, I can update family and friends in mass!

I hope you'll check back every once in a while and read about my adventures! I know I will love sharing them!