Day 16 - A decent Post

The honors program requests us to make an actual blog post for the "Daily diary". So today's post is going to be there:

Daily Diary


Mirror:


Alexander Mendez
July 8th, 2008

Today, I started the day off with a nice bit of fruit bought fresh from the Campo di Fiori, a macchiato from Magnolia, and bread from the Forno. We started the cloudy day off meeting at the portone at 9am, to head off to the bus to the Catacombe di Priscilla. Taking the bus in Rome is always an interesting experience filled with interesting driving, vibrant smells, and the rush to get tickets validated.

After a small stroll from the bus stop, we arrived to the Catacombe di Priscilla. Due to the limited space in Roman times, it was located in a quarry far from the center of Rome. Andrew presented the background and history of the catacombs. The Catacombs of Priscilla were used for Christian burials from the second to the fifth century. The impressive 13km (8mi) of caverns were tunneled into a soft stone that hardened when it contacted of air, allowing for simple but tough construction. Along the walls of the tunnels were upwards of 40,000 niches that spanned from the floor to the ceiling. These openings, known as loculi, would contain the desist and then be covered up with tile and cement. The similarity of the sizes of the tombs removed the hierarchy of individuals, which built the idea of community, uniting the early Christians. The feelings of unity and community of Christianity was one of the major factors that spread Christianity.

Interspersed in the galleries of niches, were cubicles containing artwork of early Christian imagery. This early Christian artwork, built upon the simple architecture and contained many examples of pagan artwork that has been adopted for a Christian role. The Velatio located in one of these cubicles contains some of the most well preserved early Christian artwork. Painted in a fresco is an interesting image of Christ as a beardless shepherd carrying a sheep, which represented the soul. We also find images of three stages of a woman’s life, marriage, childbirth and of her soul after death. Peacocks and quails also in this fresco representing immortality and the earth.

The Catacombs of Priscilla are also famous for one of the first known frescos of the Madonna done in the 3rd century.

The Greek Chapel is another important and interesting cubical. This artwork symbolized resurrection, salvation and baptism, all strong themes in the artwork. The story of Susanna being saved from adultery (salvation) is found along side of a phoenix (rebirth). The sheer size of the catacombs was breathtaking, like the hot day that greeted us after leaving the cold underground.

After a discussion of the imagery and symbolism contained in the artwork, I picked up two postcards from the gift shop. We left the catacombs to catch a bus to Termini for lunch, and our visit to Joel Nafuma Refugee Center at St. Paul’s Church. Arriving at Termini we split up for lunch. Walking for a few blocks, Nina found her boutique, and we found a small pizza place and had a delightful pizza lunch. A few of us headed out to grab a café and gelato before walking to the Center. Nearing the center we discussed the Venetian influenced architecture of the Church.

Visiting the Center was an eye opening experience. We were first greeted by the reverend Dr. Michael L. Vono and learned a little bit about the history and background of the center before meeting with a refugee and now coordinator for refugee services Akbatan Abdullah (Tuana). The center is the only day center in Rome for refugees, and mainly focus on helping individuals who are political asylum seekers from middle eastern countries such as Afganistan, Iraq, Iran and others. This center is a haven for refugees to get advice and aid, spend time with people of the same language, and learn new languages, and computer skills. The reverend Dr. Michael L. Vono continued with a discussion about the history and mission of the church and Center.

We either bused or walked home from the center. Before the Italian and Islam class, some took a small siesta, while others finished up their readings for the class. In class, we discussed our projects and then readings. We discussed the rise and main themes in the artwork and ideology of the Renaissance. The cultural diffusion prospective of the Renaissance that we discussed was an interesting viewpoint.

After class, some of us headed out to get some groceries. I cooked some tortellini di carne pasta in a red sauce with sun dried tomatoes for dinner. I ate dinner with some of the other guys in the guy’s apartment while discussing the reading for tomorrow.