Pictures

I have heard complaints that I have not updated enough (and by complaints, I mean one single complaint - from my mother).  My excuses are as follows: 1) I've been busy; 2) I've been tired; and 3) the internet here has been terrible.

However, they appear to have rectified that last problem, so here it goes, complete with some pictures of where I'm staying for those who are interested.

To begin, my room:

 

 It doesn't show you much, but the room is kind of small and it's not easy to get a good angle to capture all of it.  To the left of Debbie's bed is the bathroom as well as a little desk and dresser (and an air conditioning unit that works like a boss!).

Here's a view out of the window:

The bathroom window, that is.  This one, to be exact:

 

And here are a few pictures to give you a sense of what I mean when I say this place still feels like a monastery:

It's very close to the Tiber Island:

 

This is actually a view from the other side of the Tiber River from where the hotel is, but we had already crossed the bridges before I thought to take a picture.

All right, a bit about the program so far.  Yesterday was a computer lab day, so we talked a bit about technology in the classroom and in the Classics classroom specifically.  We talked about different types of technology and why they are relevant/needed in the classroom.  We also talked about copyright rules (when it comes to images, songs, movies, and such) - which sent me into a momentary panic until I realized I have no intention of distributing or making money off these things, so I should be in the clear!

Today we went briefly to the Tiber Island, then over to the Forum Boarium (essentially the cattle market forum), then to the Church of San Nicolai in Carcere (where we got to take a tour of the underground stuff).  This was really cool because the church itself is built over the ruins of a temple to Juno the Savior - but that was just one of three temples that were on the site.  The other two (which flanked the temple of Juno the Savior) still have a few columns or foundations preserved on the sides or underneath the church.  

Finally we went over to the Capitoline Museum.  I've been there twice before, but it's still amazing - and probably always will be no matter how many times I come back.  It's huge and there's no way you can see or get pictures of everything you want.  We had some open time to explore the museum once Paul finished pointing out some of the highlights to us.  You could spend an entire day in that museum (if you're interested in ancient statuary and inscriptions).

We met back at the computer lab at 2 to get an introduction to Sumo Paint (think Photoshop but 19 € instead of hundreds of dollars).  It seems like it can do some pretty cool things, but it also appears to have some annoying glitches - which might be why it's so cheap!

Tomorrow is another lab day where we'll be doing more stuff with Sumo Paint as well as looking at photo and movie editing.  Thursday is exploring the Forum.  I wonder if I can still identify all the buildings . . . 

I hope this has satisfied your desires for new post.  Let me know if there is anything specific you want to know about or see pictures of and thanks for reading!

Addendum: It rained like crazy today.  After we did the Tiber Island and Forum Boarium, the skies opened up and it poured - which apparently doesn't really happen in Rome.  Thunder & lightning & all that.  We hid out in the Church of Velabro and read from the Aeneid (like you do).  So that was an experience.

Too much rain - not enough spout.