July 22

Today we wrapped up the academic end of the Rome Program. For Mona's class, we began with a test on 'Sacrifice' that consisted of both questions on the theory of sacrifice and applying the theory of sacrifice to literature. The test was meant to be just over an hour but, knowing Mona's aversion to stress, we were given "theoretically five minutes" to finish at the end. 

Melanie listing off the seven theories on the origin of sacrifice - two so far.

After lunch break we talked about our favorite readings and theories encountered in the second half of the class. Girard's theory of 'mimetic desire' was by far the most popular, with Freud's coming in second.

Maggie and Peter ecstatic after the exam and getting one of their last paninos while in Rome.

At 3:00 we met Lisa to make our last art history trip with her to the Capitoline Museum. We hiked up Capitoline Hill in the hot sun and luckily received free admission (which we're still not sure how Lisa gets). Upon getting into the museum we were immediately enthralled by the statues of body parts and spent a good 20 minutes beholding them. 

 All of us imitating the finger statue in the background.

The art collection was impressive with a lot of Ancient art but also Renaissance and Baroque, including a few Caravaggio's. Probably the coolest thing to see was the original statue of 'Romulus and Remus with the She-Wolf' that we'd seen represented all around Rome. The statue was made during the 5th century B.C. and is now located in the "Hall of the She-Wolf" which, logically, doesn't contain much more than the statue itself. For an hour or two we wandered the museum and topped off our minds with Roman history after the last month of abundant learning. 

After Capitoline we all went our separate ways until later that night for dinner. Most of us met at Trastevere for pizza at a restaurant Lisa recommended.

After dinner we all went to the Pantheon to make a human pyramid between the surrounding columns. Despite initial complications, with perseverance we made a pyramid of ten and drew a substantial crowd to cheer us on. Most of us decided to cut the night short and head home to finish up our family crests.

One more day left!

-Aaron