Rome via Brooklyn

445 words, 2 minute read time.

My group presentation went well, it was fun delving into a topic I didn’t know much about at first! It did help that I had my mom’s own Egyptomania phase as a reference, and was presenting with a good friend!

I was having intense déjà vu the entire time we were exploring Ostia; it felt almost identical to the ruins of Troy, though much better preserved and less life-threatening rickety bridges. This was the first time I was able to properly get a feel for how ancient cities looked like. All of the climbing and jumping made me feel like I was in an Assassin’s Creed game, it was really cool to be so immersed in the city’s structure.

What really captured my interest was the adoption of a Trojan goddess by the Romans: Cybele (I know, I’m very biased toward Phrygia). It seems even all the way back then, people were already looking to past civilizations as the standard for their own. I’ve also always had an interest in how gender and priesthood coexisted in the ancient world, so it was great hearing about the priests of Cybele and their stories. I can’t help but wonder how people back then dealt with castration, as it was a fairly common practice before modern medicine, and if anyone died from infections or botched operations (probably).

I have been jittering with excitement ever since I caught wind that we were going to the beach, I’ve been waiting for this day since we first got here. I already live near the beach both in the states and in Turkiye, but that never stops me from my anticipation. And every single time, like clockwork, I immediately go in the water once upon arriving, then never go in again for the rest of the day. The water was exactly as expected, but seeing sand instead of rocks was a pleasant surprise!

I will forever be mad about the entire bottle-opener ordeal though, I swear I put it in my beach bag! The worst part is, I still can’t find it, it really just vanished into the ether. I also have a bone to pick with the bartender at the beach, this guy put VODKA in my limoncello spritz instead of white wine! That drink combined with the tiredness of the entire week crashing onto me led to a prompt nap. I woke up with the worst headache of my life, and it was a struggle to get back to the apartment. I was just barely able to get into bed and basically immediately passed out. I still consider this day to be a success, despite the hiccups toward the end.

–Nico Vila