Rome via Brooklyn

445 words read time 2 minutes

On day 5, I enjoyed Julia and Nico’s presentation about Egyptomania and how they brought all these symbols from Egypt to show that they took them over and incorporated them into their society. I was nervous about taking the train to Ostia because it was, of course, out of the norm, but also my brain was like “what if you get stranded getting back?”. Nonetheless, it was still a fantastic time because I got to see many different mosaics and walk where the people of the past did. I was sort of imagining what people were living like and how they would walk the streets, just living their lives. I loved seeing the ancient bar and how that was a gathering place for people and connection. 

I was extremely nervous for my presentation because I felt a bit out of my depth. I am the type to want to know everything extremely in-depth, and although it is an encouraging learning zone, it’s something I definitely need to unlearn. I loved learning about my subject for the presentation because I like to study religious practices worldwide, especially in the Caribbean. I liked that a lot of the depictions of animal sacrifice in art depict the part with the mola salsa, in my head, or at least when I first read about it, I thought of it as a sacred seasoning but ultimately it was a sign of consent from the animal so that it doesn’t flinch. I loved seeing the horses on the walk exiting the archeological site, and it reminded me of my mom because she loves horses so much. I was disappointed that I was unable to see a cat while I was there, and now I’m planning on visiting a cat sanctuary in Florence. 

I was super excited to go to the beach and got a bottle of Aperol spritz, which wasn’t bad at all. I loved that the sand was a darker color and all the shells that were on the shore. I kept getting the moment of “Omg I am in Italy”. I liked floating in the water and how cold it was on my skin, especially after being in the sun all day. I went into the water twice, but I wish I were there more because my weekends feel long yet limited. Maybe on Monday, I will try to make my way back to the beach so that I can float in the water. The train ride back was fine, extremely packed, and so was the bus, but that’s expected for a Monday. Overall, the day was really fun, and it made me want to return to Ostia.