Rome via Brooklyn

(1159 words – 6 min read time)

Is anyone shocked anymore that I woke up and got a coffee and a cornetto at my little cafe? Well you should be, because this time my coffee was iced and I was with Paola and Lucy! We grabbed a bite to eat together as we were setting off bright and early on the regional rail to go to Ceveteri/Caere as a class.

On the train ride, I got to teach Professor Yarrow a little bit about using the drop spindle, which was very fun and very scary, as I still feel like I am a beginner myself, only having started last January. Fiber arts is my second great love in life, my first being my cats of course, and I always love when I can share it with others, and it’s really wonderful combining modern artisanship with understandings of the ancient world. The train ride was easy, and then we met up with Sebastiano and Lavinia, archaeologists from the area who would be our tour guides for the day. We were to take a bus from the train to Ceveteri, but we waited, and waited, and waited and still no bus arrived. Miraculously, right as we were about to give up and get ubers, the bus arrived! Small town public transit not working is about to be the theme of the weekend.

Once in Ceveteri proper, we met Roberto, a potter and painter who creates picture perfect recreations of ancient pottery. His work has been in museums all over the world, and getting to see him talk about his work, but seeing him work was truly extraordinary. He uses only local tools, from the clay and slip he sources and makes himself, to the brushes he makes from scratch from animal whiskers. His attention to detail is incredible and necessary in his line of work, but he truly has mastered his craft, and by his own admission only through trial and error. It really makes me think of the ancient potters making this up as they went along as well, with limit tools and knowledge. It makes me think of my own art, and learning as I went from thousands of years of spinners and knitters who also made the same mistakes I did. I think the greatest gift you can get as an artist isn’t being born talented, but being able to persevere. I also had no idea experimental archaeology like this existed, and I learned that it also exists in other places, like fiber arts. I really want to learn more about that, as I feel like it blends my passions so perfectly. This is really the perfect time to do this trip, as I know myself well enough to guide myself to the things I am passionate about, but still young enough I can truly see all of it for the first time. We also saw Roberto’s shop and I bought some small things to bring home with me, despite how scared I am about bringing pottery on a plane.

After the demonstration and some time in his shop, we got about 20 minutes to walk around Ceveteri, a small but picturesque medieval town. We all took plenty of pictures of the town and each other, and it all really felt like a movie to me.

After walking around, we sat down to a lovely local lunch and group bonding time. We talked about everything from where we grew up to who we were all dating to what we missed from the states to what we all didn’t miss from the states. I truly have already fallen in love with this group of people and I don’t think I could’ve asked for a crazier, lovelier, more entertaining group of individuals to be here with. I know we are all really home sick, especially at the end of the week, but I cannot help being grateful to be homesick with them.

After lunch we took a brief stop to learn about some pottery found where we were going. We were trying to head to the necropolis of Caere, an ancient network of Estruscan graves in the Italian countryside. Once again, the bus was late, but we all made it eventually in one piece. It was so hot outside, and there was little shade, but it was so worth it! The tombs were so interesting to see not only from the outside but also the inside! That’s right, went inside ancient tombs! It was surprisingly cold down there, and they all had a weird dank smell, but it really felt like walking in the footsteps of the ancient people who created them. We saw different eras of tombs, from holding only one man to holding whole families. It was interesting to see the difference between how men and women were buried, and to learn that sometimes slaves were buried there too! There is so much more to learn about, and I wish we had had more time to explore, but we had a taxi to catch.

I am thinking about memory again today, and about how little we will ever get to know about the peoples lives whose tombs these are. What did the Etruscan language sound like? What did they eat and drink? Did this woman even like her husband who she was buried next to? Does it even matter if she did? What were their wants? Their dreams? Where were their children buried? Did their children even survive long enough to be buried in these spaces? Gender dynamics are so prevalent everywhere we go and it really makes me to think of my own part in the study of the ancient world as a queer woman. It’s interesting that literacy was so high for women in Etruscan civilization, as in Turfa says in the reading that “the position of women was one of the definitive marks of Etruscan civilization”. They were even able to do business which seems to be unheard of other places in the ancient world around that time. I want to read more about this aspect when I have some free reading time.

We met up with our taxi on time and went to a black sand beach. We didn’t have much time there, but those who wanted to were able to swim in the Mediterranean sea. I was so scared to at first, but it was really refreshing! And we got drinks afterwards to cool off. I tried a friend’s Aperol Spritz (is it actually the national drink of Italy?) and I really did not like it. It was too bitter and alcohol tasting, but like the sea, I’m so glad I tried. We watched the sun set, and then made our way to the train, which took twice as long as expected to get us home. Tired, sandy, wet, and most of all tired, we finally made it home. Now I must sleep again before a personal adventure tomorrow. Ciao!