Rome via Brooklyn

Word count: 418

Time to read: 3-4 minutes

In the reading, we learned that Saturn was originally associated with liberation and agriculture and was later identified with the Greek god Kronos. Romans believed Saturn ruled during a mythical Golden Age, a peaceful time before Jupiter became the chief god. For a temporary time, too, masters invited their slaves “to speak what was on [their] mind.”

Being in the moment helped majorly in seeing the magnitude of Ancient Rome. As I walked through the destruction, I felt the desolation; it didn’t matter that hundreds of onlookers walked beside me. I genuinely felt like I was on a movie set, and this made the significance of The Forum difficult to ignore.

Here, many centuries ago, people gathered in the heart of Rome. This used to be the center point of all things civic, political, and economic. Learning on site about the colors — especially the polishes that the architecture had — makes me wonder what the city would have looked like back then. I can imagine a lot more distinguishable to the naked eye than it is now!

Later that day, Danielle and I went to the zoo. I’d been wanting to go for a while at this point, but since a few of my classmates weren’t up for it, I figured I’d wait. Randomly, Danielle asks if anyone else also wants to go to the zoo, and I instantly messaged that I was game. It’s been my lifelong goal of seeing lions and tigers in person. I was incredibly disheartened when I didn’t get to see any lions during my trip to South Africa last year, but my expectations were met and exceeded! I got to hear the lion and lioness go tit for tat in roars. What a humbling experience, and certainly one that only gets met with cheers when there’s a sturdy cage between us and the predators.

I also saw an elephant, some giraffes, zebra, rhinos, goats, ostrich, wolves, a brown bear, and a few other truthfully less memorable animals.

The commute back was very extensive because we missed the bus, and the next bus came 40 minutes later, despite the notice that it would only take 15 minutes for another to arrive. I was exhausted and worn out, but I’m so grateful I got to live out a dream of mine. You could never get this close to dangerous animals in New York!

It’s cool to think that in some way, lions still exist in Rome. While they’re no longer used in Colosseum fights, and while the Barbary lion is now extinct, a part of the city’s history lies in this zoo. If you’re not careful to realize it, you might just miss it. Maybe someday we can get the Barbary lion back in Rome… but only if it’ll be good for’um *wink*!