Throughout the course of these next two and half months I will often be referencing people in my group or people from St. John's and I figured I would provide a few details about everybody to give you all a point of reference. The 8 of us from UF include: Me, Jenn, JennIFER, Kaleb, Melissa, Shelley, Joanna, and Katie.
Jenn is my roommate for the duration of this trip and one year ahead of me in school. She wins the award for best dressed in the group if you ask my opinion. So, when viewing photos look for a girl in an outfit you like and that's probably Jenn. Jennifer is my fellow comedian. Even through the short amount of time here, I feel like I have gathered that our humor is pretty much the same. Although most people usually understand my humor, it's hard to find someone else that has that humor themselves. For that, I am grateful and excited to make many more jokes about Italians. Kaleb, God bless Kaleb. Kaleb is the only male in our UF group. My theory was either he is going to absolutely love life or absolutely hate life. So far, he seems to be doing okay with us seven girls and is incredibly easy-going. He rows on the UF crew team, so sharing conversations about fitness and rowing with him is easy! Melissa will be a senior this year at UF and I tend to look to her for intelligent conversations. That's not to say that the rest of the group isn't intelligent, come on'! We all got into UF for Pete's sake! I just find Melissa very easy to listen to and a starter for great conversation. She speaks some Italian so until we all learn our fair share of the native language, she's our go-to girl :) Shelly is our resident photographer. If you are looking for amazing pictures with unbeatable quality, this girl's got 'em. She packs a huge professional camera with one of those rotating lenses and all which makes for great pictures. I know that if I ever miss a great shot, she's got it! Joanna will be a sophomore in the Fall like me. She is fun-loving and easy-going. We spent some quality time at the Colosseum hanging out with the St. John's guys and I was happy to have another girl in the group that loves hanging around guys for funny, great conversations. Side note: Joanna speaks Spanish and sometimes when she's on the phone with her family I forget and think she's speaking fluent Italian. Lastly, Katie is a sorority sister of my lovely suite mate Morgan Anne (shout out!). She ended up with a room to herself (we had an odd number of girls). Katie reminds me of myself in a lot of ways, a love of sleep being one of them and I am excited to continue to get to know her and the rest of my group this summer!
May 29, 2012
It was the big day. The day that I had been dreaming of since sophomore year in high school. Today, I would set foot in the Colosseum. Though it called for an early wake up call of 7 a.m, I knew it would be worth it. I started my morning with a Cliff Power Bar, breakfast of champions. And today, I would be a champion. The group that traveled to the Colosseum was comprised of both the UF students AND the St. John's students, about 30 of us. Lead by Professor Adolph (no joke), we made our way to the underground metro system that would take us to the Colosseum. For reference, I have only rode a metro once or twice before, I'm an amateur. Especially compared to these New Yorkers. We boarded the unbelievably crowded train at the stop called Lepanto. I wrapped my light jacket around my hand and grab a hold of the germ-infested metal pole. The longer I stayed in the metro, the worse I felt. Closed spaces, lots of people, and underground isn't my ideal travel method. When I exited the metro, I felt nauseous but immediately I saw the Colosseum. Less than 100 feet from me, standing in all its wonder and glory. It literally took my breath away. The rest of my trip is pretty self explanatory...I explored the Colosseum. What I'm more interested in sharing with you is the history of this amazing building.The Colosseum was actually built as a gift to the people after the reign of Emperor Nero. When this evil, self-centered, and obnoxious ruler was finally overthrown, the succeeding Emperor built the Colosseum over Nero's palace. Covering six acres and seating 60,000 Romans, the Colosseum is truly colossal. Its formal name is the Flavian Amphitheater, but most refer to it as the Colosseum. This building is the largest showcase of the Roman signature architectural feature, the arch. The arch was truly an architectural feat and allowed the Romans to build higher and bigger than every other Empire. After conquering more countries and expanding their Empire, the Romans would construct huge arches in Rome to signify yet another victory. The Colosseum consisted of 4 floors, the first three having high arched entrances (74 entrances) with Ionic, Doric, and Corinthian columns. Because of the numerous amount of entrances, it was said that this entire building could be completely evacuated in a mere 5 minutes. The main pedestals were built of marble blocks, but most of the marble has been stripped through the centuries and what remains now is no doubt a grandeur, but I imagine that it is nothing compared to how this magnificent building looked during its prime time.
The Colosseum was used as an arena for games...bloody games. The inaugural games at the Colosseum lasted more than 100 days. Underneath the main floor was an elaborate maze where the slaves, gladiators, and animals would be imprisoned until their time to fight. Animals were tortured and starved throughout the night so that in the morning they would be eager to attack. The animals displayed and killed at the theater were brought from every corner of the Roman Empire to reflect the scale of the Empire. Many animals were slaughtered until the point of extinction. Animals, slaves, and gladiators were released through 36 trap doors and in a matter of seconds would be standing alone in the middle of this giant arena. Executions of Christians and criminals provided popular midday entertainment.
Forty-two Emperors witnessed the carnage of the amphitheater. Some historians estimate the total human death toll at 700,000, but many place the number closer to 1 million. The Colosseum was constructed in less than ten years and still stands today, many many centuries later.
No comments:
Post a Comment