10th July 2017.
Messing up plans is never fun, unless it allows you to add an extra day to the experience of a lifetime. That’s right – I arrived in Rome a day early for my program, and frantically booked an Air B&B with an elderly couple who spoke very sparse English. However, I consider myself lucky at this point, because I was given an extra day to acclimate to the time difference. When I met with the other girls on the trip, I was grateful for that extra day because I was less of a zombie than them!
When we finally all met up, Dr. Gadeyne sent us on the train with one of his students while he drove our luggage to our long-stay hotel. Navigating Rome’s public transportation with only one fluent Italian speaker, two sub-par, and one completely clueless was an adventure in its own right to say the least. After roughly 2.5 hours of travel and waiting in train stations that more-closely resembled malls, we arrived at Artena. The hotel itself is a magnificent structure and a wonderful example of Italian architecture – despite the absolute lack of air conditioning and decent internet connection. The view is breathtaking, and the meals are truly authentic Italian cuisine.
Today, finally, was our first official day on the dig site of the Roman Villa in Artena. The weather, for the first time since arriving in Italy, was under 90 degrees and breezy. We mostly spent our first day cleaning out one particular spot on the site, which is among the oldest areas in the entire excavation. Under layers and layers of dirt, sediments, foliage, and just plain debris, exists a beautiful example of architectural design work from the height of the Roman rule. The hard part, of course, is getting to the tilework in the first place. We spent all morning (roughly four to five hours) removing debris and shoveling dirt from the mosaic face. Painstakingly removing even the smallest clumps of dirt and foliage took most of the time, all with small brushes that uncomfortably reminded me of getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist. Finally, we managed to get a decent (if dusty) view of the full black-and-white tile mosaic design that existed as the floor to a higher-quality residential room of the villa. While the tile is in surprisingly good shape for its age, which dates roughly from around the 1st-2nd century C.E., it and the wall that borders it are all that remain to tell us that it was once the foundation of a grand room.
The three of us girls from Temple (two anthropologists and one geologist), and Dr. Gadeyne’s student (an art history student), are all dirt-covered, slightly sunburnt, grouchy messes of people currently. Despite the heat, the bugs, the disturbingly-high amount of wild dogs, sheep, chickens, and small ponies, we have all decided that this program has already become that of a one-of-a-kind opportunity to grow in our respective areas of study and experience our careers in the field.