Engineering Rome. End of week 1...and a half.

So, to fill you in...I am in Rome with 17 UW students teaching a study abroad class called "Engineering Rome". We meet most days at the UW Rome Center (in Palazzo Pio, next to Campo dei Fiori) and often go out on various tours or expeditions as part of the class. The whole class is 3 weeks long, and I'm staying for a bit longer (had to arrive a couple of days early and am staying a day later). I miss my family lots and it's tough to be here as Hadden starts first grade in Seattle. I hear the teacher is great (Harvey and Dexter had her last year and give good reviews), and Hadden has declared himself "ready" for first grade. More than I would have done at 6.

Course highlights to date
We've done a lot in the first 1.5 weeks. As we close in on the half-way point we've done:

• 6 hours of Italian lessons (dove el bagno)
• Several group dinners: Ai Bozzi (excellent), Spaghetteria L'Archetto (okay), and Da Pancrazio (good).
• Sustainable Rome lesson and walk through the neighborhoods.
• Biking the ancient Appian Way (ate a fig from a tree on this one...wasn't totally ripe)
• Saw an Italian Series A game (AS Rome beat Hellas Verona 3-0). Had to kick a bunch of Romans out of our seats. Didn't know a single AS Roma chant but enjoyed them nonetheless. When they are flipping their middle finger at the other fans while singing you get the general gist of the song.
• Toured San Clemente with a world expert - very cool as we descended from old church, to really old church, to Roman house, to (perhaps) old Roman mint. I learned tons on this tour.
• Learned about structures and used Roman arches as examples (and homework).
• Toured the Baths of Caracalla at dusk. Really great time to go. Golden god light and few people.
• Took a cooking class at Coquis. All 18 students and I had our own cooking stations. We made fiori di zucca in pastella (zucchini flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies the dipped in a beer batter and fried) and saltimbocca alla romana (veal pounded flat with sage on top and the a slice of prosciutto, fried in a butter wine sauce then drizzled with a butter-wine sauce). Of course we at the stuff too.
• Toured the Colosseum on a special group tour where we got to go down below and see the "underground" part as well as the normally off-limits 3rd level. Fabulous views. We did this at the end of the day so the light was amazing.
• Saw the usual Foro Romano and Palatine Hill stuff. Again, at the end of the day in the god light.

And that's just 8 days worth. More on the way. Some pictures...

Sustainable Rome city walk with Tom Rankin
Tom's an architect from the U.S. that has been in Rome for 20 years + now. He knows the city and he's passionate about sustainability. He took us on a 1.5 hour walk around Rome pointing out sustainable (and not-so-sustainable) features.

Tom Ranking talks to the class in the Campo dei Fiori area.

The class leans a time honored Roman tradition: jay-walking. Don't worry, it's common practice in Rome or you never get anywhere. Here the class navigates a particularly difficult jay-walk near the Ponte Palatino with aplomb. Hustle!

Touring Santa Maria in Cosmedin (the church with the Bocca della Verita) introduces the women to the Catholic concept of modesty in the church. The old Italian in the blue shirt (background) insists the gals dress in the white "scarfs" to cover their shoulders and legs. They are a bit nervous at getting yelled at but Tom assures us such admonishment is part of the Roman experience. Check.



Tom ends the walk on an abandoned lot in Testaccio and then leaves us to find our way home. Not a problem. This is Monte Testaccio - a hill created by the Romans from broken olive oil pots. These were the only ones they couldn't reuse or recycle. So they made a REALLY BIG pile. Now it's a legitimate hill and there are clubs all around it. Why not?

 Other features

The group biking the Appian Way. They discover that while Roman roads tend to last a very long time they are not kind to bikers (VERY bumpy). We bike all the way out to the Ciampino airport and back. No injuries and only one minor crash.

The biking crew: me, Ashley Thompson, Ai-Vy Nguyen, Kris Low, Nick Jacoby, Anton Cwik.

My apartment in the Rome center. I made my bed special for this pic. Did not put away the stuff on the table, though. Or the chair, Or the suitcase on the floor.

A section of the marble floor in San Clemente church. Our guide, Albert Prieto, explained the typical way churches got such wonderful marble floors: they pieced together the leftovers from the Romans. These are pieces of old Roman floors and tiles.

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This is pretty much how we get everywhere in Rome. A big 19-peson long snake. Usually I am at the head directing (I only get lost sometimes). Everyone is in good spirits. Even when it's quite hot. That's Adriano in the blue/red shirt from Roma Sotterranea (Rome Underground) - a volunteer organization that has been WONDERFUL to us in sharing their time and resources to help us learn.

Dinner at Da Pancrazio. This is a restaurant in the same building as the Rome Center. In the basement (where we are in the photo - these are the guys in the class) you are actually in the remains of the ancient Theater of Pompey. On this theater's steps is where Gaius Julius Caesar was killed. We had typical Roman food and REALLY cheap wine instead.

Amy Riley lends scale to the immense Baths of Caracalla. Always one of my favorites. Especially at this time of day - just before dusk. We closed the place down at 7pm when they whistled us out. Guy comes around blowing a referee whistle announcing closing (in Italian of course).  

The pine trees at the Baths of Caracalla. I think these trees always remind me of Rome.

Learning about local Roman produce at the local market from chef Ricardo Zanni of the Coquis Italian cooking school. Later we got to taste everything - even the weird stuff (like Indian figs, which are not really figs at all).

Fichi! It is fichi season RIGHT NOW in Rome for this kind. Tasty!

Anton carefully makes saltibocca alla Romana.

The chef, Ricardo, was a fun guy. At the end he gave out "diplomas" with each student's name. He was game to call out the names out loud. He did okay, even through Ai-Vy Nguyen, until he got to Yasaman Shariatmadari, which made him fall apart. That's Yasi laughing WITH Ricardo.

The cooking class graduates. Only had 3 fires (no kidding) during the lesson. No injuries.

Our guide on the colosseum tour (I think it was Victoria) explains why the Colosseum has all these pock marks on the travertine. Turns out the Romans used metal clamps on their interior to hold one block to the next. In the middle ages they figures this out and dug most of the metal out. So what stands now stands without the clamps. Amazing.

Class photo on the exclusive third level.

The Coloseo looming large at dusk. Untouched photo. And it doesn't do it justice.

This Roman temple (in the Forum) was converted into a church by just building the church inside. Why not. Kind of like a Thai food place inside an old gas station. Hermit crabbing at its historical best here.

Saying "bye" to the Foro Romano. they buzzed everyone out at 7pm.

Some of the class looking back on the Forum as it is closed for the day.

All in all, the class is busy but good. In retrospect I probably should have scheduled some more down time for the students (to rest and do homework) but I'm not sure they would have taken it - it seems every free minute they are planning a trip or outing somewhere (Vatican, beach, Pompeii, etc.). It's like they are playing "tag" with Roman monuments and cities. Get there, touch the city, get on your way. They are also admirably sampling a whole bunch of gelato places - most of them high quality organic, locally sourced ingredients types.