Discussion Thursday

It was already pretty hot and sunny by 9 in the morning on July 8th. After a short walk over the Ponte Sisto from our apartment in Trastevere, the third Thursday of class began. Luckily we were able to commandeer the conference room for class again (air conditioning = very, very nice). In our morning class we received an overview of the Ottoman Empire and Istanbul, focusing on the reigns of two important sultans: Mehmet II and Suleyman II.

Mehmet II was the sultan to capture the city of Constantinople in 1453. He achieved this feat at the ripe age of… 21 (most of us in this program are younger than that. It’s amazing to think what other people accomplished by our age!). Called “the Conqueror,” Mehmet II was the first sultan to sit for a realistic portrait done by a western artist (Bellini). We also discussed the changes Mehmet brought to Istanbul once it became part of the Ottoman Empire.

Suleyman II (known as “the Magnificent” in the West, or “the Lawgiver” in the Ottoman Empire) reigned from 1520-1566 and was our next focus. He saw the expansion of the empire to its greatest size. We also discussed the roles of women (Suleyman broke from the mold and basically had a monogamous relationship with a Ukrainian concubine, Roxalena) and mosques in the culture of the empire.

One class down, one to go and most of the class spread out into the Campo to get lunch. After getting some pizza from around the corner, I came back to the Rome Center expecting to find no one else there. Much to my surprise, there were quite a few of us taking advantage of the air conditioning in the first floor conference to get some work done. It makes sense, though; more work done on Thursday means less to do on our last weekend. Our last weekend in Rome! It’s strange to think about.

In our next and last class of the day, we were given, as Kathie put it, our final (or what it would have been, were we to actually have one). It was the question, essentially: “Will immigrants to Italy ever be fully integrated?”

We offered up many suggestions, potential solutions and ideas. Some said it was viable, but would take time. Some were more pessimistic and said that there would always be groups of people who resisted, for whatever reason, the arrival of new people in Italy. Some were more optimistic and said it would definitely happen as Italians grew to accept the growing multiculturalism in their nation, and accordingly update their own views on what it means to be Italian. The only conclusion our group could come to, after two hours of discussion, was that we didn’t know what the answers were.

For dinner, Kate, Eric, Brandon, Emilio, Rebecca, Carmen and I went to the kebab place off the campo to try the food. Almost all of us ordered shish kebabs. They were pretty good, but as Emilio noted, surprisingly not that filling. The culprit, I think, was that most of what they gave us was actually lettuce… I felt a little cheated, even though the food was tasty.

After dinner… it was back to the Rome center to do more work, after a little pause to sit by the fountain in the Campo. It was late enough in the week that the water was less clean than it could have been, if you can catch my drift, but it was still much nicer than standing in the sun. It’s so hot here; I’m still not used to it!

Sunset over the Campo. The picture really doesn't do the colors justice.

As a break in our long evening of working on projects, several of us went out to Gelateria del Teatro for a late night (more like late evening) gelato run. We walked leisurely through Piazza Navona, stopping to look at the Four Rivers fountain all lit up and to watch several street performers. I’m rather proud that I know the way to the gelato shop and back by heart now, no need to look at a map. It’s vital to know where the good gelato is. And that was our day!