June 8 -- A REAL Archaeology Day!

So I really feel like I have done archaeology for the first time. We made the trip to Cerveteri (Caere) today to see the Etruscan tombs. I had been there before with Christina and Dan with Baylor (see the picture on Nonnie's refrigerator), but this time was special. Not only did we visit the tombs, we surveyed one of them. I learned how to make to-scale drafts of the tombs using triangulation, which was something I had never had the oppotunity to learn before. I feel like I've really been in the field now!

I did learn something new about Italy, similar to the two lessons I listed at the top of an earlier post (toilet paper optional and toilet seats optional). Apparently toilts period are optional. And I don't mean out in the middle of nowhere, where you expect it. I mean at the public site of Cerveteri. I went to use the restrooms, which I had obviously not done last time I was there, and was greeted by a porcelain hole in the floor with two slip-guard foot prints on either side. I'll let everyone just picture that for a moment and figure it out. Totally new experience for me.

To answer a couple of questions...no, Dan, none of the painted tombs are open to the public, and our professor did not ask if we could go in, except to peek into the Tomb of the Reliefs, which was good because it is one of the ones I teach.

Mom -- the food at the academy actually is yummy. we get to see the menu ahead of time and decide if we want the regular or vegetarian entree. they are all three courses...a pasta (tonight it was risotto with cheese and mushrooms), a meat dish (veal this evening, so I opted for vegetarian, which was a quite good vegetable omlette), and dessert, usually fruit, although occasionally a pastry. The bread is also good, and salad is plentiful, so we aren't doing so badly in that respect. The pack lunches they make for us to take into the field, on the other hand, are pretty bad. Every day the same thing (get ready to laugh, those of you who have been here) -- mozarella and tomato sandwiches. I don't know if I can eat them every day for 7 weeks, but I will definitely try. Having the food provided has been great -- I have barely spent any money since being here!

The Academy had a reception for us tonight, as well as for the participants in the paleography and National Endowment for the Humanities summer program (they are studying the history of fascism). The Fellows were also invited, those scholars who have won the Rome Prize and are invited to live for a year at the academy, actually in buildings in the apartment, to further their research or art, or music, or whatever they are doing. the President of the Academy spoke to us all and not-too-subtly informed us that most of the Prize winners were participants in the summer programs in previous years, and encouraged us all to apply in the future, so I'll definitely think about that.

I really wish I could send pics of us getting dirty. We look quite silly really, but it's so exciting to finally be learning how to actually DO something in the field! We also all took pictures of each other laying down on the carved beds in the tombs, just for fun, so I'll make sure that those who are interested get to see those at some point when I get back.

By the way...I don't have a good physical address to receive packages here, as many have asked, because we are only here in rome for 2 and a half more weeks, and Italian post is famously slow, but I don't know our address in Ravenna yet. too bad, because I would obviously be getting goodies if I did, based on how many people have asked! But for those of you who have not given me your home addresses, post it here or send it to cleopatravii_1@hotmail.com to receive a postcard!

Love to you all.

Ciao,
Candace