Thursday was the first day for a field trip to museums. I was fortunate to have a few people looking out for me to teach me how to ride the public transportation. When we gathered in the morning, one of the women in our group asked me, "Are you ready to see some busts?" I wasn't quite sure whether she was teasing me or not. I just laughed and said, "That's not fair." We headed out the back gate of the academy and went to the newspaper stand. There I purchased two bus tickets. Once you get on the bus, you run it through the machine. It's good then for 75 minutes. I actually don't remember now how we got to where we were going. We first went to the Palazzo Massimo. We heard our directors speak about several of the objects, after which we had time to look on our own and take photos. We made our way to the metro station and had a sandwich before heading off to the other museum in the afternoon. The second museum was the Centro Montemartini.Again, we listened to some lectures and then looked around on our own. By this time I was pretty well wiped out. For a little while I wondered if I was being left alone to find my own way back. Fortunately, some of the dear souls in the group invited me to join them. Rather than jump on the bus back to the terminal, we began walking back. We weren't quite sure our leader knew where she was going. After going a long ways, we went to the right a few blocks, and then turned right again and went back a few blocks. Eventually we found our bus stop. While we were waiting for the bus, one of the women, who had a purse and maybe a camera strung around her neck, had a little wardrobe malfunction. A button or two half way up her blouse came undone. It didn't occurr to me at the time, but I actually didn't see some bust that day. I kindly let her know as I dutifully averted my gaze. We made it back to the Academy, safe and sound. Thee were only three of us having dinner along with all the fellows staying at the academy. An English professor from the University of Texas at Austin joined us. I tried to do some reading in the evening, but I was just too tired. I think I set my alarm for 4pm in hopes I could get up early and try to do more of the readings.

Friday morning we had our second seminar session. I haven't found much time to read, so I set my alarm for 4am. I don't think I heard the alarm but woke up at 5am. I managed to read for awhile. I also managed to stain my coach with a yellow circle from my highlighter I had set down. Thinking about my experience in the first few days, I came up with my own name for this program. I'm calling it Classical Studies Urban Bootcamp. Classicists not only need to learn Greek and Latin, they also need to be experts in public transportation in foreign countries. I'm glad I'm learning how to get around, but yesterday was a bit of a nightmare for me. It's not a good feeling to be dependent on others to help you get around, especially when they are just doing you a little favor.

After our seminar, I decided to strike out on my own and experience getting around Rome by bus. I decided to try to find the Grand Mosque that's part of the new Islamic Cultural Center. I researched online how to get there. I left the Academy at about 1pm. First, I went to an ATM and took out some money. There was an English language option, so that was very helpful. Then, I went across the street to a newspaper stand. The women was very kind and patient with me. I bought a Metro map of Rome and the two tickets I would need. She then pointed out to me where bus 75 stopped. I rode that bus to the Terminal (Termini). Then I had to find where the 360 Muse bus stop was. After a few minutes I found it. That was another long bus ride that went to the end of the line. After I got off, I didn't see any indication of where to go next. So I started walking. When I got to the corner, I took out the map to try to figure out where I was. A young man came along and I asked him to show me where we were on the map. He couldn't find where we were. After walking down a few different streets and coming back to where I started, I went to a little diner. I ordered a sandwich and a drink. The only drink they offered me was beer. I didn't really care, as long as it was cold. They called out one of the workers who managed to figure out what I was talking about and gave me a general direction.

I still couldn't find the right road to turn. I asked a woman at a newspaper stand. I learned that if I said "mosque" they didn't know what I was talking about. When I said Moschea, then they knew. "First left," she said. Wouldn't you know it, the road went downhill, down, down, down. I finally came to a busy street, the one I was looking for called Viale della Moschea. I still wasn't quite sure which direction to go, so I went to the right. Across the street I could see a Muslim man walking (he had his head covered). I crossed the street and began walking. Shortly I could see signs of a fenced in area. Clearly it was the mosque, but where were the people. I kept walking around expecting eventually to come around to the front. What I discovered was a group of Middle-eastern looking people packing up their food stalls. Believe it or not, I walked right into the middle of the group. A man greeted me and he and his wife explained to me that they were closing. I think they were saying that the mosque was closed too. He offered me some food, so I finally had my first genuine falafel. I talked with them briefly. He said he was from Syria. When I asked if I could take their picture, they said no. They said they were dirty. They didn't seem dirty to me, but I was struck by their concern that this stranger didn't take their picture. I respected that. I then spoke my first wood in Arabic. I simply said, Shukran, thank you. And I left, eating my falafel, my very spicy falafel, along with my slightly warm bottle of water.

It was a long walk back up the hill. I made it, but I finally had to ditch the sandwich. It's hard to pant and eat at the same time. At the top I walked back to the bus stop where the 360 returned to the terminal. Then at the terminal I had to find where the stop was for the 75 to go back to the Academy. I found it, but decided I'd better go get something to drink in the terminal building. I was able to get two bottles of peach Nestea. I actually guzzled the first bottle down in one drink. After finding my stop, I began drinking the other bottle. A man was standing nearby and he said something loike, "Caldo." I keep forgetting that the Italian word "caldo" sounds like "cold," but it means "hot." I didn't pay much attention to me and he just chuckled to himself. I can imagine I looked pretty soaked in my green ESR polo shirt, my darker than normal green shirt. I managed to get off at about the right bus stop and found my way back to the Academy. Even though I didn't get to see much of the mosque, I felt it was a successful first experience on my own in the city of Rome.