Da Vinci

The invention from Da Vinci I chose was the flying ship. I am sure that everyone already knows how that turned out; not well. The invention never actually worked. Leonardo Da Vinci believed when he drew up these plans it could actually work. It would take a two hundred pound man to operate it. He figured that the man would put out two hundred pounds of force from his arms, legs and head each. The man would push the levers and the pulleys attached would move the wings of the boat up and down like a bird.
Da Vinci looked to birds to design many of his inventions. His materials however were too heavy to make it work; like the example with the parachute. I thought it was really interesting how he studied the flight of birds. I think I would have tried to design flying machines the same way, if birds can do it then why can't we do the same. Da Vince was definately a genius with many good ideas and some odd ones too. He was very brave to try out all of his ideas.

copy or original?

The sculpture I chose is a Roman original. I know this because it is a sculpture of a Roman emperor. The bust is of Commodus the son of Marcus Aurelius; he is depicted as Hercules. The reason he is depicted as Hercules was to make him appear powerful. He also claimed to be a relation to Hercules. While the sculpture has no parts taken from a Greek one, the idea behind it is Greek. Hercules was a Greek hero. This sculpture includes a lion skin on his head, a club, and apples in his hand. These things all represent the Greek legend Hercules. I never realized how much the Romans took from the Greeks until going to the museum. After learning about how they took parts of other sculptures I was surprised to find that mine was acutally an original. It seemed like every other one was half of a Greek statue fused onto a Roman one or an identical copy of a Greek sculpture.

My appreciation of history

I do not think that I appreciate history more since I have been here. This isn't because I don't like it at all, it's because it has always been my favorite subject. I do not really think it would be possible to appreciate it more; however, now it has a whole new meaning to me. I believe history is very important, we can learn from mistakes they made. We can also learn from their advances and triumphs.

Now I am actually going to the places I have learned about. We have gone to see works of art that I never thought I would be face to face with. Being here has made history more real to me. While biking on the Apian way were were riding on cobblestones people walked on long ago. Also there were tons of ruins we could stop and look at. I am very happy I am able to deepen my knowlege about things so ancient. I will always appreciate and learn from history.

How it feels being around all these old buildings

It is very surreal walking around Rome seeing all of the old buildings and architecture. The Coliseum was when it really hit me where we were walking. I never really thought about how old the buildings really are. At home I considered a home built in the 1800’s to be ancient. Then there I was standing inside of something built before Christ was born. All I could think about is the people that had walked in the same exact footsteps. People who I had read about in history books; famous rulers and artists. Looking out into the center of the Coliseum I tried to imagine what it was like; 75,000 people gathering together to watch what was happening in the arena. It is hard to grasp how different life was and that there were that many people in one place all getting there without cars or any motorized transportation.
The hardest thing being around these buildings and ruins is to try and imagine what it was like when they were first built. I never really realized that the buildings had marble on them and the words were not simply carved in but gold letters were inlayed. Looking at reconstructions of the buildings and how they were laid out gave me a much better picture in my head. Being in Rome makes me realize these are not just buildings they are pieces of living history that carry the stories from long ago.

How I think these 8 weeks are gonna change me

When I thought about the Rome experience I knew that I would come out as a different person. I wondered in what ways I would change. As I arrived in the busy airport I knew that I would become a more independent person. Being pushed out of my comfort zone will force me to learn new things and become a confident person. I was always a very timid person and over the years I have gotten better but I know this will give the extra boost I need. Already we have had to talk to people who do not speak much English; at first it was intimidating but they appreciate the effort. Already I feel like I am putting myself out there by trying to order in Italian. I also believe that being away from home will take away any crutch I could lean on and make me do it myself.
Another way I feel this will affect me as a person is in my career path. My major is government/ foreign affairs at Walsh. Other cultures and there government have always interested me and now instead of learning from a book I am getting some firsthand experience. I think that after being here I will choose to focus on the foreign affairs classes more. On the other hand I could realize I want to focus on domestic government. I am open to whatever path this experience opens me up to.