Day 8: Rest time, ish

Finally, an opportunity for the group to relax after seven days of hustle. Now, the weight we have all lost in the first week due to a workout routine Richard Simmons would consider "bun blasting", will soon come hurling back onto our bodies much to our dismay. Yay carbs, lack of protein, and cheese.

Day 8: Class in the morning was followed by an announcement by Dr. Bednarz that we have the whole day free to do whatever we want. Namely, The Roman Forum due to our passes' validity. So, a group of us headed to the Forum, amidst a cloud of mist and the surefire guess of rain in the future. I quickly learned how weather in Rome is very similar to the weather in New Orleans. While walking across the Forum, a itsy-bitsy cumulonimbus decided to release it's mighty withholdings. The ground... wet. The air...misty to dense. The oxygen... non-existent. The sun...there doing its job of warming those precious beings on earth called human. As far as we may go from home, we may seem to forget that we are all part of this world. All part is this interconnected irregular sphere. We see the markets, the shops, the cars, the public transportation, the homeless, the rich, and the Italian middle class. Much of the same, we see back at home. Connections. 

Travel back to the time of the flourishing Forum. It was the center of life for the Romans. It was the center of all executive decisions made, whether they be for the betterment of the empire, or whether it be the judgement of a convicted person. It also housed temples to the gods and goddesses (like Vesta, Venus, and Roma).  Interestingly enough, the Forum also was home to the Temple of Caesar. Caesar, was looked upon by the Roman Empire as a god and one appointed by the gods to be the all powerful ruler. Interesting fact. Much like the Pope is today. The divine inspiration that comes from a smokestack when electing a new pope, can go all the way back to the Roman election of a new emperor. Not like the practice we have today exactly, but the theological beliefs we have for a figurehead appointed by God or the gods to have divine power. 

Hail Caesar!................................any takers? Okay, thought not.