September 13, 2024

Day 12: “Every feeling waits upon its gesture” Eudora Welty

September 10, 2024

Zabaglione: Salina, Aly, Emi

Salina – We had been looking forward to this day for so long. The 10th was the day we were traveling as a group to Ostia Antica to see the ancient city’s ruins before going to the nearby beach for the rest of the day. So, we met early in the morning and our large group got on the metro to go to Termini. After arriving at Termini, we got on a train to Ostia Antica. Shawn led the way as our giant group navigated the hour and a half journey to the town. After arriving, we began our walk around the ruins. The path was uneven for most of the walk, but without uphill climbs for the most part. We stopped at an arena-like area to sit on the steps where the audience would be, facing the stage. This is where Shawn explained what kinds of events took place in that theater and the surrounding vendors that would sell all kinds of goods. Then, we got up to continue our walk, this time going around the area where the vendors would have been. We saw remains of the murals on the ground, showing what each vendor would have been selling.

There was fish, clothing, yarn, boat goods, and others that we couldn’t make out. The market that would have been there was larger than expected. We continued walking until we arrived at an area with a large, stone mural on the ground. We found shade around the mural and Shawn started with our lesson for the day.

“Every feeling waits upon its gesture” by Eudora Welty was the leading quote for the lesson. We interpreted the quote in our own ways at first. The topics discussed revolved around why stories and lessons are passed down and important- sometimes for survival- and how feelings are built on those experiences. After the lesson, I personally interpreted the quote as meaning that feelings and emotions regarding an event are built on the experiences and actions leading up to the particular event. However, the quote is still up for interpretation in various ways. After our lesson, we walked a little further before turning around to make our way back to the train station. There, we boarded a train that took us to the Ostia Antica beach town. Outside the station, we said goodbye to Shawn and Julianna. We went our separate ways, some people straight to the beach and others to get food. The group I was a part of decided to eat first. We found a local place that had kebabs and falafel in different forms: salads, wraps, plates.

The majority of the group got falafel and we were all overall satisfied with the delicious food. Having regained some energy, we made our way to the beach and figured out that we had to pay for our seating and umbrellas in order to be on the beach. We split the price of umbrellas and paid for our own beach chairs before finally reaching our much awaited destination. The beach was everything we had hoped for with nice water, warm sun, and cozy seating next to each other. 

Emi – In the middle of the day Claire, Katie, and I stopped at the local grocery store in Ostia Antica, to pick up some lunch on the go. I picked out small circular breads, some with olives, and some with tomato sauce. I picked up pineapple and mango to feed my sweet tooth and we headed for the beach. The walk was longer than expected but we were pleasantly surprised by the colorful and green canopied streets that were a nice contrast to the more neutral buildings than I had been used to. While the catcalling from mostly harmless men did not change, the nice lady at the bakery brought up my mood and made it easier to ignore them. The entrance to the beach was a bit hard to find and we had to scour through what looked like mostly empty buildings before stumbling across a small entrance sign that brought us to the lady selling tickets for chairs. We rented three chairs on the beach with an umbrella for shade. The umbrella unfortunately provided little to no shade but thankfully the chairs had built-in covers. At Lido di Ostia we had a most beautiful view of the Mediterranean beach. Once we set up our spot on the beach, we sprinted towards the water getting a punch of cold salty water. The salt water stung my cuts but the beaming sun and pretty views made it easy to distract myself from the mild discomfort. The water was bright blue and mirky from the fine white sand. We set back for the chairs once we felt we’d gotten used to the temperature as it was much warmer compared to the Pacific back home, after sitting in the sun with a San Pellegrino in hand for a good while I noticed the salty crystal residue of the ocean water once it had evaporated. Friends joined us near by and we once again got in the water trying our best to walk through the current. Me and Claire reflected on our childhood memories of pretending to be mermaids and our romanticized version of Rome that we had in our heads before flying here. We have found that while here in Rome that the city is a far different experience than the online version that is posted all over social media of the more rural or coastal towns. I have learned through this trip how to become a more adaptive person to my environment, and to take each experience with a grain of salt. The beach was a place I arrived at with no expectations in mind letting whatever came my way to be as it is, not to romanticize it, criticize it, or manipulate it in my mind. I took little to no pictures and let myself relax in the sun and chat with friends, not to create the scene that I would have previously made in my head. On the way home from the beach, we took what felt like the longest trek home, train to train to train, each one more crowded than the last. The last one crammed into the space next to the doors, my feet aching, back sore, and eyes heavy. Once home I was greeted by most underwhelming but comforting twin size bed and my blue ripped up blanket. 

Aly – After a sweaty trek to our Lido, we set our bags on our chairs and ran into the salty cold ocean. Plunging into a refreshing body of cool water was something we had been looking forward to all trip. The hot and humid days of walking in Rome had made us so impatient that the Trevi fountain was starting to look appealing… only kidding. After a much-awaited dip in the water, we went back to our chairs to read our books and let the sun dry us off. Once we had become restless from our lethargic state, we reenergized by walking to the nearby gelato shop. Peering in, we made a mental list of which flavors we would come back to order. On our walk back to our umbrella, we spotted several groups of people playing beach volleyball. We rushed over to one of the available nets only to see that there was no ball to play with. Not to worry, Rachel was on it! Within the next thirty minutes, she came back from a walk to tell us that she had met someone with a volleyball who was looking for people to play with. They introduced themselves with a brilliant accent from the Isle of Man, an island between England and Ireland. They explained how they were eighteen (just like us), but were planning on going to university the following year. We shared smiles and giggles over our unimpressive volleyball skills, and eventually said goodbye to our new friend once we had finished several sets. We headed to the ocean for one last dip to end our beach day. However, we were met with unforgiving and relentless waves that left us with the taste of salt water in our mouths as we tried to take Instagram-worthy photos. As we packed up our bags to head back to the dorms, I began to pull up directions on my phone when I remembered what we had learned today from Shawn’s lecture. I had taken away the idea that like feelings, the knowledge we have may not be realized by us until we manifest it through actions. While being more than twenty miles away from the dorm made me doubt that I knew my way back, I took a second to reflect on our journey to Ostica earlier that morning and realized I remembered each station we had stopped at and all I had to do with do the itinerary in reverse. Before leaving for the train station, we returned to the Café and bought gelato and Açaí Bowls to accompany us on our walk to the train. Fortunately, the time of our arrival at the station aligned perfectly with the departure of the next train, so we were back at Roma Termini in an hour, just in time for dinner. After a delicious pizza, Anjana, Cate, Freya, Salina, and I decided we couldn’t get enough of the coastal life and booked tickets to Castello Gandolfo for the following day. We couldn’t wait to see how today’s relaxing beach day would compare to this quiet and small-town lake.