Today was packed full of lectures, Italian lessons, mummies, and, of course, a festival for eggplants! The day's blog post was written by
Carri Lupton.
Sunday, July 30th, 2017
Today began with, you guessed it, coffee and brioche at the Poker Bar. Fast becoming the favorite breakfast joint among the students. The locals spot us coming and greet us with ‘good mornings’ and smiles. We started off our lessons with a few lectures from Dr. Reinhard, who animatedly taught us about the nuances among pollen grains, especially those of
Polygala and Myrtaceae. Following this, he spoke about the pollen interactive we were instructed to finish prior to the school, on a homicide case from Nebraska, involving a female whose head had been wrapped in plastic. This allowed for the recovery of differential pollen types between those on the skull and those on the rest of her exposed body. He finally introduced a few case studies from embalming jars encasing organs of the Medici Family. We were shown the differences between wind and insect pollen, herbaceous and arboreal pollen, in addition to ambient and contamination pollen types.
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| Dr. Reinhard with his pollen presentations |
After a short break, Katia, our Italian instructor, once again tested us on simple introductions and greetings. We were given a crossword that consisted only of food words, a teasing gesture as we all impatiently awaited lunch. She proceeded to show us mouthwatering images of Italian cuisine, as we fumbled our way through the correct pronunciations. I’m sure most of us were more focused on the possibilities of what lunch Carmelina would surprise us with, than the actual Italian manner of ordering food. Either way, we can now all say with conviction:
Preferiamo il cioccolato invece delle lezione Italiane!
Lunch came with mixed reactions from the students. Carmelina made a seafood pasta that consisted of spaghetti noodles, a tomato and caper sauce, garnished with… squid. Typically eaten in the States as fried calamari, the appearance of steamed squid frightened some and intrigued others, overall causing a semi-frenzy among the table. Bread was available as usual, and also typical of every meal we’ve had here, halfway devoured before the main course even arrived. Caprese salads were also served, and as a surprise, Carmelina produced two plate-fulls of the beloved chocolate sausage, or as Dr. Piombino-Mascali told us was named, salame Turko. We finished the meal with a much needed espresso.
The afternoon brought with it adventures in the crypt, where each group was re-assigned a new mummy for taphonomic, morphological, and analytical reflections. Dr. Piombino-Mascali joined the group, and we were first appointed the task of reviewing our previous findings with our first mummies with Dr. Piombino-Mascali, a somewhat daunting task as he is the mummy guru and go-to guy for all things anthropological. He wowed us with his quick analysis, and fortunately aided our group efforts with the second mummies. With his input, we were all able to find anomalous features in the bones, soft tissue, and with the help of Dr. Morrow, Dr. Orijemie, and Dr. Reinhard, evidence of pollen and insect activity. Because of the success of the crypt examinations, we all decided we would like to visit again at night to reproduce the ambiance and religious meaning behind the crypt by lighting candles and viewing the bodies inside the coffins, in addition to the repertoire of bones in the ossuaries.
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| Dr. Piombino-Mascali explains what to look for on a mummy |
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| Students take notes about their mummy |
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| Carri gets a closer look at her groups' mummy |
We were privileged with a long break after our crypt studies and before dinner, allowing most of us to catch up with our families and friends. Dinner was amazing, as usual, consisting of the juiciest roast chicken, cheese, salad, pears and plums, and you guessed it, loads of bread. Afterwards, the much awaited eggplant festival showcased music, several types of prepared eggplant, and games for children in a carnival-like atmosphere. As much fun as the locals were having dancing to songs with some serious skill, somehow all of us ended up at our favorite joint, the Poker Bar, sharing jokes, granita, and gelato.
Solo il meglio!
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| Probably the BEST baked chicken ever consumed! |
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| Yes, they have a festival for eggplants. It includes music, dancing, and lots of fun! |
