Katie's Video Blog

While Katie was in Rome in 2008 she created a video blog giving an overview of her experience with Context Travel. Katie was the first Sac High student to earn the Transforming Youth Through Travel Scholarship.

Check out her video project on our TYTT Youtube channel.

http://youtu.be/C-x4s7HdFSY

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Katie meets Rome as Our First Scholarship Winner in 2008

August 20, 2008

Our grand adventure here in Rome began today at 8:30 am when we arrived in the airport and took a speedy ride through the city to our quaint little Italian apartment in the center of Rome, about 15 minutes walking distance from all the great major landmarks and monuments. We got settled in and then Kim and I set out to explore our surroundings.

We began to realize the cultural differences right away. First we stopped for a quick bite at a street side “ristorante” or restaurant, and since the menus were all in Italian, I just picked a sandwich off the menu and I had no clue what was going to be inside. It turned out to be spinach, mushrooms and cheese, a very healthy choice. Then there was the joy of trying to figure out if we could add a tip on the receipt from a waitress whom we couldn’t understand. From there we headed to a bank to try to get some cash out. Kim inserted her card several times into the machine and entered the amount she wanted, then the machine said take your card out in thirty seconds, but every time she took it out the transaction canceled. So, she tried just leaving it in past the thirty seconds—this was lesson number two for the day. Apparently in Italy if you don’t remove your card in time, the machine eats it, and as you can imagine this freaked us out just a little. Then we walked around to the front of the bank and no one was inside. Well, eventually everything got settled and we got the cash and were able to stop and enjoy a quick cup of superb gelato. It was a bit of a culture shock, but we just began to realize that life is different here and everyone operates on a different system.

From there we headed back to the apartment for a quick power nap to try to defeat our jet lag, and then set out to meet up with our Italian guides Petulia and Jessica. They gave us an impromptu tour that turned out to be incredible. I learned so much about the history of the art in the churches and the buildings themselves. One thing I saw that I was not expecting at all were the paintings in San Luigi dei Francesi. The church was full of paintings, but at the end was a little corner nook with paintings by Caravaggio. Walking up you can only see one painting, and as we were approaching I was telling Jessica how much I loved the Caravaggio painting titled “The Calling of St. Matthew.” Little did I know that as I rounded the corner, there it was, in all its glory. I literally almost fainted because I couldn’t believe that this picture I studied so much in art history class back home was actually there before my eyes. Art truly became alive to me today and I realized that what you see in your textbook is incomparable by all means to the real thing.

From there we went on to see the majestic Pantheon where Raphael, one of my favorite Renaissance painters, was buried. The Pantheon itself was so remarkable and to think that people actually built something so complex so many years ago absolutely blew my mind.

Today was a very overwhelming day, but in the best sense. The information that I took in was priceless, and I’m only more excited for the coming days.

Myriah's Reflection, a Conclusion to an Amazing Experience

Applying for the Transforming Youth Through Travel Scholarship was one of the most amazing experiences of my young life. I was able to learn and develop qualities about myself that will help me in my future. Even before I left, I learned so much from the application process itself. I had to learn to work in a timely manner, interview for a position, interact with people from all ages and backgrounds. I had to study and read comprehensive material and be able to have an educated discussion about the texts I read. I even had to formulate question ahead of time for the docents before our trip. The prep classes helped me understand the history of Rome so much better by interacting in a conversation about it.  This process also showed me that if you work hard enough for something and persevere through any obstacles,  you will achieve your own success. 
Before I went on this trip to Rome and Naples I only saw my country's beliefs and culture but going to different country made me realize how different America is from Italy. Italy is a vast, warm, friendly, and strangely organic place. To experience so much history in one country is astounding, overwhelming, but a blessing to witness.

This trip transformed me. 

It made me want to travel throughout college and my adult life to experience more adventures in other countries and learn about their culture. And when I came back, having to create a project to describe my experience taught me even more skills. I learned how to use Final Cut Pro, and work on an Apple Computer which is complex on it’s own.  In short, I gained so much from this scholarship and it was a great experience to cap my senior year. It is something I will never forget.

If you know of a student who is willing to work hard and that is professional yet personable person, I highly recommend you to encourage them to apply, just like my fellow teachers encouraged me. tell them to watch my video to see the work that goes into this beautiful opportunity.  

Thank You.  Myriah Catalano

TYTT YouTube Channel

We are so excited to share our new YouTube channel just for the Transforming Youth Through Travel Scholarship. You can see and watch all of the video projects from the previous winners and leave comments.  Take a trip to Rome and other Italian cities through the eyes of Sac High Students.

https://www.youtube.com/user/sacphotoeverett

Wendi Everett
TYTT Scholarship Coordinator

Rome’s Evolving Reflection Pool

We enthusiastically arrived at the cafe to start our Context Travel tour of the Colosseum because we could finally see the place that we had studied so much about in the months leading up to our trip.  I was excited for us to explore the Colosseum on a Context tour, but it turned out to surpass even what I was expecting.  I thought that we were going to focus on the long history of bloodshed of both the gladiators and animals that were harmed in this location. Our enthusiastic docent, Dony, showed us the main tourist attraction of Rome in a whole new light. Dony was small in stature, but he had a loud voice, which kept us interested in the wild history of the Colosseum.

              Did you know that the Colosseum was never originally called the Colosseum? Initially, it was called the Flavian Amphitheater because it was built during the Flavian dynasty. The mind boggling part was that it was not always an amphitheater! When Dony asked this question of us, I wracked my brain, trying to remember the answer. I thought our docent was asking us a trick question. But no, to my surprise, it was Nero’s reflection pool! Nero was the emperor of Rome from 54-68 A.D., and he was quite the egotistical emperor. His “reflection pool” was bigger than the Colosseum!

While on the Colosseum walk, the one thing that really piqued my interest was how many times the Colosseum changed throughout history. Each emperor used it for a different purpose. First, it was Nero’s reflecting pool. Many years later, the new emperor, Titus, had it used to entertain the masses of the Roman people so that he could gain favor after Nero’s evil reign. It was turned into a Naval fighting space, so boats could battle for entertainment - and up to 300 people would die during each show. He would fill up the bottom of the Colosseum with water, and put in not just boats, but huge military naval ships to battle each other! I could see the water splashing the audience, like the whale shows at Six Flags. I imagined the slaves hauling in huge ships, just to keep the Romans happy at their expense.

The next emperor, Domitian, totally revamped the place into an amphitheater. Elevators were put in, to bring deathly surprises to the gladiators, and white sand was put onto the floor, so spectators could see the bloodshed more clearly. It was almost as if I could smell the scent of death and loss.

Another shocking thing was its use in Renaissance times, where it was used as home for many families who had nowhere to go. These families lived in a giant theater where so many people had previously died; talk about home sweet home!

Once again, like in every story of Rome, the Pope had to butt his head in and turn the Colosseum into something that he owned. Pope Benedict XIV, in the 1600s, “Christianized” the place by putting up a huge cross where emperors once sat to watch a show of a complete slaughter. As our docent Dony explained this timeline, the Colosseum evolved right before my eyes. How could one building withstand all the changes of time and the whims of emperors, and still serve as a place for entertainment? I think the answer is because people still get enjoyment out of something so old. For example, today people from around the world come to see the Colosseum in its extraordinary glory. Very few visitors, however, come to the Colosseum know that this building  has progressed right along with mankind.

          

              Today, I saw the Colosseum in a whole new light.  It is more than just an amphitheater of blood, but a building that still stands because it evolved. This walk taught me through example that even though someone may have a bad reputation, you won’t know who they are until you talk to them. The Colosseum is known for violence and bloodshed, but I never appreciated the history of one of the world’s greatest monuments until I got to know it.

Myriah Catalano

Enjoying an Espresso with Michelangelo

                About a year ago, I was helping my mom cook dinner when a gum commercial came on, depicting a dad and his daughter experiencing amazing life events together, including a baseball game, riding the train, and her birthday as they got older. Then the commercial showed the daughter moving her stuff into the car and going off to college. As she was making one last trip hauling stuff to the car, she dropped the box and out poured  hundreds of origami gum wrappers made into cranes! This scene triggered an emotional response in me like I had never had before! While I have always been an emotional person, nothing could have prepared me for seeing Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel.

Photo credit: David Marks

It was a rainy Tuesday in March, and we met up with our wonderful Context Travel docent Cecilia and 3 other tour mates to start our adventure of the day, which was the Vatican tour. Of course, I was bursting with excitement because I was about to see the Raphael rooms, Bernini’s Baldacchino, and Michelangelo’s dome. These pieces of art and architecture have a huge impact on art we see today, and they have been emulated throughout time.

After seeing the Raphael rooms, we made our way down to the Sistine Chapel. Our amazing docent Cecilia forewarned us not to look at The Last Judgement until we reached the middle divider so we could see the full wall perfectly. As soon as we stepped foot into the chapel, a guard kept yelling, “No cameras! No pictures! No talking!” This was quite a shocking experience, because the Chapel was not as big as I thought it would be, and it was filled to the brim with people. What surprised me was that I felt like I was one of the only people in the chapel that day who experienced magic. I was surprised to see people acting as if this visit was a daily, normal thing – because it was quickly becoming a life-changing event for me.

The Sistine Chapel is a space where Michelangelo spent from 1508-1512 just painting the ceiling, and again in 1535-1541 painting The Last Judgement on the front wall. When I saw Michelangelo’s depiction of Genesis (the first book in the bible), my eyes started to get blurry, there was a pressure in my chest, and my body started heaving. When I saw Adam and God nearly touching, it took my breath away. To see how Michelangelo depicted how the start of mankind and God were so close really got me thinking of his religious beliefs then…and how it would change during his painting of The Last Judgement.

Picture Sources: Google Images

As I made my way to the center wall, I turned around and automatically zeroed in on Michelangelo himself. His painting of himself really unnerved me because I felt his presence so strongly while staring at him. I saw his despair in the way his mouth is slightly open, I felt his agony in the way his skin is loose, and his position in which he is halfway to hell and halfway to heaven. He painted the hell so violently and creepy. I felt his doubt in the church, as something he so strongly believed in came crashing down once he possibly started to experience the corruption in the church. I was stunned, shaken to my core. To see a religious struggle right there, for everyone to see, as painted by a master, was an experience like no other. I stood there, astounded at the religious struggle and transformation happening right before my eyes.   

Picture Sources: Google Images

“SHHHHHHHHH! NO TALKING!” The guard interrupted my reverie and brought me back to the present. My eyes gushing like a Roman fountain, I looked up at the ceiling and noticed Jonah who got swallowed by the fish - and he is huge compared to the other characters. In between the tears pouring down my face and my nose starting to run, I started laughing - because I could see Michelangelo painting Noah first, and then thinking, “Oh dear, better scale it down a bit.” I noticed that people were giving me crazy looks, possibly because of the trifecta of laughter, tears, and a runny nose.

Near me, a man with his hands in his pockets bumped into the man in front of him on accident. The man in front yelled out “Hey you, watch out! And don’t touch my bum!” The guy behind him said, “I didn’t even touch you, my hands are in my pockets!” Then one of the guard rushed over and says in his best English, “Calm down, please!” As my dramatic moment with Michelangelo was put on pause for the men’s melodrama over bum touching, I reassembled myself and then returned to Michelangelo and my discussion through our hearts. I looked around at Malik and Mr. Marks, expecting the same reaction I had, but they had no tears! I guess people react to things differently.

Sooner than I thought possible, Cecilia rounded us all up to leave. I had thought we’d be in there 20 minutes, not just five! I didn’t want to leave, but at the same time I was happy to, because I was crying fiercely, my stomach was heaving violently, and my head was throbbing. I was overcome with emotion - and I was the only one in the Chapel wearing my emotions on my face. I could not form one coherent thought or barely move my feet to walk out the door. My brain was going a thousand miles a minute while the rest of my body was on autopilot.

          Upon reflection, I figured out why I reacted so passionately to the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo talked to me just as if we were sitting down having espressos and pastries like best friends do. I finally recognized why I cried for the gum commercial after this; because the commercial showed me such amazing life experiences and I felt them as I’ve gone through my life. However, being in the Sistine Chapel was just like having Michelangelo right behind me, whispering everything he thought about each character in my ear. We had a Hallmark moment. I really believe Michelangelo still lives in the chapel, or at least his soul does. I don’t know when I will ever go back to the Vatican, but when I do, I hope Michelangelo will chat with me again like old friends who catch up easily after a long period of time apart.

          I am so grateful to Context Travel for helping me understand and see something that has affected countless people through the ages, including myself. I experienced the Sistine Chapel, and feel like I should win an award, just as after you eat a dozen spicy hot wings and win a t-shirt. I want an “I experienced the Sistine Chapel and managed to make it out of the room” t-shirt. I think Michelangelo would like one also, I’ll ask him the next time we have an espresso. 

-Myriah Catalano

Courtesans, Caravaggio, and Connections

The great Italian painter, Caravaggio, is known for his rock star personality to the Roman public and going through money like toilet paper.  I have always overlooked him and thought that he was unimportant, especially when compared to the great geniuses who came before him, such as Michelangelo or Raphael. Why would a man who used dirty people from the street as models for religious icons get recognition? I found out why when I recently took a Context Travel walk in Rome, called Caravaggio’s Mean Streets. Our docent, Lauren Golden, a British art history PhD who resembles JK Rowling, was a walking encyclopedia who clearly laid it all out the table like she was serving a five course Italian dinner.  

Photo credit: David Marks

Our first stop, the Church of Sant’Agostino, was the only church in Rome where courtesans (ladies of the night) could attend mass each Sunday and repent for their sins! One of these courtesans even became famous as Caravaggio’s muse and lover. As soon as we stepped inside the church, I was immersed into a world where I could visualize the courtesans sitting in their designated pews in the front of the church so they would not distract the men.If they had sat in the back of the church then there was fear that the men would constantly turn around in their seats to gawk at their beautiful faces. I understood how the courtesans would feel trying to repent like everyone else, only to repeat their sins the next day in order to survive. The main thing that caught my eye in this church, however, was the painting, Madonna di Loreto, and how it contained the same model for Mary as in his painting, Dei Palafrenieri, located in the Borghese art gallery. I imagined the model courtesan attending this church and seeing herself in the painting and feeling quite empowered…or embarrassed. What must it have been like, seeing yourself on the church walls every Sunday morning? She must have been of some importance to Caravaggio if he used her twice. I wonder if she loved him - or felt adored or used by him?   

As we walked up to the painting, the church guard quickly turned off the lights on the painting in hopes of receiving offerings to the church - the painting was muted by darkness. In his dark green jacket and stressed face, he asked for donations with his eyes as if he were barely containing his annoyance for cheap tourists.  As soon as a new group would walk up, he would turn off the light so that they would not be able to see the painting in all of its glory unless an offering was made! I could not get a good picture or appreciate it for more than 2 minutes at a time. I wonder if church guards back then haggled for donations to keep the paintings illuminated by candlelight.

Photo credit: Myriah Catalano

My perspective and appreciation for Caravaggio grew at our next stop, where we analyzed the Saint Matthew series at San Luigi dei Francesi church. The immense, powerful trio of paintings reminded me of this show I used to watch as a little girl, called “Out of the Box.” In that show, the characters jumped into pictures. I, too, felt as if I could  jump into Caravaggio’s life as I stared in wonder at these paintings. The first piece is called The Calling of St. Matthew.  The painting truly makes the viewer wonder if Caravaggio used his personal experience in gambling halls to show the debt collecting of Matthew’s profession. The painting is so lifelike, I could smell the dingy air in the room, and feel the tension of Jesus asking Matthew to join his Apostles. I sensed the protective instinct of the boy reaching for his sword to defend Matthew from supposed thieves. I could detect as if Matthew was about to look up and question everything he has ever done with his life. I imagined him struggling with being a greedy tax collector. His head is bowed in the painting, as if questioning his life, thinking, am I a bad person? Do I need to change?

          This painting reminded me of times when I realized that I had done something wrong and started questioning everything that I had ever stood for and done.  Surprisingly, Caravaggio turned on a whole new light for me, as if he were the haughty church guard who had just collected a donation. He painted his life and real people in his works, to connect the paintings to how people on the streets coming in would associate themselves with the pictures. The people would see the dirtiness of Madonna di Loreto’s feet and the grimy haggard way of the pilgrims. They jumped inside them, just like I did - and I am not even a particularly religious person.

           Caravaggio touched the little faith I had in his artistic capabilities and my own religious beliefs, and I could intertwine his personal experiences with mine. With his realistic paintings, he knew how to reach the church’s main audience, no matter how offended the church got. Caravaggio told you his life story, and someone else’s - through his paintings, and that is why I could relate to him. I could relate to him since he shows real life and situations in his paintings.  Each piece throws me back into things I see in my own modern community where one wrong look can still mean a problem as it did in the 1600’s - Caravaggio captured that. It was as if the foggiest cloud dissipated from in front of my eyes, and I saw what he was trying to say. I am grateful that Context Travel gave me the tools and context in which to begin to appreciate this master painter.  

-Myriah Catalano