Sunday Sundae #7
Searching for mangroves, diving into history, and Rome in technicolor!
Sunday Sundae is my bi-monthly Sunday treat to you, where I’ll share what I’m reading, teaching/learning, wearing, watching - and what’s bringing me joy.
Hello, friends! I have not been great at keeping up with my Sunday Sundae calendar since starting grad school last month. It’s been a big adjustment, but one I am soooo excited about!! I am spending most of my spare time reading or writing, which I’m really enjoying, but I am still trying to find the balance and get back into the swing of research papers and writing.
Learning: In my first grad school class, we’re currently exploring Africa’s involvement in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, as well as the complex history of how so many Africans came to be enslaved. One of my absolute favorite parts of history is the opportunity to dive deeper into areas of research. New technologies provide concrete evidence and enhance our understandings of history.
Teaching: Finishing up our unit on Ancient Rome in World History. AP World kids are learning about land and sea based empires and connections between these worlds via trade and travel. One of my favorite things to talk to the kids about is how colorful Ancient Rome actually was! When excavated, most of the sculptures and buildings left behind appeared white, or in the process of cleaning, remaining color was removed. But now, scientists and historians are using UV technology and other methods to recreate them accurately. Watch a great video here: Ancient sculptures reveal their true colors, CBS News
Reading: So much!! A lot of various journals and articles from historians that have been super insightful. Our class is also halfway through Saltwater Slavery, which has taught me so much that I didn’t know about the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.
Watching: Enslaved (Prime) Marine archaeology has always been my dream job. In undergrad, I majored in archaeology and got my SCUBA certification, because I wanted to one day become a wreck diver. This show is about diving slave wrecks to learn new histories about those lost at sea to the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and I can’t recommend it enough. I’m doing a free seven trial to watch it through Prime.
Wearing: Lots of colors! Here are a few fave looks recently.
What brought me joy in the past two weeks:
I finally started my wheel throwing class! You may remember I was signed up for wheel throwing back in August, but my class was canceled. I wasn’t able to get into another class until October. Yesterday was my second class! It was hard! I’m still a hand building girly, but it’s a fun challenge and I really love the process of trying to center my clay on the wheel. It’s similar to trying to ground and find your center in the chaos of 2024. I also found a studio I want to join as a member after 4 years of searching for the right fit. I’m feeling really excited about it.
Time at the beach!! Last week, we were super lucky to have been completely spared my Hurricane Milton. We didn’t even have rain the day it passed through. Others were not so lucky. We are grateful. We did make it to the beach to enjoy the moody, windy weather before the storm twice, and even got in a fun swim! We went diving for mangrove propagules, which can be propagated and grown into mangrove trees, which are native to Florida and great for our ecosystem! We’re now growing five that we hope to transplant into our yard when we can (hopefully one day) afford a house.
stormy beach swims, hurricane skies, post hurricane sunsets, wheel throwing class, week 2
I hope your week was sprinkled with joyful moments, feel free to comment and share one of yours, I would love to hear about it! I hope the weeks to come bring you moments of peace, clarity, connection, and community.
Thank you for being here,
Dana