Salvete omnes!
Contrary to what I said yesterday, this is Jams again rather than your aediles. We were having too much fun with Just Dance and Karaoke to have the students write the blog tonight so I'll have to do. After Greek day classes (I hear in Magister Burgess' class students are beginning to write their own sequels to Lucian's True History) and lunch in Estes, we practiced speaking Latin relating to food and cooking in preparation for our Cena Latina tomorrow. In otium, we played certamen, a version of quizbowl only about Latin and Roman culture. In varietas, the students made all sorts of paper ornamentation and prepared lines from the varietas presentations for tonight's banquet. Once the dinner entertainment and decor ready, we headed over to Birdsong Hall for a special meal. The night was meant to recreate a Roman convivium, at which people from all classses could mix but not everybody got to eat the same food. We ate in province order and food was restricted to certain provinces (after everyone had gotten some food they were able to take whatever they wanted. We want to show what Roman life was like, but we of course want to do better than the Romans did as well!) It was great to see previews of everyone's skits as well as part of a memoranda video. We are all excited to show the final version of these products to you during our Variety Show, which will be on Saturday July 12 from 2-3pm with refreshments afterwards. We would love to see you all there if you can make it! This event will allow the students to showcase the projects they have been working on for the past weeks. The night ended with Just Dance and karaoke, organized by Sophie and Alec. We have an old taste in music here, with Bohemian Rhapsody and Aint No Mountain High Enough being fan favorites. 
Expect the aediles back for real tomorrow!
Jams

Salvete parentes amicique!
This is Jams again, writing to you because we had a movie that went right up until it was time for the students to be in halls. Although the 4th isn't a Roman holiday, we still celebrate it at Latin Academy, just with our own twist. The morning was spent playing various games outdoors in honor of the Ludi Apollinares, a Roman festival for Apollo. Following a presentation about the Roman holiday from Magister Burgess, we jumped into various contests planned by Sara Kate and Owen H: Escape from Troy (a three legged race with one of the racers also giving a third person a piggy back ride to imitate Aeneas, Anchises, and Ascanius), Chariot races (with chariots made from pizza boxes), gladiatorial games (which was basically flag football minus the football), and capture the flag. Everyone (staff included) had a blast! After lunch came round 2 of electives, taught by me, Sophie, Laura, Didaskalos Cogan, Magistra Koshute, and Princeps Herself. To speak for my class, we had some great conversations. The engagement I get from all the students here makes my job a piece of cake. Speaking of cake, we had a selection of tasty cakes with our dinner. The day concluded with a GLA staple: a studio Ghibli movie. This year's was Kiki's Delivery Service, a delightful coming of age story about a young witch finding her place in a new town. Many of us got into pj's with blankets and stuffed animals and got cozy, which was the perfect end to our day. 
Look forward to hearing from Jackson and Emily tomorrow,
Jams

P.S. Mail seems to be traveling slowly this summer. If you thought you would be hearing from the students more, letters are probably on the way!

      Salvete, omnes!

     Today was another day of Latin classes! In Voces we translated more Sulpicia, which can be kind confusing as the word order can get kinda funky! But we enjoyed analyzing her work and comparing it with that of Sappho's! In Neuterque et Uterque, we did some more scansion (yay!) and translating more of the story of Iphis! In Appalachian Arcadia we read more of Vergil's Eclogues and listened to a few songs, which we compared to the turbulent times in which Vergil was writing. 

     Today we had another session of Latina Loquenda, after missing it for a few days! Jackson and I (Emily) both enjoyed today's stations! We focused more on time and days of the week in this session! Next, we had memoranda (picture something like yearbook) and varietas! All projects are going very well! Our Latin scripts are in progress and we all took a look through the set materials at our disposal.

     Post cenam, we had another art project! This time we created Frescoes, led by RA Sophie! The process can be a little messy, but everyone had fun! We were also able to paint some of the clay things we made a few art sessions ago! Later we got to play a song guessing game, in which we guessed what songs each staff member picked! Italia ended up winning with 5/9 correct!

Province Cup Rankings (sorry we forgot Hispania last time!):
Britannia: 150
Achaea: 131
Germania: 117
Asia: 117
Africa: 117
Hispania: 115
Aegyptus: 110
Gallia: 106
Italia: 105

Bonum noctum,
​Emily and Jackson

      Salvete, omnes!

      Today, we had Greek classes, which included the Lucian class, in which we read Lucian's description of the Isle 0f the Blest and many, many direct satires of historical and mythological figures. I (Jackson) very much enjoyed catching the references in this chapter, and thought this was the best of Lucian's True History so far. Additionally, we had Mercatus Traiani, in which we began researching for our mercatus board projects. And in our Greek language class, we learned accusative articles, and began reading about Xerxes. 

 After lunch, we had Otium, where many of us were productively doing work, while others were productively scheming for our later game of Bellum Mercium. After Otium, we changed into togas, and Bellum Mercium began! Bellum Mercium is a strategy game (I, Jackson, thought immediately of the Civilization series), where each of us controlled an empire on a board based on our provinces and tried to build up our nations through trade amongst ourselves. Each province assigned its people to different positions, such as the role of strategist or trader! We spoke Latin almost the whole time! The provinces were able to declare war on each other, which happened quite often, but the majority of our interactions were peaceful and benefitted all involved. There were multiple categories in which one could win, such as most points or best spoken Latin. When it came to in-game points, though, Asia Minor blew away everyone else with its rapid expansion and control of the spices. Playing improved both our spoken Latin abilities and our understanding of the complexities and costs of running an empire. 

Province Cup Rankings:
Britannia: 135
Achaea: 106
Germania: 104
Aegyptus: 104
Gallia: 99
Africa: 86
Asia: 86
Italia: 86

Bonam noctem,
Emily and Jackson

     Salvete, omnes! 

     Today was our tenth day of GLA! We woke up today, had breakfast (we are still overrun by the Christian Family Conference), but we nonetheless had substantive meals. Next, we had classes. We translated Sulpicia in Voces Feminarum, continued the Iphis story in Ovid's Metamorphoses in Neuterque et Uterque, and read some of Vergil's Ecologues and listened to more Appalachian folk music Appalachian Arcadia.

     Next, in the afternoon, we had our second guest speaker, the wonderful Dr. John F. Miller! Fun fact: he has spoken at every single GLA (38 years running)! Today, he spoke to us of Cybele, a Phrygian mother goddess, her cult in Rome, and also the Roman calendar. I (Jackson) was deeply fascinated by the lecture, and we at GLA thank Dr. Miller for coming once again to speak with us! Gratias maximas! 

     In Varietas, we worked in groups on our final projects, and in Memoranda, we sorted more photos. Then, we had Otium! I (Emily) did laundry and wrote some epistles. I (Jackson) played a board game with Vinay, Siddha, Erik, and Ryan K., which we are yet to finish as of now. At dinner, we ordered Dominos to avoid the over-crowded dining hall at Estes, which was delicious. 

      We had another ancient art lesson today, where we got to paint on wooden boards with both tempera paint and encaustic wax (which Roman mummy portraits were made of)! This was a great opportunity for us to show off our artistic skills, and many people were very creative! I (Emily) tried to paint the cover of the 50th anniversary edition of the book Flying to the Moon by Michael Collins (if you can't tell, I really love this book)! The cover is a photo of the Moon and Earth! Some other highlights was a painting of a scroll with "Veni, Vidi, Vici" written on it from Ryan K., a painting of a rapper from Richmond apparently named "NettSpend" from our consul Henry, and several depictions of the rainbow pride lions that some of us bought from the campus store today. All in all, the painting experience was very fun for everyone!

Valete,
Emily and Jackson!

     χαιρετε! 

     Today was our ninth day at academy! It's crazy to think that its the first day of week two! 

      We woke up this morning and headed to breakfast, which meant that we entered the first wave of pandemonium that was getting meals today. The Christian Family Conference has come to Randolph-Macon, meaning that the dining hall is now completely full with a drove of families and children. However, we persevered, and all had three full meals today, and kept our positivity through it all! 

      After breakfast, we had Greek classes, which included Mercatus (where we discussed the provinces in the Roman empire and got stickers), Lucian's True History, (where we discussed an episode where our protagonists get swallowed by a whale and go to war with fish people), and Διδασκαλος  Cogan's class on the Greek language, (where we discussed verb endings!). I (Emily) got a Studio Ghibli sticker in Mercatus! Overall, classes were pretty productive today, and also quite fun! 

     After classes, we had Latina Loquenda, in which we practiced market terms, and learned how to play Go Fish in Latin! I (Jackson) feel now like Latina Loquenda has helped me to speak Latin very well, and I know many others share this opinion! After Latina Loquenda, we had Otium (yay!), in which I (Jackson) went to the gym, and I (Emily) talked with friends! Others, worked on translating Greek and Latin, as well as memorizing lines of Sappho. Then, we had Varietas, in which we prepped for our final project based on our theme Est Locus. I (Jackson) worked on The Aeneid, and thought our group was quite productive! I (Emily) was in Memoranda instead of Variteas, and spent my time editing and compiling photos. 

     Next, we had dinner, where we had to navigate through the DisneyWorld-level lines from the Christian family group, but after a hearty dinner we had Greek drill, in which we practiced our new vocabulary and verb endings. Then, we had an art projects, in which we got to make our own mosaics! This project was led by RA Sophie, and was a huge hit with us! We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and made some very creative things! Today, was another great day at Latin Academy, and we are excited for the eve of July. 

χαιρετε!
Emily και Jackson

Salvete parentes et amici!

This is consularius Jams writing to you all today since the students played too much Just Dance to have time to write the blog. Sunday mornings start slow here. Students attended religious services if they chose to, while others did laundry, played games, or just caught up on some much needed sleep. After lunch, students chose to attend one of 5 electives taught by myself, Laura, Sophie, Benji, or Cully. From what I have heard, they were a rousing success and a nice break from the standard set of classes.  We then continued to work on our varietas projects, which will be presented to you in less than two weeks. There is much still to do, but I know my group, working with the comedy of Plautus, had its best day yet. Dinner conversation was conducted tantum Latine (only in Latin). This is always a challenge (for staff and students alike) but it was a welcome one and great preparation for the evening's main event: Thermopolium. Like dinner, this event was tantum Latine, but with far more chaos. Students bought and sold the Roman food they prepared yesterday while others carried out moneymaking schemes ranging from tap dancing and fortune telling to playing music and singing so poorly that I was compelled to pay students to stop (to be clear that was the goal - your children are wonderful musicians when they desire to be). The students all left feeling much more confident in their ability to communicate with each other in Latin, and I expect great things for the Roman Market at the end of academy. The end of the evening was designed by our Praetores Alec and Sophie, who set up the aforementioned Just Dance. We all had a blast (a very sweaty one at that - Just Dance makes you work)! All in all, I would say this was the best day of academy so far! 
Expect the aediles to be back tomorrow, as well as pictures from today, province cup scores, etc.
Jams

Salvete!

     Today is Saturday, and we have almost finished our first week of classes! It is so crazy to think that we are already almost a week in! We woke up and went to breakfast, and then went straight into classes. In Appalachian Arcadia, we covered Theocritus' Idyll rap battle (of sorts) between two shepherds, which was immensely entertaining! In Voces Feminarum we learned about Erinna, a Telean poet who wrote the Distaff in Doric dialect. In Neuterque et Uterque, we did scansion for Ovid's Metamorphoses and covered more of the story of Iphis and Ianthe. That was very fun, and I (Jackson) appreciated learning about mythology, as always! 

      After classes, we had lunch, and then Latin Loquenda. Today, in preparation for tomorrow's Thermapolium (an immersion activity for selling food) we talked about how to order and sell food, and how to say which foods we like. Then, we had a very fun activity, in which a reenactment group called Legion XX came and showed us various items from the Roman world, including tunics and the materials used for spinning fabrics, a grinder for grain, and various Roman military equipment. We learned how Romans would have used and manufactured these items, and especially how difficult making tunics were in Ancient Rome. We also got to grind grain ourselves! Afterwards, we got extended Otium time, and Princeps passed out popsicles!! During Otium, I (Jackson) worked on my Greek and translated some more of the Iphis story alongside many others. I (Emily) painted my nails (a pink shimmer color)! After Otium, we had dinner and then cooked! Different groups got to make different things, and we also got a run-down of future electives and we got to scheme plots during Thermopolium. Finally, we got to go, and finished yet another cursed video which we watched part of in Loquenda (involving a bread angel at one point). 

Current elected (besides us) officials:
Tabby and Siddha: Censors
Mahee and Henry: Consuls
Sarah Kate and Owen H: Praetors
Evie and Fiona: Quaestors 
Alec and Sophie: Tribunes

Province Points: 
Britannia: 110
Achaea: 89
Germania: 85
Aegyptus: 81
Hispania: 76
Italia: 69
Africa: 69
Gallia: 68
Asia: 66

Valete, 
​Emily and Jackson

     χαιριτε! 

     Today was a Greek day, where we brushed up on our Lucian and his True History, in which he adventured into space and met some really weird alien-people, the Five Good Emperors in Mercatus (as well as a humorous tirade from Princeps about the inaccurate atrocities of Troy and Gladiator II), and Διδασκαλος Cogan's class on Greek, in which we covered family names and even got to translate parts of Iphigenia in Aulis. In sum, all of the classes today felt really fun and engaging, and productive! 

     At breakfast, we had French toast, a delightful change in the menu which satisfied all of us, and I (Emily) had a croissant with strawberry cream cheese. At lunch, we talked up a storm!

     After lunch, we had a guest lecture by Dr. Houghtalin, who teaches at the University of Mary Washington, on Numismatics (the study of coins :) ). The lecture itself was fascinating, and we even got to handle real coins from Ancient Rome and identify writing and symbols on them, based on information we got from the wondrous lecture. It was a really great experience, and we thank Dr. Houghtalin for coming to our wonderful academy and making Numismatists out of us! 

     After that experience, we had Latin Loquenda, which was very fun, and we learned how to say what we like (mihi placet!).  Then, we had Otium, which was delightful! I (Emily) washed my laundry and I (Jackson) went to the pool with lots of people, and we had a blast! In both scenarios, Otium served as a great time to spend with our friends! We are grateful for Otium! 

     Next, we had a lecture from Princeps on our theme "Est Locus" and how it appears in literature, and how it affects our lives. The discussion prompted us to reflect on the places where we belong, which academy is for all of us. Then, we played a trivia game (wholly in Latin) which our team (Table II) dominated, and probably won (although Διδασκαλος Cogan has not released the final scores quite yet). It was very fun, and we got some great questions, such as a  Star Wars themed question on Cassian Andor, some on mythology and literature, and the titles of Percy Jackson chapters. But the game was undoubtably exhilarating for all involved! 

P.s. Jesse wants to tell their parents that they have sent mail but it seems to be moving slowly. 

Quotes from today: 
"Like why, why are you like this?" - Princeps
"Cats me amore" - Esme
"[The Harpies] were just doing their job!" -Ryan K. 

Valete, 
Emily and Jackson

     Salvete, omnes! Today we spent the whole morning in Richmond on a field trip to the State Capitol! First, we had breakfast, which included pancakes and hashbrowns (more potatoes!), and apples (which I, Jackson, am a big fan of!). Then, we had a delightful lecture from Magister Burgess about classical architecture and its influences on the Founding Fathers, and specifically Thomas Jeffersons' architectural plans. Shortly afterwards, we took a bus to the State Capitol in Richmond, where we got a wonderful tour from our tour guide, who was able to show us all the inner-workings and Classical influences of the building. We would like to give a huge shoutout to Mark, who did a magnificent job leading the tour and informing us. 

     After the tour, we had lunch, which was not dining hall food, but our choice of sandwich or salad, which was a nice mix-up. It came with a large cookie, which was very tasty! Then, we went to Maymont to see the beautiful gardens. Even in the hot weather, all of us did a great job of applying sunscreen, and we were well-equipped with water bottles, which came in handy. We speed ran the Italian and Japanese gardens to avoid getting too sweaty. Finally, we went to get gelato (from a store run by a former GLA student!!), which was absolutely amazing! 

    Then, we had two whole hours of Otium (free time), which we all thoroughly enjoyed!  In the downstairs hall, most gathered in a small study room to play a board game or have a few rounds of card games. In the upstairs hall, most people stayed in their rooms, but some played instruments in the hall. I (Emily) spent my time reading Flying To The Moon by Michael Collins and just relaxing. I (Jackson) took a nap, but could still hear laughter pealing down the halls from where people were playing games. 

    Finally, to the end the day, we watched another movie, Black Orpheus (1959), which was a reinterpretation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in Carnival in Brazil. We all really enjoyed the movie, and we had a good discussion afterwards. I (Jackson) really enjoyed the Dionysian aspects of the carnival, and the pseudo-reincarnation of Orpheus and Eurydice implied in the story. I (Emily), started tearing up at the end when Orpheus carries Eurydice's body up a mountain. 

Valete,
Emily and Jackson