GL 350

Our last 350 blog...which concludes the blogs for this trip. Where did the time fly? It feels like just yesterday that we met at Walsh and said farewell to friends and family members. Professor says that everything will seem different and even we will seem different to our parents; I wonder how that will go. I, personally am excited to return home, but I will miss the time we've spent here. We have all become more globally experienced and in a way more mature. 



Now that I've finished The Talented Mr. Ripley it's funny to think about all the places he had traveled that we had also seen. Especially when he talks about Venice and Piazza San Marco, I've been there. He mentions the Danieli Hotel as one of the more extravagant hotels and I remember being told that it is one of the oldest and most expensive hotels in Venice. It's amazing to see how Ripley's life and mine have crossed, even if he is a fictional character. The cities he travels to are written in such great detail that I can remember the places as well as I would in a picture. 



I think one aspect of Ripley that I admire (even though he does not have an admirable character) is his passion for traveling. I also love to travel and see new places because you become part of a different world that is unlike your own. You learn a different culture which helps you become more aware of the world and what happens around you. As I have experienced a new culture and custom here, I think it will always stay a part of me. No doubt I will always love my home in the States, but I think my style of living has been impacted. 



I will always travel in silence when using public transportation, my hand will continue to hold onto my purse, and I will scan every person who comes within a 5-foot radius of me. When people ask how was Italy, I can describe the things we saw and learned, but I can never describe the experience. How can I put into words the daily Momento breaks, or how to always have our antennas up, or even the relief that the Albano train wasn't on a hidden track? There are no words that could make someone fully understand what we mean. This was a trip full of first experiences, that can never be completely understood by someone who was not here.

Soc 490

Last blog post for 490! I thought this class would be difficult to write blogs about, but after discussing the readings and stating opinions, you realize that it could go on forever. Health care has been a more interesting topic than I had ever imagined. It started off as a more political view, but as we got further into the readings, our views were not as concrete. As much as some people dislike the gray area, health care is not black and white as I have stated before. 

Professor mentioned yesterday that things should start becoming more uncertain, yet some things are becoming more certain than ever. At first, I thought what riddles are we answering now? But as soon as I thought about it more and more, I couldn't have agreed more. My view on universal health care is becoming a big blur full of certain limits and circumstances. I know I am not the only one either! Just like when Henry J. Aaron states that we should move slowly to implement universal health care and I agreed completely, but later when talking about it in class, there were valid points that make me think we should move rapidly. When Professor said how some things are becoming more certain than ever about ourselves, I just think about how much I have grown and learned from my experiences. I've come to know myself more.

For Soc, last week we were placed in a market with a clipboard and told to interview 10 Italians each. Luckily for us it was just a paper with a survey, in complete Italian, but we still had to approach and ask people. We were placed into partners based off of our tour group, so I had my friend Emily. We joined together with Katie Bell and Katie Dodds because we would have to exchange our data with them anyways. Off we went attempting our poor Italian on these natives. Most of them had no clue what we were saying and pointed us in another direction and some would stop and take pity on us to complete our surveys. Let's just say our spirits were low, but we knew they had to be done. We decided to suck it up and travel to the second floor of the school and just start giving people clipboards. To our surprise, it worked and some people even came up to us wanting to take the survey.

Needless to say, it was a successful day even though we didn't start off that way. It was actually fun after we were able to breakthrough our nerves. In class we discovered everyone had some bumps in the road (except for Brandon Shannon!). We talked about how some people appear to be healthy, yet they suffer from some type of disease or affliction. Is there a spiritual aspect involved? Some people strongly believe that prayer can help cure an ailment and I am no person to doubt that, but I believe it helps mentally and emotionally. 

GL 350

Less than two weeks in Rome...what?? Now that our time is coming to an end, it feels like it has rushed by. Where have the weeks gone? They've been spent in and out of churches, on frenzied trips out of Rome, and weakly learning the difficult Italian language. Our past weekend was spent in the small city of Sorrento, one that I have visited once before and have loved as one of my favorites! Last time I was in Sorrento, I was only there for one night so I wasn't able to see the city as much as I had the past weekend. This time we were able to wander around much more and really experience the city.

Sorrento is one of the most beautiful, quaint cities I have ever visited and when discovering that we would be traveling there on one of our weekends, I was ecstatic. I was curious to see after about 2 years if it would still appeal to me as it did before, and without a doubt it did. It was interesting to travel through Naples because I had never encountered the city before and now I knew why. Naples was frightening! We were told to be extra cautious because Naples had turned into a city with many thieves and tricksters. I was happy when we were told we would not spend much time there and we actually wouldn't even leave the train station.

It is interesting to read The Talented Mr. Ripley as we were traveling through Naples because it describes it just like other people had warned, "'Not that I minded your staying the night, but I thought you were in Naples and anything can happen in Naples'" (69). Everyone is concerned about Naples! Now I just wonder what the city is like, since we were so on guard at the train station. Naples was now just a distant memory that I try to keep as a life lesson, always be on guard!

After spending a relaxing weekend in Sorrento (apart from the constant downpour and thunderstorms), coming back to Rome is a slight shock. All the hustle and bustle of the city, while Sorrento just sits on the cliffs, just off the sea. Our return reminded me of Tom and Dickie's spontaneous trip to Rome and how they walked through the city past the Forum, Colosseum, all the fountains and I think about how we do it on a daily basis. We pass by nonchalantly because it is a part of our routinely day, but soon when we return home it will be the sights that we want to see most.