Confessions of a Curious Cliche

The world's disneyland

2008-10-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

This one begins on a Wednesday night; James, Lindsay and I head out to the airport for our flight to Brussels. First experience with RyanAir and asides from the mad dash to get on the plane(no assigned seats), everything went quite smoothly. We landed and took a bus to one of the train stations where we had to walk another 20 minutes to get to the central train station, and then another train ride to get to where the Eurolines bus would pick us up. We met this nice man (28 though he looked 21) who was working in Brussels, but was born and raised in Mexico, studied in Canada for two years where he met his girlfriend who he then went to Spain to live with. He was an interesting fellow and pointed us in the right direction, since otherwise we wouldn’t have a clue where to go. We stopped for a bit to eat, Falafel and fries, than made our way to the Central station. After sleeping in the Central train station for a couple hours we headed for the north station where Lindsay and James napped for about an hour more. The bus ride was packed, slept most of the nearly 4 hour ride, and was dropped off about 10 minutes outside of the center of Amsterdam.
Then we were there. And it was love at first sight. Everything about the city was enamoring to me; from the efficiency and appealing look of the tram system, to the picturesque buildings to the beautiful parks that dotted the city. We had a bit of trouble finding our hotel and once we found it and got in it began to hail. We took that time to relax a bit from all the traveling. Once things cleared up we set out for a nice walk through the city. Cold and cloudy, but nothing could ruin my sparkling image of this Disney-esque place. Later in the evening we met up with Zach (from Villa Park) and Megan (Lindsay’s roommate) who had just arrived from there flight and went out for a night on the town.
The next morning began at a decent hour; we got our complementary breakfast and set out to the center of the city. After a bit of exploring we found ourselves at the Van Gogh museum. What an amazing man he was. Crazy no doubt, but an artistic genius, especially considering he didn’t want to be a painter until the latter portion of his life. He only spent about 10 years painting but managed to make 900 paintings, 1100 drawings and write about 500 letters. The museum curator set up the exhibitions in chronological order (I don’t know if that’s the norm, but it was my first visit to a museum dedicated to a specific artist). Ingenious and remarkable. It’s quite a shame VG had such powerful mental troubles, but the same illness that eventually caused him to commit suicide might have been the fuel for his passionate works of art. Later that evening we moseyed on over to the Red Light District. A place unlike any other. Beautiful women in all the windows, drug dealers swarming the streets, sex shows in every building. How is this place legal? I could never imagine such a place flourishing anywhere back home, but day in and day out this place is packed with people and is kept in check, at least on the outside, quite well. The rest of the night was spent walking around Leidsplein and eating the MOST delicious treats from Rene’s Bakery. Strawberry doughnuts, vanilla cream filled croissants, some random Dutch treat that I could never pronounce. Heavenly.
Saturday was spent meandering through the parks of Amsterdam. Vondelpark is a gorgeous, spacious park where locals run and ride their bikes, dogs enjoy rolling around in the wet grass, and tourists like us can just admire the low-laying clouds hovering over the pristine environment. We stumbled upon a film museum which was showing home videos from across the world. A Japanese foreign film was being shown at the time we came in, but certain complications kept us from being able to enter the theater. I also tried to imagine how much of the movie I’d understand as it was in Japanese with Dutch subtitles. Dinner was a struggle, as every meal is due to the enormous variety of food. From Mexican to Argentinean to Indonesian to Chinese and American and Pancakes and Kebabs and oh the choices. We settled on Chinese and feasted on a sampler platter of 5 of the most popular dishes. Some more exploring was done after the meal and the night ended at a somewhat early hour as Zach had to get up at 4 something in the morning.
A sad Sunday as I had to say goodbye to what had become my favorite place thus far. The ride back to the airport was another long yet bearable journey. Then an interesting and confusing event occurred at the airport. I was getting some shut eye waiting for the boarding call with my headphones on when I heard a large group of French people gathering at the gate. Now, we have all heard the jokes about the French being rude and the like but those were just words to me. Until this kind gentleman woke me up from my slumber (headphones on and all) and began repeating the word “Baptist”(now, figuring he was speaking French, as I fond out soon into the conversation he knew no English, I had no clue what this Baptist word meant, imagine the French accent and everything). This turned into a 5 minute discussion of me saying No, I don’t know what you’re saying and him repeating Baptist(maybe 50 times). By this point, all his little cronies where surrounding the 3 of us (James Lindsay and I) and laughing to themselves all the while not explaining what the hell was going on. Finally a nice girl sitting next to us spoke some English and asked us about what we were doing in Brussels and so on. She was warned by her friends not to say anything to us, but she was still thoughtful enough to engage us in conversation to divert attention from the asshole that had been badgering us. Now, does this make the stereotypes true of the French, of course not, its one isolated incident that could have been instigated by anyone, but does it help their cause. No.
Either way, this week has been a pleasant one, I have been feeling a lot better and been going out a little more. I just came back from Perugia today, where they hold the annual EuroChocolate Festival. Absolutely delicious. Fantastic idea though it required 6 hours of train rides for only about 2 or so hours of adventuring there. Well Worth it. Its now about 1:30 in the morning of Friday and I’m waiting for 3 to roll around so I can head out on my journey to Venice and Florence. Train ride up to Venice. All day Friday including the night, Saturday morning we are renting a car again and driving down to Florence for the day and night, then making a longer pit stop at the Ferrari Factory to actually look around, then make it home safely again and hopefully without going through the 30 kilometers an hour speed zones.

As always I hope everyone is doing well and midterms came back satisfactory. I’m a bit sad I wont be able to dress up in another ridiculous costume for Halloween this year.

Until next time

Ciao famiglia

Tarquinia Legend

2008-10-14T02:52:00.000-07:00

So its midterm week, meaning the half-way mark of this Italian adventure. I have two midterms tomorrow morning; Italian and Intro to Music. Neither of the two figure to be terribly difficult and things have been going pretty well in both classes so I am not anticipating too much trouble. After the exams I have a few hours to get ready and then I head off to Brussels. I’ll be there overnight with Lindsay and James, and then we take a morning bus to Amsterdam and spend the weekend in Holland Bliss.

It’s been about a week since I returned from Oktoberfest and my body has yet to fully recover, in fact each day brings a new symptom and lessens the effects of the previous one. I’m still managing to get decent night’s sleep so at this point it hasn’t gotten too out of hand.

Last Friday the API group had a day trip planned to Tarquinia. It’s a quiet town about an hour outside of Rome with beautiful rolling hills and some nice vineyards. We started the day off with a tour of one of the bigger vineyards in the area. We got to walk through the grape fields and were giving the luxury of picking the grapes off the vine and eating them fresh. Afterwards, we headed over to an olive tree and the group picked olives for about 10 minutes. These olives were headed to become Olive Oil, which was another specialty of the vineyard. We then got to check out the family’s collection of pigs, which were used for….yes, ham, ham which we ended up enjoying for lunch. When this nice tour concluded, we set off for our bike ride through the town. We got to ride through the cobblestone roads and check out some nice, scenic views. At the end of this hour or so long journey we were taken back to the vineyard and were treated to an amazing 4-course meal, consisting of tomato and ham bruschette, vegetable lasagna, chicken and potatoes, and some sort of butter cream cake. This meal also came with a short lesson in wine tasting. They explained to us the process by which to properly taste wine and how to tell the difference between them. We were giving three kinds of red wine, and although it was a nice experience, I don’t think I am any closer to becoming a connoisseur in that field. After the meal, about 10 of us played a nice soccer game in the field, intense competition in which my team prevailed as victors. We then headed home and I took the rest of the night to relax and recover after a day of much physical stress. I believe this was the night I watched A Clockwork Orange. Crazy ass movie that I don’t think I’ll ever be able to fully comprehend.

Saturday began some time around noon. Tracy came over and we headed out on a day of sight-seeing in the southern part of the city. We stopped by a few churches, which were all incredible works of architecture and artwork. San Giovanni was the most magnificent one we saw, as it housed sculptures of the 12 Disciples along with several other rooms full of wonderful frescos and mosaics. Pictures of those should be going up soon. (side note – didn’t have the internet all week so Oktoberfest pictures should be coming up very shortly). We then stumbled over to the National Museum of Musical Instruments which contained various instruments since the 1500’s from all over the world. After that was John Legend.

The concert was held in one of the bigger Piazzas that I’ve seen. I’d have to estimate that nearly 10,000 people flooded this area. We managed to shimmy our way to about the tenth row of the standing room only crowd. When John finished, The Cure came on. Now, I guess I’ve heard some of their music, but apparently all the Italians that were there came to see The Cure, and didn’t take too well to John’s performance. Once John was finished we escape the madness before getting trampled by the drunken, raucous crowd. Oh, it was a free concert, too.

Lindsay’s Birthday today. Happy Birthday to her! Her parents are here and will be cooking dinner for her, along with the roomies and I. Her parents actually also treated me to dinner before my fast for Yom Kippur. A Thank you to them.

Ill be updating on Amsterdam as soon as I return. I’ll try to keep the posts a little more frequent.

Weather has been great here recently; hope the weather back home has been lovely as well.

Ciao Regazzi

Oktoberfest, and all the rest

2008-10-07T10:01:00.000-07:00

Wow, what a ridiculous weekend. One of the longest, most unpredictable weekends that I have ever experienced. It was amazing, it was mind blowing, it nearly sucked every bit of life out of me. As usual we will start in the beginning, with day one of this adventurous journey.

Thursday. By 3 o’clock my excitement level had reached its peak for the week, for the last 4 days the only thing on my mind was going to Oktoberfest. We had friends that had gone for the past couple weekends and told us about all their great stories and all we wanted to do was get there and make our own. It was Henry, James, Matt (Henry’s roommate from Massachusetts), and me. Lindsay and her roommate Megan were meeting us there the following morning. So we set off for the flight, a 70 minute flight over the Alps which including some intense turbulence for a short period of time and provided free beer, which Henry took advantage of, eagerly wanted to get this beer drinking weekend started. We landed at Munich International Airport and headed for the train that would take us to the Central Train Station in the heart of Munich, a place that unbeknownst to us, would become our home away from home. After some confusion about how to buy tickets and which train to get on (with the policeman we asked for help laughing at us), we finally arrived and damn what an arrival it was. The station was full of drunk German’s, wearing their infamous lederhosen and parading around as if it were the Fourth of July back home. Our first mission was to get dinner, a Doner Kebab with a beer. Afterwards we headed towards the fair grounds in hopes of catching a glimpse of what our voyage was to entail. Nearly 11 pm an thousands upon thousands of people were still celebrating, drinking and having what looked to be the time of their lives. Singing and dancing on the main strip of road which gave access to all the tents of the different German breweries serving their massive glasses of beer. We found out the tents stopped selling alcohol about half an hour before we got their, so we took the time to enjoy some of the roller coasters while we were still sober, and thankfully we were as one of the coasters had 5 loops and a stomach ache would have been sure to follow had we have been drunk.

Now, since Lindsay wasn’t arriving until tomorrow, we did not have any sleeping arrangements, but had been assured the train station provided housing for hundreds of people on a daily basis. We heeded the advice and roamed around looking for a place to sleep. The prime spots were all taken, so we ended up finding a spot near the lockers we had initially put our bags. The floor was a little dirty, so to combat this obstacle, James found 3 pieces of cardboard and one big sheet of bubble wrap. And yes, those were our beds for the night. And what a terrible night sleep it turned out to be. Constantly waking up from the raucous of the opening and slamming of lockers, and sketchy people walking around giving us suspicious looks. Not to mention the guy who peed about 5 feet from where James was sleeping. Yes, our dignity had taken a massive blow, but it didn’t stop their. At 5:30, I guess it is a ritual for the local police to wake everyone at the station up. How? By hitting or kicking you while you sleep to ensure you understand the importance of getting the hell out of “bed.” Since we were no longer welcomed at our place of rest, we wandered the train station until we found the closest thing to home, the one saving light which probably surpasses the success rate of the North Star – McDonalds. We got ourselves a tiny breakfast and tried to continue sleeping at our table when we finished. We managed to get a bit of shut eye, but of course, an employee found it necessary to ruin our naps by waking us up and kicking us out. Next was Burger King (German’s LOVE American fast food). We tried our luck their, but once again sleep wasn’t happening, by this time it was 8 in the morning. 8 in the morning. Maybe a good time to eat breakfast for most people, maybe a good time to get some extra sleep for the night, maybe you have to get up and go to work. But if you’re in Munich during Oktoberfest, it means one thing. Pre-party time. Hundreds and hundreds of school aged kids flocked the station carrying cases of beer and wine, an hour before the festival opened they were already preparing for the long day ahead. We decided to join in on the fun and grabbed a couple beers ourselves while we waited for Lindsay and Megan to arrive. Once they did (mind you we had no form of communication and had to rely merely on pre-Germany strategy and luck) we said our hellos and the boys headed off for the fair grounds while the girls waited for more of their friends to arrive.

Friday – 10am. The lines to get into the tents were long, crowded, and worst of all, not moving. Not to mention we chose to go to HaufBrau house, which is the biggest and most popular tent there. After 2 and a half hours waiting in line, in the rain, on our feet, and after they ha already told us the tent was closed for the day, the security guards finally let in a stampede of wet, eager standby-ers into the madness. And madness it was. By noon, everyone in the tent was already hammered, standing on the benches, stein in the hands belting away the songs played by the band (located in the center of most tents). You would think a festival taking place in Germany would have the band playing various German tunes, and although there were about 3 chants that were repeated numerous times during our stay in German, the vast majority of songs played were old school American tunes. The one we heard first. Sweet Home Alabama. Wtf, right? EVERYONE knew the words, and all of them. Five thousand people, from all across the world, in unison singing songs about the Southland. Stunning. One of the recurring problems that the four of us had was that you must have a seat at a table to be served food or beer, because of the massive crowds, and the European Man’s infatuation for American girls, guys like us don’t have much luck in this scenarios. We haggled our way to our first round, before we found some friends from our API program at one of the tables who assisted us in gathering the rest of our drinks. Each stein consists of roughly three 12 ounce beers. By 3:30 the four of us were pretty drunk, having gone through 3 steins of Haufbrau’s best. We now needed to get some food. Henry worked some magic and got us each an absolutely scrumptious, mouth watering chicken. We spent the rest of our time their walking around meeting and greeting with random people, nothing too serious, and around 5 o clock, Henry and I felt like our time was done at this brewery. We left, and Matt and James stayed behind with the people we ran in to. Henry and I tried to get into a few other places; side doors, bribes, following people with ticket in, nothing worked. All the tents had closed their doors for the time being. So instead we went on Freefall, a ride similar to Supreme Scream, just not near as high. From the top of the ride, we could see the Alps, snow capped and majestic as had always been described. We thought to ourselves, damn we just got a pretty close up glimpse of one of the most infamous mountain ranges in the world. Lucky us. Boy, if we only knew ;). Exhausted from the long day and short night’s sleep, we headed to the train station where we parked it at our old stomping grounds an took a much needed nap for about 2 hours, only to be awaken by a Brazilian girl who told us how embarrassing it was to be sleeping in a train station. Now, she might have had a point, but as described earlier, there was dignity little left anyways and sleep was imperative.

After waking up and finding the rest of the gang, including Lindsay, Megan and her friend Allison who is studying in London, we finally headed back to our hotel room for what we hoped was a good nights sleep. But with nine of us in this tiny hotel room and a broken window allowing the near freezing temperatures to join us in our slumber along with rock solid carpet, we managed to yet again sleep poorly and painfully. Next morning was early to rise as we wanted to make the grounds by 9 am when the tents opened up. Today had Lowenbrau on the agenda, while the girls were heading to Haufbrau. By the time we got to the tent doors, a few thousand people were stampeding in through the entrance. We managed to slide on in before they closed the doors, but to our dismay there were no tables left for us to sit at. So yet again we had to work our magic to grab a beer.

Success was found after about 45 minutes or so of pondering with a German man who let us sit at his reserved table for a few minutes while we ordered our beverages. Then we decided to wander around the walkways on the outside of the tables and look for any friendly faces that would let us join their party. Took only a few moments until we saw the Phillies Jersey, along with the Sean John T-shirt, and we knew we had found a piece of home. We kindly asked to join them and the three of them, along with about 10 military guys who are stationed in the North of Italy. We conversed with them for quite a while, grabbed a few more beers, sang along with the music of the band and walked around mingling with whomever. Sometime into the day, I met Flo Simon, a Swiss of twenty something years of age, and a connoisseur of everything Amsterdam. We talked with him for quite a while and a couple of his buddies he had brought along. Soon after, the drunk munchies began to sink in, sot he four of us began to look for a location to order food from. We roamed around upstairs, in the private reserved section and attempted to make friends with anyone who seemed chill enough to not kick us out. Probably went about 0 for 7 as people seem to truly cherish their reservations and do not want anyone intruding on the multitude of empty tables. Oh well. Once again, around 4 I began to feel myself losing speed. James had roughly the same feeling as he had been falling in and out of consciousness for the past half an hour. So we both decided to head out and find our way back to that wonderful train station. After getting lost and ending up who knows where, we hopped on a bus that miraculously took us right in front of the station we had become so comfortable with. We grabbed a falafel pita and went to look for a place to rest our heads. Once again, sitting upright, we managed to fall asleep for what I think turned out to be about 2 hours or so of interrupted sleep, Interruption had been a focal point of sleep the past two nights, with my nap in the train station with Henry being the only other solid couple hours of sleep I had gotten. We then woke up and wandered the streets of Munich, and tried to sneak into the Haufbrau Brewery, where the beer is actually made. That was wildly unsuccessful as a big German security guard caught us about halfway between the rope and the door and kindly “escorted” us back out.

By the time we had gotten back to the hotel, we had no clue where anyone was and couldn’t get a hold of anyone either as we didn’t have phones. We figured we’d be the only ones back but to our surprise Lindsay and Megan had made their way home as well, and Henry, who had disappeared to hang out with some buddies that asked him to their table a while back in the tent, was also in the room, but only physically as he appeared to be in a world of his own for the remainder of the night. By the end of the night everyone had made it back safely and rest for day 3 was next on the to-do list.

5:30 Sunday morning. Matt James and I wake up and head to the festival for the last day of festivities. We figured it was our only chance of getting their early enough to capture some seats and enjoy the half day that lay ahead. On the train ride over there we met an Australian who told us about how the past 3 months he had been traveling from country to country in Europe, where he knew a relative or a friend that provided a place to stay and found him a job, and worked for a couple weeks at a time and then moved on to another country. He brought little money with him, so everything he spent was earned from his random odd jobs such as working in a vineyard in Italy and at some summer camp in France. He had no timeline for his return or any real itinerary for his next move. The most impressive part of the whole story was his age, 18. Didn’t know what he wanted to do with his life and he didn’t want to waste time or money at a university, so he packed up and left. Crazy.

We went to Haufbrau, arriving around 730 in the morning with a short line of a hundred or so people already waiting. The doors opened at 9 and the mad scramble ensued. This time we finally managed to come up on a bench to sit at, success never felt so good. We happened to be sitting with a massive group of Kiwi’s from New Zealand and Australia we provided us with the entertainment for the few hours we were there. 3 steins and a soup later, with Henry joining us around 11 or so, we decided it was time to leave to make it to our flight, which we thought was at 330 (“thought” is used to provoke foreshadowing). We didn’t go straight to the train station though, making some pit stops at the lost and found (Henry’s jacket) and of course we got lost. After finally making it there, getting on the train and heading to the airport, we go to check in counter on to find out our flight was actually at 305, and it was 250. Fuck. We tried to get them to let us through, but rules are rules, 40 minutes early or no go. If only the flight was really at 330. So we went to the ticket counter to ask about rebooking. The next free flight was Tuesday afternoon, but if we paid an extra 250 euro, they would put us on the 4 o clock flight. Since that was too expensive we said forget it and headed to the train booth to ask about times and tickets for a train ride. Monday evening and 150 euro a piece, so a little less expensive, but either way we’d be back on Tuesday. Forgoing that option we headed back up to the airline and asked them to rebook us for Tuesday. We would just stay in Munich for another two night and enjoy the nightlife sans Oktoberfest. On the way to the train which would take us back to the city center we walked by the row of Rental Car places, with the usual; Avis, Hertz, Budget and so on. We said, why not try and ask. But once again we were shut down, as no company had an Italian car (if we drove a German car one way it would be an extra 600 euro for transfer fees) along with the fact you had to be 25 to rent. But wait. Europcar. Rules are always different when dealing with Europe. The age limit was 19 and yes, they had an Italian car. How much? 25 euro a piece not including gas and highway fees. We found it, our way home. A stick shift, but Henry was more than comfortable handling that. And we knew the trip was less than 11 hours, as 11 hours is how long it takes the bus to make it home. We’d be home by 5 in the morning no problem! We bought a map and were on our way. The parking lot was full of beautiful rental cars from BMW to Mercedes to Alfa Romeo. We thought this won’t be too bad after. Then we saw her. The Fiat. Squeezed car with a max speed we would learn to be around 85 mph, but at least we had our way home. Along the way we drove on The Autobahn, through the Alps, Austria and into Italy. Nothing but beauty for the first few hours. We had been making great time, never really getting lost and driving at a comfortable speed. Then we reached Tuscany, and one wrong turn after another, one windy narrow street after another, one 40 kilometer sign after another, we realized this journey was far from over. We did happen to drive by the Ferrari manufacturing building, which we had planned on another trip later this month, but it was late and dark and we just drove around the outside streets. Henry, our driver for the past 7 hours or so had been fantasizing about this moment so it was nice to give him something to keep his eyes from closing. Around 4 in the morning Henry could go no longer and we stopped on the side of the road to take an hour nap. I had been sitting shotgun the whole time, and had yet to sleep either, while Matt and James enjoyed the back, occasionally getting some shut eye along the way. Once we made it out of Tuscany it was only a few hours to home. I finally decided I have to try and take the wheel as Henry was at the end of his energy tank. Although I stalled a couple times at one of the toll booths, I put in a solid hour of driving while Henry slept and he took over the driving as we made our approach to Rome. 10 in the morning. 3 pit stops, one nap break and 16 hours later we arrived at the airport to drop off the car. What a fucking trip. Now, as gruesome as I made it sound, Tuscany was actually beautiful, tons of sites for prime camping and a lot of beautiful little cities and homes scattered throughout the region. All that was left was a short train ride back.

I don’t know if I summed it up the best way I could, the weekend was a bit hazy for much of it, and sleep-deprivation definitely hindered the memory. All-in-all in was a wild, glorious adventure of a lifetime and I would recommend it to anyone who has any chance to try it.

Im feeling a bit sick today, Tuesday, and I’ll be taking this week pretty easy. Tarquinia group trip on Friday which includes a nice bike ride through the country side. And I was just informed that John Legend will be performing for free somewhere in Rome on Saturday. So Ill definitely be trying to make it there. Our internet at the apartment isn’t working and probably won’t be for a little while, so early apologies for any late responses to people.

Midterms next week. Not that Ill be stressing too hard with painting and management not having mid terms. Then Amsterdam next Wednesday to Sunday with Lindsay and some others. Need to be well rested for that one ; ).

Hope all is well for everyone at school. Absence does really make the heart grow fonder, I am missing you all.

Upset the Angels lost, Go Tampa Bay??

Ciao regazzi

Rejuvenating

2008-09-29T05:06:00.000-07:00

So its been a while since the last update. Not all too much has been going on besides the basic school stuff, finished my first painting, took another Italian test, went to a national library/museum with my music class, and kicked it with my Organizational Behavior teacher since apparently teaching is secondary on his priorities as a teacher (which by the way I have no problem with, especially since he talks with us about real world shit anyways and I presume it to be more valuable then regurgitating facts and figures Ill forget to remember after the test).

My first painting was a still life, I have class today and hopefully Ill remember to take a picture of it so I can post it for you all to see. Its a decent piece of work, for my first piece of artist work, ever, I like what I did. The library we checked out was actually really nice and contained original works from people like John Locke, Galileo, and my boy Einstein. We focused on the first written pieces of music from the Medieval era which was still rather interesting.

This weekend I went camping with a couple of friends from the program, some familiar names for those who have kept up, Tracy and James, along with Mike Moore who I happen to enjoy the company of a lot more then I think Id enjoy the company of another Mike Moore we might know....We set out to a lake about an hour north of Rome. Our campground consisted of a nice little motorhome-ish type of deal. 2 bed rooms a kitchen, a dining room and 2 bathrooms. Pretty well kept. It also came with about 7 cats that were clearly malnourished, one mother and the rest recently born little kittens. We bought them some food and on Saturday we sat for about 2 hours and watched the play on the lawn in front of us, just wrestling with each other and just having a damn good time. We had a damn good time watching them, too.

As for our other adventures, we signed up for this gig knowing it was slow season at the campground. but to our astonishment, slow season actually meant no one is fucking here including the people who run restaurants and other basic shit near the campground. So everything we did had to be down in the city above the camp site. Now, the walk to the main city is only a 15 or so minute walk, but on our way back from shopping on friday afternoon
, we managed to find a detour that took over an hour of walking, aimlessly. Now, it wasnt all in vain. Along one of the roads we couldnt find on the map, or at least, couldnt understand which way it was going, we ran into Jerry. Jerry was an old, creepy looking man taking some stuff out of his beat up car on the side of the road. In his car was your typical black rain boots, black gloves, a gallon of gasoline and some extra pairs of shoes all in the truck, as he removes giant planks of wood from his car. Now, mother always said, dont talk to stranger, but daddy always said, if there is a random man on the side of the road, and you dont want to wander for another 2 hours with 2 bags of groceries in your hands ask the man for help. My dad is a pretty cool guy, so I did just that. After coming to the understanding we wouldnt understand each other(language barrier) He finally signaled for me and the rest of us to get in his car and he will take us where he thinks we need to go. After only seconds of loosely constructed debate amongst my fellow campers, we decided to hop on for the ride. We made some nice conversation with him, and he drove us a few minutes down the windy road and right to our campground. We offered a tip for his services but he refused.

The rest of the day was uneventful, until the evening when we ventured out to get some dinner and enjoy some alcohol. It was a cold dark night, and the entire strip along the lakeside was abandoned, one or two places open with a bunch of teens at one bar, but it didnt serve food and they told us we would have to go up to the city for dinner. So, with one flashlight, we braved up the dark road to the city. You may think 15 minutes is nothing to walk, but with no street lights on an empty street in a city you've never been to it was one of the more frightening experiences of our lives. We made it, but I swear that on the way up, I heard a soft voice say, "hello" while we were on the climb up the hill. No one else heard it, or believed me, but it messed with my mind for a while afterwards.

The rest of the weekend went by rather smoothly, nothing else really went down, but on Sunday, since we came home a night early due to the lack of entertainment, all the museums in Rome were free for this holiday. So the roommate and I went to the National Roman Museum, a 4 story building full of artwork, sculptures, busts, coin collections and other random artifacts collected over the history of Rome. Afterwards, a few of us were craving some football, and nachos. So we went to an Irish pub, Scholars, watched the jacksonville v houston game (One of my roommates is from Texas so it was a nice rivalry game. We ordered loaded nachos, six of them, one for each of us. Piled high with bacon, cheese, red and yellow peppers, jalapenos, beans and sides of salsa and guacamole. I know, very italian, but I'm allowed to reward myself for a month of pasta and pizza with an occasional treat from back home.

Now for the insane experience that occurred to me yesterday while coming back from class and right before Rosh Hashanah services (which by the way, took place in this gorgeous Temple, the only one a Pope has ever prayed in and the biggest one I have ever seen. It was orthodox, which made things a little difficult to follow, but nevertheless a nice experience to have done.).

I was going to unlock my door, disturbed by a crowd of students who were filming a movie and had been all day on the street. I decided to stand and watch for a minute. Thats when Gregorio came up to me and asked me if i would like to be in a movie. I immediately accepted and he went and got me a jacket to match the outfits of the other kids, dressed in plaid scarves and hoodies. He told me I would be running with the group away from a few cops that were chasing us and we would be running by this girl laying on the ground bleeding, and I was to bump her with my shoulder if she tried standing up as I passed by. They shot the scene a couple times before I decided I should ask what all this is about. This stunning Italian girl was standing next to me, and I began some conversation, random questions, until I asked her what we were filming. She informed me that it was a short film about the 2001 Peace Protests for Palestine. The irony sent a tickle up my spine, but a pleasant one. After I realized I was going to be late to the service, I informed them I would have to go, but Gregorio asked for my number and told me he would call me back if they need me for filming at their university on Thursday. I hope he calls.

Otherwise, thats been the gist of the last few days. Once again apologies for the late post, Johnny, its nice to know that you have been following along so intently.

Hope school is going well for everyone.

Happy New Year

Thursday = Oktoberfest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AS Roma

2008-09-19T06:52:00.000-07:00

So Tuesday night, about 20 of us from the API group went out to watch one of the soccer clubs from Rome play in a Champions League qualifying game against some Romanian counterpart. It was suppose to be an easy victory for the Roma squad, but either way we just wanted to watch some quality European Futbol. We all drank quite a bit before the game, then waited for a bus to take us from near our homes about 20 minutes to the outskirts of Rome where Stadio Olimpico resides. It was a mad rush to get in the stadium, and unbeknown to us, we could only enter at the gate which corresponded to our seats. After some confusion we finally found the right place, but my troubles were only beginning. After scanning my ticket I started walking towards the massive, metal turnstile that lets you in. I looked back to make sure the rest of my party had gotten past the ticket booth and as my head turned back to face the entrance, the metal bar smashed into my face with my nose taking a majority of the punishment. It skid off my nose and scratched my glasses right down the center of the lens. It took a few minutes of shaking off the daze that ensued before I even realized my glasses had been wounded. I could still see out of them but I constantly felt like a large piece of hair was dangling from my head and blocking my vision.

Side story - I set out on Thursday to get my glasses fixed. The first placed I stumbled upon told me they could only do the replacement of the lens by replacing both, at what he claimed was a fair price of 160 Euro. Now, I dont know how much that would normally cost back home, but the fact that him and his colleague spoke Italian to eachother before informing me how much it would cost led me to believe I wasnt getting the best deal out there. I told them Id consider and return, and thats when I headed off to the next place. This one was much more friendly, even made jokes about how silly I was for running into a metal bar. They kindly let me knwo they would only have to replace the broken lens, as well as give me a discount from the original price of 100 euro per lens (which might be a rip off on its own) of 30%. I was happy with 70. I just wanted to get it done. Then they said my final price would be 60 Euro. Though confused about the poor mathematics involved in this deal, I realized Italy isnt full of great finds when it comes to prices, so I immediately accepted. Ill be wearing contacts until Sunday when they will be ready for me.

back to the game. We all had seats spread out widely among one section, the corner section of the stadium. But after a couple minutes of deliberation, and realization that no one was occupying the first 15 rows, we all took advantage and made the first few rows our home. The stadium itself can seat about 80,000, but I dont think the attendance surpassed 20,000. Fortunately the great majority of the 20,000 were sitting in the sections adjacent to us. The entire game they were singing and chanting in harmony, it was brilliant and beautiful. I wish more American sports had that kind of passion. Ive seen college games with a lot of enthusiasm but professional sports dont come close to the style of fanaticism European soccer provides. We scored the first goal around the 15th minute and were expecting the game to get better from there. To our dismay, the offense disappeared and we ended up losing 2-1. the fans began loud whistles and jeers and we took the opportunity to scamper out of the stadium and make our way through the massive crowds to the buses that would take us home.

the adventures for the night werent over. After walking back towards the apartments that house the majority of the API kids to gather some of my belongings as well as my roommates, we tried to catch a bus that would take us back to our home, about a 15 minute bus ride. A police officer came up to us, we were with two girls that are roommates with Lindsay, and she told us that because of a fallen tree the bus route was not operating and we would have to hop on the bus that heads in the opposite direction and wait for it to loop back around and head in a different route home. We heeded her advice and waited for the night bus to pick us up. This bus, took us, to the end of the city, in the opposite direction. Stopped. and told us to get off and wait on the other side for a returning bus. wtf. Then, rather than walking around the bushes dividing the streets, I attempted to jump over them. Though i made it over the top of the bush, my leg landed comfortably on a wooden fence that was blocked from view on my side. ridiculous. We waited about 15 minutes for a bus to finally come and then headed home.

Long long adventurous night. Another game to come though, hopefully against Chelsea, should be crazy.

Toured around Rome today in the rain. Pictures will describe that journey.

Pope's summer vacation town tomorrow.

Appreciation

2008-09-18T04:45:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I grow a fond appreciation of rush hour traffic back home. For years I had thought to myself, why are the freeways always so packed, everyday at the same time. I mean sure its cause we all work 9-5 and work in the same area, live in the same area, but with all the measures they have made to curb the jams, it only seems to be getting worse.

Then I got to Rome, and yes, they too have rush hour traffic, the early mornings and the late afternoons are bustling with cars, motorcycles and buses that treat the road like their personal playground, as if no one else occupied the same cobblestone street they are on. But they also have something else, and that is traffic at all times of the day. I was heading to class at 10 am, taking one of my many routes on the buses to get to the tram that drops me off mere footsteps from the building in which I have class. Thats when I noticed all the buses were jam packed with people. The streets were covered in cyclists and cars and it took 20 minutes to travel a distance that is typically covered in about 2. I look at everyone on the bus, and their nonchalant attitudes perplexed me. Do these people not have anywhere to be at 10 30 in the morning. They already break for Riposo(ciesta in Spain, a nap time if you will) between 1 and 3:30, so when if at all, do these people get business done. I had to calm myself down and realize being late to class is such a petty issue to concernmyself with, but the greater picture remained...do Romans simply work when they please and leave progression to the rest of the world to take care of. Or, are they are gypsies, and mysteriously get work done while traveling about the city.

I mean not to offend the Romans, and i am sure it is just a cultural misunderstanding that I hope to educate myself on by the end of my stay. But one month in and my head still spins, oh what a city, damn what a pity.

Sorrento and Such

2008-09-16T03:44:00.000-07:00

So its been a little while since the last post, its been a bit hectic, lots of random stuff going on.

This weekend was our API trip to Sorrento and Capri, with stops at Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. It began at 9 in the morning on Friday, with a four hour bus ride down to one of the most famous volcanoes in the world. We arrived under somewhat suspect weather conditions. the sky was hazy and vicious clouds seemed to be forming in the distance. The hike itself was short and sweet. We got to the crater and boy is it just enormous. it doesnt seem as threatening as I had always heard about, and though it is an "active" volcano, it seemed to be in a pleasant state of hibernation. The view from the top was disrupted by the low hanging clouds and possible smog but we enjoyed our view nonetheless and dabbled on the edge of the crater's mouth. After our brief stay there, we headed an hour further south to Sorrento.

A small quaint town, touristy like the rest of them but special in its own way. High cliffs and gorgeous views spread throughout the city. We were treated to a free dinner at a lovely restaurant that served up a few delicious courses of Sorrento cuisine. The rest of the night was ours, and after some deliberation on what to do for the night, we all split up for a while to consume alcohol in the streets while enjoying a couple street performers (pictures in facebook), then headed to the local Karaoke bar, kindly labeled "American Karaoke" for our comfort, and their wallets. We sang our favorite American tunes all night long while dancing the night away...sweating profusely and losing our voices. Jamie Courtney and I were going to sing Thriller, but the jackasses at the bar skipped over our song and we never had a chance to show off our spectacular vocals.... you can all imagine how upset I was at the lost chance to sing in front of 50+ people...

We awoke the next morning to a simple breakfast and a thunder storm. We were set to take a HYDROFOIL over to Capri Island and while waiting in line to board the rain poured on our mostly poorly prepared crew of students, dressed for a warm day on the beach. Once we arrived, and Henry relieved himself of his sea sickness, the rain went away and the sun came out to play. but to our dismay, the Blue Grotto, a highlight for all tourist in the area to see, was closed for the day due to high water levels and choppy conditions. instead we walked around the city, ate some tasty lunch at what else, a pizza restaurant, then walked to the other side of the island down an old Roman alleyway with breath taking sights to witness. Slowly the group began to dissipate, Rahul and I set off on a magical scooter ride across the island. For 15 euro for 2 hours, with Rahul as the captain of our vehicle(the renter pleaded with him not to let me ride as only experience riders were suggested, Rahul has been riding motorcycles back home for quite a while, while repeatedly telling us how dangerous it is to ride around with the locals((narrow roads crazy driver))) we set off to the highest point on the Island.

Sorry about how confusing that sentence was, but I love run on sentences.

After 2 hours of riding around enjoying the sights and sounds, we returned to the group who was at the beach chillin on the rocks. Shortly there after we set sail back to Sorrento where we laid low for the night. A small dinner with a few people at a restaurant with probably the rudest waiter I have had since I got to Italy. Later that night we went to an English pub and enjoyed a few glasses on their specialty alcoholic cider. The next morning was another early start, and off to Pompeii we went...

Pompeii is an insane place. massive in size and so well preserved. We didnt get to venture around the area too much, but the highlight was definitely walking down the "Red light District" of the city. An area where prostitution reigns, and the best of paintings were preserved. Over each room was a painting of the girl's specialty who occupied the room. the specialties consisted of missionary, doggy style and various other positions. I have pictures which will be going up shortly that you all can enjoy along with a few pictures of random penises that were plastered on the street walls. It is insane how smart and intricate this people were for created this amazing city over 2000 years ago. And how absolutely depressing it is that something they merely thought was a giant mountain could destroy everything they had accomplished.

Then, after about an hour of free time, and 7 shots of lemoncello later, we embarked on our 4 hour journey home to Rome.

That was all for the weekend. more to come soon about week- up dates.

Staying in Rome this weekend, going to be relaxing and recuperating since i have been feeling a bit ill, but hopefully that will pass soon enough.

and whats been happening to my Jaguars...and those Bruins...atleast the Angels are giving me some lovin.

Miss you all, Keep in touch with some updates about yourselves.

We took the midnight train going....

2008-09-08T03:18:00.000-07:00

What a spectacular weekend. Cinque Terre lived up to every expectation and many more were surpassed, as well as dismally realized. We'll start from the beginning since that usually makes the most sense.

11:58 train ride from Termini station to La Spezia, arriving at 4:14 am. The 6 of us; the roommate James, Henry from Connecticut, Tracy from New York, Emily from Massachusetts, and as some of you may be familiar with, Zach from Villa Park, hopped on the train with no inclination of the odor and horror we were about to encounter. Besides the train being seemingly overbooked and under sanitized, we were all under the suspicion that the people who were already on the train had been on there for what could have been weeks, without cracking a window or showering their moldy bodies. the stench was horrendous, and with no open cabins (rooms with 6 chairs, about 10 per car) we were forced to situated ourselves in the hallways, with basically standing room only. We did the only thing foreigners in a sticky situation knew how to do, drank. We popped open a bottle of rum and began what appeared to be a long and arduous journey. We soon realized we had English counterparts, Shane Watson and his tired friend Dan, who felt the same dismay we did and we politely shared our beverages. We mingled and drank for the remainder of the trip, with Henry passing out on the luggage racks above the hallway(about 1 foot wide, metal bars meant for duffel bags and carry-ons). We arrived in La Spezia and switched trains to make it to Monterosso Al Mare, the furtherest of the 5 Cinque Terre towns. At this point it was about 5 o clock and we found a beach that seemed peaceful and serene enough to lay our bags down and take a nap. I decided to take this opportunity to strip naked and jump into the Sea. Before I could take my first gasp of air after jumping in, my fellow journeymen and women were already scampering away as a security guard had shooed them off the premises(private beach). I slowly realized that I would need to quickly get dressed, stuff everything back into my bag, and drip my way back to the main road. After about 2 hours of walking around and waiting for the sun to arise, we had a nice little breakfast then proceeded to a public beach where we all, fully clothed in street clothes and absolutely worn out from the long night that had slipped away, passed the hell out into our own little dream worlds. Only to shortly be awoken (about 3 hours later) by locals and tourists who felt it necessary to photograph our napping. After the confusion wore off, we changed into our bathing suits and jumped into the sea.

Then came the treacherous hike to the next town, Vernazza, where we hoped to find a comfy place to rest our heads for the next night. The hour and thirty minute hike was a strenuous one with many rocky steps and steep and narrow pathways, engulfed by breath taking views of the coastline and clear waters. We made it into Vernazza and Zach and James went directly to the beach to wash away their sweat while Henry Emily Tracy and I went to look for a room. After a few unsuccessful attempts at contacting room renters, we ran into Egi. Egi could have been the shadiest, sketchiest looking Italian I had seen in my 2 weeks abroad by far, but after a few greetings and hellos, as well as a little bargaining by your author[me:)] we managed to pull out a beautiful room on the main road for 20 euro a night per person(everyone began their bargaining at 30, and Egi was the only one who was kind enough to compromise) under the condition we stayed for 2 nights. We decided it was well worth it and after putting our bags down we joined the two boys on the beach. Later that evening, us guys decided we would surprise our two ladies with a gorgeous reservation atop the highest restaurant in the city, directly on the cliff overlooking the Sea and facing the sunset over the nearest hillside. Truly spectacular.

We called it an early night and set off to bed with the plan of hiking across the next three towns on Saturday, and returning back before nightfall to our room in Vernazza, at Egi's palace. The hike from Vernazza to Corniglia was only 45 minutes but nevertheless a bit challenging, the sights and sounds were once again impressive beyond expectation and we even managed to make some friends on the trail. We met a couple from San Francisco who was also doing the 5 city tour, but that was only a small detour on their year long vacation which began in New Zealand and worked its way Westward through Southeast Asia Eastern Europe and will end up in Brazil in December. Quite the luxury to be able to take a year off work, and life, to adventure around the world and build such amazing memories. definitely made me contemplate a similar itinerary at some point in my life. Either way, we stopped in Corniglia for not too long as there was not much to see within the city itself. but there was a set of switchback stairs, ones that zig zag back and forth to make the steep climb a bit more bearable. it probably included 30 or so switches, which was nice and easy on the way down, but not so much fun on the return trip.

after a short 25 minute walk to the next town, Manarola, we stopped and Tracy got some pizza to eat, we thought she got lost because it took her 30 minutes to find her way back, but it turned out she just waited 30 minutes for the pizza to cook. The next hike was another short one, lasting about the same time and also right along the coast, and it was called Via Del'Amore. There was one nice point where a nice bench was placed in front of the railing of a tunnel overlooking the Sea, and the entiure section of railing was covered in locks. Apparently couples are suppose to leave locks there to symbolize them locking their love to each other, then stop for a photo-op on the bench. Once at the last town, we headed to their beach(aka big marble rocks jeti-ing into the water) Henry and I wanted to do some kayaking, but I guess 80 degree weather with minimal winds and no clouds is a warrant for unsafe conditions, and they would not rent us a kayak. :(. this town was called Riomaggiore, and the 4 guys shared a large pizza, just cheese, which might have actually been the most american, and therefore most unsatisfying pizza of my trip thus far.

Zach and James took a ferry back to our town of Vernazza, Tracy and Emily walked back the same trail, and Henry and I aimlessly and unsuccessfully looked for a more exciting path to take home. All roads were either closed or the stupid bus system which is suppose to get you to the top of the mountain for the extended hike was either not operating or the towns are full of lazy liars who did not want us to make the trip and we also ended up taking the same trail back home.
our last night consisted of some light drinking by the Sea, the guys stripping naked and jumping off one of he ledges into the water, with mine stunt ending in a terrible headache as my front flip went half a turn too far and my face was the first to separate the water molecules of the Sea, and finally a game of musical beds with everyone moving around throughout the night to find the most comfortable and cool location.

We woke up a little later than initially planned, clean up our terrible mess, which consisted of Zach dropping a half full bottle of Rum and pounds of sand everywhere. We headed back to La Spezia where we feasted on the most expensive and least filling Mcdonalds I have every been to. Which by the way, I have calculated a formula for why Americans are obese and Europeans are skinny.

50% more expensive + 50% less food = Every fucking meal. but maybe pizza and gelato.

We then took a train to Pisa to visit our buddy, the leaning tower. besides the nothingness that Pisa encompasses, the leaning tower wasnt quite as impressive as I had been imagining all my years. It must be much greater than I can fathom as thousands flock every day to take the same picture, we all know it, in a place where this is the ONLY tourist attraction. Maybe im just not that understanding of greatness...Oh well...

after our last 3 hour train ride we arrived back in Rome, tired hungry and ready for our next weekend at the Almalfi Coast with the rest of our API gang.

on a side note, Cinque Terre is mildly populated by city dwellers and everyone you meet is a tourist, but the nice thing is the tourists are from every part of the world which is quite a nice experience to have, walking down a trail and hearing about 7 different languages.

all in all, fabulous weekend with beautiful memories, and the craziest thing is im coming back to Rome. which has been mind blowing on it own.

Pictures should be up soon, you all know how lazy I can get...

I also probably forgot to mention a few things here and there, if anything ground breaking is re-inserted to my memory I shall update immediately.

talk to you all soon!!!

Ciao!

Change of schedule

2008-09-04T05:06:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to update you all on my change of schedule. I am no longer taking Moles Spies and Terrorists. I have decided to go for a more liberal approach to this experience and pick up Beginning Painting. I have to do 5 paintings for my grade with no tests or quizzes or papers. One landscape, one interior, one still life, one portrait and im not sure aboutt he other but ill figure that out. As most of you know I am terrible with anything artistic, but with music and painting as my focuses this semester, I hope to return a more cultured, educated and artistic person. lol. We'll see how this goes.

First day of school

2008-09-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

So the first day of school was today, 4 classes and a repeat on wednesday.

We'll start with Italian. The teacher refuses to speak English which made sense once i got over the initial fear that I wouldnt understand a word he said. He does a good job motioning what he is saying, so ultimately it will improve my conversational abilities. He gave out more homework one the first day then a majority of my general ed classes at UCI.

Next came Introduction to Music. quiz on the first day to see hwo well we knew how to distinguish different kinds of music throughout the 1500's to today. Out of 7 examples, with time period, region and types of instruments used, i got possibly 3 of 21 right. Pathetic, i know, but I think this class will actually be useful and beneficial to my culture understanding of music.

After a nice 2 hour break, which included a stop at a pizzeria, i began my third class, Moles Spies and Terrorists

Initially this was suppose to be the kick it and chill class. The one where we would here cool stories and do absolutely nothing. 8 pages of syllabus, 10 required readings and an additional 10 on reserve, a 15 page final paper and four 5 page reviews later i realized, I was right. kick it and chill. My 15 page paper will most likely be on the Israeli CIA and their covert mission to revenge the deaths of their Olympians, so its not going to be as bad as it seemed.

The last class of the day was Organization behavior. And some of you might know this man, Joe Flaggliano(terrible spelling) but he went to servite, friends with Ian and Ray and them, he is in our mini group, just thought it was interesting. Our teacher is way chill and told us there was no class wednesday. he didnt pass out a syllabus or give us any books to buy. really liked this guy.

Thats day one, ill update soon enough. Public transportation has been chill. I had my first full nights sleep last night. No class tomorrrow. Might venture around the city and try to get some pictures in.

In touch

one week in

2008-08-31T07:36:00.000-07:00

So its one week into my Italian adventure, and it is starting to hit me that Ill be gone from home for another 15 weeks. Not that I dont think the time will fly by and ill be keeping busy, but the comforts of home are definitely beginning to be missed.

The last few days have been pretty relaxed, just been going around the main parts of the city, getting used to the sights and sounds, figuring out the public transportation and hanging out with the newly made friends from the group. I did another one of those pub crawls i think i mentioned in the first post, but this one was completed in full. In the second bar we went to, a friend got a mixed drink with a twist...the mix was every type of alcohol the bar offered, a rather disgusting yet potent beverage but interesting nonetheless so i thought id share. The last place we stopped at was a club on top of a hill, half outdoor half indoor. Mostly american music, which so far ive realized the italians love to listen to (Kanye tracks bumping at a lot of the random stores along the streets in flee markets and what not). When it was all over we had no clue where the bus had taken us, and if it wasnt for my trusty Brazilian roommate with a keen sense of direction, we might not have ever made it home. Thankfully we did and the night was a great success.

I made it down to the beach yesterday, interesting experience to say the least. Small, crowded ass beaches with minimal sand and maximum capacity. beautiful nonetheless and somewhat warm, refreshing waters to swim in. Little italian boys approached me while i was dabbling in the water and began speaking Italian to me, all the while acknowledging I am an American who cant speak their language. I wasnt sure how the interaction went(and i guess in Italy it isnt taught that you dont speak to strangers as a kid) but by the end he asked me for a cinque while extending his arm with a open palm. High five kid, you got it. though he might have been asking for money... oh well. It was also pleasant to see that some italian women dont mind being topless in a packed beach, but no complaints from here, just wish america adapted some friendly qualities from the Italians :).

We took the train there and back, quite nice and easy to get around with and the night concluded with an amazing Italian dinner cooked by some of the ladies in our group, with the guys electing to do the dishes in return. Parmesan Chicken, 2 types of pasta with garlic string beans and garlic bread along with a tomato and mozzarella salad, spinach cutlette champagne and wine. My first GOOD meal of the entire trip, and after splitting costs it was only 5 euro. lovely.

School begins tomorrow, with Intro to Italian first on the menu at 830 am. 715 wake up to ensure i get there on time.

havent been sleeping well at all so it should be a problem waking up, but nevertheless itll be a quiet night. I just want to muggy heat to go away and sleep will finally be plausible.

Its looking like the angels might be playing boston first round, in which case itll be 25 on 1, but ill stand strong and support the troops and hopefully they will return the favor.

Over and out.

Rome. Day 3

2008-08-27T05:57:00.000-07:00

Hello to everyone back home.

It is the third day of my fantastic voyage and I have just moved into my apartment that Ill be staying in for the remainder of my trip. I havent taken all too many photos yet because I havent gotten quite situated yet. Amazingly, if I look out my room window, and to the left, I see the Roman Forum. If I step outside and walk 50 feet to my right, The Colosseum stares me down. Everywhere you walk is something beautiful and historical. for the most part people are really friendly, with the exception of all drivers, who have no regard for anyone but themselves. PDA also seems to be quite fashionable as everybody partakes in it.

From my API group, about 60 students, i believe 40 or so are from Mass. with many others joining them from the Northeast. My roommates surprisingly are quite diverse. I have a Brazilian roommate who goes to school in Ohio, one who is from New Jersey, A Texan, and a Massachusettian for good measure.

Its humid as hell over here, but within a month it should be getting cooler. School starts on Monday and so far we have just had some orientations and tours of the historical part of the city.
Last night our group went on a "pub crawl," you pay 20 euro and you bar hop throughout the night. The first bar in our crawl provided free pizza, 3 jagger bombs, and free drinks for an hour. After that we moved bars but I got separated from the group and ended up walking around with a newly acquired friend across Rome from the Pantheon to the Colosseum, across the Tiber River and down to the Vatican City. Incredible.

I hope to keep everyone updated asap, and ill be posting pictures once enough are taken.
I miss you all back home and hope all is well, and good luck to those starting school next week.

PS Sorry for the bland post with little detail, those should get better with practice writing a blog.
PSS. The cookie trip on the flight from Philly to Rome was one of the most unbelievably terrifying, yet spectacular adventures of my existence. Thank you Minh.

The finish line

2007-12-03T22:41:00.000-08:00

Religion and Politics

Americans want to learn about religion, it is a topic they are interested in above all else being covered in the media, well newspapers at least. Sadly though, as has been popular thought for a while, reader's are most dissatisfied with the type of coverage that the media is giving in regards to religion. One main issue they have with America is the mass amounts of coverage the Christian Right get, so what about the religious left?It seems like when an issue arises that involves people on that end of the spectrum, the story is turned around to make it seem like they are making radical, immoral decisions, such as Bill Clinton's support of homosexual rights. Another argument they made was that

"Meanwhile, Islam, with its emphasis on social justice and racial equality, has been caricatured as violent, irrational and bigoted."

Now I have a biased view on something like this, as I see the only reason there is positive coverage of Jews with Christians is because they have ulterior motives having to do with their savior. But I do agree that for the most part, Islam is considered as a bigoted and irrational people. My personal opinion is that for the most part, they are a passionate kind religious group, their portion of extremists tend to outnumber and outdo the extremists in any other religion. Along with the fact that they use violence as an everyday solution to problems. But in the end, the media does need to better itself when it comes to something so important as religion. Tensions are bad enough already and the media needs to get over its selfish greedy ways and stop making biased reports that pin one group against another. One day we'll learn, hopefully it won't be too late.

Another one bites the Dust

2007-12-03T22:26:00.001-08:00

A reoccurring theme in my blogs have been that religion is the fuel for the fire we know as war. I was in my International Studies class today and we were talking about 16th and 17th century European history. The specific time period was 1618-1648, the 30 Years War. The one that lead to the treaty of Westphalia. Up until now I thought that war was stemmed from city-states constant struggle for boundary lines to their territories, and today I learned that it was actually the war fought between the Protestants and Catholics as they battled for religious supremacy in Europe. It was said that over a million people died in this war.

This just adds to the list of events that have transpired over the hundreds of civilized years in our world that stemmed from religious feuds and ruined the lives of millions and millions of families and friends. Back then it was between the Christians, now it is among the Muslims and Jews. This one seems even more unlikely to end anytime soon, and the amount of lives that will be affected are seemingly infinite. The two biggest powers besides religion that can control people and bring order are politics(governments) and the media, who have done an amazing job persuading public opinion. We'll see who learns first, or better yet, who cares first.

Perfect Fit

2007-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

Good timing

The basis of this class is to reveal the role that the media and religion play in the field of politics in the United States; this article broadens the argument and gives some insight to how the world reacts to a similar concept. While the Muslims feel that the world is blaming religion for many of the major crisis going on today, they feel that it is actually the media that incites the majority of problems by trying to pin on religion against another in attempt to increase interest in their product. The pointed out many examples of times where the media immediately pointed their finger at a group after a serious crime, such as the Oklahoma City bombings, a crime committed by an anti-US militia group. Now, I see where these leaders are coming from, it doesn't take too much work to realize the media loves to spark tensions between people because it is the easiest way to expand viewership. The issue I have with this claim though, is that it is trying to eradicate blame from the religious aspect, an aspect that I feel truly has caused a majority of the world's biggest debacles. I do not think there will ever be a day when the media reports fairly, because it would just not be an interesting and eye-catching. But again, I do not feel it is the media to blame here. It is not their fault the so many people flock to this type of news like quarantine patients to their cure. Until the American public, and the rest of the world can lose their arousal with the out-of-the-ordinary and be more in tune with reality, the media will continue to dominant opinion and sway their audience with biased stories created to cause controversy.

Teddy Bear Trial

2007-12-03T14:31:00.000-08:00

Another Waste of Time

Hard to get off a topic that is so easy to discuss. Another sad story of close-mindedness and hypocrisy fueled by ignorance and an innocent mistake. As Prime Minister of Britain, Gordon Brown, phrased it, "common sense has prevailed." Now, if I were a Muslim hard-liner, this is a statement that would upset me more than the use of my prophet's name (also the most commonly used name in the world) to name a teddy bear for a class project. Though Brown's statement probably won't be taken out of context, in my eyes, he is claiming her release, against Muslim law, is logically the right thing to do. The other side of that pillow is that putting her in jail to begin with was illogical and irrational. Either way, the confusing thing for me are rules such as death by martyr can land a suicide bomber 70 virgins and honor to the family, but simply naming a teddy bear, in a elementary classroom can be "punished with up to 40 lashes, six months in prison and a fine." Really now? Not only do I not see the logic in this law, but I do not understand what kind of people could justify still enforcing it in today's time. Maybe I'm the ignorant one who doesn't understand how much pride and respect Islam has for their holy Prophet, or maybe I do not realize what true devotion. When it comes down to it, something like this should not cause this much outcry, it should not be headline news across the world, but because of the world-wide respect we have for a people destined to death, we have to deal with stupid situations like this.

Hypocrisy

2007-12-03T00:49:00.000-08:00

I've been looking for something like this for a little while now. Good image to tell the story that I have been trying to tell, along with Rabbi Miller's point in showing us the Arabic cartoons. Hypocrisy dominates the world, it dominates religion, it dominates politics, and it dominates the media. It's every where, and it doesn't need to be. One of my biggest beefs with religion now-a-day is the lack of logic involved, especially when comparing one religion to another. If you are going to have belief in a higher being, and have belief in a specific story that has been past down for centuries, and there is no way to tangibly prove these stories to be true, then who are you to criticize the beliefs of another person who believes something different. Furthermore, who are you to use the rules and guidelines you follow to judge people by the same standards. This is why logic is more useless as a tool to judge and create laws and standards. The media needs to start equally representing the various religious views, and with similar bias to all of them. If one is going to be condemned and looked down upon, the others should be held to similar standards regardless of how many people are involved or what the big shots in politics believe.

Passed on Peace

2007-12-02T23:06:00.000-08:00

Story

In the midst of talks about the Israel-Palestinian conflict in school, the Annapolis Peace convention created by George Bush was taking place trying to see is there was going to be in progress in the near future between the Israel and its bitter counterpart. Ehud Olmert not surprisingly denied the United States request to set a deadline for peace. Now, initial opinion on this may make Olmert seem pompous and arrogant to deny such an amiable request with several nations attending the conference, but a second look should help identify the reason why Olmert would be wary of such a promise. First off, the government in Gaza, Hamas, is not the most trustworthy entity in the world, nor have they kept any previous promises of ceases of violent attacks. Secondly, many citizens of Israel are sick of weakness and frailty in their government, who regularly give back prisoners and land in exchange for a false sense of peace and security. But, in attempts to show that Israel does want to make progress to Abbas, leader of the Gaza lead government, Olmert issued the release of 429 prisoners. If I were in this position, I would probably make the same move, you have to be crazy to think a deadline will be kept, especially with the history of both parties involved. But I do believe that it is necessary to show the other side that you are willing to comprise (even though many attempts are made every year. Either way, I do not believe one year is a reasonable deadline because I do not think that this generation will be able to solve the conflict.

Part II

2007-12-02T19:37:00.000-08:00

So the next point I'd like to make is on the cartoons that Rabbi Miller showed us in class. Just wanted to comment on the irony of not only the Arab/Muslim people and their unjustified riots of political cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, but also the hypocrisy worldwide of people who thought it was offensive and inappropriate. It just goes to show just how much sympathy there is towards a certain group of people when ultimately there is little known about the subject as a whole. And the subject here is the constant conflict between Jews and Muslims. I think because of the ample financial support from America to Israel (the media plays a big role in this), the public perceives Israel to be a selfish people who just want more and more while the Palestinians are the underdogs who are left out. The reality is, per capita, Palestinians are the most financially aided group in the world. So it comes back to the cartoons, it is clear the Arabic world has a strong bias towards the Jews, and their radically uneducated population can understand pictures hundreds of times better than they can a story written in words. Are they excused then, are they given some leeway because this is the best they can do? Why is it that these newspapers aren't criticized world-wide when in essence, the government is harboring negativity, hatred, and ultimately violence as it is seen as defense to try and kill the Jews who otherwise would "steal their money" "eat their children" or "try and take over the world"? At the same time, when Israel defends itself from terror with strict racial profiling policies, they are seen as racist and prejudice. The world isn't fair, we all know that, but when lives are at stake and violence ends up as the only answer, fairness should be our primary concern.

Alan Dershowitz

2007-12-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

Thursday night I went to the Alan Dershowtiz seminar at UCI. He discussed a topic prominent in not only my religion, my culture, and my family, but the world as a whole. His main idea was his argument for a 2-state solution in the Middle East, but the topic I'd like to focus on is his comments about Jimmy Carter's pseudo-humanitarian efforts in Israel occupied territories. He feels that Carter not only mis-prioritizes the regions that he spends his efforts on, considering the dyer circumstances in many nations in Africa as well as inhumane treatment of civilians on several Arabic countries. Carter believes that all of the problems in Gaza stem from poor Israeli policies and purposeful attempt of the Israeli people to keep the Palestinians down. This goes on with a long-line of traditional Muslim ideology that the Jews are trying to eliminate the helpless Palestinians. Now, Dershowitz claims that these accusations are not only incorrect, but assists in perpetuating the stereotype that Israel is the criminal in a undefendable scenario. Examples such as honor killings of women who have been raped in order to maintain the honor of the family, and greed by the leaders of the occupied territories like Yassar Arafat are true reasons for why these areas are still in dense poverty and are in no condition to emerge as a industrialized region. So the point I'd like to make is that if people like Jimmy Carter manipulate the media and emphasize all the critiques of Israel and completely negate all the positives and trials that Israel has had to go through, then it should come to no surprise that world-wide there is little support for a nation that 60 years later is still fighting for their existence.

Grass is Greener on the Other Side

2007-11-29T15:26:00.000-08:00

I find it interesting that Olmert thinks that a two-state solution is the only option for Israel in order to continue to exist as a civilized sovereign nation. It seems to me that if a two-state solution is reached, too many Palestinians who wish to eliminate Israel all together. As much as the two-state idea sounds like an ideal one, it would be allowing too much growth and power from the Palestinians who as I have discussed already also want more than what they are given. Especially with Iran on their back, a country that hopes to have Israel wiped off the map in the near future. One can only imagine that if the Arab nations had the chance to suffocate Israel they would jump at the opportunity. I'm not saying that Israel should take things into their own hands and eliminate the Palestinians, but I do not know if splitting the land 50/50 is really in Israel's best interest. The Jews have no where else to call home, where as the Palestinians have no real ties except that they were there first, and if we went by who had which land first, the Native Americans would be the ones regulating American casinos on reservations. There is no easy solution, nor is there one that will please all parties involved, but considering what Israel has had to go through to get to where they are today, I think it should be on the Arabic nations surrounding Israel to take in the refugees when they were the ones who attacked Israel to begin with.

Two-sided solution

Would you like a side of fries with that land?

2007-11-29T15:00:00.001-08:00

So maybe this isn't exactly how it is going, but the Middle East Crisis does follow a similar pattern. It usually does not go as peaceful as this and the smile on the Palestinian's face probably does not come this easy, but in the end it is the Israelis who are losing out on what is rightfully theirs. Asides from the fact that the many Arab nations surrounding Israel already dislike Jews and see them as public enemy number 1, they feel like the land east of the Mediterranean should belong to the Palestinians. Last I checked war is the ultimate decider of who maintains or receives land, and I do not believe Israel has lost any wars since their birth, yet they are threatened constantly to give back the land. And for some reason or other (I mean, it's for peace, but we have seen how that turns out), Israel tends to always give back land that it rightfully won, and then some. Not surprisingly, every time they do give back a piece, the Palestinians want a little more, and then some more, and even more. At a certain point Israel needs to just put its foot down and stop giving in to terrorist threats. I am fine with a peace agreement, but it has to be concrete, not something that Hamas will eventually decide isn't enough and bomb some random shopping mall. Clearly someone needs to back down, and after fighting several wars against several nations, I think Israel has earned the right to stay put.

Waffle House

2007-11-29T13:13:00.000-08:00

Funny little cartoon, I like it more that it does not focus on his religion, but on the real problem with his candidacy, constant flip -flopping. In an election where minorities are the majority of candidates, and where the microscope has never been so deliberate on the attributes of those running, I think it is really important to keep the attention on the type of politician a man, or woman is, rather than the type of beliefs or physical characteristics of the person. In the beginning, after reading the series of Mitt Romney from the class website, I actually grew quite fond of him. He does not share all the same political beliefs that I do, but I liked his business acumen and his determination to overcome tough odds, such as the 2002 Winter Olympic games, and running for Governor of Massachusetts, a state dominated by Liberal ideology. Then came the stories of his reluctance to answer questions about his religion, which even though I discourage the idea of that serving any importance, I do not belief he should run from the critics, as well as his inability to stick with one side. I understand he has a struggle right now to maintain votes and he wants to please as many people as possible before the primaries, but I do not think that changing your mind whenever someone new asks you a question is any better than sticking with one choice regardless of who agrees. At least the media was able to take some of the pressure off Mitt in regards to his religion, but Mitt is on his own with this latest obstacle.

GOP debate

2007-11-29T01:22:00.000-08:00

A third party candidate from the Christian Right if Rudy Guiliani wins the primaries, seems like a rational way to solve a problem, if you cant beat 'em, get someone else who might be able to. If a scenario like this were to play out during the elections, the Christian Right will get their way and Guiliani would lose, but ultimately, they would lose as well as a Democrat would undoubtedly take the Oval Office. Now, I don't know exactly what goes through their heads when they make rash decisions like this, but it seems to me more beneficial to take your losses and still try and back Rudy as opposed to having Clinton or Obama, which would disgust the Religious Right with every move they would make. I can't blame them for trying to put pressure on the Republican Party to find another candidate that better suits their needs..err, wants, but at a certain point acceptance that the government does not work like Burger King, and you can't always have everything your way. Sadly though, these people hold so much power and backing, that these threats could potentially made a difference, but hopefully rationality will prevail and if Guiliani makes it to the national polls, he won't be blindsided by a futile candidacy from a third party Southern Baptist.

Christopher Hitchens attacks Falwell...

2007-11-29T00:30:00.000-08:00

...and for good reason.

Jerry Falwell, and people just like him seemed to be a big portion of this class, and similar to Lobdell's view, or at least what I have been able to take out from his lectures on how he feels about these kind of people, Christopher Hitchens also despises the man and everything he stands for. I do not blame him either, and every point he makes is right on target with the truth. Although I have to give Falwell props for attracting so many innocent victims to his cause, I do think that ultimately followings like the one he created, along with those of the Crouch's and Robertson and so on have a negative effect on politics and on the publics' lives. They used the media to manipulate the public through the use of religion which ultimately had an enormous effect on politics. Prime examples of why we have a class like this, to learn from what these blood-suckers did and ensure it does not happen to our generation.

Iran v. Ahmadinejag

2007-11-28T23:32:00.000-08:00

And the news story

I had no idea something like this was going on, and I couldn't be happier to know the people of Iran have taken the time to create something so meaningful and provocative in a place lead by a man full of hatred and denial towards the Jewish people. Being Jewish myself and knowing about how Ahmadinejad feels towards my people, it is refreshing to know that something is being down to ensure that a stereotype isn't created throughout Iranian society. I have not had a chance to watch any, but I got Part 1 of the series from youtube in case anyone wanted to take a look. Hopefully, the nut-case President of Iran won't take any offensive actions against this, as he adamantly denies that the Holocaust was real, but was merely a myth created by the Western powers to justify giving Israel its land. The other interesting idea brought up in this article was the distinction made between Jews and Zionists. I myself do not personally like the people that consider themselves to the Orthodox Jews, but I do believe that the Jews should have a home, and whether or not it is Biblically written, or if it is Gods given land to the Israelites, the fact of the matter is Israel has face roughly 6 wars since their birth in 1948 and have given back enough land to expand its size 6 fold after each victory to ensure peace, and has gotten no respect in return from the surrounding Arabic nations.

Iran v. The World

2007-11-28T23:09:00.000-08:00

Iran won't budge

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blasted out on Wednesday that the United States efforts to calm the Middle East Crisis are futile, and that Israel will collapse in the near future. His main issue is with the Zionist perspective that they are entitled to Israel, when Ahmadinejad believes that the only reason they are in the position they are because of lies, corruption and violence. Nice. I hope no one takes this man seriously. A man who chooses his words wisely, yet does not understand how ridiculously hypocritical he sounds. First off, when it comes to violence, he is among the leaders in the world, when it comes to lies, there aren't many better at it, and when it comes to corruption, well his government is not the most respected and fair in the world. Secondly, who is this man to tell the world that peace will never come, that attempts to solve issues are in vain, and that lives need to be lost in order for a solution to arise. Even countries that typically side with Iran aren't please with the President's crude comments in favor of Israel being "wiped off" the map. It is sad that people like this exist in this world, and even more appalling that such a man could have such a powerful position for such a long time. Oh well, as long as he continues with threats and does not try to be the hero of the mislead Arab people, we should all be fine.

Truthful Lie

2007-11-28T22:59:00.000-08:00

Iraqi Reporter's questionable claim

An instance perhaps when the media tries to get back to the government that has treated them wrongly for so many years. This reporter claimed that 11 of his family members were slaughtered at the dinner table and Iraqi police did not intervene in the killings. The big issue is when his mom contacted another group of reporters and said that the family is fine and she is ashamed that her son would make such radical and false claims. The bodies have not been identified, and no one but the victimized reporter has verified the accusation. Now, we all know the regime in Iraq has been less than perfect, but I think this might be a time where we have to take the side of the big bad politicians and hope that something horrendous actions like this were merely false stories told by a crazy man with nothing to lose and everything to gain. But, he does live in one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in Baghdad so I guess anything is possible.

The Big Picture

2007-11-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

Disarray

This article makes the recent decline in religious politics seem like a damper on future elections, seems to deflate any hopes of Republican success in the next generation of politics; but maybe it's for the better in the long run. Instead of Republican candidates using God to try and persuade voters, they will stick strictly to the issues at hand and not bring in some intangible, external being into the mix. True, the Democrats might have the advantage in the upcoming election, but look at the mess George Bush got into by justifying his actions through the Bible. Halfway through the article the reporter cites a few young adults who feel embarrassed to have any association with their church because of the bad name politics have created for them. Leaving politics out of religion is the smartest move for church leaders who are finally beginning to catch on. Church is a place of worship, and everything else should be left at home; same goes for politics, someone can use their beliefs to shape their own opinions but they should not be imposed on those who not only do not follow the faith, but may not have any faith at all. This article tends to take an understanding, yet confused tone on the split between evangelicals in this election, and as long as they continue to not harbor any harsh criticism towards the division of religion and politics, the public might catch on as well. I understand it will never be possible to completely abandon one's religious faith when discusses the many political issues that may stem from religion, but making decisions that effect an entire nation should be done under different pretenses than words from a book that not everyone believes in.

Interesting

2007-11-28T01:21:00.001-08:00

I'm not as educated as I thought, cause this design does not make complete sense to me. I am a little lost on the Dark Ages and Fundamentalism sections but it humors me nonetheless. This was found from a forum on the biology of aging, something to do with God's plan for everyone. But this is something that would get a lot of attention if the media for some reason or another decided to air this but it would most likely spark intelligent conversation on the subject, so not all would be lost...

Religion, a cause or a scapegoat

2007-11-28T01:06:00.001-08:00

Now that religion is so deeply embedded into our culture, is it possible to ever go back to the days before religion. I mean, they did exist, so it isn't too unrealistic to think we can survive without it, but would it be de-volving ourselves to a less organized place in time or would it better us by not creating so much turmoil and conflict? Although I do not question the amazing things religion has brought to this world; passion, love, devotion and a sense of belonging to something greater, I do believe that tangibly, it has cost the world a much higher price. Conflict can be traced back long before Christianity came into the picture, but just since then there has been more death attributed to religion than any other cause (now I do not have evidence to back that up, but I do not think anyone could argue a more persistent killer of the innocent.) It is a shame to see that something that was brought to this world to help solve problems and bring people together, has been able to cause such hate and destruction on a global level.

Now, this forum tends to disprove my point a bit, but the arguments are somewhat intriguing, if you are bored take a look, maybe add your opinion

War, why?

Another Brick in the Wall

2007-11-28T01:03:00.000-08:00

Stones and Insults

You have to give the man props where props are due; he is a brave soul to put himself in such a gut-wrenchingly difficult position. To choose between loyalties to the ones who spill their hearts and soul, and the ones who wish to protect the innocent from being hurt.

“Imams like Mr. Shata — men who embrace American freedom and condemn the radicals they feel have tainted their faith — rarely make the news.”

The power of the media…America stands by what the media chooses to cover, and big hearts typically lose out to empty threats and police chases. What would you do in a situation so dyer? Would you confront the speculation about your religion in an attempt to appease the same people that will most likely stab you in the back if they feel necessary, or would you keep to yourself knowing you are not causing any harm but not break the stereotypes that society has placed on you?

On a side note, while reading the article I noticed the image they had on side of the article, one of a Muslim young adult smoking Hookah, with the caption reading, “Fadi Alkhatiba, 23, like other young Muslims, has embraced his Islamic identity more fully since 9/11.” Well, thank you for the enlightenment on true Islamic culture…

The Wall of insults is another example of what biased stereotypes can produce, rather than breaking down the barriers between us, we strengthen the wall that separates us, leaving less hope for a brighter future.

Mormons to the Rescue

2007-11-28T00:32:00.001-08:00

http://pewforum.org/events/?EventID=143

…A little insight into the Mormon faith, for two high ranking Elders who work with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

This could possibly answer some questions you may have had about Mormonism, but it comes down to how trustful you are when you know people are put in a situation where only one answer can really fit.

For me, though I respect their willingness to come out and be put in the hot seat to answer some political questions, I think it might take a little more than an interview with the Pew Forum to really curb the negative perception the public has on Mormonism.

I am satisfied though with the thoroughness of their answers, and they don’t seem to beat around the bush too much. They state their opinion, give a religious explanation and defend themselves pre-maturely against counter-arguments they know they will face. After reading the interview though, I can not say their justification for their political views is any different then those of another other denomination or faith, just like any other religion, God is the reasoning behind nearly every answer and whether I agree with it or not is irrelevant when I take into consideration that a majority of people got their political points of view from a similar place. Interesting though that those same people are the ones that would have the biggest problem with placing a Mormon in the Oval Office.

Convenient Truth?

2007-11-27T23:26:00.001-08:00

Some pretty basic information on American’s attitude towards two of the most heavily criticized and negatively approached religions in America. I did find it surprising that the perception of Islam has gotten worse since 2005, I figured that the years after 9/11 would increase tensions, but as the time past, wounds would heal and the heat would die down as people learned more, but I guess not. As for Mormonism, I do not think they allow themselves to be analyzed enough for anyone to gain a proper understanding of their views on religion. Ignorance is what brings about hatred and fear, so it seems counter productive to the Mormons cause if they do not allow us to divulge into their world, unless of course they would prefer we stay away and keep our opinions to ourselves.

The media plays a huge role in this though because it is through the mass media that a large proportion of citizens get their news and information from, and when the media chooses either not to focus on a certain religion, or never shed positive light on their beliefs, it causes a biased view among the people. Although the public should share some of the blame for not taking the time to educate themselves, in the modern, lazy world we live in, it is understandable why we shift our opinions on important issues based on the words of the reporters. It is to no surprise though that the largest demographic to have a negative view on Islam and Mormonism are the conservative right, typically the most devout Christians. So maybe instead of the media being put to blame, the focus should shift to the leaders of the Christian organizations, the ones who hold the most power and whose opinions are heard and respected throughout the congregations.

But when it comes down to it, I think that thinking for ourselves might be a better idea, assuming we take the time to learn and hear different perspectives it shouldn’t be such a terrible chore for us to take on, who knows, maybe we will end up making some new friends in the process.

Muslim in America

2007-11-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

Based on the Imam series from the New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/05/nyregion/05imam.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Sheik Reda Shata’s journey is quite a remarkable one, and it’s satisfying to see not only how much he has learned throughout his journey, but how much he appreciates that his opportunities have given him.

"America transformed me from a person of rigidity to flexibility, I went from a country where a sheik would speak and the people listened to one where the sheik talks and the people talk back."

It is amazing how people, biologically nearly identical, can vary so drastically in their views on the world and the way they are programmed to think. Some of us are stubborn and refuse to acknowledge the differences amongst cultures, but Mr. Shata understands that rules must be bent at times to accommodate the lifestyles of others. He realizes that the life he had back in Egypt can never be the same in America, so he has become flexible with his views and understanding of a different culture.

In this tense world filled with religious hostility and ignorance, seeing a person who can acclimate himself to a new world, all the while holding on to deeply rooted beliefs is an impressive yet sadly an endangered quality.

“A judge sentences. A doctor tries to remedy”

Unlike in many Islamic nations, Mr. Shata does not punish those who disobey or break the rules, because he realizes everyone is going to make mistakes. Instead, he carefully analyzes the situation and creates a solution rather than condemning the convicted. This is another aspect of his teachings that I find would be very helpful for many religions, not just Islam to adopt and assist in alleviating some of the negative perspectives on religion.

King of the Hill

2007-11-24T19:31:00.001-08:00

Couldn't draw it better myself. But, can you really blame them, with 15% of the electorate following the Religious Right, it seems only wise to befriend the people who could get you the necessary votes to win an election. And for the leaders of the Religious Right, it is also a wise move to support certain politicians, as the politicians ultimately hold the power to make decision that will effect how society is governed. It is interesting though that this cartoon makes it seem so one-sided, even though in reality it most likely is closer to this then the other way around. But since it the Christians that want the policy changes and desire the ideals of the Right to be reproduced throughout America, I wonder why the politicians allow them to control the power and how they are the ones that end up on their knees. But is it worth it for the politicians to rebel, and defend themselves. Churches can use the threat of excommunication, in which case the vast majority of any follower would most likely not vote for that candidate anymore, but in turn, he or she would earn the respect of people who are on the fence because of their bravery and sticking to their principles. It could also set a standard for other potential candidates who have slightly different beliefs then their church to have the confidence to stand against their church and speak what they truly believe rather than what they are told/asked to think and speak. If that idea doesn't work, it might be up to the voters themselves, to start thinking outside the box and try to show the candidates that they aren't interested in what the Catholics have to say, or the Protestants, but what the candidate themselves think is the best policy for our country.

The Double Standard of Sensitivity

2007-11-24T17:15:00.001-08:00

Although I have not been blessed with the opportunity to witness all too much of this in my life, it does exist, and not just with Christians, but with almost all groups of people across the spectrum of race, religion and political view. It seems like people have no problem trying to impose their beliefs on people who do not share the same view, but if those people in turn, criticize or disagree with any of the aggressors opinions they become offended and enraged. I have no problem with a healthy debate and exchange of opinions, but I do have a problem when someone blatantly disrespects another person simply because they have an opposing belief. We all are raised differently, in different environments and by different parents; so it seems nearly impossible that we would all share the same opinions. In the end, establishing the difference between who is right and what is wrong is not only implausible, but a waste of time.

Move-In Day

2007-11-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

Found it a little interesting. Regardless of whether religion is taking the place of ethics, I do believe that ethics have been displaced a little bit by both parties. It's extremely disappointing to see all the corruption in the government, but not all too surprising when you consider the monetary rewards in exchange for the unethical acts. but is even more saddening when the corruption is linked to religion.

Part 2

2007-11-24T16:41:00.000-08:00

...The missing piece? How about the Religious Right in America? What about those staunch conservatives like Ann Coulter, the late Jerry Farwell, and maybe even George Bush? Did Pat Robertson ever think about how his complaints about the Islamic religion being a façade for political domination by a group of radicals are could be juxtaposed to the ideals of the far right Christians of the US. Now, I understand that terrorism and suicide bombings aren’t scare tactics of these faith-filled politicians and preachers, but that does not change what the main goal they are trying to accomplish is. Both, in my mind, would love nothing more than for all the non-believers, all the homosexuals, all the Jews, and all those who fight against them to either conform and “find the light,” or simply just go to hell.

This is where the media serves as a clear advantage to the power-hungry religious and political leaders of the Christian Right. They spread their word through the radio, tv, and mail and use the power of persuasion through fear and the possibly of great riches to attract the naïve and helpless to join their cause.

I wonder why it is so easy to spread these radical beliefs across the nation through these media outlets, but so difficult to create a counter attack against the mega-churches who prey on the poor. Is there even a way to convince people that they are being led down the path to emptiness without offering them something tangible to please their needs.

Religion, a Worldly threat: 1

2007-11-24T16:24:00.000-08:00

Though Mr. Robertson’s ideas might be a bit exaggerated and possibly a little on the harsh side, I do have to agree some what wit the fact that Islam, though indeed a religion just like any other, is used in large part for political and social gain by Islamic leaders throughout the world. There should be no surprise that many if not most of the nations around the world under the rule of Islam have deeply routed political and social struggles that the citizens within those countries have little to no control over. Religion shifts from being a place people can go to when the feel lost, alone, scared, thankful, to a place people in power can use to abuse their position and kneel followers over in submission because of their deeply rooted faith. I do feel bad for the true religious Muslims, who have their name smeared by green-eyed politicians whose sole purpose for preaching the religion is for self-gain. This is my main argument for why religion needs to stay out of the political world, there is rarely an advantage that can be reaped by all parties involved, and the disadvantages are typically far worse and irreversible. But even with the case Pat Robertson is trying to make, there is something I believe he might be missing…

Final Inning

2007-11-14T23:14:00.000-08:00

“Politicians use God for their own profane purposes”

So maybe it isn’t that religion has a negative effect on politics, maybe it’s that manipulative people, who work their way to the top, are wise enough to understand they can use God’s name to their advantage. Maybe religion is only bad when it is the hand of the wrong, or the intelligent people. But can we blame them? Is it their fault for exploiting the naïve? Or the naïve for taking God’s name for granted?

It is tough to say with the inherent nature of mankind whether enough people would actually desire to do only what is for the greater good of their people instead of becoming corrupt like so many leaders in our worlds short history have proven to do. Even if people start as innocent and heavenly souls, it is unclear whether or not a massive surge in the amount of power over other people they could possess would cause a change of heart.

As to the question of whether one can give their life to their country without religion, Sharpton nails it when he says it does take a belief in something bigger. Nothing specific, and maybe not God himself, but I do agree that it is hard to allow yourself to put your life in the hands of something bigger than you are physically, and not have a belief that something intangible is also there to support you mentally.

Some more ball

2007-11-14T22:46:00.001-08:00

Why does religion keep popping back up in politics, why are the religious organizations so persistent in threatening politicians that excommunication will be the punishment for going against a view of the church in the political field?

Sharpton’s argument is somewhat convincing, stating that religious organizations do not want deviations of their beliefs, held by elected officials, making a bad reflection of the religion in the public’s eye. Although this may seem like a reasonable point, I see it negatively affecting the way politics are run. It creates a sense of power to the religions who dominate the political arena and allows for a clear disadvantage to the minorities who occupy a far less amount of seats and power in Washington and across the United States.

For me, this goes back to the idea that religion and politics will never find a way to stray away from each other. There is too much at stake, too much power involved, for any one or any group to let that opportunity pass by them, especially when someone else is likely to snatch it up.

Sadly, like the crisis in the Middle East, I do not see a solution to the problem, nor do I see any side making a valiant attempt at finding a way to compromise and look for a happy median.

Hardball, Soft bats

2007-11-14T22:18:00.000-08:00

So Christopher Hitchens is a bit of a radical and his beliefs contradict mine a bit in regards to religion, but regardless of how I feel, I have to give the man credit for making consistently great arguments and has decent evidence in defense of every question being thrown at him.

An interesting point I thought Hitchens made was that religion did not have a part in Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq. The Methodist and Catholic Church, along with many others, Hitchens says, did not support the war from the beginning, so it seems clear that religion did not give Bush the motivation to send troops over to the Middle East.

The next point is the question of whether everyone prays to one God, or a multitude of gods in respect to political leaders in different regions of the world. My personal belief is that there is one God, who has similar expectations and foundations for any believer regardless of faith. Sharpton thinks that although there is only one God, yet people receive misguided answers from different Gods. I’m not sure what that means, or if it makes any sense at all, but I understand the point he is trying to get at is that people might twist their idea of what story God has given them to gain the advantage they can for themselves and their people.

Sharpton’s comment on Mitt Romney’s candidacy being ended by people who truly believe in God because they will not vote for him is beyond hypocritical and his defense on Hardball is even more pathetic.

Scandals are so Convincing

2007-11-12T22:56:00.001-08:00

Yeah I know, it is a bit out-dated, but it related to the topic we discussed in class of Televangelists. The thing I find most saddening about this entire scandal, is the fact that it is not over. This video had to of been made in the early 90’s, and it seemed like a pretty big crisis back then, but for some reason the rush is back and people are once again flocking to these money-hungry churches. My question is not so much what is wrong with the system to allow these kinds of behaviors and actions to go through, but what are these “reverends” and entrepreneurs doing so right that is attracting such a big crowd?

I have to give the Bakker’s credit though, their apology did come out very sincere, and the tears of Tammy while being interviewed in regards to her husband’s blown cover are truly convincing, and her innocence when asked about her salary seems heart-warming; and it worked. I think what needs to be done is education to these poor areas that are being exploited. There needs to be a mediating group that can counter this televangelist revolution and stop the bleeding before it gets any worse. It is not a coincidence that the majority of people that associate themselves with these false religions are in the poorer income bracket. It’s not too hard to understand why these are the types of people being taken advantage of, and not the wealthy folks in Orange County, or the Businessmen and women in New York. And this isn’t to say that the religious views of the wealthy are any more accurate or concrete. But those who have more money, typically are able to be better educated and experience and hear more of what the world has to offer, rather than thinking they can send the remaining balance on their credit card in to God with promises of unbound fortune to follow.

"Bill Maher on Religion"

2007-11-12T22:04:00.001-08:00

The “rational minority” according to Bill Maher can potentially make a difference in the American political system, a system which thrives off of a religious background deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian beliefs. The question the Bill Maher raises is whether or not the American public will ever get over its religious ties to politics, and learn to leave the government and their personal religious beliefs separate. My only critique of this philosophy is that many of the mainstream issues circulating through the media and that are highly covered around any election time are issues that have answers strongly mixed with the religious views of the majority of Americans. It’ll be hard to stray away from the temptation of mixing faith and politics, especially when the public has made it clear that some sort of religious affiliation is a necessity for any would-be President (atheist being the least likely to get a vote from the American public).

What needs to be understood among the opposing religions when deciding whether or not a Presidential candidate’s religion will make a difference, is that every religion has its abstract on imaginative stories with somewhat unrealistic and scientifically unproven miracles, and we can not single out one religion’s stories and say that they are any different than our own. Although the world Bill Maher imagines seems like an ideal one, one where people don’t hold prejudices based on intangible beliefs and don’t base their political platforms from revelations from God, it seems highly unlikely and far-fetched to think that America will soon deviate from its deeply rooted religious history.

South Park

2007-11-12T20:50:00.000-08:00

South Park may not be the best symbol that America should emulate, but I do consider their point of view (Trey Stone and Matt Parker), to be a realistic and sensible way to calm the quarrels of the religiously sensitive. The video is an interview referencing the episode where the climax was supposed to be the revealing of the prophet Mohammed. Although there were originally planning on airing the scene, Comedy Central eventually folded and ordered them not to show his face.

But look at how Matt and Trey treat all the other entities they ridicule and satirize, Jesus is a somewhat important character who appears often in episodes, and rarely as a saint-like son of God. The devil also plays a decent sized role, and special guests have been Saddam and the leaders of the Church of Scientology. There seems to be no limit on whom they poke fun of, and even through all the criticism they receive, the show remains incredibly popular. I just find it hypocritical that exceptions have to be made in fear of retaliation, when they is no doubt that Muslim cartoonists and columnist also make jokes at the ideas and philosophies that they find radical and obscure.

America needs to take a page of Stone and Parker’s book, and learn to take things less seriously, especially when it is something that is harmless, something as child-like as a cartoon. I know certain things needs to be taking seriously and respectfully, and I understand that a major concern is the ignorance that can stem from false truths about a religion based on stereotypes, but ultimately we can learn from things like this by asking questions and doing the research ourselves.

No way out?

2007-11-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2005/0509.sullivan1.html

It’s tough to say what I would do if I were in Romney’s situation. If there was one huge issue I could change about the way Romney is going about this barrage of interviews criticizing his religion, is to be open and honest with more questions. I realize that he does not want his religion to make or break his candidacy, but at a certain point he has to understand that the scrutiny is not going to cease, not until he drops out, loses, or answers the questions. And since personally, I see him as a viable candidate with a legitimate shot of winning, I feel that he would be better suited in the long run to try and please the public’s curiosity. On the other hand, I think he has done a good job reiterating to reporters that he will make sure his religion stays out of his policy making. I would also prefer, though entirely unrealistic, that journalists and reporters focus more on other areas of his life, such as the success of the Winter Olympics in Utah, or his strong term as Governor of Massachusetts.

I believe there is a good reason why Mormonism is looked at as such a “weird” religion in the eyes of the public, even with their newly discovered religious tolerance. They are sheltered, hidden from the limelight that religious such as Catholicism, Judaism, and Muslims share. Although I’m sure they do not mind what their perception is outside of their community, Romney might want to reconsider keeping quiet about the ins and outs of his religion, especially if he wants to have success in the primaries, which are full of critical conservatives and opposing liberals.

Supreme Decision

2007-11-11T22:43:00.000-08:00

Link

Although I had not heard of this court decision, I am not surprised to see that the Supreme Court ruled the way it did. I can understand that they do not want the courts to be flooded with hundreds upon thousands of cases, most of which would probably be insignificant and too vague to make a decision, but I do agree with the opposition that this limits the separation of church and state amendment. When it comes down to it though, there are too many people out there that would sue the government for personal issues and try to contest things that they personally do not agree with, and seeing how deeply rooted religion can be in some people, even if they receive a ruling against them, the appeal process could end up causing an even larger back-up in the system. I am a personal believer in the clear separation of church and state, but experiencing the last five-ten years of my life, and watching how many ridiculously stupid cases have been brought to the courts, I would not want to deal with that as a judge either. I realize that this is something much more serious than McDonald’s coffee spilling on someone’s lap, but I also do not think religion is something concrete enough to be brought to court on a consistent basis and from many different angles. It will take time to see whether or not this decision, made nearly six months ago, will end have having a dramatic effect, or whether there is just a false alarm.

Church and State

2007-10-07T22:49:00.000-07:00

So I was watching Bill Maher on HBO and he was having an interesting chat with Mos Def on politics and religion so I figured Youtube would have some other interesting clips. The one I found related to a stat Lobdell had given us in class about how large of a percentage of Americans would not vote for a President if he did not have a religious affiliation with God. I find it very interesting that in the world we live in, a world full of change from the past, we are still stuck in a pothole when it comes to diversity in our presidents when it comes to religion. I understand that a majority of Americans are Christian, and therefore would most likely prefer a President with parallel beliefs, but it is disheartening to me that a man who would proclaim himself as atheist has absolutely no chance of winning not only a presidential election, but any election for a government position. Although nearly all the government positions are filled by some denomination of Christianity, there are a few different religions occupying some seats in the House and Senate.

An interesting statistic was that 43% of Americans surveyed said that they would not vote for a Mormon under any circumstance, and nearly the same percent said they would not vote for a candidate of no faith. Maher brings up an interesting point in that, as crazy as the beliefs of the Mormons may be (special underwear that brings spiritual power), a burning bush or a virgin who was pregnant are just as radical of ideas in today’s modern world. Being religious myself, it is hard for me to just accept these statements, but it does prove that Americans are very stubborn and stuck in their deeply valued principals and values based on faith that can not be proven.

Critique of a Critique

2007-10-03T22:06:00.000-07:00

----In response to certain portions of Lobdell's Religious Beat.----

After reading Lobdell’s article on his new Religious Beat, my respect for religion in as a general benefit for individuals in society has waned a bit. I previously believed that although religion is dangerous in the hands of powerful politicians and world leaders, it is a positive form of extracurricular for the public worldwide. This article’s insight on a couple different religions exposed some of the ignorance involved by the members within them, and I know that the mentioned religions are not the only ones who has followers who can be ignorant and naïve.

So it makes me question whether or not this whole religion thing is actually a benefit for mankind. Would mankind be better off without diversity in faith? Or is it necessary to create the various cultures and ideas that have made this earth so rich and complex?

As much as I can see the bright side of religion and the great effects on people’s lives, reading things like how the Mormons shun those who have left their church and act is if they do not even exist in their world and how the Catholics completely ignore the facts of their priests committing heinous crimes and still consider naming a church hall after them. It just goes to show how blinding religion can be, and it stretches far beyond America.

I have all the respect in the world for anyone who is deeply religious and I have respect for their beliefs as well, but when those people and their beliefs blind them from simple realities in the world, that’s when I lose respect, that’s when I begin to question religion myself.

Moral Majoritry

2007-10-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I’m not exactly sure who this guy is or whether or not he is a credible source, but he does make an interesting point about halfway through this clip when he talks about how Islam has much in common with the “moral majority” that Jerry Falwell inspired a movement out of. It’s a sad truth, one that until it is fully acknowledged by both sides will not change. Regardless of which religion we belong to, a large portion of it is shared with several other religious views out there and even though America is relatively diverse, we do believe, morally at least in a lot of the same things.

The problem we face is our focus. We gear our emotions towards the negatives aspects, almost looking for something to fight for, looking for a reason to disagree and argue. I don’t want to seem naïve because I do not truly think everyone can just leave their hate behind and embrace each other, but I do envision a process that human society can take part of in order to shift our focus to what we have in common, rather than what we see differently.

Every religion has their fanatics, but there are enough people in each respective religion that have their heads on straight to be able to pursue a stronger connection with our religious counter-parts. At the moment, I see different religions almost as enemies of each other, which I find funny in a cynical sort of way because when it comes down to it, religion can not be proven, it is merely a faith based on stories from centuries ago.

Will our generation get to experience a world that embraces one another rather than prioritizing our differences? Almost seems like too easy of a question, when the answer is so simple to begin with.

P.S. Sorry if my writing is all over the place, lazy summer and I am still trying to get back in the swing of things. Thanks for the patience.

Blog 1, A quick run-down.

2007-10-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

For my first blog i wanted to keep it simple and just lay down some basic trains of thought that my mind goes through. My basic perception on how religion is tied into politics as well as the media is a negative one. I do not believe that the general public is educated enough on the mass diversity of religions that not only exist in America, but ones that are shown in the news on a daily basis.

But, regardless of the perception of the public, I still do believe that mixing religion with politics will eventually lead to trouble; whether it is violent and physical, or demeaning and subtle.

When it comes to America, it is hard to get away from mixing the two. American politics were based on the religious views of the founding fathers when America first became an autonomous nation. The core principals and values were derived from the Christian faith and since little has changed when it comes to the majority of those who ran the government today, it is easy to see why little has changed.

Do I think that we can ever stray away from religion when dealing with political affairs and keep the government completely secular? No, it is too deeply rooted in not only our traditions but also in the people who run our government. But we do need to find a way to make a more effective system not only within the United States, but with our foreign affairs as well.