I cannot believe I am writing my last blog for this semester. I feel as though every time I sit down to write a blog I find myself saying something along the lines of how fast the time is going. This is my last weekend here in Rome and as I write about week seven I can't believe I'm going to be on a plane to go home in less than a week.
On Wednesday, I woke up around 5:15 AM and we caught the 6:23 train into Rome. We went to Vatican City, stood in line for awhile, got to the conference room, and was able to sit in the THIRD ROW. I could not sleep the night before, so I was running on an hour and a half of sleep. But I was so excited that I didn't even notice. When Pope Benedict XVI walked through the door, words could not describe how I felt to be there and how blessed I was to have this kind of opportunity. Walsh University was even announced as attendees. The Pope spoke in seven different languages. It was absolutely amazing. After he was done, he blessed any religious articles we had. Before I left for the trip, my mom bought me a necklace and had it blessed by our priest. I was able to get her a necklace blessed by the Pope. I think that is going to be the best Christmas present. Our experience we had on Wednesday was one of the best ones so far.
On Thursday, we took a train to Nettuno. I thought this city was absolutely beautiful. We had class right by the Tyrrhenian Sea. We were able to see the American Cemetary in Rome which was beautiful and humbling at the same time. I felt pride for our country when I saw the graves of all the individuals that have fought and died.
In the book called Mr. Ripley, his reaction to seeing the Leaning Tower of Pisa, reminded me of seeing quite a few extraordinary places while on this trip such as La Pieta, the Coliseum, and the Pope. "...but there it was! a thick white column sticking up out of the low chalky houses that formed the rest of the town, and leaning leaning at an angle that he wouldn't have thought possible!"
In closing, I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. I have learned a number of things about myself, and I also gained a new insight towards culture and new places. I have seen a number of places throughout my time in Italy such as Paris, Dublin, and London. I can't begin to describe how unreal it all feels when looking back. This has been an amazing experience. That's all for now!
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Soc 490 WK 6
This past week has been one of my favorites so far. For our Health Class we were able to take our lecture outside of the classroom, and it actually wasn't a class at all. We were given a set of questions with our partners and set out in an Italian market to survey a number of Italian citizens on how they thought of their health care system here in Italy.
At first I was very nervous about going into the market and asking our questions. When we arrived Dave and I ran into our first woman we were going to ask and she seemed very skeptical about filling out our survey. After a little while she filled out our survey and from then on out it was a little easier to ask the next nineteen people. The worst they could say was no! After looking over our results I found that many citizens did not care for the universal health care system. They did not like the care they received in the hospitals nor their family physicians.
Our final for our sociology class is to compile our results with three other people and discuss them throughout a paper. I believe this will be very interesting to see how everyone feels about the health care system and how are results compare with what age groups we have surveyed.
This class as a whole has helped to make me understand how much health care has an effect on our country and how a change can make such a difference. I do not remember when Medicare and Medicaid began to be utilized in the United States, I just always have known it was around. These programs have helped a number of individuals. By reading the assigned text in our book I have realized that it has also done some damage to the system. Some authors in our text believe that expanding Medicare will be the best option for improving health care in the United States. "Reducing administrative waste could save $300 billion each year, enough to cover all the uninsured and provide better coverage for the rest of us with complete choice of doctor and hospital." I have been torn between my own arguments and couldn't really decide where I stood on whether or not healthcare was a right or a privilege or if it would benefit the majority or not. It's hard to say and this class has helped me learn a lot about each side.
At first I was very nervous about going into the market and asking our questions. When we arrived Dave and I ran into our first woman we were going to ask and she seemed very skeptical about filling out our survey. After a little while she filled out our survey and from then on out it was a little easier to ask the next nineteen people. The worst they could say was no! After looking over our results I found that many citizens did not care for the universal health care system. They did not like the care they received in the hospitals nor their family physicians.
Our final for our sociology class is to compile our results with three other people and discuss them throughout a paper. I believe this will be very interesting to see how everyone feels about the health care system and how are results compare with what age groups we have surveyed.
This class as a whole has helped to make me understand how much health care has an effect on our country and how a change can make such a difference. I do not remember when Medicare and Medicaid began to be utilized in the United States, I just always have known it was around. These programs have helped a number of individuals. By reading the assigned text in our book I have realized that it has also done some damage to the system. Some authors in our text believe that expanding Medicare will be the best option for improving health care in the United States. "Reducing administrative waste could save $300 billion each year, enough to cover all the uninsured and provide better coverage for the rest of us with complete choice of doctor and hospital." I have been torn between my own arguments and couldn't really decide where I stood on whether or not healthcare was a right or a privilege or if it would benefit the majority or not. It's hard to say and this class has helped me learn a lot about each side.
Monday, December 3, 2012
GL 350 Wk 6
This week was awesome and has stuck out for me a little more than the other ones have so far. This week we visitet St. Peter's and the Sistine Chapel. We climbed the 550 steps to the top of the dome of St. Peter's and it was worth each step once we reached the very top. The view was breathtaking. It felt as if we could see forever. Being at the top of the dome was a reward in itself for the long treck up the spiraled steps. After traveling up the dome we had class inside Vatican City and lunch at Alice's... Which is now my favorite pizza in Rome!
Inside St. Peter's I saw my favorite work of art so far on this trip. My Sophomore year at Walsh, I took an Art History class. I found this class to be pretty interesting and I'll never forget learning about La Pieta. I thought that statue was the prettiest and most moving statues I have ever seen. The details were amazing. When I was able to see the statue in real life just feet away from me it was really touching. I couldn't believe I was so close to such a beautiful masterpiece by Michelangelo. "No block of marble but it does not hide the concept living in the artist's mind-pursuing it inside that form, he'll guide his hand to shape what reason has defined." - Michelangelo, "The Smiles of Rome"
Inside St. Peter's I saw my favorite work of art so far on this trip. My Sophomore year at Walsh, I took an Art History class. I found this class to be pretty interesting and I'll never forget learning about La Pieta. I thought that statue was the prettiest and most moving statues I have ever seen. The details were amazing. When I was able to see the statue in real life just feet away from me it was really touching. I couldn't believe I was so close to such a beautiful masterpiece by Michelangelo. "No block of marble but it does not hide the concept living in the artist's mind-pursuing it inside that form, he'll guide his hand to shape what reason has defined." - Michelangelo, "The Smiles of Rome"
Inside the Sistine Chapel was unique as well. It was amazing to see how big The Judgement was when you were standing so close and not just looking at it from a picture. I couldn't believe we were actually there. This is also how I felt when we were underneath St. Peter's, where we toured to see his remains. The journey from the beginning to the last stop where his remains were seemed like a long one because of the anticipation of what I knew we were going to see. I felt as if I was somewhere very sacred and special while I was down there. When we arrived at the room where St. Peter was, it was very humbling and a little bit intimidating. It was not what I expected, but it was very amazing none the less. I think that this was an experience that not very many individuals get to experience and I feel very lucky to have been able to do so.
Mr. Ripley...
My feelings have changed for Tom Ripley, the main character of this book, from the beginning to about the middle where I am now. In the beginnning of the novel I felt that Mr. Ripley was merely confused as to where he would end up and what would truly make him happy. I could relate to that, but as the chapters progressed I noticed that Tom was not at all what he seemed and was frankly kind of weird. I am enjoying this book and it reminds me of a longer episode of Criminal Minds. I feel as though traveling around with him as I read is interesting as well because I was in a number of the places he has been such as Naples, Rome, and Paris.
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