GL Week last

     Uhm well its the last week and the only thing I'm glad thats over is the blogging, reading, and paper writing. This place is aw inspiring in every way and I am not happy that our time is coming to an end. This week talking about Mr. Ripley was interesting. He was a very interesting character dynamic in every way. I liked how he finally accepted himself at the end of the book. He didn't like the change back from Dicky to Tom but the amount of character growth he showed by the end of the book was very interesting. It apply's slightly to us in Italy. At first we were not happy with how different the city made us feel and now after 2 months we are much happier.
      Then managing to see the pope twice was very cool. The papal audience was being so close to him was like being close to a celebrity. I asked my cousin who was more important in italy the Pope, Republic President, or the Prime minister he was fast to voice his opinion and say the pope. Anyways it was funny that his German accent was so thick that we could not understand his English. I remember thinking that he was still speaking in Italian when he was supposed to be speaking English. Anyways it was inspiring to see such an important figure who could speak 7 different languages. Then when the pope was changing the crown on Mary by the Spanish Steps riding in the Pope Mobile was so fun to watch.
     On to the American Cemetery which was one of the highlights of the trip for me. 23 sets of brothers lost at war where laid to rest in this cemetery. For me the monument to these brothers was very inspiring. Arm in arm those men in the statue stand in honor of there country. While walking I realized that it is even possible that there could be three or more people from the same family resting there. It made me realize how lucky I am to be so close to my brothers. Even though we are living in different parts of the United States we take time to send funny emails to each other and other none sense. I could not imagine loosing a brother let alone two. I don't know what I would do.
     Speaking on family this weekend was very interesting for me and my family. We made family trees and ate... and ate... and ate some more... and then ate again... then drank some wine. By the end of the day you could have swore that we had all know each other for years. Giulio and I had so much in common from the TV shows we watch to sport interests. The craziest part was how much a like he was to my whole entire family. We all are the exact same people leading different lives in different worlds. Even my cousin Rosemaria was just like us, she is a pilot. We all love flying and my brother Joe is a aerospace engineer. The whole weekend was amazing partly because the fact that even though we were complete strangers we had so much fun together. I really cant explain it because there are no words to use.

Soc W6

     I think your outlook on health can decide whether you get sick or not. I’m not saying with cancer but things like that but the common cold and the flu can be avoided by just believing you aren’t going to get sick. In Pompeii we faced some extreme conditions with the rain and the wind. We almost saw more flooding there than we did in Venice. I of course only had on jeans and a light shirt. After our miserable trip around the town a few people said that I was going to get a cold. I have yet to show any signs of a cold I believe this is because I refuse to be sick.

     As much as a mental part that your health can be there is a spiritual part. Many catholics believe that God does not give you something that you cannot handle. This belief can drive people to beat even the toughest diseases. Even if they don’t beat the disease some people are so driven by their faith that they live a full life just because they know whatever is in God’s will is what will happen. Believing that you always get sick a a certain point in the year can make you sick at that point your whole life.

     Can prayer cure diseases? I do not think it can; however I think that prayer mixed with good faith a medicine can heal a man. For some people prayer can be a very healing event. Some people learn to reach into themselves deep and believe that everything will work out. Then when you believe in prayer and combine some good medicine there are unlimited possibilities of what can happen to you. 

     This is all like the power of laughter. We have a man who comes through McDonalds almost every day. We nicknamed him Grumpy Old Man. If you ask me he has probably never laughed in his life. In my opinion he could watch Dan Cook, Tosh.O, or any other comedian and Grumpy Old Man would be stone-faced. Medicine can heal you just as much as laughing and just saying I wont be sick. Life can be as much as what we make it. Our health is what we want it to be. Whether we choose to eat healthy or we choose to believe we are healthy or we just laugh it out and pray you can be as healthy as you set your mind to.

GL W6

      So the Sistine Chapel was not what I thought it was going to be. I was expecting some small church looking building with paints all centered around the creation and judgement. What we got was a huge building with beautiful paintings that had no certain organization. The creation was so small. The lifeless looking Adam was holding out his hand with what looks to be the last of his energy as God stretches with all his might to give Adam life back. I though it was going to be that scene but in the garden with all the animals and plant life.

     The judgment however was quite the painting however. The blue that was used to paint the sky was so very vibrant. when the light shinned into the building it was almost hypnotizing. It was amazing how  Michael was able to make everything so life- like on a flat surface. The other thing about the chapel I loved was the painting of David and Goliath. Everyone here knows how much I love anything that is David so I wont explain so much. All I'll say is he was getting ready to kill Goliath and it made me happy.

     Sorrento was beautiful however it was quite small. So out of all the places we have visited I would say my favorite is Florence; however Sorrento was definitely enjoyable. Danilo was right when he said the further south you go the better the food gets. I really think that this weekend we had some of the best food that we have had this entire trip. Even though we sat down to eat for somewhere about 3 hours the food was way beyond delicious. The pasta and mixed grilled sea food I had was some of the best I've ever had in my life, I have eaten a lot of sea food as you can imagine.

      Well I guess I need to address the fact that we start our last full week. In no way shape or form am I ready to go back or think about going back to America. Italy is fatally attractive to me. I could probably spend a life time here. I don't even think the fact that I'm really in Italy has hit me yet. I mean we walked in Pompeii and it just all seems to surreal at this point. I guess it would hit me if I spent more then 6 months here. But I had yet to loose that aw and wonder hypnotic feeling that I had first time I stepped into the country.
     Mr. Ripley, I have this theory about scam artistes if you put your mind to something useful then maybe you'd be ten times richer then what you are. Instead of taking over Dickie's and scamming Mr. Greenleaf to think you are someone your not or doing something your not. Why don't you get some sort of education instead of random jobs. However I will give it to you, you are a very clever man.

     P.S. I meet my family this weekend... So nervous