Supposedly a lady in Sicily asked Kara, Khang, and Robert if they were in any danger since I was following near them. The beard does wonders, I guess.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
A new nickname has been coined for me here in Rome: the hobo. I'm not quite sure why my so called "friends" call me this, but they do with much joy. Here are some pictures. Maybe you can help me figure out why they call me a "hobo."
Supposedly a lady in Sicily asked Kara, Khang, and Robert if they were in any danger since I was following near them. The beard does wonders, I guess.
Supposedly a lady in Sicily asked Kara, Khang, and Robert if they were in any danger since I was following near them. The beard does wonders, I guess.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Throughout literature, men and women often have to go places to learn about themselves, life in general, and the world around them. In Moby Dick, Ishmael goes to the sea while in Frankenstein, Victor runs to nature. If I was smarter, I could name others but I'm not fully "UD" yet (maybe one day). For me, I always thought I leaned toward nature, like Victor. But after this last weekend, I realized I was completely wrong.
This weekend, I went to Milan. Some of you might think, since Milan is arguably the fashion capital of the world, that fashion now brings me to understand the world. Sorry Mom, but that is not quite right.
But instead of spending my time shopping at Gucci and Louis Vuitton to increase my fashion sense while decreasing my walet, Ali, Khang, and I basked in the glory of San Siro (the incredible stadium) for the Inter Milan/AC Milan football game. Inter, which is known historically to be the more inferior team, was in 1st place in the Italian league while AC Milan (sort of the Yankees of Italian football) was in 2nd. I have had a difficult time thinking of a way to describe this experience but I think what follows will suffice.
For you American football fans, it would be like going to the Michigan/Ohio State (or Texas/Oklahoma or Georgia/Florida, etc) game when both teams are ranked #1 and #2...on steroids. If you are a baseball fan, it would be the Yankees vs. Red Sox with them both on top of the AL East separated by only 2 games...on HGH+anabolic steroids+amphetamines.
To start off, while we were in line before the game (more like a mob) our gate consisted of all Inter fans with the gate next to us consisting of all AC Milan fans. The AC Milan fans began to sing, chant, and give the appropriate finger to the Inter fans in our gate. The Inter fans retaliated by whistling to drown out their singing. Even though I haven't seen the movie The West Side Story in its entirety, I have seen the part where they dance and sing when the gangs "fight." Think of it as something similar to that.
Also, while Ali, Khang, and myself were in the mob, Ali noticed that the guy next to me put a knife in his shoe. A little disconcerting, to say the least. But I haven't heard of any stab incidents from the game, so that is good.
Here are a few pictures and videos from before the game to show you what a game is like. I think they give it more justice than I ever could with my words:
This is UD: Reading Oedipus before the best football match in Italy.
Inter won the game 2-1 behind goals from Adriano and Stankovich. Pato, a 19 year old phenom, scored the only goal for AC Milan. Overall, it was a great match by two incredible teams.
Of course, I really don't find my existence, truth, and the such through a football game but it definitely was one of the cooler experiences of my life.
-Justin
This weekend, I went to Milan. Some of you might think, since Milan is arguably the fashion capital of the world, that fashion now brings me to understand the world. Sorry Mom, but that is not quite right.
But instead of spending my time shopping at Gucci and Louis Vuitton to increase my fashion sense while decreasing my walet, Ali, Khang, and I basked in the glory of San Siro (the incredible stadium) for the Inter Milan/AC Milan football game. Inter, which is known historically to be the more inferior team, was in 1st place in the Italian league while AC Milan (sort of the Yankees of Italian football) was in 2nd. I have had a difficult time thinking of a way to describe this experience but I think what follows will suffice.
For you American football fans, it would be like going to the Michigan/Ohio State (or Texas/Oklahoma or Georgia/Florida, etc) game when both teams are ranked #1 and #2...on steroids. If you are a baseball fan, it would be the Yankees vs. Red Sox with them both on top of the AL East separated by only 2 games...on HGH+anabolic steroids+amphetamines.
To start off, while we were in line before the game (more like a mob) our gate consisted of all Inter fans with the gate next to us consisting of all AC Milan fans. The AC Milan fans began to sing, chant, and give the appropriate finger to the Inter fans in our gate. The Inter fans retaliated by whistling to drown out their singing. Even though I haven't seen the movie The West Side Story in its entirety, I have seen the part where they dance and sing when the gangs "fight." Think of it as something similar to that.
Also, while Ali, Khang, and myself were in the mob, Ali noticed that the guy next to me put a knife in his shoe. A little disconcerting, to say the least. But I haven't heard of any stab incidents from the game, so that is good.
Here are a few pictures and videos from before the game to show you what a game is like. I think they give it more justice than I ever could with my words:
This is UD: Reading Oedipus before the best football match in Italy.
Inter won the game 2-1 behind goals from Adriano and Stankovich. Pato, a 19 year old phenom, scored the only goal for AC Milan. Overall, it was a great match by two incredible teams.
Of course, I really don't find my existence, truth, and the such through a football game but it definitely was one of the cooler experiences of my life.
-Justin
Thursday, February 12, 2009
It is now time for the 2nd installment of the "Ah Ha" moments. I hope you enjoy.
1. Have you ever stood somewhere or seen something historically significant and imagined the events that took place there? As I stood in the Circus Maximus, I saw in my mind the crowds rise to their feet in the grandiose arena and roar as the chariots raced around each corner. I pictured Christians being martyred for their faith. And for the first time in my life, while I stood in the exact place of death, excitement, and magnitude, I realized the History of the place actually occurred. I began to understand that History is not just about teachers quizzing students about some random facts that seem to have no importance but it is something real that can teach you about your life, God, and the culture you live in. The same thing can be said for my experience in Pompeii as well (see previous post).
1. Have you ever stood somewhere or seen something historically significant and imagined the events that took place there? As I stood in the Circus Maximus, I saw in my mind the crowds rise to their feet in the grandiose arena and roar as the chariots raced around each corner. I pictured Christians being martyred for their faith. And for the first time in my life, while I stood in the exact place of death, excitement, and magnitude, I realized the History of the place actually occurred. I began to understand that History is not just about teachers quizzing students about some random facts that seem to have no importance but it is something real that can teach you about your life, God, and the culture you live in. The same thing can be said for my experience in Pompeii as well (see previous post).
On top of that, this realization about History has helped me understand, just a little, about the struggles I have had in my Christian life. Since I grew up in the church and in a Christian school, I heard the stories of the Bible all the time. By the time I was a junior and senior in high school, it seemed as if I knew everything about the Bible and Christianity and the rules that applied to it. I absorbed the material given to me for the sake of either gaining a "Christly" reputation among my peers and elders or for the sake of making a good grade. I did not understand the gravity of the information itself.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, "If the 'extraordinary' (righteousness) were important for its own sake, we should, like fanatics, be relying on our own fleshly strength and power, where as the disciple of Jesus acts simply in obedience to his Lord." To be a Christian is not to be wrapped up with the idea of righteousness or knowing about all the things of the Bible for the sake of it. In its fullness, Christianity means obedience to God, which comes through the realization that what is being told through the stories and parables and letters actually took place on the east part of the Mediterranean coast. Moses, Abraham, the Israelites, Jesus, Paul, and Peter all really did exist and their stories point us to the truth of God. I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't, sorry.
2. In my last post, I wrote a story about a homeless man who decorated the statues in the airport lobby. There are also many men and women throughout the city of Rome begging for money. I'm always torn on what to do: give them money or look at your feet as you walk by. For one, they could be a scam and they are just trying to rip you off to fill their drug or alcohol addiction. But on the other hand, I am drawn to Jesus' words in Matthew where he says, "I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink...'Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You'...The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"And I remember Brian Ward, the youth pastor I worked for, say who are we to judge who is scam or not? We are supposed to be like Jesus.
But my shoes look very nice, though. They are somewhat new.
-Justin
Dietrich Bonhoeffer says, "If the 'extraordinary' (righteousness) were important for its own sake, we should, like fanatics, be relying on our own fleshly strength and power, where as the disciple of Jesus acts simply in obedience to his Lord." To be a Christian is not to be wrapped up with the idea of righteousness or knowing about all the things of the Bible for the sake of it. In its fullness, Christianity means obedience to God, which comes through the realization that what is being told through the stories and parables and letters actually took place on the east part of the Mediterranean coast. Moses, Abraham, the Israelites, Jesus, Paul, and Peter all really did exist and their stories point us to the truth of God. I hope this makes sense. If it doesn't, sorry.
2. In my last post, I wrote a story about a homeless man who decorated the statues in the airport lobby. There are also many men and women throughout the city of Rome begging for money. I'm always torn on what to do: give them money or look at your feet as you walk by. For one, they could be a scam and they are just trying to rip you off to fill their drug or alcohol addiction. But on the other hand, I am drawn to Jesus' words in Matthew where he says, "I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink...'Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You'...The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.'"And I remember Brian Ward, the youth pastor I worked for, say who are we to judge who is scam or not? We are supposed to be like Jesus.
But my shoes look very nice, though. They are somewhat new.
-Justin
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Yes, it has been a while since I updated. I apologize. This will probably be a little long so you can either bare with me or skip it all together. I'm a little lazy right now so I don't want to proofread all of this. If it is impossible to read, let me know and I'll go back and check it all.
Not this last weekend, but the weekend before, our entire class went to the city of Pompeii to check out the ruins. Pompeii is an incredible city to walk around. You are literally wandering into houses and walking on the exact stone of a city that was completely destroyed and covered in ash by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. The most surreal moment was viewing the plastered bodies of people along the wall of the city who were attempting to escape the destruction. The place in which we viewed the bodies are in the exact place in which they died.
Weird...
Now, about the trip to Sicily. We had a flight to Palermo, Sicily early Friday morning so instead of waking up at 4:30 to catch a taxi, a few of us decided to spend the night in the airport on Thursday night. Here is where a few problems occur. First off, Kara, Khang, and I made it to Termini, the train station in Rome, 20 minutes after the last train left to the airport. After Kara tried to persuade the cab driver to lower his fare, to no avail, we decided to take the B line metro south with the hope of walking the rest of the way. On our way to the metro, the train security began to close the gate. We had to run to make it through the gate in time. When we made it in, we went to the side of the B line that was going north, instead of south. We only had two minutes until the train arrived so we had to run around to the other side where we barely arrived in time.
We had a map of where the airport was located, thanks to a map that Dr. Roper drew for us. Unknowingly and surprisingly of course, the map was not drawn to scale. But not knowing this, we hopped off of the B line at a stop we arbitrarily chose. Not only did we walk the wrong way out of the train station, but we realized that the airport was about a 3 hour walk on a highway. Oh ya, I forgot to say, it is midnight by now. So we decided to bite the bullet and pay for a taxi we found at a random Sheraton Hotel we ran into.
At the airport, we spent the 1:00 AM hour reading Aeschylus' The Eumenides. Good play but lets just say, I forgot most of the information of the play when I took the quiz on Monday. Oh well.
But we finally made it to Palermo, Sicily after little sleep and a short flight. We spent most of our time in Siracusa, which is on the eastern coast, and on the road enjoying the beautiful scenery of middle and eastern Sicily. When in Siracusa, we saw the 3rd oldest amphitheatre, a beautiful Greek theatre that looked out on the sea, and the "Ear of Dionysus" which is a large cave while staying in a nice, cheap, and quaint Bed and Breakfast.
Cool stuff, so I think.
Another airport story. Kara had a different flight than the rest of us so she was going to sleep in the airport again. So Khang and I decided we would join her and sleep in the airport. Lets just say that the Palermo airport isn't as nice as the Rome airport. I slept a few hours early while Kara and Khang stayed up and then we switched. They slept while I kept guard. As I was sitting and reading the Phaedo at 2ish AM, a homeless man makes his way into the airport. He wanders around attempting to get into every locked store and room. He fiddles around with the pay phones for about 15 minutes as well. After all the failed attempts to get into stores and rooms, he decided to attempt some art. Three or four statues stood in the middle of the airport and he thought it would be a good idea to decorate them.
So for around 30 minutes, he rummaged through the trash gathering paper and bottles for his masterpiece. To be honest, I was a little nervous to look his way so I was noticing most of this through my periphery. When he has finished and sat down out of my view, I decided to look at what he had done to the statues. He placed a water bottle in a horses' mouth along with putting a sheet of paper in horseman's hand. He had also scattered paper, cups, bottles, and other objects on all the other statues in the middle. Hands, arms, and heads had trash on them. All and all, it was a strange and somewhat nerve-racking experience to encounter at 2 am in the morning.
Also at the Palermo airport, my friend Steve tried to smuggle in a cheap bottle of wine that he was going to give his dad since he is Sicilian. Of course, the security caught it. When they retrieved the bottle, they made the mistake of putting the wine in the nearest trashcan. Steve and a few others decided they could get it out of the trash can with no one noticing. They scanned the area making sure the cameras didn't point near the trash can and checked to see where each guard was. When the moment was right, Steve made a run for the wine. Steve successfully obtains the wine and makes a dash for the gate.
While at the gate, I noticed a contingent of security guards congregating near the gate. I told Steve and he proceeded to sit and stay as unnoticeable as possible. Multiple guards then made their way too where we were sitting. As Steve sat nervously for what was to come, the guards called on 2 other guys and a random girl who wasn't even part of our group to bring their bags to them. The guards, of course, found nothing. They came back, seeming to be a little irritated, and went over to Steve's bag. They opened it up and found the bottle. A guard grabbed Steve by the neck and escorted him into an interrogation room while making a scene about it all in front of the entire Palermo airport. All of us sat in utter confusion on what was to come with Steve.
Steve said that most of the security guards of airport joined him in the interrogation room. They proceeded to scream at him in Italian which Steve knows none of. After noticing that his last name is Grosso, which is Sicilian, they become highly confused at how he can't speak any Italian. They can't believe it. They yell at him a little more. After all of the inaudible screaming, the cordially shake his hand at let him leave...without the wine. Crazy.
So those are my recent experiences. More to come I'm sure. I'm going to an AC Milan vs. Inter Milan soccer game this weekend so I'll probably have something to say about that.
If you would like, you can check my pictures to view what else I saw in Pompeii and the other places. I also put pictures of our trip to the Capitoline Museum, which was great, as well as pictures of my trip to Sicily. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Not this last weekend, but the weekend before, our entire class went to the city of Pompeii to check out the ruins. Pompeii is an incredible city to walk around. You are literally wandering into houses and walking on the exact stone of a city that was completely destroyed and covered in ash by Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. The most surreal moment was viewing the plastered bodies of people along the wall of the city who were attempting to escape the destruction. The place in which we viewed the bodies are in the exact place in which they died.
Weird...Now, about the trip to Sicily. We had a flight to Palermo, Sicily early Friday morning so instead of waking up at 4:30 to catch a taxi, a few of us decided to spend the night in the airport on Thursday night. Here is where a few problems occur. First off, Kara, Khang, and I made it to Termini, the train station in Rome, 20 minutes after the last train left to the airport. After Kara tried to persuade the cab driver to lower his fare, to no avail, we decided to take the B line metro south with the hope of walking the rest of the way. On our way to the metro, the train security began to close the gate. We had to run to make it through the gate in time. When we made it in, we went to the side of the B line that was going north, instead of south. We only had two minutes until the train arrived so we had to run around to the other side where we barely arrived in time.
We had a map of where the airport was located, thanks to a map that Dr. Roper drew for us. Unknowingly and surprisingly of course, the map was not drawn to scale. But not knowing this, we hopped off of the B line at a stop we arbitrarily chose. Not only did we walk the wrong way out of the train station, but we realized that the airport was about a 3 hour walk on a highway. Oh ya, I forgot to say, it is midnight by now. So we decided to bite the bullet and pay for a taxi we found at a random Sheraton Hotel we ran into.
At the airport, we spent the 1:00 AM hour reading Aeschylus' The Eumenides. Good play but lets just say, I forgot most of the information of the play when I took the quiz on Monday. Oh well.
But we finally made it to Palermo, Sicily after little sleep and a short flight. We spent most of our time in Siracusa, which is on the eastern coast, and on the road enjoying the beautiful scenery of middle and eastern Sicily. When in Siracusa, we saw the 3rd oldest amphitheatre, a beautiful Greek theatre that looked out on the sea, and the "Ear of Dionysus" which is a large cave while staying in a nice, cheap, and quaint Bed and Breakfast.
Cool stuff, so I think.
Another airport story. Kara had a different flight than the rest of us so she was going to sleep in the airport again. So Khang and I decided we would join her and sleep in the airport. Lets just say that the Palermo airport isn't as nice as the Rome airport. I slept a few hours early while Kara and Khang stayed up and then we switched. They slept while I kept guard. As I was sitting and reading the Phaedo at 2ish AM, a homeless man makes his way into the airport. He wanders around attempting to get into every locked store and room. He fiddles around with the pay phones for about 15 minutes as well. After all the failed attempts to get into stores and rooms, he decided to attempt some art. Three or four statues stood in the middle of the airport and he thought it would be a good idea to decorate them.
So for around 30 minutes, he rummaged through the trash gathering paper and bottles for his masterpiece. To be honest, I was a little nervous to look his way so I was noticing most of this through my periphery. When he has finished and sat down out of my view, I decided to look at what he had done to the statues. He placed a water bottle in a horses' mouth along with putting a sheet of paper in horseman's hand. He had also scattered paper, cups, bottles, and other objects on all the other statues in the middle. Hands, arms, and heads had trash on them. All and all, it was a strange and somewhat nerve-racking experience to encounter at 2 am in the morning.
Also at the Palermo airport, my friend Steve tried to smuggle in a cheap bottle of wine that he was going to give his dad since he is Sicilian. Of course, the security caught it. When they retrieved the bottle, they made the mistake of putting the wine in the nearest trashcan. Steve and a few others decided they could get it out of the trash can with no one noticing. They scanned the area making sure the cameras didn't point near the trash can and checked to see where each guard was. When the moment was right, Steve made a run for the wine. Steve successfully obtains the wine and makes a dash for the gate.
While at the gate, I noticed a contingent of security guards congregating near the gate. I told Steve and he proceeded to sit and stay as unnoticeable as possible. Multiple guards then made their way too where we were sitting. As Steve sat nervously for what was to come, the guards called on 2 other guys and a random girl who wasn't even part of our group to bring their bags to them. The guards, of course, found nothing. They came back, seeming to be a little irritated, and went over to Steve's bag. They opened it up and found the bottle. A guard grabbed Steve by the neck and escorted him into an interrogation room while making a scene about it all in front of the entire Palermo airport. All of us sat in utter confusion on what was to come with Steve.
Steve said that most of the security guards of airport joined him in the interrogation room. They proceeded to scream at him in Italian which Steve knows none of. After noticing that his last name is Grosso, which is Sicilian, they become highly confused at how he can't speak any Italian. They can't believe it. They yell at him a little more. After all of the inaudible screaming, the cordially shake his hand at let him leave...without the wine. Crazy.
So those are my recent experiences. More to come I'm sure. I'm going to an AC Milan vs. Inter Milan soccer game this weekend so I'll probably have something to say about that.
If you would like, you can check my pictures to view what else I saw in Pompeii and the other places. I also put pictures of our trip to the Capitoline Museum, which was great, as well as pictures of my trip to Sicily. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
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