week seven GL350

Well I think it’s safe to say that everyone is surprised how fast our time went while in Italy. I have seen so many things over the past weeks though and every second has been a memorable one. It will be so weird to not be packing to go somewhere for the weekend on Thursday nights when I get home. This whole experience has been so fast paced and it will be an adjustment to slow down a bit when I get home.

Last week we got the chance to see the Pope at the papal audience. I know that a lot of the group was very excited to see the Pope, but I myself am not Catholic so the excitement I felt was different than theirs. However I felt it was a very humbling experience and I am very thankful I got to be a part of it. We really have had so many great opportunities here and it makes me realize that I should be thankful for a lot more things than I am. 

For class we read The Talented Mr. Ripley, which I enjoyed reading more than I thought I would. The author had a way of making me root for Tom. I really did find myself hoping that he would not get caught and that things would work out so that he could live the life he wanted to. A part of me felt bad for Tom, when he would tell stories about his Aunt and how she treated him, I felt a sort of compassion for him.

When Tom had to be himself, he became depressed which I’m sure I am not alone in thinking this, but sometimes I wish I could be someone other than myself. Although Tom took the idea of being someone else to another extreme that I would never think of doing. Anyways I really enjoyed the book, and Aubree and I decided to watch the movie, which we both agreed was not near as good as the book.

week six Soc490

Last week my partner, Amy Roberts, and I got the opportunity to interact with Italians in a Market and also a school hang out. The purpose of our interaction was to find more out about what the Italians thought about Universal health care. It was very nerve racking at first and discouraging because a lot of people turned us down and told us to go away. I got about 3 surveys done in the actual market. When we went to the school hang out area though I was able to get the rest of my surveys filled out. 

Being around the students made me feel more comfortable because they were around my age and some of them spoke a little English. From my surveys I would conclude that many Italians think there health care is mediocre. Whether they’d want to change their health care back I cannot say. I find it interesting that Italy is a Catholic nation and believes that everyone deserves care, but they are against abortions.

In May 1978 it was made legal for Italian women to terminate a pregnancy during the first 90 days under universal health care. I find this a hard subject to comprehend because I feel that the Italians do link their spirituality and health a lot more than Americans do. If the subject of whether someone should be given care or not due to their health arose though I think more people would try to link health to spirituality. 

Hoar states that in Britain the “National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) board decides what treatments should be funded by the government based on an accounting statistic that measures, in terms of pounds, how much your life is worth”.  How can it possibly be fair to put a price on someone’s life, it is simply inhuman. God always talks about treating everyone as equals so looking at this in a spiritual way rather than a numeric way it is completely wrong. 

To answer the question of whether we can cure illnesses thru the power of prayer I cannot say. I can say that I believe in miracles. Just the other day I was chatting with Michael about my brother’s car accident he had about 5 years ago. My brother has fallen asleep while driving and swerved across three lanes of traffic and crashed thru a fence and then into a tree. His car was totaled, and my brother was asleep during the whole thing.

He told us that a man had come to his car and asked if he was okay, and asked where his friend had gone? My brother was confused because he didn’t have anyone else in the care with him; only himself and he had not one scratch. To this day I believe that the supposed friend that the man saw was a guardian angel that helped in the miracle of keeping my brother safe thru the entire crash.

week six GL350

Mr. Ripley explains perfectly the city of Mongibello, by saying, “There were houses above him, straggling up the mountain, and houses below, their tile roofs silhouetted against a blue sea”; which in my eyes is exactly what I thought of when I first saw Sorrento. Although I enjoyed Sorrento very much I felt as though I would have liked it more in the summer, being able to lay on the beaches and soak up the sun and the beautiful landscape would have been amazing. In The Talented Mr. Ripley Dickie and Tom enjoy many days on the beach and also on Dickie’s boat which sounds very relaxing. 

Another reflection I had while reading, was when Tom was reflecting on walking up the stairs. He said he thought he would never get to the top, and this is exactly how I felt walking the steps to the top of the dome at St. Peter’s Basilica. I thought we were never going to get to the top, but wow, was the view worth the climb. 

Going to the Vatican was an amazing experience, and yet again being a student at Walsh University has paid off because we got to be one of the 100 people a day that get to St. Peters remains underneath the Vatican. The galleries and Sistine Chapel were magnificent; every time we go to an art gallery and see the works of the painters and sculptors I am speechless. We also got the opportunity to have class in St. Peter’s square which was an experience in itself. 

I admit that I got distracted from class a few times because I was people watching. Like Dickie said in The Talented Mr. Ripley, “sitting at a table and watching the people go by. It does something to your outlook on life”.  Not only is it entertaining but I think that you can learn a lot about people just by watching them. I enjoy people watching not only in Roma but at home as well.

week five Soc490

The question of whether we have control over our health is a very contradicting question. Anyone could make an argument to make it seem like we do have control, or that we don’t have control. I personally think that it goes both ways; in my eyes one argument isn’t stronger than the other.  Sure if you exercise regularly and eat healthy you will be healthier. Just because you do these things doesn’t mean you can’t catch a cold, have a genetic disorder, suffer from cancer, or even have some sort of mental disorder. 

There are just some things you can’t control, and that is how life works. One thing we can control though is the availability of health care to everyone; so if someone gets sick they can receive the health care they need. Gladwell asks, “Do you think that people whose genes predispose them to depression or cancer, or whose poverty complicates asthma or diabetes, or who get hit by a drunk driver, or who have to keep their mouths closed because their teeth are rotting ought to bear the greater share of the costs of their health care than those of us who are lucky enough to escape such misfortunes?”.

It seems a bit cruel to make healthcare unaffordable to these people, who could have received preventive care if everyone had healthcare and in return have less costs for health care. Helms exclaims, “what we all seem to want from health reform is a better system that will provide us with higher quality care and greater economic value”.  He also claims that an open-ended payment system will not accomplish this, because it would encourage abuse of the health care system.  This abuse is often referred to as moral hazard. 

Gladwell brings up a good point though, “people who are very well insured, who are very rich, do you see them check into the hospital because it’s free? Do people like to go to the doctor?”.  My answer to this question is no, I go to the doctor only if I feel it is very necessary because every time I go to the doctor I get a shot and that is not fun for me. I have also been in the hospital before and had to stay the night; that is an experience I’ll never forget and never want to experience again if I don’t have to.

week five GL350

According to Barzini the English saying “Never kick a man when he is down” is nonsense, why not kick a man when he’s down? I’m sure many people believe that you shouldn’t, but there are plenty of people that believe a man being down is an advantage for them to kick him. It seems as though the Italians all have an ulterior motive when they see someone who seems weakened, and they take advantage any way they see fit.

A good example of this is when Barzini talks about the Venetians. Barzini sates, that they “rented their ships on charter for the crossing of the Mediterranean to the knights from Germany, England and France, and often craftily routed military operations to where they would do most good to the interests of the Venetian Republic”. Italians in this way take advantage of many men who make themselves vulnerable and open to help from others.

They have a really good strategy going, but to me this seems to be an non-honorable way to win, it’s almost as though they cheat. Everyone that cheats eventually gets caught in their little game, but if it makes you so advantageous then why not? In my opinion cheating is not acceptable not matter how great the gain. 

Anyways on a lighter note, this week and weekend was awesome! I really enjoyed spending Thanksgiving with my new family, and I feel as though we are all getting closer as the weeks go on. Not trying to be a Debbie downer but we only have three weeks left in Italy…WOW have the weeks flown by or what? No matter what though I know everyone is with me in making these last three weeks amazing and full of fun, adventures, and knowledge!