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.