This is off topic, but I feel the need to say it anyway.
When I got home from class today, there were unsubstantiated reports that Gaddafi had been killed. Then I took a nap. I woke up to find that story confirmed and all over the internet, and I have three brief things to say about it. I'm no current events/world politics expert by any means, so forgive me my naïveté.
First, I think it's important that this was done by the Libyan people themselves. They started the uprising, they installed their own interim government, and they killed their tyrant, similar to the situation in Egypt and the other nations involved in the Arab Spring revolts. Iraq is a great counterexample; the United States had it's nose in all of Iraq's business, which is why, in my opinion, the situation has been so prolonged and messy. It harkens back to decolonialization problems in Africa: when and how does a nation leave another? I just feel that it is not the place of the US, or any powerful Western nation, to claim to understand the sentiments of and be able to aid the changes happening in the Arab world. So props to the Libyans who fought for their own freedom in their own country.
Second, I feel like the world is about to boil over. There have been so many protests and big movements of late. I could just be more attuned to them now than in the past because I'm older and more aware of world news, but something powerful seems to be happening. From immigration marches in the US, to the Arab Spring movements, to the Global Occupy movement, it really feels like someone has lit a fire under everyone's asses, and it's kind of exciting in a watch-from-my-couch sort of way.
Lastly, being the history nerd that I am, I'm intrigued by the label that has been put on this movement, the "Arab Spring". I can't help but be interested in the fact that the next generation will be memorizing that term for their world history classes. It blows my mind a little bit. It also makes me think about the history I study. For example, "Renaissance", renascimento, these are 18th century labels put on an era by a historian named Jacob Burkhardt. And we learn about what was called the Great War while it was happening as the First World War. So how do we label things to study them? Is it fair to think about things in terms of late labels given them by historians? And how does this work when Western news outlets label movements in the Arab world? How can we conceptualize the events happening in Libya, both as they relate to us as the so-called Arab Spring, and as they are being experienced by the Libyans, who, as far as I can guess, are not thinking about this movement in those terms? Something I just can't not think about.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Coffee e cornetto: A brief note
Something the US needs to get behind: super cheap and delicious cappuccinos and pastries. The coffee here is FAR superior to anything in the States, and only costs .80EUR. Why is coffee stateside so overpriced and sugared up?! I can already tell that I'm going to miss the Italian breakfast tradition: go to the local bar (here bars function as coffee bars during the day), pay first, then go up to the bar, get your coffee, drink it while standing and chatting with people, munch on a croissant filled with chocolate, and then go about your day. It is one of my favorite things ever. Get on it, America!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Chocolate and Chaos
Yesterday was delicious. Yes, delicious. I hopped on a train with the roommates to Perugia, the capitol of the region Umbria, which is famous for it's chocolate. Every year for they host EuroChocolate, a GIANT international open air festival centered around chocolate. There are thousands of vendors, a million visitors, and more chocolate than is easily conceivable. We arrived and were amazed. I ate a lot of free samples, bought a lot of not so free chocolate goodies, and ate a Nutella-filled cornetto (croissant). We also bought the local lunch standard, porchetta, which is sliced wild boar, served panino-style. It was incredibly tasty. Perugia is, also, gorgeous, so the day was amazing overall.
When we got back to Roma, dragging ourselves out of the Termini train station to wait for our bus home, we saw a lot of Carabinieri. (They're like cops, but all they do is keep the peace and control tourists. The equivalent of traffic cops are the polizia.) There were also news crews and helicopters. We continued to see Carabinieri everywhere on our bus ride home, and even a Carabinieri van badly burnt on the street. Naturally we were confused and looked up the news when we got home. The Global Occupy movement has come to Roma, a city that likes to protest and strike at any opportunity. (I've encountered 3 public transit strikes, a protest of firemen, and several political protests in the past 3 weeks.) The initially peaceful protest was co-opted by anarchists and became a full-out riot. Shop windows were smashed, tear gas was used, cars were lit on fire, Molotov cocktails flew...Rome really was burning,from Termini (the second busiest train depot in Europe) down Via Cavour (a main drag through the city) to Piazza Venezia (one of the biggest piazze, and an always crowded area). Several people were badly injured and hospitalized, but thankfully no one died. It was striking to watch news coverage of a city on fire after having just crossed it via bus. I've never been so close to that kind of event before. It's both scary and exciting; the world is really fed up with the status quo, and people across the first world are fighting back. It really is turning into a global movement. I think that's kind of cool, but I also worry that other cities will follow Rome's violent example, not to mention that I worry about friends in Chicago; CPD has started arresting some protesters there, and I have several friends heavily involved in the Occupy Chicago movement. Hopefully the "99%" will manage to get their message across without causing too much damage to their cities or to themselves. That being said, I agree with the message of the movement and am interested to see what will happen in the coming weeks. Be safe, everyone.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Ruins, Turtles, and Time
Something very mundane happened today, but it has really made me think. You know, because I'm a nerd and all that.
My civilizations class was tramping through ruins for the umpteenth time. Today we were in Tivioli, at the Villa Adriana, the emperor Hadrian's summer Villa turned permanent residence. He had this giant manmade pond built outside of the triclinium (dining room, basically) that had columns and arches and statues surrounding it, a few of which remain. A lot of times I find ruins like this eerie, especially when mostly bereft of tourists. They seem so dead and sterile; hard like the marble and brick they're constructed of. But today, beside that pond, there was a young turtle sunning himself and warily watching a class of 28 parade past his favorite spot. The juxtaposition of color against white marble, life against sterility, the new against the ancient, was striking. It made the enormity of the meaning of 2,000 years really hit me, and I haven't been able to shake a sort of weighty feeling about it ever since. That many years does a lot to make my own silly life seem like less than a speck of dust in the sands of time. Italy is certainly good at giving me a big doses of perspective.
(Again, not my picture.)
My civilizations class was tramping through ruins for the umpteenth time. Today we were in Tivioli, at the Villa Adriana, the emperor Hadrian's summer Villa turned permanent residence. He had this giant manmade pond built outside of the triclinium (dining room, basically) that had columns and arches and statues surrounding it, a few of which remain. A lot of times I find ruins like this eerie, especially when mostly bereft of tourists. They seem so dead and sterile; hard like the marble and brick they're constructed of. But today, beside that pond, there was a young turtle sunning himself and warily watching a class of 28 parade past his favorite spot. The juxtaposition of color against white marble, life against sterility, the new against the ancient, was striking. It made the enormity of the meaning of 2,000 years really hit me, and I haven't been able to shake a sort of weighty feeling about it ever since. That many years does a lot to make my own silly life seem like less than a speck of dust in the sands of time. Italy is certainly good at giving me a big doses of perspective.
(Again, not my picture.)
Monday, October 10, 2011
Happiness in a Keyhole
I am such an easily-pleased person. I was having a 'meh' kind of weekend up until this afternoon; I was sick and tired and sore and unable to escape my roommates (whom I really like, but you know...some days you hardcore need hermit-mode.) At any rate, I was very cranky when I left my Italian class today, which is silly; who wants to be cranky in Rome?!
Sarah, Tammy, Jan and I decided to go on an adventure, to walk around on the Aventine Hill, a part of the city none of us had explored yet. At the top of the hill is the teeny sovereignty of the Knights of Malta. In a gate in one of their walls is a keyhole that looks clear across the city to St. Peter's. You literally look across 3 countries to do this: Territory of the Knights of Malta, Italy, and the Vatican. We stood in line to see it, and it was fantastic. Not to mention that the Aventino neighborhood is beautiful and quiet. (A quiet area is a rarity in this crazy city.) The weather is finally cooler, there was a nice breeze, and the view was awesome. It took just this to completely turn my mood around. I need to always remember to appreciate small things, like staring at St. Peter's across the city through a keyhole. That's how small a thing it takes to make me happy: it can fit in a keyhole. And I consider myself lucky for that.
(I stole this picture because it's better than mine. The black stuff you see around the greenery is the keyhole.)
Sarah, Tammy, Jan and I decided to go on an adventure, to walk around on the Aventine Hill, a part of the city none of us had explored yet. At the top of the hill is the teeny sovereignty of the Knights of Malta. In a gate in one of their walls is a keyhole that looks clear across the city to St. Peter's. You literally look across 3 countries to do this: Territory of the Knights of Malta, Italy, and the Vatican. We stood in line to see it, and it was fantastic. Not to mention that the Aventino neighborhood is beautiful and quiet. (A quiet area is a rarity in this crazy city.) The weather is finally cooler, there was a nice breeze, and the view was awesome. It took just this to completely turn my mood around. I need to always remember to appreciate small things, like staring at St. Peter's across the city through a keyhole. That's how small a thing it takes to make me happy: it can fit in a keyhole. And I consider myself lucky for that.
(I stole this picture because it's better than mine. The black stuff you see around the greenery is the keyhole.)
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Only in Italy; a Vignette
A short story to give you a good idea of how Italy operates.
Today I was on a train headed to Rome from Naples after a class trip to the Bay of Naples area. At about the third station after leaving Naples the train stopped, as it was meant to...and failed to start again. After about 10 minutes, we were all a little confused, but went on with our conversation. (Trains stop at stations for longer intervals here than in America, so that time isn't too absurd.) By 20 minutes, we were getting a little antsy. Around 25 minutes, the Italians on the train started to get confused, too. No announcement was made. No conductor came around to let us know what was happening. Everyone sat in a state of more or less content confusion. Finally, after 30 minutes the Italian family in our car walked up to the front of the train to ask what was going on. No one knew. 5 minutes later we were finally told to get off the train and wait for another at a different track, with no explanation. 20 minutes after that, we, and everyone else from our train, boarded the other Rome-bound train. There was, overall, very little complaint and discontent. Were that to happen in the states, people would throw fits and demand refunds. Needless to say, Italy is wonderfully laid back and calm when it comes to this sort of thing. It's definitely a refreshing change that I'm trying to enjoy while I can.
Today I was on a train headed to Rome from Naples after a class trip to the Bay of Naples area. At about the third station after leaving Naples the train stopped, as it was meant to...and failed to start again. After about 10 minutes, we were all a little confused, but went on with our conversation. (Trains stop at stations for longer intervals here than in America, so that time isn't too absurd.) By 20 minutes, we were getting a little antsy. Around 25 minutes, the Italians on the train started to get confused, too. No announcement was made. No conductor came around to let us know what was happening. Everyone sat in a state of more or less content confusion. Finally, after 30 minutes the Italian family in our car walked up to the front of the train to ask what was going on. No one knew. 5 minutes later we were finally told to get off the train and wait for another at a different track, with no explanation. 20 minutes after that, we, and everyone else from our train, boarded the other Rome-bound train. There was, overall, very little complaint and discontent. Were that to happen in the states, people would throw fits and demand refunds. Needless to say, Italy is wonderfully laid back and calm when it comes to this sort of thing. It's definitely a refreshing change that I'm trying to enjoy while I can.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuscany: Pisa, Cinque Terre, and Lucca
Last weekend was incredible. Absolutely incredible. My (very awesome) roommates and I decided to head northwards, to northwestern Tuscany. We hauled ourselves out of bed at 4am (there were serious struggles happening) and managed to get to Termini (the central train station in Roma) and on our 6:00 train to Pisa. Once there, we wandered a bit (a lot; we get lost sometimes) and headed to the Piazza dei Miracoli. After discovering that the torre leans a lot more in real life than in pictures, we went into the battistero and the cattedrale. Both of those edifices are super interesting because they have a lot of Eastern influences (ie arched windows) mixed in with their traditional Pisan Romanesque style. Il battistero has an absolutely huge baptismal font directly under the vaulted dome, and once an hour a security guard stands almost in the center and sings. The acoustics are amazing; the tones overlap and reverberate until her one voice sounds like five or six. While she was singing everyone in the battistero shut up and watched her in awe. It was amazing. After exploring around a bit, we headed to la cattedrale. I was particularly fascinated by the doors; there are an older pair on the back and more recent editions to the front. I had a nerd moment and enjoyed comparing the different uses of space and perspectival strategies. When we were done at the cattedrale we moved on to our hostel, where we got a delicious homemade dinner for just the price of our drinks. Italy calls that an aperitivo; it's meant to just be pre-dinner drinks and a buffet, but you can definitely make a meal of it.
On Saturday morning we got up early (again) to catch a train to La Spezia, a small town and regional train hub, to buy tickets to the Cinque Terre park trail. Cinque Terre is a series of five lovely little villages along Italy's northwestern coast connected by hiking trails through the mountains. We hiked the length of the easiest trail (about 11km), stopping in each town as we went. The view along the Ligurian coast is legitimately one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. The water is a deep, clear blue (not teal like in Greece, but straight up blue) and the plants along the mountain side are vibrantly green. A lot of locals have small vineyards planted amongst the wild plants in the mountains as well, and the houses in the villages are all painted in bright colors that are reminiscent of the flowers surrounding them, which makes for quite a scenic hike. Also, the food in Tuscany is amazing; I ate the best focaccia of my life on that hike. I also had a dumb moment: my friend Sarah and I had been talking about cactus fruit. She's from California, where it is a common food, but I've never eaten one. So, naturally, when we came across a cactus with ripe fruit along the trail we decided to pick some. This was a BAD IDEA. I am still picking needles out of my hand, 4 days later. Whoops.
Once we finished the hike, which proved to be really pretty difficult, we spent some time on the beach and then headed back to La Spezia to get a train to Lucca, where we had hostel reservations for the night. Lucca is about an hour inland of Pisa, southeast of La Spezia. It is still entirely within its medieval city walls, and just about the greatest town I've seen. The people were incredibly friendly, our hostel was quirky and amazing, and the town is beautiful. On Sunday we came across an open air market selling everything from frate (it's like a lemony sugar doughnut that you can get dipped in warm Nutella) to 2 euro bras to pretty scarves and jewelry. We also walked along the city wall and wandered into the cattedrale, where we saw a Tintoretto. By the end of the day we were completely exhausted, but getting back to Rome from Lucca requires that you stop in Pisa; it was rather late when we finally dragged ourselves up the stairs of our apartment, but the weekend was well worth the exhaustion.
Side note: I love the ease with which one can get from place to place and find a place to crash in in Europe. It takes very little planning and very little money to get on a train and sleep in a hostel. America should really work on that.
On Saturday morning we got up early (again) to catch a train to La Spezia, a small town and regional train hub, to buy tickets to the Cinque Terre park trail. Cinque Terre is a series of five lovely little villages along Italy's northwestern coast connected by hiking trails through the mountains. We hiked the length of the easiest trail (about 11km), stopping in each town as we went. The view along the Ligurian coast is legitimately one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen. The water is a deep, clear blue (not teal like in Greece, but straight up blue) and the plants along the mountain side are vibrantly green. A lot of locals have small vineyards planted amongst the wild plants in the mountains as well, and the houses in the villages are all painted in bright colors that are reminiscent of the flowers surrounding them, which makes for quite a scenic hike. Also, the food in Tuscany is amazing; I ate the best focaccia of my life on that hike. I also had a dumb moment: my friend Sarah and I had been talking about cactus fruit. She's from California, where it is a common food, but I've never eaten one. So, naturally, when we came across a cactus with ripe fruit along the trail we decided to pick some. This was a BAD IDEA. I am still picking needles out of my hand, 4 days later. Whoops.
Once we finished the hike, which proved to be really pretty difficult, we spent some time on the beach and then headed back to La Spezia to get a train to Lucca, where we had hostel reservations for the night. Lucca is about an hour inland of Pisa, southeast of La Spezia. It is still entirely within its medieval city walls, and just about the greatest town I've seen. The people were incredibly friendly, our hostel was quirky and amazing, and the town is beautiful. On Sunday we came across an open air market selling everything from frate (it's like a lemony sugar doughnut that you can get dipped in warm Nutella) to 2 euro bras to pretty scarves and jewelry. We also walked along the city wall and wandered into the cattedrale, where we saw a Tintoretto. By the end of the day we were completely exhausted, but getting back to Rome from Lucca requires that you stop in Pisa; it was rather late when we finally dragged ourselves up the stairs of our apartment, but the weekend was well worth the exhaustion.
Side note: I love the ease with which one can get from place to place and find a place to crash in in Europe. It takes very little planning and very little money to get on a train and sleep in a hostel. America should really work on that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)