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Published: July 22nd 2007
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Journal Entry #11
July 22, 2007
So today is Sunday, and like every other Sunday, everything in Italy is closed. EVERYTHING. Well, except the supermarket. But unlike every other Sunday, today is my last full day in Firenze… It’s sad. I’ve really come to love this place. So I haven’t kept up with my journal largely due to the lack of internet connection and also to finals. Throughout the term, I was complaining about how much work we had, how much reading we had, how we didn’t have time to visit stuff, but I sucked it up and did the work and in the end, it truly paid off. I’ve learned so much about
art, the Renaissance, other people, the Italian culture… I’ll enlighten you about each.
Art: Something I’ve always wanted to appreciate, but just never had the means/reason to. I mean, if anyone has seen me draw, that alone would answer why art was not my “best subject” as we would say in elementary school. My mom actually has a master’s degree in art, but I guess I didn’t inherit those genes. But anyways, art in Florence is not just about paintings, it’s the entire city (Donatello, Dante,
Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, and basically all of the other ninja turtles lived here). Yesterday, I did THE ultimate thing in Firenze, I climbed up IL DUOMO. What a masterpiece! And by the way, I hope that every little shithead that decided to graffiti Brunelleschi’s Dome gets what he/she deserves. On a much brighter note, the view from up there was amazing. I could see the Santa Maria Novella Tren Stazione which became my second home, I could see St. Miniato up on the hill. I’m glad I saved that until the end, as I went up with my friend Francis and roommate Gary, and as Gary said, what a way to end our journey. And in terms of art, no other city compares to Florence; and to give you an idea of how much I’ve learned, I actually can tell the difference between artists’ works! We also saw the Birth of Venus by Botticelli at the Uffizi and that was amazing as well.
The Renaissance: For most of the quarter, I sat in Professor Harrison’s class saying to myself, what the hell is this guy talking about? And why is he so in love with Italy? But there’s a sense of
pride that the Florentines and other Italians upheld and something that I can definitely appreciate, I’m just not so sure if it’s practiced today as this place has become a huge tourist attraction (no, duh). But if I had to take one thing away from Florence is that one should really try to excel in every aspect of his/her life. One thing about Christianity that always made me cringe was how often, it’s a shelter for those who have nothing and we’re taught that God loves those who can do the least for themselves. But what about everyone else? I think a lot of the time, not directly, but indirectly people resolve to mediocrity in their lives to follow God. But what I see from the Renaissance is that a person can do everything, much like Castiglione’s “perfect courtier”. It’s something I really look forward to practicing as I’m about to make a pretty drastic change within the next month or so with work starting (BOO!).
Other People: Most of the great memories I have of UCLA are of those times spent with people in DSP. And people in DSP are all Econ majors, and for the most part very
successful, driven, and even greedy . But that’s not how most of the world operates. And I’ve learned that not from the Italians here but the people on this program who I’ve come to know. It’s a sad reality that I might never see or talk to these people again, but we shared something cool as we always looked out for each other as we basked in American Brotherhood. But really, what I’m trying to get across is that I haven’t spent much time with other majors besides my roommates. I think I was the only Bus. Econ/Accounting student in this whole Travel Study Italy program, and a lot of people can say that about their respective majors. It’s funny, people, including myself, don’t act like themselves when on vacation/abroad whether it’s due to natural instincts or the fact that we’re only gone for 1 month and people want to just take it easy. And I purposely chose this program over other programs that focused on something that’s more up my alley (i.e. the Business Law and Business travel study programs) in order to try something new, and none of this stuff really affects my grades (hopefully). I’ve come to
realize that everyone should believe in something. And don’t believe it because someone else believes it, but because you’ve used your own God given discernment to figure it out. Not only does this apply to religion but in every aspect of life.
The Italian Culture: I’m still not fond of how our girls get harassed on the streets here (but the guys here are such pussies) but after getting used to everything, I really enjoy it here. One event pretty much sums up the Italian experience. And that was our Last Supper, if you will, of the Travel Study program. They poured on the food AND of course the WINE. I believe it was a 7 course meal… I could be wrong, but who was counting? I’m talking about ravioli, tomato soup, bread soup, tomatoes with mozzarella, potatoes, pasta with marinara sauce, pasta with pesto, chicken, beef, rabbit, pork and dessert. It was ridiculous. Then of course, the glasses of red wine, the dessert wine, the lemonceli, and acqua natural. And the staple I’ve come to love: fresh parmesan cheese. And the best part? EVERYONE got smashed, in a very elegant manner that is. Every other minute I heard a
“salute” or a simple “EH”. It was a blast, simply put. Oh, we also ate for 3 hours, but I’d do it every day because it didn’t feel nearly that long.
Well, now I’m sitting in my apartment as the program has officially ended and there are just a handful of us sticking around before we go our separate ways. And this is where the REAL journey begins, and unlike before, I’m not nervous. Enjoy the large amount of pictures and I’ll see you in Bologna.
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