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Published: October 10th 2006
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Heh.
Yeah, we took a lot of pictures. This is definitely my favorite. I just got back from spending the weekend in venice, and wow. But before I tell that story, I want to address the concerns of one of my subscribers. My dearest Uncle Jon laments the lack of cultural commentary in my entries, and in that he is justified. My biggest surprise in being here is the similarity of the culture to the united states and other european countries i've been to. We're all people and have varying degrees of the same values. The main difference between here and the states i've noticed is an extraordinarily strong family influence on the lives of most college students. With most students commuting from their family houses or at least going home each weekend, it goes without saying that this plays a much bigger part in college life than at home. But outside of that, there are still questions about my learning about the culture.
In response i say- Why of course i'm learning about the culture. I'm pretty sure that drinking IS the culture here. We end up talking a lot to irish guys, but you need only look at the statistics related to economic growth to see what they are doing culturally here. Directly linked to the influx of money in Ireland is the consumption level. The more money that comes in, the more frequently people go out and the more they drink each time they do. In fact, consumption increased more than gdp did! This overshadows in a big way their pension for storytelling(a dying art sequestered to the most rural hamlets) and legitimate interest in their history. Too, culturally they tend ot be just a friendly, gab-oriented group- something that lends itself to drinking at pubs each night. Unfortunately, americanization and europeanization is really showing itself. The irish seem to be getting a lot of their night life style from europe and their day-to-day style from america. It's really kind of interesting to see a "sponge" culture soaking up everything it views to be the "best" parts of the cultures around it. Almost all bars play characteristically american cover songs, though we've managed to find one or two that cater to the traditional irish music crowd- usually these places are dominated by people from the graying generation. Interestingly enough, the pub culture is also being suppressed in favor of a thriving club life for youth. most pubs close at 11 or 11:30 and clubs are open til 2 or 3. The government is really trying to rein in drinking with taxes and by diverting people to clubs where they dance instead of drink, but needless to say their efforts seem to be in vain. Culturally, sure, i'm learning about irish culture in the past, but one of the most interesting parts is learning about their changing ways, the effects of immigration on dublin's culture, and the dissemination of wealth from the centers of investment all the way into rural areas(e.g. monaghan where I had my homestay.)- what that brings with it though, is the cultural changes of the city. When the money made it to monaghan, they threw up european-style clubs and hired cover bands that play american songs in their pubs. The people we talked to their could almost put a date on it. It's a fast-changing culture, so pinning down what parts are "irish" and what they've gathered from others is incredibly difficult, to say the least.
I will say this about them. They are notoriously lazy, only one year(their last one) of college counts towards any sort of employment evaluation, they love to drink, and they love their family. I gotta say. They are my kind of people. 😉
On to italy though. Peter and I spent the weekend walking around Venezia, taking lots of pictures of things that moved us and things that didn't, and it was a great time. We walked around the city and the Isle of Murano for two days, spending a fair amount of time on our feet with our cameras clicking. It was one of the most interesting, enjoyable experiences i've had visiting a city, because truly they do everything differently. Breakfast there consists of coffee and a biscuit, lunch a delicious panini, and dinner a tremendous 3-4 course meal. I really enjoyed that particular aspect, as the places we ate were truly heavenly. Additionally, I tried a venetian wine for the first time and I was really taken in by how quickly it became mild. Peter and I both pegged it about 4-6 years out, maybe an 02 or 01, but the wine we were drinking was actually an 04. Sure, we could peg this on inexperience but he's been living in tuscany for over a month now and i'd trust his judgement of late if only because he's been sampling a lot of wine. In either case, he's inspired me to come down to tuscany on my way home, cold or not, and go around to a couple wineries with him and sample the wares. Maybe i'll even send a few cases of wine home for the parental units. Hmm Hmm.
Whatever the case, I found certain aspects of venice unfortunate. The tourist areas were dominated by designer clothing and trinket stores rather than museums or any sort of indication of what the history of venice was like. It was ok, because both peter and I were pretty much fine with the independent traveller style. We walked around to major landmarks, found what we could through visuals or perhaps closer casual inspection, but didn't find out much of the history with the exception of a small guidebook that offered a tidbit or two about each place we visited, even explained the history of venice's development(a most interesting story, for sure.). It really is too bad that a city with so much history chooses to turn itself into a shopping center, but at the same time, theres so much tourism that I suppose it was forced into such a situation. Whatever the case, I truly enjoyed exploring a city with such a unique setup. There really is no comparable experience i've had in the past. Interestingly enough though, Venice is one of those cities that I left feeling like i'd seen all it had to offer. Because of that commercialization I feel it lost a great deal of the depth I originally percieved it to have. I really don't think i'll ever have to go back, i've really been there, done that now. Beauty can only get you so far, I suppose.
Either way, Im really starting to look forward to december. The people you surround yourself with really are what makes your life, and my life feels a little less joyous without my closest friends.
ciao,
tom
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