We are in our last week here in Italy. I cannot believe that it has already been 8 weeks. I feel like we just go here and we just started this incredible journey but it is coming to a close. I knew that it would go by quickly since we were having so much fun but I didn't realize this fast. As we finish up our last week here in Rome, I cannot help but think about the beginning and where it all started. Where we all were scared and did not know quite what to expect. This journey has made us all more aware of our surroundings and made us quite comfortable being any where in the world.
I came to Italy a little bit scared but mostly excited. I was afraid of being that far away from everyone that I loved so much but I was so excited to be on this journey and make new friends. The few weeks leading up to this journey were the hardest. I did not even feel that I was ready to leave the country and be away from everyone yet. It came as a shock that I was leaving in such a short while, but the time had come. When we got to Italy, everyone was so excited to be there and see everything that we weren't even scared to be away anymore. I will never forget the firsts in Italy, the first time we saw the Coliseum will always be the most memorable for me. I will always remember that moment in time and the way that I felt seeing such a great monument to Rome.
This experience has shaped me into a great person and a world traveler. I cannot imagine living my life now without traveling and going new places. It would just not be me to stay in the U.S. anymore. Without this journey to guide me, I would not know that I wanted to travel the globe. I appreciate this experience so much because it has made me more aware of what I want out of life now and who I am now. We visited so many cities in Italy that I had never heard of before coming on this trip and they were absolutely fantastic. It was very weird to be in another country and be so far away from the U.S. but it was well worth the flight. I cannot imagine my life without coming on this fantastic journey. It is weird for me to know how many places I have been in just a short while. It still does not seem real that I have been everywhere that I have.
Walking around the streets of Italy, seems surreal still. I still feel like it a dream that I have not yet woken up from. In a few short days, we will go back to America and back to our everyday lives. This is quite the saddest thing I have ever said in a blog. We have to go back to reality. We can't just stay in Italy forever?! No, we have to make more money and finish our studies in America. This makes me sad because I have met so many great people on this trip. It is amazing to think that I would not have met any of these people if I had not come on this trip and my life would be totally different right now. I now have to go back to America and live my life and I hope that I do not just forget about this experience entirely, but I do not think that I will. I cannot imagine living my life without remembering and taking back my experience with me to the States.
This journey has been full of amazing experiences and new learning experiences. I now know how to get around in the world's largest cities. It is amazing to think back on my experiences and laugh about the moments that I was crying during. Like almost missing my plane back to Rome from London this past weekend. Like missing my bus stop to campus and having to walk 2 miles. There were times that I just wanted to scream because I didn't understand something, but only a couple. Now, I think back on these past 8 weeks with full-hearted emotion. I think back on it with so much love. I had the time of my life and I want to take back this experience with me to the U.S. I cannot wait to tell everyone back home about my journey and share with them my experiences. Ciao for the last time from Italy!
Monday, December 10, 2012
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Sociology 490 Week 6 Last Blog!
We finished up week 6 this past Sunday, I cannot believe but we are almost done with our journey here in Italy. I could not be any more saddened by this fact. I feel like it was just yesterday we were in our first week at our new campus in Italy, but it was more than 7 weeks ago. We were stumbling over our Italian the first week and did not know what to do unless we were around our trusted translator, Danilo. But, here we are in the seventh week now and we know how to order things in Italian and greet mostly anyone on the streets. We have come in contact with people of all races, ages, and ethnicities. My eyes have been opened more than ever through this experience. From the buses to the subways, we always have an eye on our bags and belongings because you never know who could be a pickpocket. I don't say this to scare any of you that are reading this blog. This is just the way you have to be in any big city.
I have found myself calling this place my home and I like it a lot. We go off every weekend on our weekend trips and then we are all excited to go home, back to Rome. We are learning Italian very well, I may add. This last Thursday, we had to interview Italians about their healthcare in a local market. Did I mention, most of them did not know any English?? We were told how to ask them if they wanted to take a survey for our university. We went up to them to ask and many told us no but we just had to keep going and ask other people until we got all 10 interviews done. My partner and I had this same experience with the fact that people would say no and we just had to carry on. We finally found a huge group of University students and they spoke English!! We got all of our interviews done, yay! It was pretty difficult to ask people to do these surveys in Italian but we did just fine after asking a couple people. I really enjoyed doing this assignment because it challenged us to use our Italian and ask random people questions.
I cannot believe that we know enough Italian now to go up to random people and ask them things in Italian! It just goes to show how much we have learned throughout our journey here in Rome. In these interviews with Italians, we found that some of them had not even been to a hospital in their lives. This surprised us since they have universal healthcare in Italy. I still do not know what my position is on universal healthcare because we keep reading things in our healthcare book and it keeps changing my mind about it. For this week, we finished the book and it did not help my opinion on the issue since I keep getting more knowledge on the issue and it just gets me confused on my position. In our book, Farrel's article speaks about infant mortality rates and life expectancies. He states that the U.S. ranks 29th in the world for infant mortality rate and 48th in life expectancy. This is very surprising since I feel that we are all around a healthy country.
I am not sure how I feel still about the universal healthcare issue but doing these interviews with Italians that have universal healthcare has helped. I found during these interviews that most Italians do not like the universal healthcare system that they have. The topic that we also had to discuss is Can we cure disease through the power of prayer? I do not believe that this is possible but you do need spiritual power to keep up your hopes and to help you keep fighting against a disease. You need hope to keep fighting in these situtations and if you do not have this, you could just give up. I do think that the power of prayer is important in fighting off a disease but it cannot be cured without medical help. I have enjoyed so much this experience and I have loved learning about healthcare this class as a whole. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blogs as well!
I have found myself calling this place my home and I like it a lot. We go off every weekend on our weekend trips and then we are all excited to go home, back to Rome. We are learning Italian very well, I may add. This last Thursday, we had to interview Italians about their healthcare in a local market. Did I mention, most of them did not know any English?? We were told how to ask them if they wanted to take a survey for our university. We went up to them to ask and many told us no but we just had to keep going and ask other people until we got all 10 interviews done. My partner and I had this same experience with the fact that people would say no and we just had to carry on. We finally found a huge group of University students and they spoke English!! We got all of our interviews done, yay! It was pretty difficult to ask people to do these surveys in Italian but we did just fine after asking a couple people. I really enjoyed doing this assignment because it challenged us to use our Italian and ask random people questions.
I cannot believe that we know enough Italian now to go up to random people and ask them things in Italian! It just goes to show how much we have learned throughout our journey here in Rome. In these interviews with Italians, we found that some of them had not even been to a hospital in their lives. This surprised us since they have universal healthcare in Italy. I still do not know what my position is on universal healthcare because we keep reading things in our healthcare book and it keeps changing my mind about it. For this week, we finished the book and it did not help my opinion on the issue since I keep getting more knowledge on the issue and it just gets me confused on my position. In our book, Farrel's article speaks about infant mortality rates and life expectancies. He states that the U.S. ranks 29th in the world for infant mortality rate and 48th in life expectancy. This is very surprising since I feel that we are all around a healthy country.
I am not sure how I feel still about the universal healthcare issue but doing these interviews with Italians that have universal healthcare has helped. I found during these interviews that most Italians do not like the universal healthcare system that they have. The topic that we also had to discuss is Can we cure disease through the power of prayer? I do not believe that this is possible but you do need spiritual power to keep up your hopes and to help you keep fighting against a disease. You need hope to keep fighting in these situtations and if you do not have this, you could just give up. I do think that the power of prayer is important in fighting off a disease but it cannot be cured without medical help. I have enjoyed so much this experience and I have loved learning about healthcare this class as a whole. Thank you to everyone who has been reading my blogs as well!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Global Learning Week 6!
I cannot believe it once again, but we have come to the end of another week here in Rome. This week was a very eventful one and one that I thoroughly enjoyed being apart of. We went to the Vatican City twice this week and it was a blast! On Monday, we climbed the Dome of St. Peter's Basillica. It was almost 600 stairs to get to the top of the Dome. By the end of the climb to the top, we were all dying and very out of breath, but the sight at the top was more than I could have every imagined. It was crazy to think that we had climbed up to the top and had such an amazing view of Rome from the top of that place so high up. The walk down from the top was a little less tiring but it was scarier for me since you could see the stairs and see yourself going round and round to the bottom. It was an experience of a lifetime and I am glad that I got to see that!
On Tuesday, we went into the Vatican City! We had to go through security and then we went underground to below St. Peter's Basillica. We were very appreciative to be let underground since they only let 100 people a day underground! We got to see the underneath of St. Peter's Basillica and the remains of St. Peter! I could not catch my breath thinking about what I had seen that day. The remains of St. Peter, he is the most influential person in the Catholic history behind Jesus of course...I couldn't believe that we had actually gotten to see that with our own eyes. After we saw this amazing tomb, we had a student-led tour of St. Peter's Basillica by Brandon and Katie. They did a great job and we were very pleased with what we got to see. After the tour, we got lunch at a little pizza place just outside the city, it was delicious! We then had class in St. Peter's Square.
On Wednesday, we had a free day and I am gonna be honest I used it to catch up on sleep and do some homework. Then, we had movie night and watched Home Alone, classic! Thursday, we had American breakfast!! It was made by our very own Professor and Mike! It was delicious, I think it was extra delicious because we haven't had real American breakfast in so long! Thank you Professor for all your hard work to prepare that for us! Then, we hopped on the train to Rome to go to San Lorenzo Market to do our healthcare interviews. We had to interview people in Italian! It was kind of difficult to just go up to people and ask them if they wanted to fill out a survey but we got the hang of it.
On Friday, we left for Sorrento. We had to take a lot of transportation to get there but it was worth it once we finally got there. We took the fast train and then a train from Naples to Sorrento. It was so beautiful and I could not believe that we were there in such a beautiful place and it was surreal that it was our last weekend together as a group. We enjoyed our weekend so much and did not want it to end. Naples was kind of sketchy though, it was kind of dirty and we were pretty excited to leave that place to go back to our temporary home in Rome! This week in class we started to read The Talented Mr. Ripley. It is a very good book about a young man who is sent on a journey to a city just South of Naples to find another young man and bring him back to America. It is beginning to be a very good book and we are getting very into it. I realized when we were in Naples and I was reading the book, that we had waited to read the book until we were in Naples, so that we were familiar with the territory. I cannot wait to continue to get into the book further and finish it before class the last week!
On Tuesday, we went into the Vatican City! We had to go through security and then we went underground to below St. Peter's Basillica. We were very appreciative to be let underground since they only let 100 people a day underground! We got to see the underneath of St. Peter's Basillica and the remains of St. Peter! I could not catch my breath thinking about what I had seen that day. The remains of St. Peter, he is the most influential person in the Catholic history behind Jesus of course...I couldn't believe that we had actually gotten to see that with our own eyes. After we saw this amazing tomb, we had a student-led tour of St. Peter's Basillica by Brandon and Katie. They did a great job and we were very pleased with what we got to see. After the tour, we got lunch at a little pizza place just outside the city, it was delicious! We then had class in St. Peter's Square.
On Wednesday, we had a free day and I am gonna be honest I used it to catch up on sleep and do some homework. Then, we had movie night and watched Home Alone, classic! Thursday, we had American breakfast!! It was made by our very own Professor and Mike! It was delicious, I think it was extra delicious because we haven't had real American breakfast in so long! Thank you Professor for all your hard work to prepare that for us! Then, we hopped on the train to Rome to go to San Lorenzo Market to do our healthcare interviews. We had to interview people in Italian! It was kind of difficult to just go up to people and ask them if they wanted to fill out a survey but we got the hang of it.
On Friday, we left for Sorrento. We had to take a lot of transportation to get there but it was worth it once we finally got there. We took the fast train and then a train from Naples to Sorrento. It was so beautiful and I could not believe that we were there in such a beautiful place and it was surreal that it was our last weekend together as a group. We enjoyed our weekend so much and did not want it to end. Naples was kind of sketchy though, it was kind of dirty and we were pretty excited to leave that place to go back to our temporary home in Rome! This week in class we started to read The Talented Mr. Ripley. It is a very good book about a young man who is sent on a journey to a city just South of Naples to find another young man and bring him back to America. It is beginning to be a very good book and we are getting very into it. I realized when we were in Naples and I was reading the book, that we had waited to read the book until we were in Naples, so that we were familiar with the territory. I cannot wait to continue to get into the book further and finish it before class the last week!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
SOC 490 Week 5
This week in our sociology class, we have been talking about open-ended insurance programs and if they are good or bad. We had a very good discussion in this class this week about this topic. We had a lot of people that had very good points. In the readings for this week, we discussed how open-ended payments for insurance were effecting the health care field. A couple of the readings suggested that the open-ended payments promote people to take advantage of the health care system. There are also a couple of readings that discuss the fact that open-ended payments do not make people take advantage of the health care system. In Gladwell's part of the book, he discusses how we do not need to worry about these people taking advantage of the health care system because who really wants to go to the hospital when they do not need to. This reading made me actually think about changing my opinion about whether health care is a right or a privilege because he put in so many real life situations. There was one part of the reading that talks about an average American just trying to pay their bills and not being able to afford health care and they did not have enough money to even get teeth pulled when they were badly infected. So they just let them fall out on their own or pulled them themselves. I cannot imagine pulling my own teeth or letting something get to that point when it is so bad. It makes me sad to think about how many people do not have health insurance and have to live without the basic care in their lives.
In the other readings, we discussed how the U.S. needs or does not need to implement the Universal Health Care act. The readings discussed how the U.S. is so much higher in things like infant mortality rate and lower in things like span of life for our citizens. In other countries with universal health care, they seem to take care of their citizens and then they live longer and they do not have as many problems. This is sad but true. To quote the author Henry Aaron, "The U.S. health care system is as large as the entire economy of France." This is very weird to me but after reading it, I understand fully that this is true. We have so many jobs just in health care and this is continuing to grow throughout the years.
The question, "Do you control your health?" came up again in class this week. Everyone had differenct answers once again and people had the answers like, but and kinda. I think you do to an extent. You could have a genetic disease and of course you did not control getting that. But just as an example, diabetes could be genetic or your fault for getting it. You could have type 1, which is usually genetic or you could have type 2 which is your fault usually from being over weight. People could also be genetically prone to heart disease or get it from eating too much fast food, etc. This question will never have a straight forward answer because there are so many things that come into play while answering it.
In the other readings, we discussed how the U.S. needs or does not need to implement the Universal Health Care act. The readings discussed how the U.S. is so much higher in things like infant mortality rate and lower in things like span of life for our citizens. In other countries with universal health care, they seem to take care of their citizens and then they live longer and they do not have as many problems. This is sad but true. To quote the author Henry Aaron, "The U.S. health care system is as large as the entire economy of France." This is very weird to me but after reading it, I understand fully that this is true. We have so many jobs just in health care and this is continuing to grow throughout the years.
The question, "Do you control your health?" came up again in class this week. Everyone had differenct answers once again and people had the answers like, but and kinda. I think you do to an extent. You could have a genetic disease and of course you did not control getting that. But just as an example, diabetes could be genetic or your fault for getting it. You could have type 1, which is usually genetic or you could have type 2 which is your fault usually from being over weight. People could also be genetically prone to heart disease or get it from eating too much fast food, etc. This question will never have a straight forward answer because there are so many things that come into play while answering it.
Monday, November 26, 2012
GL 350 Week 5!!
Week 5 has come and gone and I can't believe we just started week 6. These past 5 weeks have been the best in my life thus far and I find myself thinking, "will anything ever come close to this experience?" I can't imagine anything yet...We have seen so much and been to so many places, I cannot imagine going home yet and I can't imagine what life would have been like without going on this trip. I have found myself thinking that I go home in less than 20 days and then it is back to real life America. Back to work, school, and everyday Ohio activities. Being on this trip, I feel as if time has stopped and I will go back to everything just as it was when I left, but I know it will not be like this. I know that things will be changed: the weather, the people, my house will be decorated for Christmas, and most of all I will be a totally different person. I will have been to Europe and many of the countries in the continent, I will be a world traveller. I don't mean this blog to be depressing to all my fellow Romers to talk about home like this, but it is weird to think about, isn't it?
In 5 short weeks, we have seen a lot of Rome and for those of us that went on free weekend trips, we saw many different countries. This is crazy to me. I have learned so much and I have enjoyed every single minute of this experience. I know that when I get home, I will have to tell everyone about my experience many times but it will all be worth it to share my stories. I am so excited to go home and share my experience with everyone and mainly see all my loved ones and more importantly, it will be Christmas time!! My favorite time of the year!! But, before I head home for the ending of this experience, there are many more things I still want to see and 2 more weekend trips that I am stoked about!! Now, I got that off my chest, lets talk about week 5.
In the Italians, the book we are reading for this class, Barzini states, "...when he realizes that things are seldom what they seem , words not always what they sound like, and most of what he learned in school, in the army or from his elders, and what he read in many grave books is complete nonsense." I feel like this quote sums up our whole trip. We are learning so many things about not only ourselves but the world around us through just seeing it and not in the classroom. I love this aspect of the trip since I am a very visual learner and I love learning. I think everyone should have to study abroad at some point in their lifetime since you learn so many things that you would not learn if they did not go on these trips.
Week five was all about leisure time basically. We went to a museum of medical arts on Monday, it was very interesting to see all of the tools that people used back in the day and how they have evolved into what we have now. I already talked a lot about this in my last blog, so I am not going to touch on this as much. On Monday, I went to see the Vatican with a few students since we had some time to kill before we went to see Twilight!! Wahhhhh it was so good!! On Tuesday, we had a student-led tour of the Borghese Gardens by Gabby and Aubree. They did a fantastic job and it was very beautiful to see all the gardens. When their tour was over, we went to the Museum. That was very interesting and it was awesome to see very old pieces of art. It will never get old to see all the pieces of art from so long ago. On Wednesday, we had a free day and we took it for all it was worth and just relaxed since we are on the go all the time. So we got some food and watched movies on campus. On Thursday, you guessed it!! It was Thanksgiving!! We went to an English mass in Rome and it was wonderful!! I had never been to a mass on Thanksgiving, so it was very cool for me. Then we came back and ate dinner at about 5 pm. The food was delicious, as always on Thanksgiving. It was prepared by an American chef that now lives in Rome, we really loved it. But, I can say that nothing can ever compare to my Aunt's Thanksgiving dinner and I think she was very happy to hear that when I told her that haha.
I got to facetime my family while they were at our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I was so happy to see all their faces. The internet was pretty spotty but I at least got to talk to them for a bit and catch up on what was going on. I got to see my nephew and he is getting so big, he was grabbing at the computer trying to have me hold him, which as you can imagine was heart-wrenching. I get to see him in less than a month though!! I have to admit, I cried after I got off facetime because I missed my family so much last week since there was a lot going on at home with both my parents' birthdays and Thanksgiving. But, I am just excited now to keep sight-seeing and enjoy my last few weeks here! On Friday morning, a little group of us left for Dublin!! It was so exciting to get there, they drive on the left side of the road there!! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, it was awesome. We had the time of our lives and we definitely did not want to leave come Sunday. Emily and I went to the Guinness Factory, it was amazing! I took pictures of every nook and cranny of that place! We went to a few pubs and in case you were wondering, it was just like the movie P.S. I Love You! It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back someday. And that is the end of week 5, I can't believe it but we just started week 6. I am going to make the best of these last few weeks and enjoy them to the fullest!!
In 5 short weeks, we have seen a lot of Rome and for those of us that went on free weekend trips, we saw many different countries. This is crazy to me. I have learned so much and I have enjoyed every single minute of this experience. I know that when I get home, I will have to tell everyone about my experience many times but it will all be worth it to share my stories. I am so excited to go home and share my experience with everyone and mainly see all my loved ones and more importantly, it will be Christmas time!! My favorite time of the year!! But, before I head home for the ending of this experience, there are many more things I still want to see and 2 more weekend trips that I am stoked about!! Now, I got that off my chest, lets talk about week 5.
In the Italians, the book we are reading for this class, Barzini states, "...when he realizes that things are seldom what they seem , words not always what they sound like, and most of what he learned in school, in the army or from his elders, and what he read in many grave books is complete nonsense." I feel like this quote sums up our whole trip. We are learning so many things about not only ourselves but the world around us through just seeing it and not in the classroom. I love this aspect of the trip since I am a very visual learner and I love learning. I think everyone should have to study abroad at some point in their lifetime since you learn so many things that you would not learn if they did not go on these trips.
Week five was all about leisure time basically. We went to a museum of medical arts on Monday, it was very interesting to see all of the tools that people used back in the day and how they have evolved into what we have now. I already talked a lot about this in my last blog, so I am not going to touch on this as much. On Monday, I went to see the Vatican with a few students since we had some time to kill before we went to see Twilight!! Wahhhhh it was so good!! On Tuesday, we had a student-led tour of the Borghese Gardens by Gabby and Aubree. They did a fantastic job and it was very beautiful to see all the gardens. When their tour was over, we went to the Museum. That was very interesting and it was awesome to see very old pieces of art. It will never get old to see all the pieces of art from so long ago. On Wednesday, we had a free day and we took it for all it was worth and just relaxed since we are on the go all the time. So we got some food and watched movies on campus. On Thursday, you guessed it!! It was Thanksgiving!! We went to an English mass in Rome and it was wonderful!! I had never been to a mass on Thanksgiving, so it was very cool for me. Then we came back and ate dinner at about 5 pm. The food was delicious, as always on Thanksgiving. It was prepared by an American chef that now lives in Rome, we really loved it. But, I can say that nothing can ever compare to my Aunt's Thanksgiving dinner and I think she was very happy to hear that when I told her that haha.
I got to facetime my family while they were at our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, I was so happy to see all their faces. The internet was pretty spotty but I at least got to talk to them for a bit and catch up on what was going on. I got to see my nephew and he is getting so big, he was grabbing at the computer trying to have me hold him, which as you can imagine was heart-wrenching. I get to see him in less than a month though!! I have to admit, I cried after I got off facetime because I missed my family so much last week since there was a lot going on at home with both my parents' birthdays and Thanksgiving. But, I am just excited now to keep sight-seeing and enjoy my last few weeks here! On Friday morning, a little group of us left for Dublin!! It was so exciting to get there, they drive on the left side of the road there!! Everyone was so nice and welcoming, it was awesome. We had the time of our lives and we definitely did not want to leave come Sunday. Emily and I went to the Guinness Factory, it was amazing! I took pictures of every nook and cranny of that place! We went to a few pubs and in case you were wondering, it was just like the movie P.S. I Love You! It was an amazing trip and I cannot wait to go back someday. And that is the end of week 5, I can't believe it but we just started week 6. I am going to make the best of these last few weeks and enjoy them to the fullest!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Sociology 490 Week 4
We ended week four in Rome by going to the Museum of Mental Health. It was on a Thursday and we were all very excited because that was the only thing that we had to do that day besides have class. So we hopped on the train to Rome and then caught the metro to go to a bus stop to head to another train station. It was a lot of traveling and by the time it was over, we had decided we weren't even in Italy any more. When we got to the stop of the museum, we had time to have our Sociology class. We had class on a few benches outside and I personally love it when we have class outside, it makes it so much more enjoyable to be outside discusses important topics. When we had finished class, we headed to the museum.
The museum had previously been a mental health hospital. The hospital was started in 1913 and had been open until the middle of the 2000's. The hospital had a lot of patients that were young orphans in its day. Many children went into the hospital to ask for help when they were sick and they were admitted because the doctors thought that they were 'crazy'. One patient, an orphan, was admitted and they later discovered he had a learning disability, but being in the hospital for that long of a period, he had become crazy. This is so sad to me that a child had to spend his whole life in a hospital because they did not understand at that time how to help him.
The museum is in a building that used to be a ward of the hospital. The museum was very interesting, they had the original camera that was used to photograph the patients as they were admitted to the hospital. We got to sit where they sat and get our picture taken too. There was another room where you would sit at a desk and put your elbows in designated spots with your hands over your ears. When you did this, you would hear voices in your head like they heard throughout their life. I must say, it was very faint noises but it was very scary to hear lose and hearing them for an extended amount of time would make anyone go crazy. It was a very cool place to visit and I am glad that I got to go with a professor that was not in my major of study since I get to see so many things that are interesting in their field of study.
On Monday of the 5th week, we went to the National History Museum of Medical Arts. It was very interesting to be there and see all the instruments throughout history. The first room that we went into was a teaching room. The things in this room were used to teach medical students about the human body. There were reconstructions of the human body where you could see everything about it. There were even real babies in jar conserved to teach them about distortion that can happen in the whomb. It was very sad to see babies in jars but seeing them you know that they went to a good teaching purpose to further our medical sciences. There were instruments from all throughout history and they were very old, as you can imagine. They looked basically the same as the ones we have now just a little more basic. This was a very interesting place to visit and I learned a lot about the medical science field just from visiting.
In our syllabus, the discussion for this week's blog is 'what can we take from the Romans to make our own health better'. From being on this trip, I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and they way that they live and especially EAT every day. The first thing that they told us at the dinner table on the first day, was that there will be salad at almost every meal but no dressing. (WHAT?!?!?!) We were all like, what about our ranch dressing?? On their salads, Italians eat olive oil and vinegar which is extremely healthy. They only eat this, no dressing. So where did italian dressing come from then?? lol it is an Americanized Italian thing. I think that this is a very good thing to practice in America. It is very good for you and tastes good too! In America, we are always so centralized around rushing and this in turn makes us eat very unhealthy. We just grab a hamburger from the local fast food joint instead of sitting down and eating pasta, etc. I think that if we took from the Italians and ate like they do, we would all be a lot healthier.
One more thing about the Italians and their health is the way that they use public transportation. Most Romans do not have cars so they take the public transportation, that is always crowded by the way. They also ride their bikes a lot and this in turn makes them a lot healthier. You will always see someone riding their bike down the street, in Florence bikers were every where. Romans also walk every where, which is very unusual to Americans. We just hop in the car and drive to the local grocery or market instead of just walking there because it is quicker and easier to drive there. I personally am loving everything about Rome and will take with me some of their customs and traditions back with me to Wooster.
The museum had previously been a mental health hospital. The hospital was started in 1913 and had been open until the middle of the 2000's. The hospital had a lot of patients that were young orphans in its day. Many children went into the hospital to ask for help when they were sick and they were admitted because the doctors thought that they were 'crazy'. One patient, an orphan, was admitted and they later discovered he had a learning disability, but being in the hospital for that long of a period, he had become crazy. This is so sad to me that a child had to spend his whole life in a hospital because they did not understand at that time how to help him.
The museum is in a building that used to be a ward of the hospital. The museum was very interesting, they had the original camera that was used to photograph the patients as they were admitted to the hospital. We got to sit where they sat and get our picture taken too. There was another room where you would sit at a desk and put your elbows in designated spots with your hands over your ears. When you did this, you would hear voices in your head like they heard throughout their life. I must say, it was very faint noises but it was very scary to hear lose and hearing them for an extended amount of time would make anyone go crazy. It was a very cool place to visit and I am glad that I got to go with a professor that was not in my major of study since I get to see so many things that are interesting in their field of study.
On Monday of the 5th week, we went to the National History Museum of Medical Arts. It was very interesting to be there and see all the instruments throughout history. The first room that we went into was a teaching room. The things in this room were used to teach medical students about the human body. There were reconstructions of the human body where you could see everything about it. There were even real babies in jar conserved to teach them about distortion that can happen in the whomb. It was very sad to see babies in jars but seeing them you know that they went to a good teaching purpose to further our medical sciences. There were instruments from all throughout history and they were very old, as you can imagine. They looked basically the same as the ones we have now just a little more basic. This was a very interesting place to visit and I learned a lot about the medical science field just from visiting.
In our syllabus, the discussion for this week's blog is 'what can we take from the Romans to make our own health better'. From being on this trip, I have learned a lot about the Italian culture and they way that they live and especially EAT every day. The first thing that they told us at the dinner table on the first day, was that there will be salad at almost every meal but no dressing. (WHAT?!?!?!) We were all like, what about our ranch dressing?? On their salads, Italians eat olive oil and vinegar which is extremely healthy. They only eat this, no dressing. So where did italian dressing come from then?? lol it is an Americanized Italian thing. I think that this is a very good thing to practice in America. It is very good for you and tastes good too! In America, we are always so centralized around rushing and this in turn makes us eat very unhealthy. We just grab a hamburger from the local fast food joint instead of sitting down and eating pasta, etc. I think that if we took from the Italians and ate like they do, we would all be a lot healthier.
One more thing about the Italians and their health is the way that they use public transportation. Most Romans do not have cars so they take the public transportation, that is always crowded by the way. They also ride their bikes a lot and this in turn makes them a lot healthier. You will always see someone riding their bike down the street, in Florence bikers were every where. Romans also walk every where, which is very unusual to Americans. We just hop in the car and drive to the local grocery or market instead of just walking there because it is quicker and easier to drive there. I personally am loving everything about Rome and will take with me some of their customs and traditions back with me to Wooster.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Week 4 Is Over Already!!
Week 4 quickly came to a close yesterday and it was eventful to say the least. On Monday, I was supposed to do my walking tour with my roommate, Danielle, but unfortunately I was too sick to even get out of bed so she had to do it by herself, tear. :'( Everyone said that it went well but it was sad not be there and enjoy giving the tour since we had worked so hard to put it together. On Tuesday, we went on a student-led walking tour of the Pantheon and surrounding area by Rachel and Aimee. They did a fantastic job and it was very interesting. The Pantheon was way bigger than we had all expected. It was very interesting to be there and to see how amazing the building really was. I really enjoyed it, pictures to come soon!!
On Thursday, we went to the museum of the mind right outside of Rome. The museum used to be a mental health hospital in the 1900's. It was very cool to be there and to see what it was like to be in a mental hospital back then because it so much different than the way that we are today. We got to hear stories of people that went into the hospital and most of them were not even sick, they were just orphans. By the time that they had spent so many years in the hospital, they had gone crazy from being around so many mental patients. It was sad to hear peoples' stories about how they had gone into the hospital and had to stay there because they were seen as 'crazy' because they had a learning disability. The hospital was very interesting and I am very glad that we got to go there and see it.
We left for Florence on the fast train on Friday morning and it only took about an hour and a half to get there. The train ride went by quickly since most of us slept the whole way. We got to our hotel and it was by far the nicest that we have stayed at this trip. We went on a short walking tour of the city with the group, professor, his wife, and Danilo. They showed us around and then we got free time to explore the city on our own. We went shopping of course, it is a leather capital. :) We went out that night to an Irish pub and it was very interesting to see so many different people there not only Italians. The next morning, we got up and went to the Uffizzi Museum as a group. This was an amazing place, there was so much art there and we all enjoyed it a lot. We got to spend 2 hours there, but I could have spent the whole day there. After we left the museum, we went to the Academia to see the Statue of David. It was amazing to see it in real life since it was so much bigger than anyone had thought it was. We did more shopping and then on Saturday night we had a traditional Tuscan 4 course meal, it was DELICIOUS!! We left on Sunday after having a little bit of free time and none of us wanted to leave since we had such a great time. We all became closer on this trip and are becoming such a big family!! During this trip, we got lost as a small group and found ourselves seeing a lot more being lost. This just goes to show M=EA (Mishap equal Excellent Adventure).
On Thursday, we went to the museum of the mind right outside of Rome. The museum used to be a mental health hospital in the 1900's. It was very cool to be there and to see what it was like to be in a mental hospital back then because it so much different than the way that we are today. We got to hear stories of people that went into the hospital and most of them were not even sick, they were just orphans. By the time that they had spent so many years in the hospital, they had gone crazy from being around so many mental patients. It was sad to hear peoples' stories about how they had gone into the hospital and had to stay there because they were seen as 'crazy' because they had a learning disability. The hospital was very interesting and I am very glad that we got to go there and see it.
We left for Florence on the fast train on Friday morning and it only took about an hour and a half to get there. The train ride went by quickly since most of us slept the whole way. We got to our hotel and it was by far the nicest that we have stayed at this trip. We went on a short walking tour of the city with the group, professor, his wife, and Danilo. They showed us around and then we got free time to explore the city on our own. We went shopping of course, it is a leather capital. :) We went out that night to an Irish pub and it was very interesting to see so many different people there not only Italians. The next morning, we got up and went to the Uffizzi Museum as a group. This was an amazing place, there was so much art there and we all enjoyed it a lot. We got to spend 2 hours there, but I could have spent the whole day there. After we left the museum, we went to the Academia to see the Statue of David. It was amazing to see it in real life since it was so much bigger than anyone had thought it was. We did more shopping and then on Saturday night we had a traditional Tuscan 4 course meal, it was DELICIOUS!! We left on Sunday after having a little bit of free time and none of us wanted to leave since we had such a great time. We all became closer on this trip and are becoming such a big family!! During this trip, we got lost as a small group and found ourselves seeing a lot more being lost. This just goes to show M=EA (Mishap equal Excellent Adventure).
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