North Americans and a Raven

         Well my internet's been down for a week, go figure. In my absense I have done a few noteworthy things. Number1.... I have met all the lovely ladies from North America who are on this island with me. I thought there was going to be a wide range of different countries, but only North America. Let's see if I can remember the states... they are from Idaho, Washington State, California, Michigan, (can't remember the others in America), and there is one girl from Vancouver. Where is Vancouver you may ask... it is on the western shores of great Canada. Also this is where the 2010 Winter Olympic Games were held. Unfortunately she did not go to them, go figure. I'll describe the day I guess. The trip to Catania was normal as always. I had some time to get in a good fill of 'Alice's Restaurant'. Did you know you can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant, accepting Alice of course. Anyway, the night before I read that I would need to give a speech at the meeting, so with grand tradition I went to the meeting and winged it, but I always turn out fine with these things and it went off without a hitch, just have to remember to breath. After wards I got some time to get to know everyone and we talked about how we are doing with the language, it turns out I am doing incredibly well. Say what you want, but Mr. Olivo is teaching Italian and lays a great foundation for future study of the language. Overall, everyone is good and we will be setting up hang-out weekends and stuff like that.
         Secondly.... I have read 'The Raven' to my class in school and to my family. Unfortunately student in Sicily don't have control of themselves and couldn't pay attention to me, so I feel it was a bust over-all. Now if I took an Italian student and brought him to America, everyone would pay attention and be quit out of respect. Afterwards I let one of them read it in Italian with the same result. I then gave them an explanation of E.A.P.'s life and why he was so good in depressing writing. Then tried to show them the crux of 'The Raven', but still no enthusiasm. I guess a guy can't read 19th century poetry like the old days. When I read the poem to the family though it great :) We talked about it and read it in Italian and English. We then went to the movies to see a film called 'Il Peggior Settimana della la mia Vita' (The Worst Week of my Life). It was hilarious but was so close to 'Meet the Parent' that I almost think it might be a bit plagarized.
         Again I am sorry about not posting for a while, but I would like to point out that I have 4 new countries to add to the list of countries that have viewed this blog. We now have Norway, Belgium, Mexico, and Brazil. Thank you for looking and don't be afraid to comment if you feel the urge. Tomorrow I'll write about Halloween in Italia, don't worry.

Response to the Death of Gadaffi

         It is difficult to explain the mixed feelings that this part of Italia and the country in general has for the Gadaffi Regime and their feelings about his ever so present demise. The country of Italy does not believe in death. This is a blunt statement, but through the next few sentences I will clarify. As shown threw the Amanda Knox Trial, the country of Italia does not have a death penalty. When I asked Valerio what he thought of her trial he wisely replied that he does not want to give verdict on matters he doesn't know the whole story to. Also he said that she should be glad this happened in Italia and not a county with death penalty for this very reason. This lack of belief in capital punishment comes from a belief that killing is in general bad. This is a belief that Americans say through their 'protection' of abused nations, but rarely follow at home in our ever-growing debate of the death penalty. (You know it's true Texas) I first heard of this after school on the way to ping pong practice. Valerio said that there were unconfirmed reports of Gadaffi's death, but he didn't believe them at the time. After returning to the house later we were still sketchy about these reports, but slowly saw through different news channels and that he was dead. Through this disbelief in capital punishment, the general feeling here is that he should of stood trial and gone to prison for the rest of his days. This will differ for every person you meet as do all issues in the world. Before WWII it may intrest you to know that the country of Lybia was an Italian colony. Many Sicilians moved there for economic prosperity. They did very well for themselves built a thriving Italian community. After WWII though they became independent of the motherland and became a separate country. Eventually Gadaffi came along, and with his rise to power he force all citizens of Italian descent to leave the country, those who resisted were jailed. This created a foundation for the ill-feelings towards the dictators regime. Sicily has also lived in constant awareness that they are the first to be invaded if Gadaffi did as he said and marched into Europe. In general, I would say that Italia is content with his death.

The Prince of Italy

Now this is the story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute
Just Sit Right, Si
I'll tell you how I became the Prince of Great Italy

Near Philadelphia, born and raised
In the classroom there I spent most of my days
Chillin' out maxin' and relaxin' all cool
And studin' my Italian after highschool
When a couple of Rotarians who were up to no good
Asked me to go to Europe if I could
I went to one little meeting and got some flair
And said, "I'm movin' to Italia, I'll see you there"

My family whistled out and when they came near
They said," Your one of us now, don't have any fear".
If anything I can tell that this family's rare
But I thought, "Now forget it, Yo Italia, don't stare"

We pulled up to the house about 3 or 4
And I yelled to the family, "I can't ask for more"
I looked at my kingdom
Alla fine sono qui
To sit on my throne as the Prince of Italy

(To all Italians who read this, I am not your Prince or anything, but this is a joke Americans will find funny)

Me on Italian News

So I was in Italian news today, no big deal.

O're the Rockets Red Glare

         I know I haven't posted anything recently, and those of you I talk to have made sure to tell me. The problem I haven't done anything big in the last week, just school. Two things are that I started band yesterday, and ping-pong today. Band is the same everywhere, enough said. Ping-pong was good, but I'm not that good yet.
         What I want to say is not going to be long, but something I've noticed since I've been here. I am proud of my countries history and how our system works. Do not get me wrong, I still hate all the horrible things America has done over the years and am not dismissing the racists, bigamists, and religious fanatics that take part in these problem, but I am appreciating the way our system was made and people who made our government. The reason I bring this up is the topic of national anthems came up in dinner tonight. They told me about theirs and I told the story every American learns as a child. I am talking about the battle of Fort McHenry and Francis Scott Key. If you who are reading this is American and doesn't know this story, go in the corner and put on the 'I'm a bad American' hat. While I was telling it it was weird explaining the story of the battle and how the song portrays the battle, because I took the whole ordeal for granted. The symbolism or the flag still being there in the morning and his viewpoint from a British war-ship. I just feel pride for our history a bit more since I'm not so close to it. Also I will be reading the family some Edgar-Allen Poe on Halloween. This is good cause he was a great American and also a great Philadelphian. So I'll keep you posted on how everything goes.

P.S. Gloria, when I return we are going to NYC to see the 'Book of Mormon' I have been listening to the music and I think you would love it, I definately want to see it. Dad, tell Gloria about this post.