Monday, July 30, 2007

July 25, 2007 - The Statue and the Player / Acceptable Swimwear

2:00 pm – my trip

We have taken the morning off to sleep in and recover from yesterday. We slept till about 9am and then I got up and finished my paper. We packed up and left Grace’s amazing house and she dropped us off at an internet café so we could work on getting information for somewhere to stay tonight. We were so blessed to have her! Then we went and ate lunch at a small café and it was wonderful. I had tuna with tomatoes and lettuce. It was so good, even Bwige liked it and she wont EVER touch tuna! Wow! She had ham and cheese and it was also fantastic. I love the food so much! So far, this has been the best meal we have had. It was just a small place, but the sandwiches were full of flavor.

So now, as I am writing this, we are sitting on the train waiting for it to leave to go to Rome. Goodby Cesano.

2:00 am – my trip

We just got in. its very late and I’m very tired… but we accomplished a few things today. We checked into our hostel this afternoon. Nothing big, but clean. Then we walked around and Bwige shopped.

We also went to the Italian opera tonight. The show was Don Giovanni. It was pretty fun. Basically, Don Giovanni is this masked womanizer who tries to seduce this chick but when her dad walks in they sword fight and the dad is killed. The next day, the chick, not knowing who tried to seduce her, recruits DG to avenge her fathers death. Next, DG tries to seduce a different girl on her wedding night. Obviously the groom isn't to happy and wants to kill him too. In the end, DG is hiding under the statue of the dead dad, who calls him to repent. DG wont, but does invite the statue to dinner. So the statue shows up that night for dinner and drags DG out of the house, never to be seen again. The last scene is everyone rejoicing and saying how their lives are going to be better now. Yah, stupid ending. Almost as bad as Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds.’ Don’t waste your time on that movie either; birds invade this small town and start killing people. The main characters spend a terrifying night in this old house trying to keep the bloodthirsty birds out. Then, to end the movie, they drive off. Yah. No closure, no explanation, they just drive off. Seriously, if you are going to spend months and months writing a script, and music and thinking out ever detail, you would think they would have put a little more effort into the ending!!

Anyways, after the 3 and a half hour opera (which started at 9pm), we strolled over to the Trevi Fountain again. I took some nice night shots. Wow, I am still amazed at it. Its just so big and majestic. This is definitely my favorite thing so far in Italy.

Tomorrow, we are going to see the Sistine chapel, the Vatican Museum, and St. Peter’s basilica. However, if I were to be honest, I cant say that I know what each of them are… oh well, I’ll see tomorrow… in like… 5 hours…

2:00 am – my thoughts

So what is an acceptable thing for a girl to wear in the area of swimwear? I don’t know why, but I think I have been more sensitized to what is donned in the name of fashion. When you think about it, 75 years ago any girl who showed up at the beach wearing even a one piece would have been arrested for public nudity. Yet, today, girls wear skimpy 2-pieces that leaves almost nothing to the imagination. Girls walk around with little but the center of their breast covered and its considered acceptable. What ever happened to dress modestly? Why is it that we get onto girls for wearing short skirts and shirts that let their belly show but have no problem with girls of all ages walking around almost naked when they are by the water? Does modesty count only when you are not swimming?

It just seems to me that we allow way too much. I would not take it as far as they do, but the Muslims do a much better job in this area then we do. Much. They have their women cover up because the woman’s body is something that belongs only to her husband and he is the only one who should see it. I agree. Do I want some guy undressing my wife in his mind because she is wearing a 2-piece? Do I want his eyes focused on her chest? NO! A million times no. But isn’t that what the clothes are designed to do? The human eye is automatically drawn to differences. So if there is a white paper, your eye will first see the blue dot on it no matter where it is. In the same way, the body is all white (some more pale shades than others), and the eye is immediately drawn to the bright colors of the bathing suite. So where do a guys eyes focus? On her chest and between her legs. And we are ok with this?

I just think there is something to be said for modesty and for not wearing things that makes it hard for the other sex to keep their mind in the correct places.

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