The goodness of people

            This fall break, I decided to skip out on the Londons, Budapests, and Madrids of Europe. Instead, I plan to spend my ten days near some of God’s most beautiful masterpieces in Ancona, Split, Mostar, Dubrovnik, Kotor, and Tivat. For this trip, I wanted to renew my relationship with Jesus. I imagined this meant analyzing the Bible like one of my English novels. Naturally what would happen next is my forgetting to bring said Bible...and I think He’s happy about it.

While His word is the authority of my life, I often forget that everything in creation reflects the character of the Creator. What has surprised me on the first 48-hour leg of my journey is the extreme kindness of people. The first instance was on the cramped bus to Roma Termini Station—an old man went out of his way to allow me onto the bus and then proceeded to place my luggage in a corner and give up his own standing space so that I could grasp the side rails more easily. Next, God’s goodness showed up in the form of Geremy—the couchsurfer* I stayed with in Ancona. Who knew that in the course of 36 hours we would be SAILING on the Adriatic (and with a puppy dog!), talking about his non-profit company, sharing life stories, getting late-night gelato with his friends, cooking food from our respective countries, and taking a road trip to obscurely hidden and thus absolutely gorgeous beaches? Besides giving me a local’s experience of Ancona, this “stranger” graciously and fearlessly allowed me into his home.  When it was time board my ferry to Croatia I actually wanted to cry; however, this was cut short by a friendly crewman who chatted with me while carrying my luggage to my seat. As we pulled away from the breathtaking port of Ancona by moonlight, I couldn’t help but smirk remembering something I wrote in my first blog—“I hope to see the divine in everyone I meet.” Maybe God reads my blog :P. In any case, this Bible study has transformed from text to real life and I cannot wait to experience more of God’s goodness in the ones I meet soon.

 Goodbye Ancona :(

 Hellooooooo Split :)

 

*couchsurfing – a movement of people who share what they have in return for the same when travelling. Visit Couchsurfing.org

 

 

 

 

Il Sacro e Il Profano

 

"Profanity is the treatment of the sacred with contempt"

 

Italy is a country in which the sacred and profane constantly interact. Piazzas dedicated to martyrs and saints fill with foreign drunkards on the weekends and graffiti cover the intricate and ancient architecture.  This dual aspect of Italy is thoroughly endearing. Well…almost. Today as we lay on Ostia beach with the sun massaging our backs and the ocean serenading us, my trance was broken by “Ayy Americana, Bella, Coconut, Acqua, Birra?” to which we politely refused. However a few minutes later we realized we would never escape the continuous hollers of “Sunglasses? Two for 5?” “Towel! 10 Euro!” “Bracelets!” Finally our group was so tired of this that one of the girls did the Jenna Marbles pterodactyl...you know, the move you do to freak people out enough so that they’ll leave you alone? It begins with a SCREEEEEEEECH and is accompanied by floppy arm movements and hisses. She did this for about 20 seconds until the guy just ended up smiling and walking away very confused.

While this might be a funny story, there is a tragic undertone to it all. It was heartbreaking to see the young Indonesian men trudging through the scalding sand to make a few euros. It was even more gut-wrenching to see them mocked and yelled at by the annoyed tourists bathing in the sun. This image jolted my memory of similar encounters with immigrants in Italy. After a night of partying, I remember dark-skinned mothers with their babies sleeping outside churches. I remember the exhausted night bus drivers and passengers going home after work at 3 a.m. It was a big awakening to see the same struggles, discrimination, and prejudice that are present in the ghettos of Orlando. Even in a country of pleasure, beauty, aesthetic overflow, and history, we must not forget those cleaning its streets, wiping its toilets, cooking in the kitchen, and running its transportation. Let's pray that this sacred country stops treating its own hallowed inhabitants with contempt; let's hope that Italy will continue the mission set out by the saints and apostles commemorated in every street corner, piazza, and building.

Packing for Optimism

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? Matthew 6:25-27

 

After consulting friends and Google search on “how to pack for a semester in Italy,” a slew of advice followed: “Take clothes that are easy to layer so you can mix and match.” “Yoga isn’t really big in Italy and mats take up too much luggage space.” “Take some pepper spray! Haven’t you seen Taken?!” “Don’t carry more than $500 cash because they have pick pockets!” “Also make a fake wallet to outsmart the pick pockets!” Rather than making me feel more secure, the advice made me even more anxious. I know it might sound crazy, but I truly believe that the universe will give you what you expect. Sure there will be curveballs along the way, but those are never bad events—just experiential ways to learn a lesson. So if a pick-pocket (OMG) happens to steals my wallet on the tram, I hope to control my crying and whining long enough to think about my dependence on money and the illusion that any of God’s materials are mine alone.

If you ask any of my friends, they will tell you that I am not usually a person who is ever over-prepared. In fact, I am very much against things such as over-packing, having a Plan B, and purchasing insurance (be it car, health, or life). If you do any of these things, please don’t mistake my writing for criticism. In fact, it is usually over-prepared people who end up taking care of me. I understand that some people think there is no harm in over-preparing, but just on a personal level, I have found it to make me more pessimistic, high-maintenance, and stressed. So after a combination of rolling underwear, playing Tetris with suitcase space, and sitting on my luggage, I turned to savasana.

While this posture relaxes the body, it does so in order to relax the mind. Only then can we sit in stillness—attuning ourselves to the divine. It is in this quiet space that we most readily hear from God and receive our wisest thoughts. It teaches you to not only relax from your actions, but to reflect upon them. Who knew that this would apply to packing? Here was the inner dialogue from my savasana:

God: Stephanie, why are you packing so much?

Me: Because I don’t know what’s going to happen so it’s always better

to be prepared.

God: You’re silly.  

Me: Ugh I knowww.

After reflecting, I realized that my packing technique was all wrong for the outlook I wanted to cultivate. So I have decided, after unpacking ¼ of my over-packed suitcase, to swap out pessimistic items for optimistic items.

 Examples:

Fake wallet à stationary for the amazing people I will meet

Pepper spray à bulky “are you seriously taking that?” yoga mat

Credit cards à cash just to prove a point

Black, white, and beige clothing à sun dresses! 

Pessimism, worry, undue stress à Optimism, no worries, smiles J

If you or anyone else is in a dilemma as to what to pack, I say:  pack for optimism!  

 

The year of savasana.

Let your whole body sink into the earth...relax your muscles, your temples, your eyebrows, your hair... free your mind, and open your palms up to the universe to receive. You are no longer breathing into your body; your body is breathing you--Savasana.  शवासन. Corpse pose.

For people who are new to yoga, savasana means exactly as it sounds: shahhh-vahhh-sahhhh-nahhhh. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. It’s the final resting posture after a series of more active poses where the body can soak up all the benefits of its previous exertions. After semesters jammed with 26 credit hours and countless times screaming “I quit” after waitressing to my poor puppy, the upcoming year will mean just that. The hard work, rewarding in its own way, has paved the way for an autumn in Italy, a spring in Samoa/Fiji, and a summer in Rwanda. As much as I’d like to stray away from the “Eat, Pray, Love” perspective, I can’t help but see how perfectly Elizabeth Gilbert’s Italy fits into the philosophy of savasana. As her friend Luca Spaghetti says, "[Italians] are the masters of il bel far niente." –An exquisite phrase meaning “the beauty of doing nothing.” As in Shavasana, one must be able to DO nothing; yes, relaxation requires conscious effort. After all, one must decide among gelato flavors, direct their feet towards the park, kiss the beautiful foreign men, and surrender to the divine. Follow me as I experience the city of Roma/Amor looking always for conscious ways to relax deeper into its surroundings, receive its life lessons with a smile, recognize Jesus (the divine) in everyone I meet, and stuff every ounce of my being with gelato, wine, pastries, cappuccinos, pasta, and soccermatches/menonmopeds/museums/baci.