Cinco de Mayo; The Real Story

So this past Thursday I went out and I saw people celebrating Cinco de Mayo. The celebrants sported sombreros, bottles of tequila and said ARIBA ARIBA. The funny thing is most people so not know why it is actually celebrated, Contrary to popular belief it is not the true day of Mexican independence. Mexico gained their independence on September 16, 1810 and is called Grito de Dolores. This true date is months after the day that is stereotypically celebrated as Mexico's "Fourth of July". The real reason it is stated that we celebrate this day is to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride in the United States. So basically the day people think they are celebrating independence is just historically a day for Mexicans to celebrate their culture. In modern times it has been placed in the same category as St. Patrick's day. A celebration accompanied with massive amounts of alcohol and special costumery. Next year I will think of this as a more important day and not just one to party on.

Am I ready to go abroad?

Just today I submitted all my paperwork, my passport and basically my soul to the Marist International Program office in order receive my Italian visa. Yup that is right I am taking the plunge and studying abroad. After weighing all my options as to whether I can leave this beautiful campus for a whole semester I decided it needed to (it probably helped that seven of my closest girlfriends are going too). The entire process of going abroad has been to say the least time consuming. All the meetings, paperwork, signatures and there is no telling as to whether I will ever be truly prepared to go. My parents are ready for me to go and think it is the greatest thing a college student can do. I am already nervous about all the packing, living expenses and whether I will be able to balance everything. No matter how many worries I have or actual problems I have when I'm there this will be the most amazing experience I will have in my life. Since I have already been to Italy and to many various countries in my travels I don't think my culture shock will be too sever. Of course there are differences between visiting a place and living in a place. The only think I am sure of is that I will eat and live as if there is no tomorrow! : )

My First Wine

My first taste of wine came way before I was of the legal United States drinking age. It was when I was thirteen... a little young right? Not the case because I was in Italy in the countryside in an adorable little inn. My family and I were at dinner eating delicious homemade pasta and sauces. Some of the best I have ever had on my trip and in my entire life. Right when we sat down I was given a wine glass and my mom skeptically looked at the waiter, then my father and finally myself. When my father ordered us a few bottles my mother had no intention of letting me drink. The waiter came over and with no hesitation poured all five of us a glass. Let me tell you that I clearly did not look of age. I was thirteen, gangly and clearly a "baby". My mom looked and me and said"you cannot have that" followed by my father saying "of course she can it's part of traveling abroad, when in Siena do as the Sienans do". This was my first experience with wine and it was casual and social and I felt very mature. It was also a time where I realized that the United States has avery different view on drinking than most other countries. Culture is different for every country and when traveling you should immerse yourself and try, at least for a day, to see it from a locals view.

Hometown Culture

Ask anyone that knows me and they will tell you I am from Syracuse, New York through and through. I am live or die Syracuse basketball, cuisine, and activities. All over my dorm room walls are posters, autographs, and pictures of everything "Cuse". My warsrobe includes numerous orange shirts from almost every season. Sweatshirts from the universities, high schools and country clubs. It was not until I came here to Marist did I realize that the place I love and see as the most normal place to live is actually seen to the "boondocks" to most. All my friends are from Long Island or New Jersey and they see their hometowns as much better than Syracuse in all ways. They tell me I have an accent, live near cows, and have way to much snow for their liking. It was not until this point that I realized that every hometown has it own unique culture and many times others do not understand these differences.
One of the greatest examples is some of the slang. Syracuse says "wicked" while Long Island says "mad". since they are so used to saying "mad" all the time and think of Bostonians sayig wicked they think it is so bizarre I say this one word. Another great example is some things we eat. When I visitied Long Island it was mandatory for me to be taken to the bagel shop but in New Jersey I had to be taken to the deli. I would never take my friends to either places. We would simply go to Dunkin Donuts or the grocery store Wegmans! Also in Jersey at these delis I was forced to try Taylor Ham aka Pork Roll. I liked it and thought it was great in the sandwich but the Pork Roll following is huge in Jersey. They have to have it every morning. There are so many other differences between different towns it is almost too hard to lost. I would never change where I grew up and my friend wouldn't either. There are cultural differences between these places but that is just what makes America Great. Although I am an American, from New York I am unique also to my region. Simply put, I am from Syracuse and I bleed Orange!

British Virgin Islands

This is a picture of me in the British virgin Islands the summer of 2008. I went to this beautiful place with my Mom , Dad, My Dad's best friend from law school Jeff, his wife Suzie and their children KC and Camry. For eight days we live of a four bedroom luxury power catamaran. Jeff was the captain and we were all his "mateys" as he liked to say. We slept, ate and entertained ourselves on this huge boat. Every day we would pick a random island on the map and power to it to swim, lounge and snorkel. It was paradise and one of the most beautiful places I have every been but it was also very shocking.
We saw our boat as our safe haven. We Americans had our own little floating paradise but we also liked to go onto land to shop and have dinner. It was interesting because despite the fact the various island are all considered the British Virgin Islands each one was starkly different. Some were very inhabited with large towns while other had unpaved roads and only little shack stores. At the stores we would barter for t-shirts, necklaces and various souvenirs to show off to our friends when we got home. The dinner were amazing. We had eel, crab, lobster, clams, grouper and any crustacean you could think of. I would go back for dinner alone!
The one moment that made very aware of the fact we were no longer in the United States was when one of the girls got hurt. We were snorkeling near a world famous shipwreck. During our time in the BVI there were record breaking amounts of jelly fish. While we were swimming back to the boat after dodging and weaving through the poisonous animals Camry screamed out in pain. Once we reached the boat there was a five inch diameter welt on her leg that was evident it was a box jellyfish, the worst kind. We immediately turned in towards the most populated island and brought her to the closest urgent care center. It was nothing like any of the ERs around me. There was flimsy organization and it was very casual. Although it seemed as if we would never be helped they noticed the severity of her pain, she was starting to go into shock, they came right to us and gave her treatment equal to any provider. Due to these peoples knowledge and kindness we were able to get back on the boat in a matter of hours and be on our way for the rest of an amazing boat trip.

College Cultures

In December I took a trip to visit my friend at Elmira College. It is a small liberal arts college in Elmira, New York that enrolls about 1,500. Coming from this college of over 5,000 it was a much different experience. When I was on my way to the campus I entered the area of Elmira and almost passed it. There is no major waterways, bridges or city area. The college is in the middle and is basically only one square block. I am not saying this is the biggest campus in the world but it is larger than theirs by at least half a mile. Their dorms are also much different. They use metal key to enter the building instead of our modern swipes. While we have security guards at our doors and ever present security cars patrolling they have almost no security to be seen. At Marist we have a segregated of freshman and sophomores on this side of route nine and the upperclassmen on the other side. At Elmira everyone is intermixed and EVERYONE knows each other. The gossip scene is apparent and everything you do is know by others within hours (at least here at Marist it will take a few days!).
Later in the night we decided to go out. Here it would involve hours of getting ready going from room to room, sharing clothes, beauty techniques and wearing dresses. At Elmira it was so casual. Just put on an outfit I would wear out to dinner or the mall. At this school we would hang out in our room then go to an off campus house for an hour or two and then bar hop the rest of the night. Elmira involved going from one dorm to another one that house freshman all the way to seniors. When we went out you could tell the scene was much smaller and as were the amount of people out.
There were many things that shocked me when I went to visit Elmira. In my mind I pictured all college cultures to be similar in some regards but this one was not. From the size to the people to the dorms everything was different. This was on of the first times I actually analyzed how different just going an hour and a half from your house to another college could be. What can I say though? She love Elmira, I love Marist and we are getting an education equal to each other!