Italy - The Land That Gets It

Last year I took a trip to Italy with my Master's Program. It was sixteen days of pure bliss in the land of my forefathers. In this trip I discovered my own heritage, the beauty of the land, and the mystery of the Renaissance. It was the best trip of my life.

A friend emailed me yesterday asking for help for those who were going this year. I sat down and began to compile the list of things I thought people needed to know who are going to Italy. This is my list.

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Here's my Renaissance recommendations.

1. Eat Slow - The Italians have discovered that food is not really the thing, even though its a great thing. They eat slow so that they can slow down from their hectic lives enough to meet the person across the table from them. The have somehow realized that people are what make life really interesting and if you have a great bottle of wine to share its all the better. Restaurant owners have somehow discovered that they are the meeting places of the heart and they fully embrace their role as stewards of community.

2. Don't Take Yourself Too Seriously - Any group of people that could design so many statues of naked people get that life is just too short to miss laughing with each other. They understood that the little children walking through the piazza needed something to snicker at because their parents were just to stuffy sometimes. Maybe Michelangelo understood that we needed humor in our lives.

3. Drink Art Deeply - The Italians gave us the Renaissance because they surrounded themselves with what makes us great as human beings. We create exquisite reflections of humanity and beauty when we allow ourselves the freedom to feel. Take the time to sit with the art, especially David, Leonardo, Rafael, Boticelli.

Here's my Top 10 Practical Recommendations

10. Who ever has the balcony room at the top floor of the hotel in Florence should host a group night. We did this and it was one of my best memories.

9. On the off day visit Cinque Terra. Walk from station 3-5, but bring good shoes, water and a camera. Breathtaking. Stop in Pisa for dinner on the way home.

8. Eat lots of Gelato at midnight. The best conversations are at this time.

7. Watch the Medici documentary from PBS before going. It completely alters the experience.

6. Learn to enough Italian to be dangerous (please, thank you, where is...?). It goes a long way to the locals.

5. Ask the local store owners where their favorite restaurants are. Trust me they know. They will most likely call and get you in too.

4. If you ask for a café latte in the morning at the hotel they will make you one but you have to ask.

3. Rome is interesting but Florence is life.

2. The sign that says "Sistina Capella" with an arrow pointing around the corner does not mean its around the corner.

And the number one recommendation for those going to Italy is:

1. The cell phones don't work no matter what they tell you.

In Not Of

I found this very interesting dialog by Jason Clark on the balance of learning to be in the world but not of the world. I don't know if it is original to him but his simple explanation is intriguing. The love that I seek is based on a healthy balance between finding the love I seek in my Father's love for me but also bringing that love to the world around me.

End Human Slavery - Not For Sale Campaign

The idea that slavery still exists today astounds me, but sadly it doesn't surprise me. Slavery has been around since debt and I wonder which came first.

In the spirit of Amazing Grace, which opens today, I want to highlight a really cool site that is working to end slavery worldwide. It's called the Not For Sale Campaign. The idea is cool and the deal is practical. Anything that uplifts the dignity of my neighbor is worth looking at and participating in. Check it out.

Not For Sale was started by David Batstone. Here's a note from his site.
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"THE INSTIGATOR, DAVID BATSTONE
A Professor of ethics at the University of San Francisco who started his "career" guarding Salvadoran pastors and literacy teachers from death squads. Batsone was the founding editor of Business 2.0 and is the founder of social venture firm, Right Reality. He writes regularly in USA Weekend edition as "America's Ethics Guru." He traveled around the world investigating the Slave Trade before writing "Not For Sale", the book associated with this campaign.

Kiva - Microloans Process

I was visiting a friends blog today and I came a cross a site that was listed at her page. The organization is called Kiva.org. Kiva provides a simple way of getting involved in the world around us. Participants, meaning us, provide microloans to someone on the website.

Microloans have been recognized as one of the best ways to help the poor get out of poverty. Because the money is small the lender takes less risk and the opportunity becomes much more available to the average person to help. In third world country's loans can be as small as $50 but they help build the dignity of the person behind the loans. Repayment in certain countries is extremely high because of the process.

Take a look.

Sanjaya Malakar

Okay, I'm diverting my attention here because I want to recognize talent. I'm not really a huge American Idol fan, but I did buy Chris Daughtry's album, which is amazing. I also did catch the Seattle and Memphis auditions this year. It was fun. In those two shows one kid stood out to me. His name is Sanjaya Malakar. You can see his audition here. Now I realize that if you are reading this you've probably seen more than me. But something in this kid is different. There is a grace about his smile and a real talent in his voice. I agreed with Simon that although his sister was good, he was great. Some people really like him. And some people don't. Regardless, I want to recognize his talent because he has it.

He did make it on to the final 24 and it will be interesting to see how his talent shows up this season. I may just have to catch a few episodes to see.

One thing that I also really liked was how much his family seems to shape him. In his interview he would thank his family first. During the auditions it was clear that his family played a strong role in his development. It shows in his smile. The image that stood out to me was of his proud father smiling from ear to ear after his children had made it to Hollywood. I love that type of image of family in the media. It reminds me that it is still possible and probable.

My best to you Sanjaya. May God smile on you this year.