THOUGHTS ON AMERICANS WHO HAVE THOUGHTS ON AMERICA
If you know me, you know that complaining really irks me. (Which is a bit ironic, because I suppose right now I'm complaining about complainers). But here we go anyways.
It really bothers me when Americans come here and bash America. No wonder so much of the world hates us. I'm not saying that America is perfect - far from it, but all the international community knows about America is what they see, learn, and hear. It's the same of what Americans know about any other country they've never been to. So why do Americans contribute to the negative sentiments about America? It's not attractive, and it's not good politics. The world already knows all the bad stuff, and they already know all the fake good stuff (everyone lives next to a famous person, etc.), so why not tell them the REAL good stuff that they don't already know?
I guess what started this was walking through the Roman ruins with another American. He kept complaining the whole time about how America doesn't have anything like that. I've heard the same thing when going in some of those really big, cool churches. Or anything really big and old and grand that has lasted forever.
And I have to say, yes. Duh. It's true. We don't have ruins that are thousands of years old. We don't have churches that have been around seemingly forever. But we're also only 236 years old. We're still a baby country. And I think something that's pretty cool about America is it's history, which consequently has resulted in it not having big stone buildings.
America was started by some scrappy individuals that came over because they were fleeing a dread or chasing a dream. That's pretty cool. They were more focused on surviving then they were on leaving a legacy. America came out of a revolutionary war of people saying that they didn't want to put up with other people's crap anymore. They wanted to try things on their own because they thought they could create a better life for themselves, their family, and their country. That's pretty cool. They didn't really have time to be like, "Hey guys, this fighting for freedom thing is cool and all, but can we take a short break and build some stuff that'll last a long time?"
And think of what we HAVE contributed. What we have contributed to the world has gone global. It doesn't take a really expensive plane ticket to come check it out. Our contributions are available to everyone at comparatively low costs. Jazz music. Great classic movies like Singing in the Rain. iPhones. That's pretty cool.
And we have some stuff that'll last for a pretty long time. Do you see Mt. Rushmore going anywhere any time soon? What about the Statue of Liberty? I don't see that walking off in the near future.
I think we need to stop comparing countries. Ya, Italy is fricken' sweet for the Roman ruins. It's awesome that Peru has Machu Picchu. Everyone wants to go see the Pyramids in Egypt. The Great Wall of Chine is incredible.
But when we compare countries like that, we loose something important. We loose the value of what each country has to offer. So every time I hear an American saying, "America is so lame. We don't have anything like this," I want to poke them in the eye. As for churches, we have some pretty sweet ones. Have you ever been to that new church in Oakland? Pretty cool.
So I vote we stop comparing countries, and just say, "this is really cool" instead of, "this is really cool, America is so lame." Because the latter doesn't help anyone.
DADO & HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS
So I'm here in Piadena, Italy staying with Dado and his family, and it's been a lot of fun. They're absolutely wonderful hosts!
The other night Dado and his friends brought me to an outside discoteche, which was a blast. Here were to of my charming escorts. (Dado & friend).
This picture cracks me up. It was one of those awkward pictures that you go, "Oh, that's how that turned out." Anyways, his friends were fun.
And for his family...
I think that if the Lion King's Pumba was a silver bracelet wearing, fast car driving, intelligent, moral, popped-collar-"Porsche"-polo-sporting, Italian man, he'd be Dado's dad. I say that because they're both generous, funny, passionate about food, easy going, and a joy to be around.
It's been such a pleasure staying with them, and I'm bummed to be leaving tomorrow. The cool thing, though, is I get to go hang out for a night with my family.
That's right - I have family in Italy! So, that's fun. I think I'll write more about that tomorrow. But for now, I'm going to go ride bikes with Dado by the river. My head is feeling less heavy/full/crowded/busy. So, that's good.
Peace out!
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