Italy

Introduction:

A man sat at the edge of Piazza di Spagna in Rome, painting the impressive sight in front of him in watercolor. A young American tourist came up to him and watched for a short time. After a few moments and offered him around $20 American for it. The man looked at the tourist for a moment and told him to come back in an hour when he finished.

The painting wasn't even signed, but it has been hanging in my kitchen ever since I moved to the Detroit area a few months ago, and in my hall before that. At one point it was hanging in my Grandparents living room, but originally it was a gift for my mom from my dad after he came back from his trip from Italy.

I wonder if the painter knew that the picture would be displayed for so long. I wonder if the painter would be immortalized digitally and posted on a blog over 40 years after it was created. After all, the painting is not even signed, or if the man was just there to paint and never gave the art work and the American who purchased it another thought.

Food:

Here in the states, it seems that Italy is known for their food: from their pasta to their pizza, to tiramisu to gelato.

My husband came home and I had decided to make him pizza from HelloFresh. It was amazing! It had pesto, asparagus , and broclatini, a vegetable that is much like broccoli but scrawnier. It reminded me of a the verdir pizza that I would order at Il Ratrivo when I was living in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. A pizzaria that was so good that people would travel from Chicago, three hours away, to eat there. The Recipe is as follows:

You can learn more about Hello Fresh by visiting this website: www.hellofresh.com If you sign up you can use my referral code: R27SAH.

My step mom's birthday had been earlier that week, so to celebrate my husband and I took her out to an Italian restaurant, Andiamos. It is one of my parents favorite places to eat out. I had one of my favorite dishes, Gnocchi in a marinara sauce. For those of you who do not know what gnocchi is, it is a small potato dumpling. The meal was excellent and filling. The meal we had really did feel Italian. My family and I had long light hearted conversations that were filled with laughter, and thought.

T.V.

Karl goes to Venice in Season 3, Episode 1 of “An Idiot Abroad”. This is the first episode where he is teamed up with Warwick Davis, the guy that played an Ewok in Star Wars. While in Venice they go on a gandela, where Karl makes it clear that he doesn't get why the city is in water. Warwick and Karl also go to a masquerade party where Warwick goes as Casanova and Karl goes as some sort of Clown or mime. During this party the Karl is made to go into a “pleasure machine” which is really just some sheets to hide the fact that people are shoving things like feathers in people's faces. Like always we get to laugh while Karl just seems to be annoyed and perplexed by everything he encounters.

Work Cited:

http://andiamoitalia.com/

HelloFresh. www.hellofresh.com.

"Rome's Best Piazzas". http://www.free-city-guides.com/rome/romes-best-piazzas/ Retrieved: September 3, 2014.

Yee, Richard. “An Idiot Abroa: Venice & Macedonia”. Aired 2012. 

Painting by: Unknown

Israel

Israel:

There has been a lot of talk the last couple of months about the war going on in Israel, and the atrocities that the the Israeli government has been committing against the Palestinians. Under normal circumstances, I am not anti Israel. Recently, however I am starting to think that the actions Israel is taking is too extreme.

The last few months I have heard through places like NPR, and the Daily show that schools, and hospitals where hit killing hundreds of civilians, including children. The difference between the death tolls from Israel and Gaza is quite different, with Israel exacting air strikes in response to things like one death, or one kidnapping.

This is not to say that I am pro Hamas, or Pro terrorism, because I am not. I just think that Israel is quite literally getting away with murder.

My views of this subject is quite mild when compared to my husbands. I don't get very upset when discussing this. My husband's view is quite different. He would actually rant on the subject. Several times I found myself in the car with Arvind bored out of my mind while he drones on and on about this subject. My husband was so passionate about the subject, that he even painted a picture inspired by the subject, entitled “Bomby Night” (because it looks a lot like Starry Night by Van Gogh).

Since this was painted, the Israeli conflict has dropped off the main streams radar a bit, but that does not mean the conflict is over. The conflict has been going on since World War II ended, so not hearing about it on TV and radio is just that, not hearing about it.

T.V.

One of my favorite depictions of Israel and the surrounding regions is from “An Idiot Abroad”, Jordan” Season 1, Episode 3. Like most episodes of this “documentary” Karl finds himself in some ridicules situations. There goes through kidnapping survival training; he visits the Wailing Wall, which like most things he doesn't get; and he gets taken for a ride Na Nachs, a sect of Judaism that spreads there message by dancing on vans and at street stops to Techno music.  

Movie:

One of my favorite movies about Israel does not actually take place in Israel (though it starts off there). "Don't Mess With the Zohan" is in my opinion one of Adam Sandler's best movies. It is also one of the only movies where Adam  Sandler looks somewhat attractive. In this movie Sandler's character Zohan, starts out as an Israeli soldier. He leaves is Israel and his military career to pursue his life long dream of being a hair dresser. Once he is in the States, he finds that he cannot quite completely put the Israeli Palestinian conflict behind him. With some of his new friends help he is able to unite the two groups of people together against a common enemy, an evil land developer and red necks. 

 Food:

Thanks to Hello Fresh, I was able to make one of the best meals I have had in a while, Lisa's Herby Tofu Skewers with Israeli Couscous. I am sure that Tofu is not from anywhere close Israel, but the vegetables, grains, and herbs in this dish can all be found in the region. 

www.hellofresh.com : Use referral  code  R27SAH .

Work Cited:

Campbell, Luke; Green, Benjamin; Johnson, Jamie Jay; Yee, Richard. "An idiot Abroad" "Jordan" Season 1, Episode 3. Aired 2010.

Dugan, Dennis. "You Don't Mess with the Zohan". 2008

Jujare, Arvind. "Bomby Night". August 2014.