Sunday, November 9, 2014

In the Presence of Greatness 10/14/14-10/27/14

        After getting back from London that type of missing home really got to me,  from the whole bus ride to the airport and even on the plane ride back I couldn't sleep because I was thinking about it so much.  This would be pretty much bug me for the entire week because their was no connection to home and it really got me unfocused for midterms so getting back in to studying wasn't the best. That entire first stay back was the hardest I had to study even the week prior, because all of these exams were in the same day back to back and the amount of information that is needed to take them was pretty ridiculous.  That Wednesday it was like the battle of JCU in regards to having all of these midterms back to back because of my classes.  After the day was done you could may as well say that I was dead out of my brains and just mind blown.  So once again don't judge me for this but I went to the cafe and had a couple much deserved beers for my troubles.
        Now that my exams were done I could start preparing for my trip this weekend to go where I have dreamed of going my whole life and which was truly the only place I wanted to visit Athens Greece.  That weekend it started off much like on our way to London, the only difference was that the airport was more efficient and we got through security quick and only had to get our passport checked once which was pretty nice.  Also the service was better as well on easy jet, the only thing difference was that the pressure in the cabin was not so well so my ears kept popping the entire way their and weekend.  So I wasn't the most comfortable on the plane.  Once we arrived I felt a warm feeling out side, my first site was a great hillish mountain in the distance from the airport and even though it was just hill these were just beautiful and no hills I have ever saw in my life matched their beauty.  After debarking from the plane we hoped on the bus and headed straight towards the Akropolis area where we were staying once we got there and checked in to our hostel, we headed to get something to eat.  Right around the corner from our hostel their is a Gyro place and was the best place in all of Athens because it only costed 2 euro and it was unbelievably delicious.  That whole weekend I would continue to eat their because it was so good.  After getting a much needed meal, we headed to the National Defense Ministry War Museum.  Here we saw a bunch of guns and bombs you would not expect to see in person, but also we got to see a lot of ancient Greek weapons and shields that were a sight to see.  A Hopitle spear for example is the size of me if not even taller, so you must imagine that is a pretty tall and indimidating weapon.  We also saw some stories of some rulers, though it really mostly contained descriptions of weapons, it had minor stories of like Alexander when he took a city in Greece a Philosopher was just laying their and Alexander said to him "what would you like most" and the Philosopher said "I would want you to move out of the way because your covering the sun".  I just found this funny because Alexander from that day on had great respect for that man and the man was kind of a smart ass to probably one of the most powerful men in the world.  It just showed me that the idea of having no fear of someone who has more powerful than you is a trait that not many men or women have because we submit to those who have more power than us in fear of what they would do to us and in return we act like servants to those of power.
         After we left the war museum we went back to the hostel to take a nap because we both of course didn't get any sleep the night before because we had to be up by 4 am and we both didn't sleep well.  Later that night our Hotel had a roof top bar so we went to the top to have a drink, and the sight was just beautiful.  Right when you sat down you would see the citadel and the Parthenon right behind you and it is just lit up with lights and the moon and stars shining right down on it.  That moment I started to get a warm feeling, much like the one I got after I disembarked from the plane and saw the hill in the distance.  These feelings I wouldn't understand what their were until much later.
        The next morning after having some pretty bad continental breakfast, if you call it that because all if was is rolls and jam with hot water... Yeah so we went to the Gyro place again because it was awesome and we just ate pretty bad stuff.  After we ate we started our way up to the Akropolis where we would enter to see in what the modern world says "the birthplace of democracy".  When we go to the top of the Akropolis after seeing the minor things on the way up, we approached the hall into the Akropolis.  Suddenly the warm feeling came again as me and my roommate walked through and was staring right at the Parthenon.  It was truly a miraculous sight to see, and to me it was a climax of my study abroad experience as well as a high point for my adult life.  The reason is because it one shows dreams do come true.  I remembered the first time I read about Greece and the Roman Empire my first year of High School and how inspired with their techniques and political issues, and some of the people I read about like Alexander The Great, Pericles and Constantine all of these great figures of society stood right where I stood.   It was being of the presence of greatness, the worlds greatest intellectuals of all time have stood right there and looked over the beautiful City of Athens and landscape of giant hills and the stunning Aegean Sea from the citadel I am standing on.  They walked the path I have walked and have endured life struggles like I have.  The leader who has stood out to me the most was Alexander the Great.  Yes he was born into a royal family unlike me but that is not what makes him one of my idols.  While growing up especially in middle and high school, I was always second and always had to prove my worth and abilities and even though I would people would still step over me.  That was Alexander's childhood and he worked hard and proved everyone wrong and became King of the known world.  Being on top of that Akropolis was being in the presence of greatness and is a moral standard for what I want to accomplish in life.
       Me and my friends would end up spending most of our time on the Akropolis admiring the city we gazed upon.  It's funny because we were talking about life, politics and other things I guess you can say that Socrates would be looking down on us smiling.  After a very memorable weekend we would spend our last moments on top of a hill across from the Akropolis where we would watch the sun set from the top of the glorious citadel all the way in the distance of the beautiful Aegean.  Once again that warm feeling inside and still I didn't know what it meant.  The next day as our plane took off and I looked out the window saying goodbye to the Athens my heart became empty and tears came from my eyes.  At first I didn't know why I was crying but I eventually realized why.  My whole life was full of struggle and doubtfulness that I would never become someone capable to leave my country or even my state and their I was in the city I have admired my whole life, in the city where I stood where Alexander the Great stood, and in the place where the first foundations of democracy were set that would later give me the opportunity as an African man to be able to progress myself in Western society unlike my ancestors.  It was a moment where struggle of my family lineage has started to become progression to become great like the intellectuals of old.  It wasn't just for my personal feelings that I was touched by, but those of my family and how I am setting a good example to my siblings and younger family members.  I felt like one of the idols I looked up to growing up because I am setting an example to those people younger than me so they can reach to the stars and achieve bigger and greater things that I have.  It was a moment where being in the presence of greatness has made me realize that I wasn't nobody and that I was born to be a somebody.

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Missing Home 10/1/14-10/13/14

             Well things our starting to get intense, here in Rome.  What I mean is midterms are coming up and I have all of them in one day.  In all honesty I have never been so nervous for midterms before.  Like unless me and the professor are not on the same page with the materials, I am pretty confident about midterms because to me it's a chance to prove myself to the faculty that I know the material and to bring up their expectations of me to make me better.  However this semester it is different, like I know one obvious reason is the fact I am taking five in one day and the University won't let me move it because they do not schedule them but the professors do on the syllabus.  So as of right now you could say I am a certain naughty word out of luck. 
             Instead of me being nervous about these tests and my Model United Nations plans for the semester and the next.  Wait I didn't thing I told you all about that.  Well this is my blog so I guess this is a time where I should tell you about it since it is really the time place and manner to do so.  Well as you know I am part of the Model United Nations Society here in Rome and what you do is basically do international negotiations with other countries representing one that you most research and argue that state's opinion.  This of course is what I am all about being a Political Science major with a focus in International Relations.  Well what has happened recently was that I have been invited to compete in a simulation in Stockholm Sweden, and then the world competition in Seoul, South Korea next semester in March with the society.  I am actually really excited about this because it allows me to focus on my transition into professionalism which has really kick started when I came here.  The reason why I am developing more now than I was back in the States is because the Political Science department here is bigger and therefore more individuals are interested in topics I am interested in too.  This has allowed me to engage with other really magnificent intellectuals from all over the world at this International University.
             As you can see I have a lot going on right now which requires me to be focused but with being focused comes with a little stress of course, but recently my roommate Alex suggested to me "You know what we haven't gone on a trip"  Now I know what your thinking why would I want to go on a trip when I have so much going on?  Now the best way to answer this is in the words of the great Drake you only live once, so that means lets go on a trip.  In all honesty I need this because for the past few weekends I have just been chilling here in Rome and exploring the city like going out side to the Imperial Palace in the park with my roommates Marco and Alex and watch the little kids ride their skateboards, scooters, and bikes really fast and watch them fall right on their face and sometimes roll down the hill when they fall.  I know I am very mean for me and my roommates finding this entertaining but how do you think Tosh.0 became famous?  It is because of these kids right here and unlike the American cable companies who charge you stupid amounts for cable I can watch these events live with out being taxed so no I am not mean.  The museums are nice here too but it is time for something new and fresh in Europe.
            So after searching the flight prices to everywhere in Europe and including outside like Israel and Turkey, I know you think I am crazy for even considering it and I would agree with you however if I were to get kidnapped by terrorists they wouldn't want me for long because one I would either drive them crazy and second I could blend in perfectly I just need to not open my off.  What I learned here is that Americans have a very noticeable accent so I would have to be careful over there.  However to get back into all seriousness we did not decide to go the middle east because it was not the cheapest, and because I didn't want to deal with the U.S embassy, I want to work in the Federal Government in the future so I don't want to be known as the crazy guy who went to the middle east to go on vacation during the peak of the Islamic State.  Yeah that does not look good on a resume, so we decided to go to London next weekend and the weekend after that Athens Greece which I have been wanting to go my whole life so this is perfect take a little vacation before midterms to get my mind off of it in London and then after midterms go on a weekend vacation to Athens and see the glorious city I have dreamed about for years.
            The past week was been very boring and not really what I want to share in this blog so I decided to save the last half of this blog of my first trip to London this weekend.  So before we left I remembered that their is a certain good friend of mine that is in London studying with some other good Big Blue Millikin students however he also bleeds purple and white like me and is my line brother Nick Roberson.  It was a miracle that he was available because we had a place to stay but I also got to see one the most amazing individuals in my life who is close to my heart and when you put me Nick and my roommate Alex together you know we are going to have a good time.
            Before me and Alex got to London we endured a true endeavor.  Besides the fact we got barely any sleep before we had to leave to catch our taxi to the airport, as soon as we decided to take Rynair a really cheap airline so what can you expect though right? Well when we got their we had our tickets and everything but then stupid policy made us wait still in the airport line for a good 30 minutes just to get checked in again and show our passports then get our passports checked another 3 times in security and on top of that another 2 more times before we got on out plane.  If anyone made a career out of stealing passports it would be at that airport for all of the times passengers need to have it out.  Well when we finally got on the plane we decided officially that we will never fly Rynair again because of the process to get on a plane in order to be jammed packed in a seat on a pretty old plane with no leg room.  Anyways after I slept on roommate for the entire flight and he slept on the random lady next to him who tried taking our whole seats, we finally got to London which we got passed airport security quicker than we got in by like a whole hour, thank god were not EU Citizens otherwise we would have been in that line forever because it was so packed.
           After a train ride from the airport to Liverpool station in London, we finally met with Nick my good friend and brother.  To be completely real with you I didn't even feel like I haven't seen him in 6 months, it was like we never separated, after we put our stuff down at Nick's house we began our journey.  First we went to Buckingham Palace where the Queen of England lives and when we were there we met this gentleman who gave us a complete story of the Royal Family.  I never understood why the British Monarchy is so adored, but after meeting him I finally did.  It is because it is just part of there lives and is the heart and soul of the nation, and when they struggle they struggle.  Their is a reason why the Queen is still the head of state because she embodies the people's mind and soul.  After that we went to see Big Ben, the Tower of London, and ate Chinese food then we went back to take a nap.  This experience have done one thing and that was remind me of home.  I know being from Milwaukee is completely different from living in Chicago and especially London, but when you put the good old mid west scenery around me, I will think of the those breezy winds across my face and the fresh green grass on the ground, I miss the gusts of fall and watching the leaves fall from the trees.  I miss home and this first day in London made me realize how much I did.  What got me the most was later that not any section of my trip, but what happened later that night.  After we took a quick nap we went to go to this play called Rachel, with Nick and the other Millikin students.  Besides enjoying a very good show, I started to surprisingly miss Millikin.  Now I have had my issues with the school and have been drastically unhappy for a number of reasons that I don't want to say on here because I know they are reading this, but the reason was primarily I didn't feel that it was home. I felt lost and stopped in my tracks for my education in my direct field of study and my professor and mentor Bobbi Gentry left which really hurt because she was the only reason I wanted to stay.  When we talk about someone who has had my back throughout the time they knew no matter how stupid stuff I did their would be four people my history teacher Jim Liska, my mentor Marshall, my high school wrestling coach Jason Stromberg and Bobbi Gentry, but currently at the time Gentry is obviously the direct influence on me because she was really the only one around.  I made the stupidest mistake of my adult life and no one really was their to help me, it was my most helpless feelings in my life and I remember people trying to in basic words end me but Gentry didn't let that happen.  Not much was said between me and her besides in her vision I was punished enough already.
             When people like that leave because of a better oppurtunity it hurts because you have a relationship with that individual and they a part of the reason you have developed to who you are today.  I thought my time at Millikin would be done but after being here in London with some Millikin students seeing my old professor Anne Matthews and watching a play something Millikin is known for doing so well.  I missed it and I never thought I would say it but the play was a tiny piece of what made me miss it.  After which me Alex and Nick went to go out get some drinks and do some night life which turned into my line brother trying to get me a drink a lot which I was not buying because one the pound is a crime against humanity and two stuff tends to get rowdy when me and Nick drink alot. There is a reason why his Mom said on my facebook that trouble has arrived with a capital T, which is not always the case.  Anyway after we had our drinks we decided to head back to Nick's place but the Tube which is the underground tunnel metro system, closes at 12 am but it was 1 am so we decided to walk.  This was a very interesting walk except when I had to take a number and every place in London was closed and even the bouncer wouldn't even let me in a club to use it, which is very ungentle-men like being since you are from England.  Thank the Queen that their is urgent care hospitals because once we went in I was gone into the bathroom and I didn't come out for a good 20 minutes.  I will save you the details because of course you are like Nick this is gross but the conversations we were having on the way back and looking for a toilet were pretty hilarious which shows whenever me and Nick go out together we always have a story to tell.  Even me and Alex but we feel every Italian bar plays the same techno music where ever we go.
            When we finally got back to Nick's place not only did the 2 hours of walking feel that my feet were going to fall off but I passed out quicker than congress passes a budget.  The next morning when we finally woke up after a long walk, we went walking around the Earl's Court area to another to find Baley's Fish and Chips so we could eat some "good" British food.  It was very delicious, what actually is more interesting about this day was when we walked to the park and we saw kids playing with mentos and diet coke.  I know what your thinking what did I do, well I would do what any good Tosh.0 fan did and we stopped pulled out our phones and started video taping them.  Unfortunately they chickened out and didn't do it like a bunch of scared y cats and each of them left.  I was very disappointing in them because they quit and I yelled at them if you quit now you'll quit your whole lives.  After watching these scared kids running away from mentos and diet coke, we decided to go back to see Westminster and all the other things to get pictures and then back to Nick's place.  We ended the day early because me and Alex had to catch our flight early at 7 am and to get there on time we needed to attempt to navigate our way through London on the bus to get there so we just chilled there. That night whiled cooking me and Nick watched the MGC showcase and watched our chapter perform.  After watching that night and chilling and having a good time with the guys I realized something, and that was how much I love my fraternity and my chapter.  This past semester so far I have been so hell bent on leaving Millikin because of how I am not where I want to be intellectual wise and they lack the programming for International Relations to the capacity where I would like it to be, but their is something their that I won't be able to the capacity I want anywhere else and that's brotherhood.  The my chapter of my fraternity means everything to me and even though I can be mad with some of my brothers at times I miss and love them in the end.  As I was on the bus on the way to the airport I could not help but looking off into the night sky thinking of home and my brothers.  What this trip to London gave me was a taste of home and how lucky I am to be from such an amazing place where I have a family of irreplaceable brothers who I love to death.