It's not a small world after all

This past weekend was the first time we left the city of Florence. It was incredible.

On Friday we visited the city of Siena, where I saw the actual preserved head and finger of Saint Catherine of Siena, an incredible Saint I have admired since childhood. I also got to explore the Duomo of Siena, an incredibly gorgeous cathedral. That night we had a five course meal, the largest and fanciest meal of my life, in Machiavelli's country house just outside of Florence.

On Saturday I found myself heading out at 5:30am to catch a train to Cinque terre, a small strip of five coastal cities West of Firenze. It was the most beautiful and amazing trip of my life. I swam in the Mediterranean Sea, and hiked through the mountains to these gorgeous small coastal cities. The water was crystal blue, no pollution and no trash, and the trails, although rough, were high up in the mountains and gave spectaculars views of the ocean and the cities at a distance.

It was an amazing two days, but the thing that stuck out to me the most, was the journeys there, the places that we passed, the wide stretches of wilderness or of farmland. I watched as we sped by, realizing that I had never really thought about the fact that Firenze is such a small portion of a large country, and that country was just a small portion of a large continent, one that I had never experienced before.

How ignorant are we, that we never look past our own front door? Its an easy and natural instict, the selfishness that comes with that ignorance. This world is so vast, so beautiful, and so unexplored by so many people. We students here in the study abroad programs are so quick to complain that Italy does not have the things that we are so accustomed to having in the States, that we forget to enjoy the change in cultures, and realize that the people of Italy have lived without those things for their entire lives, so maybe they're really not that necessary.

We are so spoiled, and we are selfish, and although that sounds harsh, it's the way things are. Would we think to care about others in the world if we were never reminded? most likely not. I know I wouldn't. I could have cared less about the rest of the world, the majority of which I have never even seen, before I came here.

Even in Firenze, just leaving the city, I realized how small I am, compared to God's masterpiece, the world. I am insignificant to the majority of human beings, and most are insignificant to me, but we are all connected, through our creator. This gives us the ability to hopefully, begin to care.