Ramil Blog

Sorry for the lack of updates, but I've been working very hard on a video. So, while that project is being worked on -- and while I'm putting off going to class -- I'll tell you about my weekend.

This weekend was actually one of the most productive weekends I've had in a while. That is, I did a lot of mentionable things, but I got almost nothing done scholastically. So on Friday, five of my friends and I went to Boston for the Girl Talk concert. We took the comfortable and very efficient Lucky Star bus and got to Boston in record time. We got something to eat, and then went straight to the venue, which was located directly behind Fenway Park's historic Green Monster. The concert was so rowdy, but we had a great time dancing and getting smushed. Eventually though, we were able to get up on stage and enjoy larger, less smushy dancing spaces. After the concert, my friends and I headed over to Boston College, where a friend of mine had agreed to graciously host us for the night.

After spending the night there, I was shocked at how different BC and NYU were. I had visited BC in high school, but my memory from two years ago did not match my image of BC from this weekend. BC's campus seemed a lot bigger this time, and with a lot more people. I also got the feeling that everyone knew each other really well, almost like a high school. And so much school spirit! It was almost scary how exactly BC fit into the idealized, Hollywood-inspired image of "college."

Don't get me wrong, I'm very happy that I'm at NYU, and I had a great time at BC, but visiting BC just made me realize that there are just some things that my school can't offer me. With so many students at NYU, it's almost impossible to feel connected to everyone, and our sports teams don't unite us like other schools' teams. But at the same time, it's this same disconnectedness, or rather openness, that makes me appreciate NYU. It very much does not feel like high school, but feels like -- forgive the cliche -- the "real world." I like being part of the hustle, the bustle, and the beat of the city. I'm not just an NYU student, but I'm a New Yorker, too.

After strengthening my resolve for NYU and NYC, I decided that I had received enough from one trip to Boston and took the Fung Wah bus home. The rest of the weekend was pretty eventful as well, but for the sake of brevity, I'll just blurt it out in an ordered list: baking lasagna, birthday party, flute repair in Bayside, and Guitar Hero face-offs.

On the next blog entry... Ramil Gets A Haircut!!!

So, shortly after I wrote the entry "Ramil's Plans Get Ruined," my friends Nate, David, and I decided to salvage the afternoon by biking across the Brooklyn Bridge and getting pizza at Grimaldi's Pizzeria. This adventure seemed like it would make a great story, and an even better video. So, after much painstaking labor, David and I created a camera helmet that would both keep me safe in the event of an accident and record footage of the accident. However, I didn't get into any accidents, so I couldn't test the true potential of the camera helmet. Anyway, here's what it looked:





COOL, right? Although it looks pretty sweet, it was very difficult to use. I don't think it would have been difficult for a smart person, but I had so much trouble figuring out when the camera was actually recording because it was on my head the whole time. Eventually, we figured it out, and, after much editing and transitioning, here is "Ramil Goes to Brooklyn":

So, I'm leaving to go to Peru tomorrow, and this will likely be the last blog post until I return on the 16th. Hopefully, I will be able to update while in Peru, but if the internet is still a developing phenomenon (see bottom of p.5) in Italy, then I have little hope for the small mountain town of Urubamba. There might be some internet cafes, but I know that my homestay family does not have internet access.

I'm really looking forward to Peru, but I can't help feeling like it's the last day of summer vacation. After today, I can't wake up late and do nothing all day. I've watched entirely too much Food Network programming during this break. I've watched the entire third season of The Next Food Network Star, The Next Iron Chef, dozens of episodes of Good Eats, Iron Chef, and Rachel Ray, Giada, Emeril, and Ina Garten. My favorite by far is Paula's Party, with Paula Deen. I love Paula Deen. I'm also really excited for that new show with Jamie Oliver - probably because they show that same commerical for it every single commercial break. But I won't be able to watch Jamie at Home because I won't have access to Food Network in Peru or Europe.

Now I know Peru will be a lot of fun, and I guess it's fine that I won't be with my friends Alton Brown and Iron Chef Cat Cora, but I'm kind of worried about the amount of work I'll be doing. Looking at the itinerary, almost every day is marked as a "Project Day." And since I'm in the construction group, I'll probably be building stuff most of the time.

Then, after I get back from Peru, I'm turning around and going straight to Florence. Italy will be really cool, but still a real semester - including classes and grades. And right after the semester ends, I'll be traveling for a couple of weeks. I love traveling and learning about new places, but it all just seems like so much so close together. So, it's kind of hard to wrap my head around it all, and all at once.

But I guess no one really remembers how dreadful the last day of summer was, because once school gets going, you're already preoccupied with work, friends and all the new experiences that come with a fresh start.

Well, I'm back from my long hiatus, and I've go a lot to show and tell you. Since the last time I blogged, I've been on 3 continents, in 4 countries, and taken 6 planes. It's been a very exhausting week, but it's been one of the best, and I have no regrets about any of it.

So, last Monday, I got to Peru and got introduced to my homestay family, and with ProPeru, the NGO we were working with in Urubamba. Living in a homestay was an interesting, new experience. The food was also... interesting. The language barrier wasn't as huge of an obstacle as I thought it would be, especially since one of my roommates spoke Spanish fluently. Claro, I couldn't speak a lick, but I was surprised at how much Spanish I was able to understand on my own.

So what did I do in Peru, you may wonder? Well, for the first half of my trip, I stayed in the tiny town of Urubamba, which is where ProPeru has it's headquarters. Here's the play by play: Every morning, I would wake up to stomach pains, so many birds, the sun and the cold at 5:30 , deal with TD, then wake up my lazy roommates around 7, eat a traditional Peruvian breakfast, head over to ProPeru by 7:45, and then get to the work site in Chinchero around 9:00. Then, we worked from 9:00 to 5:00.

The entire group of MLK Scholars (around 50 of us) were split up into four work groups: a medical campaign, a clean burning stove project, and two bathroom construction projects. I was part of one of the bathroom construction teams. Now, you might be thinking that these jobs may not sound very demanding -- that's what I thought before I got to Peru. But there are so many basic luxuries that we take for granted in the US that people in the Sacred Valley don't have access to that makes even the most basic of needs -- like sanitary waste removal -- so hard to come by.

Constructing the bathroom in Chinchero was an extremely difficult, strenuous, and often frustrating process. First of all, there is no Home Depot in Peru. There's not even a Walmart. So all building materials have to be made from things found naturally. Instead of wood or bricks, they used adobes, which are big, hardened blocks made from a mixture of clay, hay and water. They are used in many nations around the world to build structures. Another fun fact about adobes: they each weigh anywhere from 30 to 60 lbs. After loading and unloading truckloads of adobes, carrying adobes up the mountain, and lifting adobes to the tops of walls, I probably handled like 700 of those dirty, bug-infested blocks.

Adobes are the basic building block of Peruvian construction, and barro is the cement used to fuse the bricks together. Barro is made from the same clay as adobe bricks, but does not contain hay and remains wet. It looks like mud, but it hardens into whatever shape you want it to be. To make the barro, first we had to take a pick axe to the side of the mountain to collect dirt. Then, we had to mix it with water, and stomp it with our bare feet (like when you're making wine) to give it an even consistency.

Ramil after making barro

Urubamba from above

Lunch break at the work site

We climbed to the top of Waynapicchu

For the final couple of days of the trip, the MLK Scholars and I toured much of Peru, including the ruins of Ollaytantambo, Machu Picchu, and Moray, the salt mines of Pisac, and the cities of Aguas Calientes, Lima, and Cusco. My trip to Peru was a great experience, and I liked the balance of volunteer and tourist activity.

Even though my group and I were working with the Peruvians for less than a week, it really opened my eyes to the real conditions of rural life in a developing country. Don't get me wrong though; I don't mean that it's all hardship and sanitation issues. I guess I used to think that "developing" countries were places that needed fixing, places that were somehow broken. But after spending time with some of the people and listening to their stories, I don't think that they're broken anymore. They need some touch-ups here and there -- a bathroom here, some clean stoves there -- but their culture and communal way of life is very much in tact, and very much a reason for their survival.

UPDATE: Here's an overdue video with some footage from Peru. I didn't get that many chances to tape because I was working all the time, and because this guy used my entire battery to tape some stupid futbol game, but here's what I managed to get away with. I'll post some pictures, too.

So, in an attempt to be better Florentine citizens, my roommates, Walter and Tash, and I decided to do some sight-seeing around Florence. This might sound simple, but seeing all the sights in Florence is actually a very, very daunting task. As the birthplace of the Renaissance, the home of Michaelangelo and the Medici family, and the current art capital of Europe, Florence is densely packed with historic paintings, sculptures, and buildings. There's so much art and history, that you couldn't avoid it even if you tried. Around just about every corner you turn, you're bound to bump into a museum or a statue.

And I'm being quite literal. If you walk down my street, Via Ricasoli, you'll hit three of Florence's most historic landmarks. If you walk north, you'll pass by the Galleria dell Accademia (home of Michaelangelo's David, and Piazza di San Marco. Walking south, you'll run into Florence's most famous landmark, which the rests at the center of the city, the Duomo.

You can actually see the Duomo from my apartment. It's kind of cool. I look at it every morning. So, seeing as how we live right next to the Duomo, we decided to make it our first stop on our tour of Florence. There are four parts to the Duomo experience: the cathedral, Brunelleschi's dome, Giotto's campanile (bell tower), and the Duomo museum. We decided to do the cathedral and the dome.

It was cool visit, and I would definitely recommend doing at the beginning of anyone's trip to Florence, because you can see everything from the top of the Duomo. I believe that it is the highest point in Florence, and the view is breath-taking. Since Florence is packed with three-story buildings, it's easy to pick out the major sites and piazze. See for youself:

So, I've finally given in and decided to take my first trip away from the city of Florence this weekend, and Rome seemed like a good enough place as any. I feel like I'm the only one at NYU in Florence who hasn't stepped foot outside of Florence yet. All my friends have been everywhere already: Paris, Venice, Lucca, San Marino, Switzerland, Germany... I didn't want to go at first because I didn't want to spend the money, and also because I didn't want to fall behind in schoolwork. Please don't make fun of me.

But I guess I realized that I have so few opportunities to travel so freely to all these different places, and I should take advantage of being here. It'll be expensive, but I guess it's the experience that matters more.

I'm really excited to be going to Rome. All the guidebooks and websites say that there's so much to do in Rome, you'll never be able accomplish it all even in a lifetime! I hope this is an exaggeration, because we will only be spending two nights. The guidebooks also said that, at any given time, there are more tourists in Rome than there are Roman citizens. Isn't that funny? It should make for a fun weekend. Ok, I'm going to take the train now, and I'll vlog you when I return. Ciao.

So, right now I'm in my hostel in Barcelona. It´s almost exactly the same as the hostels as the movie you saw about backpacking in Europe - except for maybe 'Hostel.' I am in a communal room with 12 bunk beds, the showers and bathrooms are gross, and everyone is generally very shady. But it was cheap, and it´s pretty legit, so I am perfectly happy here.

I´ve been in Barcelona for about 2 days, and I´m starting to get a feel for the city. So far, I´ve been to Museu Picasso, Parc de la Ciutadella, Las Ramblas, and the Catedral. The Museu Picasso was by far the best - it contained tons of Picasso´s early art and showed his development as an artist. The Parc de la Ciutadella was cool, too. We played frisbee, listened to street musicians, and sat around with the circus artists. While we walked through the Barri Gotic, by the Catedral, we caught a Sardana festival going on. Sardana is a traditional Catalonian dance where large groups of old people dance around in circles. It sounds kind of lame, but it was actually very cool, and the band was great, too.

I´m really glad that I chose to come here to Barcelona, because it´s such an amazing city. All of the architecture is amazing, and the culture is strong. Catalonian people have so much pride in their culture, language, and traditions, and they´ve managed to retain their integrity while still being able to modernize and accommodate to tourism. There´s so much to do and see in this city, and I don´t think that I´ll be able to accomplish it all in the few days I´m here. Tomorrow, I´m going to try to check out the Jewish section of town, Montjuic, and some of Gaudi´s architecture, but I´ll still be leaving stuff out. I´m glad that I planned to come back during Europoloza 2008, so I can see the rest of the town. Now, I´m going to the waterfront to see Barcelona at night.

Today, I went all over Barcelona. First, I went to Montjuïc, literally ``Mountain of the Jews.´´ We took a cable car to get there, which took us right over the harbor. In Montjuïc, we saw the many remnants of the 1992 Summer Olympics, gardens, and the fort that was used to protect Barcelona. We also saw the Palau Nacional (now the Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya) and the La Fuente Mágica, but both were closed.

After we left Montjuïc, we went to La Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi´s most famous building-in-progress. It was enormous, and unlike any church I´ve ever seen before. La Sagrada Familia has the layout and feel of a Gothic cathedral, but it looks more like something from a Dr. Suess book than Notre Dame. Gaudi started the building in 1882, and the building is still under (quite heavy) construction today. Architects were still working as tourists walked around inside the huge, white building. La Sagrada Familia won´t be completed until at least 2020.

For another dosage of Gaudi, we went to Guell Park. Guell Park was originally supposed to be an upscale housing development, but was converted into a public park when the project failed. Although it was incomplete, Guell Park had great views of the city, and was covered with beautiful mosaic artwork.

Barcelona´s art nouveau makes for a good change of scenery from the Renaissance artworks of Florence. The streets of Florence are very beautiful, don´t get me wrong, but after living there for 2 months, it can start to feel musky and tired. Barcelona´s streets feel alive and energized by the artwork, and their modern style is bold without losing taste. I´m disappointed that I´m leaving tomorrow, but I´m comforted knowing that I´ll be back here soon.

UPDATE: Here is a video I made while in Barcelona, cleverly named, "Ramil Goes To Barcelona:"

So, it's taken me a while to swim through all the footage from spring break, but I've finally completed both video for Fes and Barcelona. I had a great time in both places, but I really enjoyed my time in Fes. Of all the places I've been to, Fes is one of my favorites. Everything seemed so mysterious, but without the feeling of anxiety that I usually get when things aren't thoroughly planned out.

From the moment we landed in Fes, we knew that this trip was going to be a bit of a bumpy ride. For one thing, Morocco is not one of the places where English is very commonly spoken. The majority of tourists in Fes are from Southern Europe, mostly from France and Spain. So not knowing either language, and obviously Arabic, put us at an extreme disadvantage. Also, Fes is notorious for its faux guides. They're pretty much harmless, but they'll take you on a tour of the medina and ask you for a ridiculous fee at the end of the tour. We tried our hardest to avoid faux guides, and we hired an official guide. However, while official guides charges you relatively little up front in fees, he makes most of his money on commissions. So, being the ignorant American tourists that we were, at one point or another, we fell into each of the traps. But, I still think that we came out of it relatively unscathed.

Before you start thinking that Morocco is one big phony, incomprehensible rip-off, let me tell you what I loved my trip to Fes so much. Despite the obvious effects that tourism has had on Fes, there was still a very vibrant, proud, authentic culture. Many of the people we met were so excited to show us how they lived, and wanted to genuinely be our friends. Hospitality is such an important aspect of Moroccan life, and there were so many times when I thought, "This is just like in Ibn Batutta!!" One night, we met this Moroccan guy walking down the street, and we ended up going with him to a shisha bar. We were having a good time, but the whole time we were hanging out, we were bracing ourselves for the sales pitch. It never came, and when it came time to leave, he insisted on paying for us. The next night, we hung out again, and he brought us into his home to meet his family and friends. They fed us, showed us pictures of their extended family, and gave us henna. They were so nice, and their kindness so simple that it seemed almost too good to be true. They seemed almost naive in their hospitality, but I guess that's just because I would never do something like that for complete strangers.

The video that goes along with this post shows everything else we did in Fes: walking through the medinas, our day trip to Meknes and Moulay Idriss, our "official" guided, etc. It was truly an unforgettable experience, and I do intend on returning to visit my new friends. Here is, "Ramil Goes To Morocco":

This Sunday, a few of my friends and I visited the lovely Tuscan beach town of Viareggio. Viareggio is probably most popular for its celebrations for Carnivale (which is like Italian Mardi Gras), but it's also a quite beautiful beach.

It was cool to be able to go to the beach and just relax on the sand, especially since the weather in Florence has been so crappy. And we picked a pretty good day to go to the beach too, because it was sunny, warm, and not crowded at all.

We played beach games, took a dip in the ocean, got very sandy, and watched a lot of beach football. Italians can never get enough football. Here's a video I made of the day's adventures. I apologize for the crudeness of "Ramil Goes to Viareggio, Sings:"

This weekend, I went with all the men I know to Cinque Terre. Cinque Terre is a popular Tuscan tourist and hiking destination because it is both very scenic and quite rugged. As you may have guessed, there are five towns that belong to Cinque Terre, but they're all pretty much the same. I don't even remember any of their names, but they're all very beautiful. You have to hike to get to each one, and the entire path is made of cliffs along the water.

The first two hikes were extremely easy, but the last two were really hard. Most of the way is pretty well paved thanks Cinque Terre's popularity with tourists, but some parts were pretty difficult. The beach at the end was a welcome reward. Along the way, there was some delicious lemonade, singing, lots of Americans, and a nude beach - I am told. Here's "Ramil Goes to Cinque Terre":

So, today marks the official start of Europoloza 2008! Julia and I arrived at our first stop, Amsterdam, this morning at 8:30, and we just got to our hostel like an hour ago. I really like our hostel: The Lucky Lake House. As the name suggests, it's right on a beautiful lake, and the hostel is full of all these cool, backpacking hippies. There's all of this really cool hippie art everywhere, and it's right by a lake. How cool is that? Wait, I'll show you how cool it is in these pictures:

Right now we're going into town to see the Van Gogh Museum and the Heineken Factory. Updates are soon to come...

Right now, Julia and I are in Prague. We've been here for 3 days now, and we're getting ready to move on to the next city this afternoon. But we had a pretty good time in Prague. Everything's really cheap, Julie got to speak Russian, and the weather is AWESOME.

Actually, the weather is terrible -- its always raining in Prague. And we had some other problems during our stay here. First, coming into Prague was a 15 hour bus ride. And then on our second day here, we got fined 700Kc (like 30E) for not paying for the metro.

But after our major bumps in the road, things started getting better. We met a lot of cool people, experienced the night life, and did a lot of cultural stuff. We went to a concert for Prague Spring, visited a couple of castles, went to some museums and tours, and got really cool matching sweatshirts. We are also writing and filming a fictional movie.

Ok, next stop on Europoloza: Budapest.

So yesterday, Julia and I decided that 5 days in Budapest was one day too many, so we took a day trip to Vienna. The second we got off the metro in the center of Vienna at the Hofburg Palace, we were stunned. Out of all the city centers, old towns, and castles that we've been to, Vienna was hands-down the most impressive. There are so many huge, beautiful, old buildings everywhere you turn.

After we walked around the Hofburg for a while, we headed over to the Belvedere museum (which was quite a walk, especially because of the rain). But it was worth it. It was such a sweet museum, and a very refreshing change of pace from the 24/7-Madonna-col-bambino Renaissance art of Florence.

Then, we did some Jewish things because Julia wanted to. That was O.K. Then we saw St. Stephen's cathedral because it's actually a major attraction. That was better. After, we went to Aida, because you're apparently required to visit one of Vienna's coffee shops while there. It was charming, but it wasn't like the coffee shops I had grown accustomed to in Amsterdam. Aside from the obvious difference, we found another difference between Amsterdam and Vienna coffee shops: it is not yet socially acceptable in Vienna to play with dirty cards at the restaurant.

When we finished our coffee and cards, we headed over to the Schonbrun, the summer palace of the Hapsburg family - now a city park. It was this huge park complex with museums, gardens, great views, and even a labyrinth. It's size and grandeur reminded me of Versailles, but it's park atmosphere made me think more of Bobili Gardens. Schonbrun was a cool way to end our day in Vienna, and now we're back in Budapest for 2 more days. I can't believe that I'll be home in only a few more days...