Wikipedia Trail: From the 62 AD Earthquake in Pompeii to the House of Savoy

Margherita Pizza (Wikipedia Commons)

I started off my Wikipedia Trail by reading about the Earthquake in Pompeii in 62 AD. When I was in elementary school, I remember watching a documentary about the volcano in Pompeii and how that destroyed the entire city. I've always been intrigued by history and I've always wanted to visit Pompeii so this Wikipedia article was interesting to read. From that article, I went on to read about Naples. As I mentioned in a few other blog posts, travelling is one of my passions. I dream to travel as much as I possibly can while learning about the cultures of other countries and eating all the delicious food along the way. Also, Naples is essentially the home of pizza so that just makes everything better. If you haven't guessed already, my next link was about Pizza. Honestly, reading about pizza just made me really hungry and I started wanting pizza as soon as I read it. But, it was interesting to read about how different cultures had variations of pizza. For example, during Darius I's empire in Persia, soldiers would cook pizza on their battle shields with flatbread, cheese, and dates. There was also some speculation on the origin of Margherita pizza being named after Princess Margherita of Savoy, however, it could just be a legend. But, that didn't stop me from learning about Princess Margherita. After reading about Margherita of Savoy, I learned that she lived quite an interesting life. She engaged in politics and even lived through World War I. She was a quiet supporter of Mussolini because she disliked democracy and longed to see the monarchy rule. So, once I learned a little bit about Margherita, I wanted to learn a little bit about the House of Savoy. As I mentioned before, I love history. I especially love European history and learning about royalty. I didn't know that Italy took part in the colonialism movement and once ruled over Ethiopia and Libya. I also learned that members of the House of Savoy went into exile due to the rise of fascism in Europe and they were even banned from entering the country of Italy until 2002. I could honestly keep reading about this and go on more Wikipedia Trails but I'm going to save that for the next assignment.

Tech Tip: Canvas Calendar

I use the calendar on my phone to remember important events, schedule meetings, and keep track of my classes. But, after watching the video in this tech tip, I added assignment deadlines to my calendar. I'm actually kind of excited for this feature because it'll help me to plan my week out in advance and use my time more efficiently and effectively. 

Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part C

Hanuman Meditating (Flickr)

The story of how Rama and Lakshmana meet Hanuman is definitely on my favorites list. I remember hearing different variations of this story growing up and the detail in the R.K. Narayan version is definitely very good. Without a doubt, Hanuman is one of my favorite Hindu Gods, both in the Ramayana and in general. He is known as the God of strength and courage, which I'd say is pretty applicable to many situations. However, I also think that his stories and service to both Rama and Sugreeva work well with his title as God of courage. He is completely devoted and becomes a disciple of Rama, promising to help him on his journey to rescue Sita. I know that when I was a child and would get scared of the dark or a thunder storm, my mom or dad would tell me a Hanuman story and it would give me courage again. In that way, I think reading about Hanuman is interesting because it gives me perspective on his pure devotion to Rama but also how he came to be known as the God of courage.

Bibliography: R.K. Narayan, Ramayana, Reading Guide