"The States put what in Italy's where?!1?1!!?!"

GOOOOOOOODDAY MY FELLOW AMERICANS.

This entry, though probably short and sweet, was brought to my attention earlier today at a school assembly and after 3 different people tried explaining it simply to me in Italian, and I still couldn't wrap my head around it, I ended up going home and researching it through the sides of both the United States and Italy.

The matter of this research is MUOS, which stands for Mobile Use Objective System. These devices are a complex group of 5 satellites in outer space and 4 ground stations, serving for the purpose of enhancing the capability, speed, accessibility, and quality of service for the United States Armed Forces abroad. The 4 ground stations being in Hawaii, southeast Virginia, Australia, and one near and dear to my heart, Niscemi, Sicily.

How this system functions is by ultra-high frequency waves sent through the satellites, the satellites being replacements for cell phone towers, with the system having the same capabilities of a cell phone. The advantage of these satellites are being able to have more contact with "disadvantaged environments", being places with dense forests and limited coverage within the canopy of the trees. This will provide point-to-point and netted communication to the American military, which means access to voice, data, and videos spanning the globe.

I'm gonna guess none of you knew about this, right America?

This 2.11 billion dollar project has been in existence through our Department of Defense since 2004, and is expected to be in full out orbit by 2015.

But what's the problem with it?

If you scan through some articles written by Americans, you will only hear the good things about MUOS and how it will expand the connectivity of our military, yadayadayada. But here in Sicily where this is an everyday issue that is discussed at school, at home, at the public rallies that are held about it, and this is why.

Straight from a page in Italian, www.nomuos.org, MUOS is considered a danger by the people here, because of the high electromagnetic frequency produced by the radiowaves. The health of those who have pace-makers installed in there bodies are also at concern here, because of the electromagnetic field produced could easily be sufficient enough to disturb the progress made by these mechanisms of the people in neighboring communities. The reason this is an issue in Sicily and not in Hawaii, Virginia, or Australia, is because the land base in Niscemi is the only one of these four that is installed close to the public.

So, if we wanna get down to the bare bone of this, we are microwaving people with our high-tech military installations.

As you can see, this is a current event here, not in the States, even though we are the ones doing it. Isn't that kind of messed up? Not accusing anyone here, but I'm just proving how uninformed we are. Me, being a fairly well informed American student that has a pretty large knowledge of the world around her, came here not knowing diddly squat of MUOS. I find it very intriguing.

So, the question is now, MUOS, or no MUOS?

To be continued by 2015.

nel mezzo del cammino di mia vita

MOTHER OF GOD I DID IT.

HALF OF IT.



Attention all blog readers (aka everyone who has gotten so sick of my mother's links to this blog on facebook that they just ended up clicking on one to see what it's all about), I have MADE IT. HALFWAY. Actually a little over half because halfway was 2 or 3 days ago depending on how you count it. But I have around 150 days left.

Let's recap (BECAUSE IT'S FEBRUARY AND NOTHING HAPPENS IN FEBRUARY)

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1. September 4th, 2013. I left my house with a half gallon of Turkey Hill iced tea and a scarf to knit for the drive to New York City with my mom and her friend. 

   

   The view from our far corner table of the orientation in New York with all the kids going to: Spain, France, Italy, Ghana, the Netherlands, Bosnia, and Belgium.

2. September 5th, 2013. I left the country in Doctor Who leggings and 90 other kids where I flew over and out of the country for the first time, saw France, Germany, and slept on the airport floor in Switzerland. 

   

   One of my last glimpses at America.

3. September 6th, 2013. Arrived in Rome and died of air poisoning from the terrible smell at the airport, got to camp and took a shower (the last shower I would ever walk around after with wet hair in public), and started a bajillion new friendships

   

   The night I hung out on the roof of our hotel with mah girls.

   
   

   

   Anna from Austria.

4. September 9th, 2013. My first day in Catania.

   

   Leaving Rome.

   
   

   

   My first of many terrible pictures with Roosa.

5. September 21st, 2013. Switched host families. 
6. October 19th, 2013. Palermo Orientation Camp!

   

   MY HOODRATZ.

   
   

   

   My view from my hotel room when I decided to wake up before dawn to take a long shower.

   
   

   

   Oh god, I've been meaning to share this. This....this is China. And the vocalist is Momo, the coolest Chinese girl you will ever meet.

7. November 3rd, 2013 Gita to Siracusa
   
   
   
   
8. November (in general): I actually skyped with my family back home, cried about missing Thanksgiving (not really), finally took my camera to school, started speaking Italian for the major part of my life. 
9. December: Mattia came home from Belgium, my school was occupied, my little sister's birthday, got into my first fender bender with my family, Hektor's return to Sicily,La Festa Della Luce, my first Italian Christmas, field trip to Mineo, Sicily.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. New Years: Here's a little story I didn't tell you all about. New years was spent playing Sicilian cards (which I only lost every time), Fifa, and insane hide and seek outside. I was at a party with my two brothers and we didn't get home until 6:30 in the morning New Year's Day. But, at midnight we all went outside to set off fireworks, and so did everyone else in Sicily. I was able to stand up on the wall of their garden, and look off into the horizon and see 25+ different sets of fireworks going off at the same time. It was surreal. Then we set off one of those lanterns like in that scene from Tangled, which almost set a cactus on fire. (and let the chorus chime in) I LOVE MY LIFE.
11. January, 2014: field trip to Taormina, I become fully functional in school, field trip with the family to central Sicily at the Roman bathhouse thing, a tour with my sisters school of the same place my host parents got married at, getting my residence perrmit from Hell, Nano coming to visit.

    

    Roman Dining Hall

    
    

    

    Host mom's birthday lunch.

    
    

    

    First course at host mom's birthday lunch (not only for me as much as I wanted it to be)

    
    

    

    On the tour, this was the ceiling of the room my host parents got married in. Where you can kind of see the hole in the roof is where the opera singers would be. 

    
    

    

    My baby from Japan, Ko!

    
    

    

    Oh look it's another (we both are Roosa's models)

12. February, 2014: halfway point, Sant'Agata holiday, ?????

And here we are! February 2014. Santa Agata, the patron saint of Catania, was just celebrated this past week. This festival is the 3rd biggest religious festival IN THE WORLD, the first being Rio de Janiero's Carnival. I went to a friends house for the first night with some others, where we could watch the fireworks from the town square from her balcony, and then I went to see the actual Saint two nights after. Have you ever been smothered by a flood of Catholics? I have. Pictures are to come of this.

So, who knows where I will end up this month. Or the next month. Or the next. We'll just have to wait and see.