On Tuesday, when I was sick on the couch and desperate for anything to be on daytime TV (there isn’t, btw, even with Satellite) I came across a show on the HD channel about festivals of the world. They were in Italy, going around to various cities and exploring how they celebrate Good Friday/Easter. One thing I found interesting was this bread they make called la Colombo which is a sweet bread with four hard boiled eggs baked into it, which just seems odd to me, but it’s probably pretty yummy.

But the part that really struck me was when they visited Trapani in Sicily. In this small sea-side town, the church has life sized misteri figures (stations of the cross) and they are “owned” by different groups of the community like the fishermen, carpenters, jewelery-makers, etc. It’s kind of like how businesses adopt a street. Each profession is in charge of maintaining their misteri for on the eve of Easter, a group of 16-18 men will carry these really heavy “floats” throughout the streets of Trapani for 24 hours. They carry them for 5-7 minutes and then get to set them down but the weight is immense and even with that many men, it is a huge sacrifice. I was most blown away by how emotional it is for these men; some said they were doing it for their faith and others, for their wives or children.

And I couldn’t help but think of myself, then, feeling all sorry and pitiful over a little freaking cold. Sure, my nose is so stuffed up that I’m a total mouth-breather and I have some issues in my nether-regions I wish not to discuss, and I have a sore under my tongue, making eating completely unpleasant. But I am selfish for complaining about these minor – and brief – afflictions when there are men who carry enormous weight upon their shoulder for an entire day, without once complaining or giving up. That show really put things into perspective for me. And it made me want to go to Italy.