On marble and people.

Have just returned from a 10 day cruise of the Mediterranean starting at Venice, Italy, with stopovers at Dubrovnik in Croatia, Corfu an island of Greece, Cagliari on the island of Sardinia in Italy, Malaga and Cadiz in Spain, finally ending at Lisbon, Portugal.  At each of these ports I had the pleasure of visiting places, buildings and monuments steeped in history.  I had the pleasure of meeting, interacting, with people who are a product of this history.  I loved it all, the scenic beauty, the lovely art and architecture, the rich history and most of all, the wonderful people.  It was an epic experience and a phenomenal opportunity for me to ponder upon, refine, my thoughts and beliefs as expressed in this blog

The marble of Carrera:
From Venice to Lisbon and everywhere between, wherever I went, people were proud of their history, their language and their culture.  Their buildings and monuments are expressions, testaments, of their pride and attachment to their history, language and culture.  Buildings are constructed of brick, limestone or marble or a combination of these.  Brick and limestone are usually from local sources. Marble on the other hand can be local but the best is always from Carrera, Italy.

 

It seems the marble of Carrera is the best marble in the Mediterranean, possibly on earth.

The people of the Mediterranean:
From Venice to Lisbon I found common history.  Most of these cities were founded by Phoenicians who colonized much of the Mediterranean.  These cities were later at different times ruled by Genoese, Venetians, both people of Phoenician origins themselves.  They were also ruled at times by Moors.  Each of these ruling cultures left a mark on the people, the architecture and culture of these cities.

Unlike marble one cannot unequivocally claim that people from any of these occupying places whether Phoenicia, Genoa, Venice, Turkey or North Africa are superior to the rest.  In fact one cannot unequivocally claim that any one race, nationality, cast or creed on earth is superior to any other.

On marble and people:
On the cruise I had the luxury of time to ponder on the differences between marble and people.  Both marble and people are made up of matter.  Marble is made up of Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Oxygen among other elements.  The atoms of these elements remain in the marble from the time it was formed. Marble from Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and every other country do not exchange atoms of their elements with other marble.

People are also made up of elements which include Calcium, Magnesium, Iron and Oxygen.  We are also made up of Carbon, Hydrogen and many other elements.  Unlike marble though people are born with a set of atoms that do not remain with us from birth to death.  The atoms of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen we were born with have all escaped via excretion and exhalation.  The Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen and other elements we now have in our bodies arrived from food we ingest and air we inhale.  Carbon, Hydrogen and Oxygen are recycled through many plants and animals without any preference or selection before it gets into our bodies.

 

Some of the atoms of Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen or other elements we now have in our bodies could have come from other human beings.  Some of them may have come from a person of a different race, religion or caste.  People throughout the world are made up the same material and except for cosmetic, cultural & religious differences we are all the same.