Lindsay in Italia: i saw the PRESIDENT today...twice!!

This afternoon the President of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano, spoke to an admiring crowd in the piazza between my house and the church building. This piazza serves as the headquarters for the volunteer program, which has seen 2,568 lend a hand to the flood clean-up. Napolitano thanked these "angels of the mud" and was presented with an honorary neon yellow volunteer vest. Witnessing the post-flood spirit of solidarity and desire to serve has been inspiring, and seeing the head of state up-close (at a distance of 4m as he greeted volunteers after his speech) was also an unforgettable experience for this international politics enthusiast (who three years ago had done a presentation on Italy's goverment which included a slide on Napolitano)!!

President Napolitano lauding Vicenza's volunteers:

He's standing under the white part of the flag.

Then I stopped by the coffee shop where one of my English students just began working to get some hot chocolate and peruse the newspaper, where I read about the government's pledge of 300 million euro in aid to the flood-ravaged Veneto region.

Then on my way to the grocery store I came across a congestion of citizens waiting for President Napolitano to exit the building where he was meeting with local mayors, so I joined the watch party. He finally came out and waved to all his enthusiastic supporters (passing 2m away from where I was) before getting into his vehicle.

Everyone trying to get a glimpse of the President!

He's the clearest face on the center-left (no pun intended) of the photo.

The aftermath of the flood has provided the opportunity for a beautiful demonstration of Jesus' teachings. Here are my renditions of excerpts of the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:36-37) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:19-21):

Jesus: Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of [the flood]?

Expert in the law: The one who had mercy on him.

Jesus: Go and do likewise.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where [floods] and [mud] destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where [floods] and [mud] do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

The rest of today's post is a compilation of odds and ends and updates on topics mentioned in previous posts.

My first post-flood English student invited me to go to her home for the lesson, as her zone was better off than that of the church building. The next student walked all the way from her house, which isn't particularly nearby, because some of the roads downtown were still closed to cars, and she wanted to be sure to be able to make it! Another student spent the night at my apartment Saturday, as her house was temporarily uninhabitable.

This week at church we received a letter confirming that the boxes of clothing, shoes, hygiene items, hymnals, and cash we had sent to Zambia safely arrived and have been delivered to our Christian friend in prison. Thanks to all who prayed for the safe transport of these packages!

Yesterday I went to visit my landlady's mother in the rehabilitation center where she is recovering from a stroke. She initially had not been able to speak at all, so I was pleasantly surprised at her progress: she speaks slowly but conversed quite easily and was so happy to see me. Being able to brighten her day made my day as well! She is re-learning how to write and will soon be moving home (she lives in the apartment below mine).

My French friend finished up her internship but got a two-year contract with the company, so she will be sticking around for a while! Yesterday afternoon I visited her in her new apartment.

En route to these various social calls yesterday I passed through some of the hardest-hit areas of town and was glad to see streets and businesses returning to normal.

The bathroom/plumbing accessory store next to the church building was devastated by the flood. The owners live above the store and are good friends of the church: the man is a Christian but now due to poor health is practically a shut-in, and his wife takes care of him and runs the store. One day last week I helped with the process of throwing out items ruined by the water and mud and gathering what could potentially be salvaged. Their daughter commented to me about how sad it was to see sixty years of her grandfather's and father's work in ruins. Her two boys are among the most faithful attendees of my English class, and that day I also picked them up from school and watched them for a while as the mud was being pumped out of the store's basement (the church balcony provided an optimal vantage point for this most-intriguing activity). Pray for the Magnabosco family!

The grandchildren of the above-mentioned family throw their colorful coats to the ground and re-enact the Triumphal Entry in English class!

A few Saturdays ago a group of young adults wanted to distribute flyers about our church around town, so we meandered through the annual chocolate festival proffering papers posing thought-provoking life questions and our congregation's contact info. Afterward we picked up kebabs and ate at my house, and then we talked and sang til midnight...had I been sitting in my window, I might've met the fate of Eutychus :)

My middle school English student (who once upon a time had inquired about Peter Pan's possible presence in my Bible storybook) read the Lord's Prayer several weeks ago and liked it so much that she wrote it all down in her notebook. The next week she told me that she had read it every night. This week she discovered that I will not be in Vicenza forever and immediately wanted to exchange skype names so we can talk when I'm in America!

Did y'all see the LSU-Alabama game?? Tigers unRoll Tide :)

Continuing with today's theme of random tidbits, I will close with two of my favorite pictures from October: