Farewell Tour Part Two: Back to the Beginning

Shortly after my excursion to Catania, I traveled to Scandicci/Florence to visit my friends, former English students, and fellow Avanti teammates. Scandicci is also the home of Harding's semester abroad program, which first introduced me to Italy four years ago, so it will always have a special place in my heart. I was in town for both the Thursday night Bible study and Sunday worship and enjoyed surprising the members who didn't know I was coming.

Saturday I went to Pistoia (a town half an hour or so from Florence) for lunch with a dear Italian-Filippino family, got to see the missionary family there as well, and attended their monthly ladies' Bible study!

some of my very favorite children (Pistoia)

My several days in Florence were sprinkled with many encouraging conversations. It's nice to see my former English students still involved at the Bible School with new teachers! One student (pictured below) thanked me for being her first teacher and told me how her participation in the Bible School has been beneficial not only for her language skills but more importantly for the human aspect: building friendships. She has recruited various family members to study there as well! My friend who owns a cooking school came to church Sunday because I invited her, as she had done the last time I was in town, and remarked at the example I've set for her in persevering through my illness and always having a smile on my face. I paid a visit to the former Bible School cook, now in her 80s, whom I had visited a few times when I lived in Scandicci but hadn't seen in a year and a half. She commented that just five or six days before she had been wondering what happened to that Avanti girl who had come to visit her with Frankie Mitchell. All this to say, I've learned so much and been blessed by the people here, and it's nice to know that I've made an impression in their lives as well!

Also, I partook in two wonderful meals with Rosa (the beloved Bible School cook) and the rest of the Avanti crew, participated in the Monday night ladies' Bible study hosted at the Bible School, and went on my last medieval Tuscan hill town excursion (to Volterra).

the girls in Volterra

A new semester of Harding students had just arrived, including two girls from Edmond who were in my same social club! I can't believe it's been four years since I was in their shoes, nor that since then I've spent almost exactly the same amount of time in Italy as in America.

Edmond/DGR reunion at the Florence church!

Since I've been back in town (in Vicenza), I've had the Thursday night Bible study attendees over for dinner before the study, and last night another friend came over for dinner! I redecorated the church bulletin board with pictures from the last year and also printed off lots of pictures to distribute to the church members. Lots more excitement is planned for the upcoming week, and my motto these days is a quote from the wise wizard Gandalf in The Fellowship of the Ring:

"All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."

10 days...

Farewell Tour Part One: Under the Sicilian Sun

This weekend I went down south to visit the congregation in Catania, where I worked during my first month in the Avanti Italia program. Though it had been nearly two years, it seemed like I had seen these friends just yesterday! The buildings and streets were all so familiar, including the intersections in which no direction has a stop sign, not to mention the wide streets and highways with no lane divisions: "Never go against a Sicilian when death is on the line!" Get ready for a lot of pictures in this post, for some of you know these people and I'm sure would like to see them!


The day before my trip, Etna, the volcano at the foot of which Catania lies, was erupting! The following photo was taken by a church member from his balcony. The flow of lava disappears from sight thanks to a most convenient valley that collects all the lava, protecting the inhabitants below.



I arrived in time for the Thursday night Bible study, which is attended by nearly all the church members. Seeing firsthand the changes in the past few years, since my first visit on a summer campaign in 2008, was a joy: engaged couples now married, babies growing into adorable little girls, and new babies welcomed into several families. The church has also had a relatively large (for Italy) number of baptisms recently: six in 2009 and five in 2010. A man who, interested in studying English and the Bible, had randomly stopped by the church building when I was there two years ago is now my brother in Christ! The most recent sister converted had been struggling with depression and visiting psychologists for years, to no avail, until she met the Great Psychologist, who transformed her life. The Catania church is so loving, active, enthusiastic, and evangelistic, and seeing God at work among them has been such a blessing!


I stayed with the very hospitable Spina family! Saturday morning, Giulia, the 8-year-old daughter, wanted me to go with her to see some horses...

...and on the way home we stopped by the (Ionian) sea! The sunshine and temperatures in the 60s were a nice change from the winter up north.

Stefano Spina, Catania's evangelist, celebrated his birthday Saturday, and so I joined in the festivities with all his kids and grandkids!

Stefano, Rina, and Giulia, my wonderful hosts

Massimo and Cinzia with Davide, the baby I did not even know had been conceived

Saturday afternoon I helped out with the weekly distribution downtown of flyers about the marvelous grace of God. That evening I went out to eat with half a dozen young people from Catania and Paterno (a town about half an hour away and, for all of you from FCCC, the home of the Giordano clan). I set a new record, breaking the previous one also set in Catania, for my latest ever dinner: a quarter past midnight! The "normal" dinner time in Sicily would be 9:30 or 10...or so.

Sicilian supper, technically on Sunday morning

Sunday at church I of course enjoyed seeing everyone again!

Giorgia, Elisa, and Viviana

the amazing Mililli family, who hosted me during my campaign

After church a large group of young adults went out to eat appetizers together.

almost half the appetizer group:

Giada, Nino, me, Sara, Giorgia, Claudia,

Miriam, Massimo, Luisa and the baby on the way

Then for lunch I went to the home of this young family...

Adele, Ester, and Orazio

...along with her sister's family and their mother. They are among the most hilarious people I know, so needless to say it was an enjoyable afternoon. That evening we all went to a gigantic mall, in the parking garage of which we ran into another girl from Paterno and her boyfriend from Rome, who had been supposed to meet up with our group the night before. I love surprises like that!

Somehow the trip gave me perspective on my two years and my life, not to sound vague or melodramatic. I'm so glad I was able to see my Sicilian friends again! Here's a parting shot from my trip home yesterday:

Catania and a much calmer Mt. Etna!

Until our next encounter, I'll echo the words from a framed cross-stitch in the Spina family home:

"May the Lord keep watch between you and me

when we are away from each other."

~Genesis 31:49

Epiphany!

Last Thursday, thanks to the Epiphany holiday commemorating the adoration of the magi, was Padova's annual convegno! Vito Ligorio from Latiano spoke about perseverance, and sessions were held in the morning and afternoon. I helped one of the Padova missionary ladies teach the children's class, in which we examined the topic of prayer! We sang, discussed, read, played, and... prayed.

with some of the ladies at the convegno

Saturday was one of my favorite English classes, even though only two boys showed up. Instead of translating the story into Italian for them (which I usually do to ensure comprehension), I taught them the vocab words and had them translate it piece by piece. They insisted I act out each word, and the translation turned into a very enthusiastic brotherly competition. Somehow we got way off topic, and they were asking me all about Jesus' second coming (our story was about Paul's shipwreck on Malta). They took to heart rather quickly the moral of the story: "When we have hard times, we can remember God's love and care. We can tell our friends, too!" My little students ran to open the window to the street below and shouted this message in Italian to all who could hear! Then they were so engrossed in the craft of constructing a boat that they didn't want to leave when their father came to pick them up. I'm going to miss these kids and all the hilarious and unpredictable moments that come with teaching them!

The other highlight of the week was on Monday when, at the end of a particularly successful afternoon of running errands, the lady at Mailboxes Etc. gave me a gigantic piece of bubble wrap (enough to cover at least one whole person) for free! Oh, the small joys in life!

Please keep me in your prayers for these last few weeks as I wrap everything up and bid my final farewells!

Castles in the Air...and on the Sea!

Happy New Year! I hope you all have enjoyed the holidays and that 2011 will be an incredibly blessed year for you! My mom came to visit me for a little over two weeks, and we ran around visiting the various castles, piazzas, museums, churches, and villas in Vicenza and nearby towns that I wanted to see before leaving the country. We took day trips to Milan, Padova, and Venice and a two-day Christmas trip to Trieste, on the Adriatic Sea a few kilometers away from Slovenia! Here are some of the highlights (except for the amazing art, such as da Vinci's Last Supper fresco in Milan, where photographs are of course forbidden):

Chocolate chip cookie kids tradition comes to English class!

Milan's Duomo...

...the roof of which we climbed on (in the snow)

Piazza dell'Unita d'Italia, the largest waterfront piazza in Italy (Trieste)

feet in the Adriatic

Castello Miramare, on the sea outside Trieste

Prato della Valle, the largest piazza in Italy (Padova)

Doge's Palace with St. Mark's domes in the background (Venice)

sunset from the belltower on the Island of San Giorgio (Venice)