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!
"All that we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
10 days...
Enjoy the last few days! I hope the travel home goes smoothly!
ReplyDeleteBest to you for these last few days. It is hard to leave friends that you've spent so much time with so enjoy these last few days. Safe travels.
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