Italia

Last Post from Italia

2008-04-18T17:16:00.003-04:00

Ciao Italia! I cannot believe my trip is already over. Well, almost over... Three days in London and then I'll be on my way back to America. Oh yeah... Mom, I'm going to London :) I just thought I'd let you know.

I'll post my final thoughts later when I'm in London. It's 11:17 and I have to leave in a few hours for the airport. I'd like to sleep :)

I hate goodbyes

2008-04-17T16:27:00.003-04:00

What do you mean I have to leave? I just got here!

Although some days seemed like they'd never end, the past few months have gone too fast. I'm leaving behind some friends that I may never see again in this life or the next. I hate goodbyes, but not saying them would be even worse.

I went over to Anna Maria and Alfredo's house and said goodbye. Then I met Vicky before class and we hung out a bit. Then I said goodbye to my teacher, Roberta. Then I had to tell Vicky goodbye. I'm not even gone yet, and I have to tell all these people goodbye. Lord willing, I'll come back in the future to visit.

It's been a bittersweet journey. I have so many reasons to stay and so many reasons to leave. *sigh*

Mi dispiace.

Nothing Compares

2008-04-15T16:25:00.002-04:00

Florence is pretty and all, but nothing compares to being able to talk to an unbeliever about Christ. Saturday and today were so much better than Monday. Before I left class tonight I gave my teacher a novella about the difference between Catholic churches and Baptist churches. She was thanking me and saying how it was nice. I pray she'll read it and have questions, but I pray even more that I'll be able to answer those questions! As usual, Vinny and I walked to my bus stop. I asked him if he read the "thing" (like he'd understand the word tract...) I gave him. He said a little bit and was about to explain when I said "eh piano, piano." Then he asked me "how do you get to heaven." Praise God! I explained to him slowly and with simple words. He is hung up on the fact that we are all sinners. Hinduism teaches that the sinners compose 70% of the population. The other 30% don't sin (according to Hinduism). He couldn't grasp the thought that one who believes in God is still a sinner. I am so happy, glad, thankful, ecstatic... that I got to talk to him about Christ again. Words can't explain this feeling. If that wasn't enough to make my day, Vinny asked me if he could email me religious questions after I go back to America. Mi piace! I am hoping to be able to meet with Vinny one more time before language class on Thursday. I'd love to be able to share the Gospel with him one more time before I go.

Ultima Dominica

2008-04-13T15:53:00.003-04:00

I couldn't help but feel somewhat saddened this morning knowing this way my last Sunday in Terni. I sat in the service torn between listening and praying for the unsaved people listening. I was given a handout like usual and knew the topic was salvation, so for most of the time I was just praying. To my right I could see Lorella listening, and my heart ached for her. To my left I could see Giovanna was bored as usual, and my heart ached even more. I've been here three months; I can't imagine how the Bloyds must feel.

Forget me not

2008-04-12T17:45:00.002-04:00

I will never forget today. My day started out going to Spoleto where I met the only Christian in that town. The Bloyds and I walked around the town, and then we ate in the restaurant of the Christian lady. After eating an amazing lunch, we went back to Terni. I was dropped off downtown. From there I walked to meet Vinny. We headed for the bus stop to go to the Waterfall. At first he wanted to go to a church. I asked why. He said to pray. I told him I wasn't Catholic (again), and he was like oh you just want to go to the waterfall? I said yes. So we went and hung out. He didn't eat lunch cuz he thought we'd eat together. He wouldn't eat by himself, so I ate a piece of pizza with him even though I was definitely not hungry. We started talking about God on the bus to the waterfall, and I tried to keep the conversation going through out the day. I was able to tell him the whole plan of salvation. I had him read a few verses, and I gave him a tract. He promised he'd read it. I pray he does. It's hard when Vinny doesn't speak fluent English or Italian and I don't speak Italian fluently... Vinny understands English when he reads it (for the most part).

I want to bring Vinny back to America with me to teach the guys how to act. I asked Vinny to do something with me, but he still bought me pizza, water, coffee, a bus ticket, and a necklace. He walked on the outside of the street, and he let me go first. Can we say chivalrous?

I would have loved to hang out with Vinny longer, but I had to go to dinner at the Bloyds' friends' house where I once again ate a ton. I've eaten so much today! I should fast for the next week, not just because I ate too much but for Vinny. He promised to email me, and I promised to email him. Praise God for open windows! I'll take what I can get.

I gotta "date"

2008-04-10T15:42:00.004-04:00

Well, Vinny emailed me, but he never asked his question. He did however say that he'd talk to me at school about lunch. (I invited him to church and to a fellowship after church. I taught him the word "fellowship" too!) Well, I was walking downtown towards my school, and I saw him talking with some friends, so I went over and said hi. Then we both started walking to school, and we started talking about Sunday. He works nights, so he doesn't want to do anything Sunday, but he does want to do something Saturday when he's not working. I pray everything works out.

Nothing much as really happened lately. I've taken two midterms, and I got A's on both of them. I have another midterm for History tomorrow. Oh yeah, I went to Rome on Monday, and I had a blast. I went inside St. Peter's, checked out the Coliseum at dusk (I wanted to go at night but the train left before it got totally dark. Blasted daylight savings lol), and I went shopping :) I didn't buy anything until 5 minutes before I headed back to the Train Terminal. Those street peddlers really know how to sell their stuff. I did talk him down however. It reminded me of China :'( I miss China, especially the Sweet'n'sour chicken.

St. Peter's was incredibly depressing, so many people praying to the dead...

Ho Capito Adesso!

2008-04-08T16:47:00.003-04:00

Now I understand! Tonight I got to talk to Vinny. I found out in India "Vicky" is a nickname for "Vinod." Hence why Vinny told me his name was Vicky. I told him in America Vicky is a girl's name, which is why I call him Vinny. Anyways, Vinny gave me a gift! How sweet is he? I had an tract in English to give to him, but my purse is a bottomless pit. He asked what I was looking for so I told him. I started to tell him more, but he asked me if I crossed myself when I pray like the Catholics do. I said no. He also asked me to sing him another song, but I told him I sang in church on Sunday, so he forgot about me singing. He said he had another question for me, but he didn't know how to say it. Then the blasted bus came. Before I got on I told him to email me the question. I pray he does, and I pray it's a good question! One that leads into conversations about God and salvation. I'm so glad Vinny asked for my email; now if he'd only write me.

God knows that if the only reason I was in Italy this semester was so an Indian man could hear about the Gospel... it was worth it all. The "suffering" isn't even worthy of being called "suffering."

Dominica

2008-04-06T16:55:00.003-04:00

We had six visitors in church today, and of course it would be the Sunday I sing. Hey, if that's what it takes I'm all for it. Only Lorella came just because I was singing. The other visitors were Brazilians. The missionary lady, her husband, and their two kids brought a friend. Praise God for answers to prayer! On Monday night of last week Delta Force prayed for the ministry here. Thanks for all your prayers!

I can't believe I only have 13 more days :/ So much to do in so little time. I was going to go to Florence tomorrow, but I'm going to wait till next Monday because today was really busy. We had a soccer game. Americans vs. Italians. The Americans won :) and we were down a man too!

Grosseto

2008-04-04T03:14:00.003-04:00

Whenever I get back from traveling, I'm always asked "So what was your favorite thing about it?" I was wondering what I was going to say. On Monday I took the train to Grosseto and spent Monday evening and all day Tuesday with missionaries Frank and Jenny Maietta and their three kids Frankie, Nonna (it's a nickname), and KT. I had a blast. They took me to the beach and to a nearby castle on Monday.

Before I continue writing about what we did I must write about the Maietta family some more to help clarify some things. Frank is Italian; his parents immigrated and then hooked up with each other in America. When Frank was 11 they moved back to Italy. Frank went back to America for high school, and then he joined the Marines. After that he went to Ambassador and met Jenny. They've been in Italy for one year and four months. Frank's mom lives in Grosseto, and rents one of the apartments above her house to Frank and Jenny. Frank's mom, Rita, has been an amazing witness. Most of the people that go to their church go because of Rita's witnessing.

On Tuesday Jenny and I rode bikes to centro. She took me around the town and bought me coffee, but this was not just ordinary coffee. It was called "Rosa." First they put chocolate syrup in the glass like Arby's puts the syrup for their Orange shakes. Then they filled the glass with pink whipped cream. Then they poured the coffee in the glass and sprinkled cocoa on top. It was SO good! After that we went back to the Maietta's house. Rita fixed lunch, and boy was it good! We had calamari, which I liked a lot. From 3-6pm I went with Jenny to her language class. Her class is definitely better than mine! Hers is more organized.

I was helping Jenny get supper ready, and Frank started joking around about leaving me with the kids while they went on a date. I told them to go; I didn't mind babysitting. Instead Frank said Jenny and I should go out for pizza, so after dinner was all ready for them we went for pizza. I got a Calzione, which was amazingly good. Jenny and I got to talk a bunch. It was SO nice being able to talk to someone near my age.

I love their family. I hated leaving. They offered to let me stay for the rest of my time in Italy. I was tempted, but I'm pretty sure the Bloyds would have been offended.

Jenny asked me if there was only one place I could take my parents where would it be. I have to change my answer to be Grosseto. She also asked who the one person I'd want to introduce to my parents would be. I'd have to change me answer to be Rita. I would love to tell Rita's story, but it's not mine to tell.

Anyways, Grosseto and the Maiettas were an incredible blessing. I'm so thankful God allowed me to go.

The rest of this week has been interesting. I've been trying to get caught up with homework. I did get to study Roman history in Rome, which was really cool. I saw a picture of the Coliseum, and I could say "hey, that's right down the road." I got to talk to Vinny after language class last night. He asked where I was, so I told him I was visiting missionary friends. He said he kept looking at the door whenever someone came in hoping it was me. Then he added "don't think bad. think positive." lol He's so funny. Pray I can get a chance to talk to him before I leave! I only have 4 more classes before I leave.

Women teaching Men

2008-03-30T17:33:00.002-04:00

Today started like every other Sunday. Got up, got ready, ate breakfast, went to church, people came, greeted each other, service started, people came late...

Around a quarter till 12 something new happened. A lady with her two little boys walked in and sat down. (We also changed our clocks for daylight savings time last night, which explains why she was late)

After the service was over we started talking, come to find out she is a Brazilian Southern Baptist missionary to Spain. She doesn't speak Italian, but she does speak Portuguese, Spanish, and some English. Alessandra (Tamara's mom) speaks Spanish so the Brazilian lady and Alessandra were able to talk a bunch. After talking to her, we found out she'll be here for a month because she is getting her Italian documents. Her grandfather is Italian, so it's easier for her to get Italian documents instead of Spanish ones. (Once you can live in one EU country, you can basically live anywhere in the EU) Anyways, she said she's been to seminary. Her husband didn't feel called to be a missionary, but he still moved to Spain with her. He works a secular job and helps her with the music. He plays the guitar, and then she preaches. She was careful to call it a group not a church. Thus the discussion of should a woman teach a man? Is witnessing considered teaching?

We always seem to be lacking a few good men. In Fundie circles we are always so careful to make sure women are teaching women and children, but what about witnessing? I guess it would depend on your definition of teaching.

Comments? Thoughts? Questions? Answers?

Prayer Requests

2008-03-27T07:51:00.002-04:00

Prayer Requests

Salvation for

Lorella
Giovanna
Gustavo

The Church

Spiritual Growth
Unity
More members

The Bloyds

Leaving for the States in May
Paul will be staying/going to MBBC in the fall

Tamara

Rough home life
Wants to come to the States for two weeks in May
Needs encouragement to do whats right

Lastly, pray that God will continue to give me patience and opportunities to witness. Pray that my language skills will continue to improve, and pray that my online classes won't hinder me from serving. Pray that I can be a blessing to those around me. Pray that God continues to teach me through life experiences, what I read in the Bible, and what I hear in church. Also, pray that I can find another job for this summer. Praise God He has given me one good job at Shepherd's. Another job would be much appreciated to help pay those school bills!

Thanks for your prayers

Autostrada

2008-03-24T10:01:00.003-04:00

So many things have happened lately. I'm not sure where to begin. I can now say that I've driven a stick shift in Italy on the highway too. Second day of driving a stick shift (the first day was about a month ago!) and what does Mr B do? He takes me on the "interstate." Technically it's called the autostrada.

Praise God there weren't many crazy drivers out (besides me that is).

Mr B took me driving before teaching English. I went with him, and Mama Mia were the kids bad!

Oh, oh, oh, on Tuesday night I got to talk to my Indian friend. I actually figured out what his name was. When I first met him he wrote "Vicky" on a piece of paper. (I still have that piece of paper) His name is Vinod. He made me sing him another song. I was like "perche?" He kept asking, and he said sing about your amore or whatever you like or about the God. So when he said that he convinced me. The first song that popped in my head was "How Great Thou Art." Thanks to Kathy I actually know the song pretty well. Afterwards he was like are you a singer? I said only in church. Then he mention that he went to church. I was a bit confused because I knew he was Hindu. I was like where? He couldn't really tell me. I said something along the lines of Hinduism not having churches. He said they are called temples. Then he was saying what religions labeled their places of worship temple.

As soon as I started asking him questions about what he believed the bus came. I figure if I ask him about his religion he'll be polite and listen to me. Before I left he asked for my email address. He kept asking "do you mind?" I kept saying no I don't mind. Something must of gotten lost in translation :) like always. I borrowed his pen and wrote down my email addy. He gave me his as well, so Lord willing I will be able to keep in contact with him.

Last but not least, last night at Giampaolo's house Mr B told them I have a blog. Giampaolo asked what I wrote about. I said "Italia," and that I wrote about him, his wife, the Bloyds, etc. He asked if I wrote about his cat Rollone (no it's not Roll One). I said no, and Giampaolo said that I had to write about his cat.

Wow, I almost forgot. Yesterday Lorella was supposed to help me with an Italian song for church. Her son said she was at the doctor's office when I went over, so I just went over to the church and practiced there. Well right before church started Lorella walked inside. She apologized, and I told her in English (she doesn't speak English) that she had to stay for the service. Well, Mrs B asked if I knew how to say that in Italian and I said no. Paul was like (read with a snide voice) "yeah you can." So I said it differently than I originally said it, but she got the picture. She stayed too :) She had to leave early so she could go home and make supper for her husband, but before she left she asked Mr B to finish on Friday and have a Bible study.

I am supposed to sing on Sunday. Pray that Lorella and her family will come. I think she'll come if she knows I'm singing.

Buana Pasqua

2008-03-23T15:51:00.002-04:00

Buana Pasqua! Today we had the Childer family, another missionary family who lives about an hour away, come over for lunch. Church was good this morning, but I have to confess. I haven't felt great all day and listening and translating was difficult today.

My first week of online classes went well. I did spend all day yesterday studying though. I don't like doing that, but we didn't have anything else going on, and it was raining too. It made for a good studying day though.

Friday we were gone all day. We went to the Maitta's house in Grossetto. Friday was such a blessing! Story time :) Mr. Maitta's sister's son, Kevin (ie nephew) lives with his father in Grossetto. Kevin lived in the States for a good while, so he knows English very well. Well, I didn't realize this until after he left. I would have talked to him more. He talked in a mixture of English and Italian, so I was confused. lol. Anyways, he was telling people goodbye, and he came over to me and kissed me on the cheek. I didn't think anything of it because that's normal. He didn't kiss anyone else goodbye, just me. lol I was flattered.

Later Friday evening we stopped by the beach before heading back to Terni. It was dark out so I couldn't see much, but I did see the lights from Elba! Mrs Maitta was telling how she and her husband went to Elba for their wedding anniversary last summer. Before we left for Terni, Mr Maitta invited me back up, which I'm excited about! I'm hoping to go on Friday :)

Buana Pasqua! Praise God for sending His Son. Why He loves me I'll never know... but I am so thankful He does! This week especially I've been reading verses on praise, hallelujah, alleluiah, blessed, etc. God has definitely been teaching me to find my joy in Him even when circumstances around me make me want to be in a bad mood. He's done so much for me. There's no need for being down!

Lorella

2008-03-18T18:58:00.002-04:00

Today I went over to Lorella's house so she could help me with a song. We only had 50 minutes or so, but we were able to get through the pronunciation of all the words. We're going to work on it some more tomorrow. I think that's what she said anyway :) Tonight (around 9pm) we went over to her house for a Bible study. Actually, we just got back about 10 minutes ago. (It's midnight here.) The Bible study went really well. We read/discussed/answered questions about John 14 & 15. Please pray for Lorella! She knows she is a sinner, but it's like she thinks she isn't bad enough to need help.

The song I'm learning is: No, Non V'E Altri che un Salvatore. I know the tune, but I just can't think of the words in English! I'm not surprised though. When it comes to lyrics, I always get them wrong. Anyways, pray I can learn the song quickly. I want to have a good pronunciation while singing the song. Lorella said I read Italian well. She was saying something about her sister, but I'm not quite sure what. I think she said she was going to tell her sister (who lives on the floor below us) that I read in Italian well.

One more thing... I believe it was yesterday... Yes, it was yesterday. I read all the verses in the Bible that say "Hallelujah," and it was a huge encouragement. Praising God when things aren't going my way is the quickest way to correct my focus.

Buano Notte :) Preghi per Lorella per favore!

Translation: Good night :) Pray for Lorella please!

A few prayer requests

2008-03-16T14:56:00.002-04:00

This week has been interesting to say the least. On Thursday I went to language class as usual, and I learned "me piacerebbe." It means "I would like." On Friday we passed out tracts and had a Bible study later in the day. On Saturday we went to Durata where other missionaries live. We ate lunch and played games. Paul and I took the two kids to the park. The little boy picked flowers for me. They are two of the cutest kids I've ever seen!

Today we had church (of course). Tamara came over for lunch. Her boyfriend texted her and said "ciao." I.e. He broke up with her via a text message. I felt so bad for her! I think it's for the best though. The guy didn't sound all that great, and if he can't even call her (let alone tell her to her face) and break up with her...

Tamara's mom invited me to go with them to the mountains. It wasn't the greatest day for it, but I still had fun. Tamara wasn't into it, but I can relate. We bumped a volleyball around for awhile, snacked a bit, and then headed back because it was too cold.

I played Phase 10 with Mr and Mrs B, and now I sit here.

I start classes tomorrow. I've already started reading for Accounting. I'm going to have to tell myself I like Accounting. Oh well, it's only 8 weeks, which is a whole lot better than a semester! Granted it is paced faster, but if I can work 28 hours while taking 19 credits, I will be fine with 12 credits, not working, and traveling as much as possible.

Anyways, please pray for Tamara. Pray for her family as well. I don't know if I've mentioned it on here or not, but her family life is dysfunctional. Pray for the family of the Peruvian who got saved recently. Their youngest son is sick, and the rest of the family will probably get the flu as well. Pray for their spiritual growth as well. Giovanna (Her husband Giampaolo is saved; she isn't. We go to there house on Wednesday nights for supper.) asked for prayer for her mom who is having surgery on her back. Since I've been here I have not heard Giovanna ask for prayer for anything. I am hoping this is a good sign.

Thanks for your prayers

OneNote

2008-03-13T18:15:00.002-04:00

I don't know why, but I never discovered the usefulness of OneNote until today. I'm pretty much loving it. I am working on making Italian vocab lists for myself. I wish I would have used OneNote for my vocabulary lists for China (hint hint). Pretty much amazing. I am uploading more pictures at this very moment, so they should be ready for your viewing pleasure very soon.

Paris

2008-03-12T11:33:00.002-04:00

Ah, where to begin? I guess the beginning would be a good place, but I'm not sure where that is...

Sunday morning was a blessing. The mayor (or whoever he is) declared Sunday a no driving day (supposedly it helps the environment. yeah riiiiiight) so I wasn't expecting one of the couples to come. I was told they wouldn't take the bus, but Sunday morning rolled around, and they came!

Around 3:30pm I started my journey to Paris. I had to ride a bus to the station because it was a no driving day, but that wasn't a problem. Thankfully, the buses were almost on time :) I took a train to Rome where I then took a night train to Paris. My cabin-mates were pretty good on the trip up. One of them did lose his glasses and was looking for them around 6am, but I'd be freaking out too if I were him.

The first thing I did when I got to Paris was find my hotel. Unfortunately, a bus driver told me the wrong stop to get off, so it took me awhile to find the hotel. BUT I did find H&M and Carrefour :) So that was cool. I bought a hat at H&M because it was rainy and windy, and the umbrella just wasn't doing anything. Well, it did invert itself on several occasions. I was tempted to buy another pair of shoes, but I couldn't find ones I liked that were cheap. My pumas are running shoes... and they have breathable material so that your feet don't get hot when running, which isn't so great when it's raining.

Once I found my hotel room I was happy :) It was a decent room. No 5 stars, but for the price it might as well have been.

After freshening up a bit, I set out to explore the town. I'm not sure what all I saw, but I do know that I saw the outside of the Louvre (I didn't realize it was the Louvre at first tho. I was expecting to see the Pyramides and didn't realize the mammoth building the size of a city block or two was the Louvre until I looked at my map.), the Eiffel Tower (obviously, how could you go to Paris and not see it?), the Hotel de Ville (ok my blondeness is going to show. I didn't realize it wasn't a hotel until the train ride home.), Arc de Triumphe, the outside of the Opera, Sacre Couer, the Bastille... and a lot of other things I don't know the names of. Seriously, I walked a ton and rode the bus a ton too.

I would hop on a bus and just ride it when I was cold (from the rain and wind). Usually, I didn't know exactly where I was. I knew where I wanted to go, and I was totally fine with that. So yes, I did get "lost," but you find the coolest things when you just go with the flow.

I saw this random green statue above the rooftops, so I tried to go see it. I got distracted by other shiny monuments and forgot about it. I was riding a bus in the direction of the statue, but then the bus went through a piazza with some sweet monuments... I got off and took some pictures, and by the time I was done taking pictures, I had already forgotten about the random statue.

Oh, oh, oh, I almost forgot! I was walking toward the Eiffel Tower, and some guy was speaking in French behind me. It sounded like he was trying to get my attention, but I didn't turn around until he started speaking English. I turned around, and he started jibbering away in French. I told him I speak English, so he started speaking English asking what I was doing, where I was going, how long I was going to be in Paris, etc. After asking all those questions, he was like "oh why don't we walk up to the Eiffel Tower and talk some more... get to know each other." I was like "uh, my boyfriend wouldn't like that very much." He randomly got tired and wanted to sit on a park bench. Seriously, he told me that he was tired and was going to sit on this park bench. I kept walking, and I didn't turn around. I took another metro back to my hotel than the one I had planned on, but I did find where Lady Liberty's sister is because of that.

Anyways, I found my way back to my hotel with the help of a nice Parisian gentleman. I stopped by Pizza Hut before going back to my hotel. Great way to grab food and avoid being followed. I doubt he would be the type because he was like 72 and had groceries with him, but one can never be too careful. I hadn't eaten anything but cashews all day, so I was starving.

I kinda forgot to eat lunch. I don't know how, but I guess I was just distracted or something. I don't know why ;) So I ordered a small pizza for an outrageous price. I didn't really care b/c I was starving and didn't feel like searching for something cheaper. They randomly gave me a 2nd pizza for free. They didn't speak much English, but they said because I was buying an expensive pizza I should have another one. I couldn't say no. So I got a Cheese pizza and a Hawaiian pizza. I ate almost all of the cheese pizza, and half of the Hawaiian. Yeah, I know what you're thinking. "HEIFER!" lol I really don't care! It was my birthday, and I was hungry.

I was going to start out the next day around 8am. Wake up at 7am, get my stuff together, blah blah blah. Like that would happen! Ok so maybe it would have happened if I didn't wake up with a headache. I slept in, got ready for the day, and I think I made it out of my hotel room by 9:30, but I'm not sure. I headed over to the Louvre all excited to see it. The Louvre is closed every Tuesday. Guess what day it was? You got it. Tuesday. So I took some pictures of the outside of the Louvre and the pyramides. Then I headed towards... I'm not sure what lol! I ended up going inside of the Opera house. SO gorgeous! "It's so pretty" was constantly going through my head. Actually I said it a lot too. I also found Notre Dame and went inside. I didn't go up to the bell towers b/c they charge you money. It was smaller than I expected. I'm blaming Walt Disney. I never saw the movie, but the previews for The Hunchback of Notre Dame always made the church look huge. And no, I did not see the Hunchback.

I stumbled upon Moulin Rouge and took a few pics of the outside. Once again they had an admission fee. I saw a restaurant named "Indiana." I was going to eat there, but it was so expensive! I looked around for a cheap French place, but I couldn't find anything less than 10 euro, which would be $15. Ridiculous, I know! I ended up eating at Mcdonald's. If anyone has a problem with that, they can give me money to go back and eat at a real French restaurant.

I went and found Lady Liberty's sister, which was cool. It's kind of ironic though. I've never seen the Statue of Liberty in NYC, but I've seen her sister in Paris. I'm wanting to say there was something else that I've seen abroad but not in America, but I can't remember what. If it comes to me I'll let ya know.

I wanted to take pictures of Lady Liberty's sister from a nearby bridge. (Ok, when I say nearby, it was like a mile away) I took a bus as close as possible, and then walked to the bridge. It was an absolutely gorgeous view of Paris. A older man, who was walking his dog, asked if I wanted him to take my picture. I said yes, and he had me hold his dog's leash while he took my picture. So when I get my pictures online, that's why I'm hold a leash :)

After that, I headed towards the train station. My cabin-mates were interesting. (Using the word as Mr Trainer uses it.) One guy was 26 from South Korea and very talkative. For not know how to speak English, he sure did speak a lot of English. (He claimed he couldn't speak English.) I think he just meant he couldn't speak fluently. The other man was from Bangladesh. He is working in Greece until 2020. He has a wife and a two month old kid. Yes, I do know their life stories because they told me. lol. They were nice, but I didn't want to talk that much. Sleeping sounded better! The train was two hours late, so we got to talk even more! I was so excited... ok not really. They spoke English, but I don't think they comprehended English very well.

Just to give you an idea of how they were... the guy from Bangladesh told me that after I get married I should go to Greece on my honeymoon. That's not the weird/funny part. The weird/funny part is... he told me my husband and I could stay at his house. They told me numerous times that I'm so lucky b/c I'm young. I'm almost quoting them when I say, "You get married, you make child, you travel to Europe, oh you be so happy."

Praise God!

2008-03-08T15:05:00.005-05:00

Yesterday morning a Peruvian man who goes to the Bloyds' church called and wanted to stop by for a visit that morning. We were going to be busy going to the Questura, the train station, and some other things. Well, later that night the Peruvian man called and asked if he could come over, and Mr Bloyd said we were eating earlier than usual but he could feel free to come on over. So the Peruvian man came over with his son. The son ate some french fries with us, and then Mr Bloyd and the Peruvians went into the living room to talk. Mrs Bloyd, Paul, and I were still in the kitchen talking. We could hear things escalating a bit, so I just shot up a quick prayer for everything to turn out alright. It turns out the Peruvians wanted to get baptized, so Mr Bloyd talked with them to see if they were saved. In the end, the two Peruvians ended up praying and accepting Christ as their Savior! Praise God :)

Je vais à Paris!

2008-03-07T06:17:00.003-05:00

I'm going to Paris for my birthday!!!!! I'll be there for two days! I'm taking night trains there and back.

Originally, I wondered if going somewhere by myself on my birthday would be fun, but I've had fun by myself going to some towns in Italy... I think I'll have a blast. Honestly, the bad parts of my last birthday were caused by other people in my group. Going by myself eliminates those problems :)

Last night on the bus back to the Bloyds' house I heard a girl trying to sing "How You Remind Me" by Nickelback. Her friend was looking in his electronic dictionary trying to figure out what the song was saying. It made me realize that an electronic dictionary would be a very good investment, especially since I want to travel the world. So if anyone wants to buy me a birthday present... I'd recommend buying an electronic dictionary that has multiple language capabilities.

The more I plan my trip to Paris, the more it seems like a dream. It doesn't seem real. The only glitch is the weather forecast includes rain and wind. Pray it doesn't rain! I'm praying for two good days in Paris. Thankfully, my God controls the weather!

"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."
Matthew 7:7 ESV

I went to the hospital...

2008-03-04T06:57:00.004-05:00

Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous. It feels like Spring :) Yesterday, I took the scooter to San Gemini and put tracts in the mail boxes. And after lunch, I went with the Bloyds to the hospital to visit a lady from their church. Going to a foreign hospital was really interesting. Their ideas of what is sanitary... not very sanitary. There was an anorexic man smoking inside the hospital, which would never happen in America.

We had McDonald's for supper, and we were talking about the rules a girl who lives downstairs will have while she studies abroad in America. Mrs Bloyd was like "She's not allowed to smoke, and she's not allowed to smoke Marijuana..." They were conversing about it, and I was like "Uh, well of course she can't; it's illegal." Mr. Bloyd said, "It is?" It made me laugh :)

I have more pictures online. The address is:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ciaobella7310/ItalyPart2

What if His People Prayed

2008-03-02T16:28:00.002-05:00

What if the armies of the Lord
Picked up and dusted off their swords
Vowed to set the captives free
And not let Satan have one more

What if the church, for heaven's sake
Finally stepped up to the plate
Took a stand on God's promise
And stormed hell's rusty gates

Chorus:
What if His people prayed
And those who bear His name
Would humbly seek His face
And turn from their own way

And what would happen if we prayed
For those raised up to lead the way
Then maybe kids in school could pray
And unborn children see light of day

What if the life that we pursue
Came from a hunger for the truth
What if the family turned to Jesus
Stopped asking Oprah what to do

Chorus.

He said that they would hear
His promise has been made
He'll answer loud and clear
If only we would pray

If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray
If My people called by My name
If they'll humble themselves and pray

chorus

What if His people prayed

~Casting Crowns

Blurb

2008-03-02T16:18:00.002-05:00

I feel like just posting song lyrics tonight, but I suppose since I haven't updated in awhile I should do more than that.

Today, Mr and Mrs Bloyd, Tamara, and I went to Todi, a small town about 30 minutes away. The weather was absolutely gorgeous. 60 degrees with sunshine. I'm not sure if it could get any better :)

Language class went well on Tuesday and Thursday. My Hindu friend never did tell me where the other language class was, so I don't know if I'll ever go. On Friday I went to Narni and walked around for about 3 hours. I took 125 pictures... Craziness I know. On Saturday, I passed out tracts, went shopping, and oh oh oh! How could I forget??? We had company, and they are learning English so they would talk in English, and I tried out my Italian.

I have no ambition to write tonight... maybe if more people left comments ;)

Milan

2008-02-26T06:49:00.003-05:00

In the past five days I've been to Milan, Lodi, Torino, Pisa, and Siena, Italy. I've also been to Lugano, Switzerland. All in all, the trip was great. Picking a favorite place is just not possible, so I'm not going to try. I got to go shopping in Milan, and I was ecstatic to find H&M :) I was on the roof of the Duomo looking around and saw H&M. I knew they had one in Rome, but I didn't know they had one in Milan. I found out later there are 2 in Milan. The one I went to had 4 floors! In Lugano, we walked around Lake Como and stopped at a bar for coffee. They gave us <3chocolate<3 with our coffee too :) In Torino, we walked around the town and visited the Egyptian Museum, which is the largest or 2nd largest Egyptian museum outside Cairo. In Pisa, we looked at the Leaning Tower of course. We didn't go up because it costs too much. In Siena, we walked around the town and saw the major tourist spots. The people there gave us horrible directions, so we ended up walking around the town more than expected. I wasn't upset because we got to see more of Siena that way. On Sunday night we were still in Milan, and Mr B, Paul, Adriano (a friend of the Bloyds who let Mrs B and I stay at his house), and I went to a soccer game. Incredible experience. I'm going to play with the video footage and then I'll post it.

On Sunday morning we went to Adriano and Suzana's church (Suzana is his wife). Being in a room full of Christians singing praises to God... I love it, and it's even better when I'm in another country. I knew the English words to some of the songs they sang, which made the whole experience even better.

These boots are made for walking

2008-02-19T13:48:00.003-05:00

These boots are made for walking... Yesterday I walked about 4.5 miles in less than 2 hours, and yes, I walked in high heeled boots. Why? Because my jeans are too long and when I wear tennis shoes I walk on my jeans.

Tonight I had my language class, and I got to talk to my Hindu friend again. I found out he works in a bakery where they make bread. He said it's 5 km outside Terni. If I ever figure out where it is maybe I'll walk over lol jk. I'll take the scooter :)

Tonight or tomorrow morning I need to pack for Milan. Hopefully, I'll have an internet connection.

Io molto stanco, ma io non capisco perque. Io non lavoro o non estudio. Per que stanco???

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good

2008-02-17T16:33:00.003-05:00

I could have sworn I updated my blog since Thursday, but I guess I didn't because not much happened. On Friday I went with Mr and Mrs Bloyd to Alessandra and Tamara's house where we did a Bible study. I'm really glad I went because some of the things discussed have prompted me to study the subject for myself. This school year I have been proving all things, so I may hold fast that which is good. I remember being told by various pastors not to take what they say and just believe it. Doctrinal and theological issues are compelling me to delve into the Word, and it's incredible. I guess I'm experiencing it more this semester because I'm across the Atlantic, but then I'm reminded it didn't just start this semester. It started last semester. As a kid I was always told not to question authority, but in reality God tells us in 1 John 4:1 to question the accuracy of the speaker. Lately it seems like many people are telling me "Thus saith the Lord," but my Bible doesn't say God said that. I even used the KJV to study the matters out, so I can't be wrong. Just kidding! About the KJV being infallible that is.

Today Gustavo was supposed to come over, but he got sick or something during the service. Tamara came over instead, and I'm really glad she did! We all played Aggravation, and then she and I hung out for a bit.

Random thought: I think it's easier to eat noodles with chopsticks than with a fork, or maybe it's just being able to shove them in your mouth w/o worrying about not being messy...

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T11:54:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday night I went to language class as usual. I had so much fun! We were laughing and having a good time. After class one of the guys asked if I wanted to check out another language school. He couldn't tell me anything about it... which was weird. Vicky asked me if I wanted to go too. He said the class was from 4-7pm on Friday. He asked where I lived, and I told him the street. He didn't know where the street was, so I gave him a tract that had the name of the church with a phone number. (I already had it in my pocket because I was going to give it to him anyway... smooth, very smooth.) I told him I lived near the church. He was going to give it back, but I told him he could keep it. He asked if I had others, and I said yes. Pray he'll read it!!! It's in Italian so I'm hoping he'll be curious to learn what all the words mean.

On Wednesday I went grocery shopping with Mrs Bloyd, and in the afternoon Paul and I took the scooters downtown. I bought a small Italian-English dictionary, and he checked to see if someone could fix his soccer bag. Some kids (when I say kids I mean teens) were sitting on our scooters... so annoying, but it was fun telling them to move. Oh yeah... after we got back from shopping, I found a bouquet of red and pink roses on my bed with a card attached :) Peter asked Mr Bloyd to get them for me :) Giovanna gave me a sweater when we were over at her house for dinner. Early that afternoon, Mrs. Bloyd gave me a black skirt that was too small for her. So basically, I got a new outfit!

Today is a holiday in Terni because St Valentine is the patron saint of the city. They have a flea market every year, so Mr & Mrs Bloyd and I went down to it and passed out tracts while looking around. By noon there were a ton of people there! I saw this procession of a bunch of priests and it looked like there were some Jews added in the mix. Weird, I know. I'll try to attach the video I got of it. Mrs. Bloyd and I visited an older couple from church this afternoon. They are so sweet. We stayed about an hour just talking about random stuff like the war (I think they meant WWII...), the election in the States, David, and some other stuff that I might get killed for if I mention it... :D It's dark outside now... I guess I should close my blinds.

I'm not sure what I'm doing tonight. I'm checking on hotels for da boys to stay in while we're in Milan next week. Oh yeah, I'm going to Milan next week! It's going to be amazing! Hopefully I'll be able to stay connected to the cyberworld, but I can't promise anything. I'll make sure my journal entries for those days will be able to be copied and pasted...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Roma

2008-02-12T07:25:00.000-05:00

Monday 2.11.2008

Today I walked around Rome. Paul and I walked at least 10 miles! Needless to say, my legs hurt! We started out walking towards the Church of the Bones, but google was definitely wrong when they told me where it was. I saw an Information booth and asked directions. They gave me a sweet map too. I took a turn too early and then from there on I let Paul navigate. We went to the Capuchin Church (Church of the Bones), and they said no pics or video. Of course I tried to get pics anyway, but I forgot that when my camera is on the museum setting I have to be still… so next time (if there is a next time b/c it was really small. If you go to their website, I think you can see all the exhibits anyway!) I’ll have to stop and ponder the exhibits lol.

After that we went and saw the Quirinale, which is where the President lives. I think it was after we left the Quirinale that we heard an accident… We turned around and it turned out some chick ran into the back of a police car. It was rather hilarious. There were at least 5 other police officers around too because we were so close to the Quirinale. Sad thing is. There was a lot of traffic so they were all going really slow… Paul and I were like how could anyone do that???

Then we continued on our journey and walked up Via Sistina toward the Spanish Steps. Unfortunately, they were working on the Oblisk that is in front of the church. Actually, I think they were working on the church too… after that we walked some more… we ended up crossing the river and heading towards the Castle of S Angelo. We just looked at it from the outside… I didn’t feel like spending money on something I was pretty sure I’d be bored with after 30 mins or less.

St Peter’s Basilica was our next stop. We sat and ate our sandwiches we brought with us before we headed into the plaza. The Basilica was closed until 4, so we just took pics of the outside. I think it was around the time we were at St. Peter’s when my battery started saying it was low… I had to conserve my battery power for the rest of the day, so I didn’t take as many pics as I wanted (I took 177 pics in total). There was this guy in the plaza of St Peter’s who was wearing a white robe… I took his picture… :) and later Paul said buongiorno and I said ciao. He responded to me… Paul was like he said ciao to you but he didn’t say anything when I said buongiorno lol.

After that we head back across the river towards the Piazza Navona where these guys were making bracelets. They would tie one end of the string to a tourist’s finger and then make the bracelet and say it was a gift. They’d then demand an offering after. We weren’t stupid enough to let them, but we watched other ppl who were. My battery finally died :( and I changed it. The other battery I had was half dead already, so I still had to conserve battery power. We then headed to the Pantheon. There were a ton of people there. Since Paul and I had both already been inside we just walked by it. I didn’t even take a picture because I already have so many… After that we walked across the bridge again, walked along the river for a bit near Isola Tiberina, and then walked back across on another bridge. From there we walked Circus Maximus… We walked towards the Coliseum from the backside. We checked out a couple arches… One was for Titus and the other was for Augustus. After Paul took a couple pics of me in front of the Coliseum we headed towards the Monument for Vittorio Emanuele II. They were working on it so I didn’t bother with a picture. I already have so many.

After that we chilled by a fountain. We then started looking for a bar and ended up by the “area sacra argentina” for the 2^nd time that day. Last Friday, I told Mr Bloyd that he could tell a guy from BJU (he is staying with other missionaries in Aprilia) that he could meet up with us if he wanted to, so we ended up meeting him by the Monument for Emanuele. Then we decided to go to St Peter’s and see if we could get in the church before it closed. It was around 5 and the church closed at 6. We hopped on a bus, and it wasn’t the one that went directly there… Paul even asked which bus went to St Peters… oh well… We ended up riding the bus for a good while, and a nice lady sitting by John (the BJU guy) said we should get off at Cornella because there is a metro stop there, so we did. We rode the metro back to the station. John went back to Aprilia and we went back to Terni after buying some Pringles and Pocket Coffee (Holy Cow… Pocket Coffee is SO amazing. It has chocolate on the outside and it has a liquid center that is coffee flavored… I think I’m addicted!). When we finally got back to Paul’s house around 8, we ate dinner and told his parents of the days events. After dinner, I calculated how far we walked… 10.39 miles which is 16.72 km. I’m sure I forgot some detours we took, so we probably walked more than that!

Sunday

2008-02-12T07:11:00.000-05:00

Sunday 2.10.2008

Today after church we went over to Tamara’s house. Tamara asked if I wanted to hang out with her downtown later, so after waiting at the fountain for about an hour she finally came. We walked down via Roma, and she put her arm thru mine and we walked down. It was SO crowded down there. But I didn’t mind. They had a band playing and a fog machine going. Pretty sweet atmosphere. She bought me ice cream, and then her friend Sophia met up with us. They were exhausting their English, and I exhausted my Italian by the end of the night. We walked to the end of via Roma and then turned right towards a park. Then we left the park area and walked down a side street where ppl were selling junk. They had their stuff displayed on tables. Ok so it wasn’t all necessarily junk, but it seemed like it. Tamara and I got on a bus and Sophia went home. Tamara and I walked around Terni for awhile. She pulled out her headphones and we listened to some music. I told her I’d let her listen to my mp3 player sometime. After we walked around, we went to her house. Her mom bought us pizza, and we ate it while a movie. Today was a freaking good day!

Neglect

2008-02-07T10:08:00.000-05:00

(the pic is of the children "dancing" to Onward Christian Soldiers being played by an Accordian. I started singing the song, and then I realized what I was singing... The kids dress up in costumes for Carnivale. I saw Spiderman, Ninja Turtles, and Princesses...)

I've definitely been neglecting my blog this week.

On Tuesday I was hoping to check out Carnivale (aka their version of Mardi Gras). I went down for my language class early and check out the party, but then it occurred to me that if I was going to get hit by an egg, I would rather deal with that after class, so I went inside a Catholic church instead. The priest was outside and was like yeah go on in (except he spoke in Italian). So I checked that out and then went to class. Not many people were there because it was Fat Tuesday. My Indian friend was there, but he left really quick after class was over. I walked down towards the bus stop for bus #3 thinking I'd be walking through the party, but the party was further down the road. I was going to go down and check the party out if the bus wasn't coming soon, but then I reasoned my way out of it, which is probably a good thing. A girl going down to Carnivale by herself not really knowing much Italian... probably not a good decision, so I just waited forever for my bus and went back home.

On Wednesday I went grocery shopping with Mrs Bloyd, Marcella, and Lorella. I absolutely love Lorella. She is so sweet. Lorella and I walked around the store together. She would point at things and say it in Italian and then she'd ask what it was in English. Latte-Milk... boy did she have trouble saying "milk!" I said "potato" in English, and she was like close... "patato." I laughed and said "potato" e Inglese.

Wednesday night we had church, and afterwards we went to Giampaolo and Giovanna's house like normal. I had some more "Pocket Coffee." Holy Shnykies Batman is it good! I'm addicted already!

Today, I felt horrible in the morning so I went back to bed for a couple hours. I felt a ton
better after I woke up thankfully! I studied Italian for a bit, and I piddled around (ok so I watched a movie :) ) I went to language class tonight. I got to talk to the Indian guy, Vicky. Language barriers make things difficult. He barely speaks English, and he speaks more Italian than English, but my Italian vocabulary is limited so... I need to learn more! He's really nice. I found out he's 24. He didn't believe me when I said I was 19. But hey, I'll be 20 in 31 more days! Yeah buddy! Where am I going to party this year?!?!? Last year I partied in Chicago with 7 other people (which I'll never do again with the same people... I'd bring 2 maybe three of the people from that group again... otherwise... yeah no thanks). My birthday is during Natha's spring break, so if anyone wants to come over and visit... :) jk jk Where shall I go???

So there's a guy from BJU staying with another missionary family who are about 1.5 hours away. I told Mr. Bloyd he could tell Mr. Pieri that the BJU guy could meet up in Rome on Monday if he wants to. Rome on Monday... yeah buddy! woohoo!!! :D I will take lots and lots of pictures, and I'll actually upload them to Google. I'll probably have to get another gmail account because I have a ton of pictures on there already (you have to pay to have more gigs). Anywho... I'm going to finish talking with the love of my life and then I'm going to go to bed.

Buona Notte

Update

2008-02-05T08:55:00.000-05:00

On Sunday we went to church as usual, and then afterwards we went to Lorella and Umbro's house. She made me homemade pasta, which was really good. We stayed all afternoon and played games. We played an Italian card game, Uno, and then another card game. I played chess with Umbro and won. It was all luck tho! I rode one of the Bloyds' scooters, and I didn't fall so that's good. I'm still getting the feel for it tho. For dinner at Lorella's we ate some Arabic food that she bought at Lidl.

On Monday it was rainy and windy, so I stayed inside, messed around on the computer, and studied Italian a bit (which I should probably be doing now because I have class in a couple hours). I'm going to go to Rome next Monday :) I'm hoping Paul will go with me, but I have a feeling that if I wait around for him, I'll never go. So on Monday I'm going to Rome w/ or w/o him.

Bastardo

2008-02-03T17:48:00.000-05:00

On Saturday, Paul had a soccer game in the town of Bastardo, and yes, it means exactly what you think it does. What's even funnier: the townspeople call themselves "Bastardi." (An "I" at the end of a word usually indicates it's plural... you get the picture)

Paul got to play about 30 minutes, which is about 29.5 minutes more than last time. His teammates were calling him "gladiator." The game was 0-0, and the highlight was when almost everyone on Paul's team was getting mad at the ref for a bad call.

Saturday night, some friends came over. I played an Italian card game with Lorella. Paul and Alessro (Lorella's son) joined us later. When we were eating Marcella said I looked like someone famous. It turned out the person was infamous for killing an English girl last October. Topics at the dinner table ranged from water to politics. No seriously, they were actually talking about water, and they talked about it for awhile.

I don't think I'm going to go to Rome tomorrow. Paul has soccer practice because tuesday is Fat Tuesday, and I do not want to go to Rome by myself the first time. I'm curious to know how crazy Rome gets on Fat Tuesday. I'm wondering if we could go for the morning/afternoon and come back in the evening before the partying begins... We'll see.

Buona Notte

Missionary Meeting

2008-02-02T04:12:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, we had the missionary meeting. I got to meet some other missionaries that serve in Italy, so that was awesome. We're going to go to visit some of them soon too. One of the families lives near the coast on the east side of Italy, and they were talking about visiting them around February 14th. There were six kids all under 5 years old, and they were all good for the most part. I think it is a really good idea to have meetings like the one we had yesterday. I'm sure all the missionaries appreciated being able to converse in English with someone outside their family.

The day's events included singing, a message, fellowship, lunch (of course if we're going to be good Baptists lol), another message, some more fellowship, taking the kids to the park, some more fellowship, and then cleaning after everyone went home.

Last night I got to watch LOST :) I'm pretty sure I'll be addicted to it again this season.

Blue skies

2008-02-01T03:06:00.000-05:00

Last night I had my Italian class. It went pretty well. One of the women from Brazil knows English really really well because she lives in London. I was paired off with her for an exercise, which really helped.

My my Indian friend's name is Vicky. Someone was asking the teacher to define Santa Biblica, and the teacher said it was a holy book that Christians read. Vicky asked if I knew the Bible; I said yes. He then asked if I was a Christian; I said yes. I asked him what he believed, and he said Hindu. Unfortunately, class began right after that. Hopefully, next time I can talk to him more.

Mrs Bloyd and I went downtown in the afternoon yesterday, so I just stayed downtown until my class started. I took a few pictures. I felt like tourist. It's not like people don't stare anyway. You know what's really weird tho??? I've had people ask if I was Italian. Do I look Italian? I don't think so. Hello, just look at the freckles, and my pants are definitely not European. I've been tempted to wear my boots over my jeans like the Europeans, but I just can't bring myself to do it yet.

I heard Wtown was -30F yesterday with the wind chill... Praise God I'm not there! The weather is absolutely gorgeous here. It feels like a Wisconsin spring here in Italy. :) Granted there are some cold days here. The high for today is 8 (degrees in Celsius) and the low is 3. So that's a high of 46.4 F and a low of 37.4 F. Not too shabby :)

Today, a few missionaries in Italy are coming to Terni to meet together. It's pretty much an all day event, and it should be interesting.

A few prayer requests before I go:

Salvation: Vicky, the Women from Brazil, Lorella, the Albanian man with the potato on his forehead, Marcella, and all the other lost Italians

Pray I'll learn Italian as best as possible

Pray I'll get a chance to talk to Vicky about God on Tuesday

Pray for the exchange rate

“Poiche’ Iddio ha tanto amato il mondo, che ha dato il suo unigenito Figliuolo, affinche’ chiunque crede in lui non perisca, ma abbia vita eterna.” John 3:16

Parlo Italiano Poco

2008-01-30T17:37:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I met a man that the Bloyds know. I will forever know him as the Albanian with the potato on his forehead. No lie! He had a piece of a potato on his forehead trying to heal a wound! He bought Mrs Bloyd and I cappuccinos :)

My language class was interesting to say the least. There were about 30-40 people packed into a tiny room. I met a nice man from India and three girls from Brazil. I talked with the man from India on my way to the bus stop. We were conversating in English and Italian. Fun stuff :)

Today I bought a headset, so I can talk to my boy more often :) Yay! Not being with him for three months was the only con to this trip.

After church, we went to GiamPaolo's house (I have no idea if I spelled that right). I tried this incredibly good candy... Chocolate with a coffee flavored liquid inside. After dinner we watched soccer. I was told I have a week to choose a favorite team.

(The pic above is the view by the bus stop)

AWKWARD

2008-01-29T03:22:00.000-05:00

Do you ever have a feeling that something might be going on, but you're just not sure? And you're most definitely sure you don't really want to know for sure? Yes, I know. I'm being extremely vague, but I kinda have to. If you really want to know... email me and I'd be happy to tell you. Unless you're not one of the parties involved, I can tell you.

Yesterday I went to a lady named Lorella's house. She was really sweet. She introduced me to her son and his friend and told them to speak English to me. When we were leaving she gave me a big hug. She called me cute a bunch of times too. I was like hmmm I think I like this lady.

I met Lorella's mother, husband, and sister (Patricia). Her other sister, Marcilla, lives in the apartment downstairs. Well, when Lorella's husband, Umbro, came in he was talking away in Italian then he left. A few minutes later he brings back his laptop and pulls up a picture of me. I'm like AWKWARD. I just laughed it off, but I never thought some Italian I don't even know would ever have my picture. (Obviously, he got it from the Bloyds).

The concert on Sunday night was really good. He played four songs, and one of them had never been played before in concert. The composer was there to hear it (ooo la la lol). After the concert we went and talked to the violinist. He was smoking (which he wasn't supposed to be) and when he saw the Bloyd's had a guest he put it out. Wasn't that nice of him. The piano player and two ladies came in while we were talking to the violinist. One was an older lady from Ireland, and the other was an Iranian who has lived in Rome for 10 years. We spoke to them some too. The Irish lady was asking about the elections, and she was talking about Obama and Clinton asking who we wanted. Mrs Bloyd said she was a Republican so she wouldn't vote for either of them. The Irish lady asked for names of the Republican candidates, and I said Huckabee. When we were going our separate ways she was like "whenever I think of Huckabee I'll think of you." She was too cute. She thought the name Huckabee was... oh how did she put it... I can't remember exactly, but something along the lines of being cute or sweet.

Tonight, I am going to an Italian course. All by myself. Should be interesting. I need to get a notebook of some sort so I can take notes.

Ciao

2008-01-27T09:55:00.000-05:00

Ah where to begin? There's so much to write. This morning we went to church, and I met some more people. We played a card game called Mille Bournes. I used to play it when I was a kid. I won too! I've been on somewhat of a winning streak lately. Last night we went to a couple's house and ate dinner. Afterwards Paul, Alessandro, and I played chess. I lost a couple times, but I beat Paul the 2nd time I played him. After we played chess, Alessandro taught me an Italian game. He spoke a little English, so that helped. Paul could've taught me, but I think he was having too much fun watching his friend struggle to come up with the English words =) I ended up winning two times. It's similar to Hearts and Euchre, so it was easy to pick up. The Italian cards are pretty sweet too.

Saturday afternoon we went and watched Paul's soccer team win. Paul played about 30 seconds at the end. Hopefully, he'll be able to play more in the next game!

Tonight, we are going to see/hear David's former violin teacher in a concert.

I changed my history class to the same time as my other classes. Now I have Civ 1, Prob and Stats, and Accounting 2 from March 17th - May 9th. Hopefully I can get the classes pretty much finished before the 9th because it overlaps with summer school. If not, oh well. It's not like I haven't dealt with a crazy busy schedule before now.

Speaking of schedules, my schedule for this week doesn't permit me to go to Rome :( I want the whole day to go. I'm guessing I'm going to have to say no to something so I can go, but I'll wait till the week after this. I'm trying to pick somewhere a bit closer. I've learned that Rome is about an hour away, so maybe I can find something 30 mins away. Shouldn't be too hard!

The pic I added is the view from my window.

Ciao for now

Withdrawal Symptoms Subsiding

2008-01-25T17:10:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been cut off from the internet forever! My internet connection has been having issues. I was just going to post what I wrote in my journal, but the entry is incredibly long. TMI!

So I'll write about my experiences as briefly as possible :)

My flight to London was really really really good. I had the whole row to myself, so I stretched out after take off and started perusing the 20+ movies plus tv shows. I ended up watching part of Ratitouille and then fell asleep. London to Rome was ok... Word of advice: Don't bother with Ryanair if you are flying from America. It's not worth it. Added hassle because you have to change airports just isn't worth it. Granted nothing went wrong in the transfer to the other airport, but it took forever! (Almost as long as it's taking me to write this! lol jk jk)

I got into Terni around 11:30pm on Wednesday.

On Thursday I went downtown with the Bloyds to get info on a free Italian course, and then we walked to where the course would be held (Casa di colori). Later, Mrs. Bloyd and I went downtown and passed out tracts. So, now I won't get lost when going downtown. One of these days I want to walk around Terni just to take in the sights and take pics. I feel like such a tourist taking pictures. I'll stop caring soon :) Thursday and Friday where absolutely gorgeous to take pictures.

I've already met a lot of the Bloyds friends, which is awesome. I can't understand what most of them say, but that's to be expected. I met Mr. Bloyd's boss, Claudia. She speaks incredibly good English (yay!). The Bloyd's neighbors across the hall are some of the cutest old people I've ever seen. They're just chatting away in Italian and I'm just smiling, nodding, and adding the occasionally "ciao" when appropriate. Friday evening we had Teen Club. We played LIFE, and I won. I had the "advantage" because it was in English ;)

Today went by really fast :( It's going to be April 19th before I know it! Which that is bad and good all at the same time.

It's getting late, but before I go I'll share a few prayer requests.

Pray:

I learn the language as best as possible
For the Italian Teen Club to grow
For the Italians to accept Christ
For the Bloyds

I'm leavin' on a jet plane

2008-01-22T14:44:00.000-05:00

I'm leavin' on a jet plane... I'll be back again on April 22nd.

I feel like I'm standing in line waiting to ride the world's best roller coaster, and it's almost my turn to ride.

It's beginning to sink in that I am actually doing this. Up until this morning it still didn't seem real. I'll be pinching myself on the plane.

Last night Mrs. Morris spoke in devos. She talked about God's guidance through out some situations, and wow, it was exactly what I needed to hear right before I fly to Italy!

I don't know how I'm going to sleep tonight.

It's just not normal

2008-01-17T21:56:00.000-05:00

"You know what 'fine' stands for don't you?" "Freaked out, insecure, neurotic, and emotional" - The Italian Job

I'm doing more than fine :) I feel like I'm in line for the world's best roller coaster, and yes, I love roller coasters =)

Tonight while watching the news, I learned that a plane crashed at the Heathrow airport. No deaths. 8 injuries. I didn't catch which airline it is, but thankfully, my God controls the airplanes, so my plane won't crash unless He wants it too.

About a year ago when I was having a check up after my wisdom teeth where extracted, the oral surgeon mentioned an abnormal spot on my x-ray, and he told me he wanted me to come back in to get another x-ray to see if it had changed any. Well, that appointment was today, and thankfully, nothing had changed. The doctor's favorite words to explain it was "It's just not normal." Gee, thanks Doc! lol It just shows that God is in control and everything cannot be explained by modern science. My jaw bone has probably been like that since I was six when my brother kicked me in the face. Yeah, that felt good.

I'm taking a quick road trip this weekend, and I am quite excited about it! I've only told two people that I'll be visiting them, so hopefully everyone else will be surprised. Then on Tuesday, I'm going to fly to Italy. I still can't comprehend it, but I'm not comprehending this weekend either. God amazes me. This weekend is completely of Him. There is no other way to explain it.

More exciting news: I finally fixed my computer! The "My Pictures" folder on my computer would freeze, and I couldn't open the folder or upload pictures. Praise God; I found a website that showed me exactly what to do! Now, I will be able to upload pictures of my travels without any complications... hopefully!

Butterflies

2008-01-10T21:12:00.000-05:00

I'm not gonna lie. I'm totally freaking out right now. I just bought my ticket from London to Rome, and I have less than two weeks until I fly out. 11 days until the 22nd. WOW, so much to do in so little time. I've been planning this trip in my mind since 2nd semester of my freshman year. The itinerary of the trip has changed countless times. Originally, I wanted to go to France. Then somehow the idea of traveling all over Europe formulated itself in my head, and I did not dispel the idea until my friend told me she would not be able to go with me to Europe. I then concluded that traveling all by myself all over Europe would not be wise.

A) My mother would never allow it
B) I'm only 19
C) Traveling by myself for that long would just get old.

So I "settled" for Italy. In reality, I wasn't really settling at all. I am just following God. Honestly, understanding and following God's will is a process that takes lots and lots of prayer. One day last week I started thinking "I didn't pray enough about this." Thankfully as soon as the thought crossed my mind God reminded me that I did pray. I prayed a ton about this trip, and thankfully I have black and white proof [well to be honest, I have been known to write in different colors but you get the picture ;) ]. I'm overwhelmed by the greatness of my God. He has given me peace about going. On days like these, He reminds me how great He is and how I am nothing.

"Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee." Psalm 118:28 KJV

Falling into place

2008-01-09T17:50:00.000-05:00

Liberty called yesterday, and they (along with Ivy Tech) are waiting on my college transcripts to be sent. All my little duckies are falling into place.

I called Ryanair today. It turns out they do not have any student discounts... They did two years ago. Maybe things changed, but I'm going to call my former volleyball coach and see if she knows anything about it. She was the one who told me about it when my senior class was getting ready for Italy back in 2006 for our Senior trip.

I'm still debating when I should fly back to London. I want to spend some time touring the city before I head back to the states, but I can't decide how long. If I leave Saturday morning at 6:35 the cost is cheaper. I think I might just have to get over it and take the early morning flight. We shall see. I'm going to talk to Peter about it first and get his input. I already asked Mr. Bloyd, and he basically told me to do what I want.

If I leave on Saturday morning I'll have 2.5 days to tour London, and I can attend services in London. Note to self: find missionaries in London.

Overall, I believe the puzzle seems to be almost complete. A few more pieces to insert into the puzzle, and I'll be all set to go.

Preparing for the Journey Ahead

2008-01-07T12:11:00.000-05:00

In two weeks I will be on my way to Terni, Italy to spend three amazing months helping missionary friends Kieth and Linda Bloyd.

Preparing for this trip would be so much easier if I weren't taking classes next semester, but classes are a must unless I want to spend an extra semester in school.

Things I still have to do:

Register for classes with Ivy Tech and Liberty University - still waiting for transcripts to be sent to both colleges
Buy my plane ticket from London to Rome - I'm calling them this afternoon
Check on my insurance - Another activity for this afternoon
Clean and sell my car
Find someone with a standard to teach me to drive stick shift
Obtain an international drivers license - Another activity for this afternoon
Check on Financial Aid for Ivy Tech and Liberty
Budget my money

I have this massive checklist in my phone, but I have no motivation at the moment. Due dates are looming over my head, so the fear of failure should kick in right about... now. Just kidding, I know I have plenty of time to get it all done. Goodness, I have two whole weeks with out classes or work, but the entertainment industry is somewhat distracting.

Needless to say, it takes a lot of work to plan a trip and adding classes into the mix complicates life even more. Praise God for His constant support and encouragement. I would never be able to do all this with out Him.