The Promised Explanation

A few weeks ago, I told you all that I would give you a more detailed explanation regarding Italy. Well, I'm ready to do that now. I've actually created a separate blog for my missionary work. This will continue to be my personal/writing blog. And it will probably continue to be largely stagnant ;) But I will update my missionary blog on at least a monthly basis so, if I've been MIA here for a while and you're wondering if I'm still alive and doing anything interesting, check here. If you would like to see more pictures of where I went and what I saw in Italy, keep checking in over there. I'll be posting lots of photos over the next few weeks. Or, if you'd like, I can duplicate the posts right here on this blog. If you would prefer that, don't hesitate to comment. It's nothing for me to make a mirror post if you'd like. Just let me know.

Well, I'm back :)

Actually, I've been back in the States since April 30th. 

Yes, it has taken me almost a month to type up a post. Such is my life at the moment.

I am hoping to will post more pictures and/or stories sometime this summer, either on this blog, or the new one I'm working on that will be devoted to my time in Italy. In the meantime, I wanted poke my head back into the blogsphere and give you a bit of an update. 

I've had the time of my life over the last three months. I toured Venice, Florence and Rome. I saw Michaelangelo's David, Pieta, and Sistine Chapel. I stood in the center of St. Peter's Square and sat on the balcony of St. Mark's Cathedral. I went to Paris and stood at the top of the Eiffel Tower at night. I stayed in an apartment in Trapani, Sicily, where I could literally take two steps out my door and be in a bread shop. I took a train to a town in the Dolomite Alps and spent ten hours walking around the most breathtaking landscapes with two people who I didn't even know existed last year, and are two of my favorite people in the world now. 

I could go on and on. And I will. Later. For now, I only  have a few minutes before I have to get back to my summer to-do list. It looks like this:

- Learn Italian

- Learn how to play the guitar

- Get all the documentation to file for dual citizenship

- Raise support to move to Italy for (at least) the next four years as a missionary

Yes, you did read that right. I'm moving to Italy! Lord willing, I will have everything in order to put myself and my life on a plane to Venice by September. From Venice, I will return to the sleepy little town of San Lorenzo, where I will take up residence at Saints Bible Institute as a full time missionary under SEE. 

I never expected to be returning to Italy for missions. I was never the kid who wanted to be a missionary growing up (and even if I had, Italy was never a place I thought of as needing missionaries). I was the girl who just wanted to see the world. I had thought that, maybe, I would get a job in Italy and stay because I loved it. I didn't really think that though. My plan was to spend a semester in Italy, come home and be with my family, and write full time while training Jiu-Jitsu four nights a week. So much for that ;) 

I'll have a more full-fledged update/explanation for the drastic change my life-course has taken soon. At least you now have an idea why my blog has been so dormant: my focus changed. I'm not giving up on my writing, by any means. I will write on the time I have off (which isn't much, but it'll be enough if I have a story). And I'm hopeful that, as I get into the routine of my new duties, I'll be able to find time on at least a semi-regular basis to start writing again. If not though, I figure I'm following Benjamin Franklin's advice:

"Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing." 

Picture Perfect

I think it's quite obvious by now that my blogging plans for my stay here in Italy were slightly too ambitious ;) Between my work here at SBI, spending time getting to know the students, and generally enjoying Italy, blogging keeps falling lower and lower on my to-do list. I did promise you all pictures, though. So pictures I will post. Feast your eyes:

What I see on a normal day

In front of the Arena in Verona

Inside the Arena

Juliet's Balcony

Juliet

 The plaque at Romeo's house (which isn't open to the public and thus was rather disappointing)

One of the Sacile Arches (which looked suspiciously like really fancy crypts that happened to by outside)

It's 424 steps to the top of that tower. And, let me tell you, when the bells start to toll while you're in it, it's scary

There are flowerboxes in all the windows and balconies

Behold :)

The Roman Theator (or Teatro Roma)

  

Some of the ruins

 In the ruins

Oh the views of Verona...bellisimo!



How To See Venice

 

Get lost.

Honestly, it's the best way to see Venice. There's literally something beautiful around every corner. The Rialto and San Marc's square are must-sees, of course. They're the major sights associated with Venice, but there's a myriad of beautiful buildings and views and bridges scattered all over the city. And the only way to find them is by accident. Not only that, but you get to experience the real, everyday Venice that most tourists never see. You'll find bakeries tucked away in alley corners and lion-headed door bells on dead-end streets. You'll see the laundry hanging over wrought iron balconies in the residential areas and hear accordian players outside restaurants. Fortunately, getting lost in Venice is the easiest thing in the world. You see, the signs that point the direction to the Rialto or San Marc's aren't exactly accurate. If you follow them, you end up in some abandoned square with no idea where you're suppoed to go next. If you don't follow them, you somehow end up at the Rialto. And once you cross the Rialto (which is actually a bridge, not the name of a river like I thought), it's only a matter of time before the alleys spit you out into the San Marc Piazza.

I was in Venice during Carnivale. It was freezing cold out so the streets weren't as packed full of people as I had been told to expect. Actually, the city didn't feel crowded at all but there were elaborate masks absolutely everywhere - on people, in stores, on stands in every street wide enough to hold a vendor. There were people in full blown masquerade costumes and even the gondalas were decked out in fine array. In the spirit of the day, I bought a mask myself. I didn't wear it very long (have you ever tried wearing a mask with glasses underneath? It's really awkward), but I now have an honest to goodness Venetian Carnivale mask :) 

Before I posted this, I kept trying to think of ways to describe what it was like to spend six hours walking around the city. Only two words came to mind: cold and beautiful. I'll be going back in a few weeks to see what Venice is like on normal weekends and to go inside San Marc's and a few other places instead of just admiring the outsides. I'm desperately hoping that it will be warmer by then. I might have something to say besides "cold" and "beautiful" then ;) Until then, though, these should give you an idea of what Venice is like:

        

    

                                                        

                                                        

                                              

                       

                       

                                                         

                                                          

                               

Benvenuto, Italia!

I've been at Saints Bible Institute here in Italy for exactly five days now :) It's beautiful here, even in the dead of winter. It's also freezing cold. As in, I-can't-feel-my-toes-because-its-20-degrees-out cold. Fortunately for me, my work in the kitchen involves lots of hot water and steaming pots so, as long as I'm working, I don't notice the lack of feeling in my toes.

I had grand blogging plans for this trip but time and consistent Internet service are proving elusive. I even had a new series planned: Meandering Monday or Wandering Wednesday (I hadn’t really decided on a name yet). And it was going to be great. I was going to tell you all about whichever city/place I visited on the previous weekend and post all sorts of pictures and…yea, well, you know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men.

I will post about my excursions, I will. I just can't promise regular schedule, and it might be a few weeks after visiting a place instead of a few days. Classes start Monday, at which point my activities in the kitchen change a bit. I've been cooking with the founder of SBI, Sam Spatola, since I got here and it's been great fun. He gave me all sorts of good advice, such as: "Garlic, onions, and olive oil are our friends." And, "If you ever have trouble in an Italian airport, start crying." For the rest of the semester, though, the food is catered from a nearby restaurant. All I have to take care of is set up, serving, and clean up. So I won't be spending the majority of my day in the kitchen like I have been these past few days. I should have better Internet connection in the student lounge than in my room and, since they’ll all be busy studying, I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to get some posts up at a reasonably regular rate. If not, you've been warned.

We went to a city called Pordenone yesterday and after an hour of walking around cobblestone streets (I have a great fondness for cobblestone streets), we stopped for coffee. Well, they don’t have coffee shops in Italy. They have bars. Yes, you go to a bar to get coffee. Also, Italians don’t believe in regular drip coffee like American’s do. Nope. They make espresso and only espresso. You can add all the milk and sugar you want, but there is no such thing as weak coffee over here. As Sam said, "If you can see the bottom of your cup, it's not coffee."

I didn't get coffee though. I make espresso every morning for breakfast (although it probably doesn't taste the same as the espresso you order from a bar) and the hot chocolate was getting rave reviews by the girls who had been here before. So I ordered hot chocolate. Now I don’t know about you, but when I think hot chocolate, I think of the packets of mix and mini dried marshmallows that you add hot water too. That’s hot chocolate, right? Not here it isn’t. Here it’s more like pudding.  You can drink it with a spoon. I kid you not, I’ve done it. You can drink it when it first comes out because it’s still warm enough to be almost liquid. After a few minutes, though, you need the spoon to enjoy every last bit of the incomparably scrumptious, dark chocolatey goodness that is Italian hot chocolate.

In other news, my alarm clock died the night I arrived. It could be said that I killed it, but I maintain that jet-lag and more than 24 hours of wakefulness are the true culprits. I am confident that, had I been in full possession of my faculties, I would have remembered that a 120v doohickey requires something to convert it to 220v, not just an adaptor to make it fit in the socket. Well, Jet-lag and his buddy I’m-Awake-and-Shouldn’t-Be robbed me of that knowledge. I put an adaptor onto the alarm and plugged it in without hesitation. It blinked on and I set it on the floor to unpack something else, figuring I’d set the time later. When I turned around, it was dead. So…yea, note to all those who want to travel: everything except your laptop needs a power converter and an adaptor plug to work properly. Alarm clocks all over the world will thank you.

Oh, and I can see the Alps out my window. Welcome to Italy ;)

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning! Oh, What a Beautiful Day!

Today is the day one of my long-held dreams comes true.

Today is the day I go to Italy.

:)

14 Days and Counting

I am going to board a plane and fly half-way round the world in exactly 14 days.

And as crazy exciting as that is, it gets better. Oh yes. Because, for these two weeks, I have nothing to do but get ready and enjoy the time with my family and friends. Well, that, and continue in my efforts towards learning Italian. But I don't have to study anymore.

That's right, I am officially done with college!

Technically, I can't say that I have my bachelor's degree in English. I need the grade and transcript for my final course before I can file for graduation and then, given the way Thomas Edison has things set up, there will be a couple months before the next graduation date rolls around. BUT, I can say that I have earned my BA in full. And what's even better is that I met the goals I had set for how I wanted to earn it: in less than two years, for less than $20K, and without putting the rest of my life on hold. It's a good feeling.

I'm glad at what I've accomplished and I'm glad to be done. I'm glad to be free to read and stay late at Jiu Jitsu class and lolly gag around the dinner table with my family because I don't have any more credits to earn. It's nice; really, really nice. And it's exciting too because now I get to think about what's next. I have no plans beyond Italy - and only God know what will or won't happen during, after, or because of my time there - but it's thrilling to have a wide-open horizon to come home to, even if the idea of charting a course is slightly daunting ;)

New Year, New Year, What Do You See?

I see two things happening for certain:

1. Completing my bachelor's degree (1 measly little credit stands between me and filing for graduation)
2. Going to Italy. For three whole months. I booked my flight yesterday and it still hasn't really sunk in I'm GOING TO ITALY.

Other than those two things, 2012 is a mystery package that I'll unwrap a day and a week and a month at a time.

I can't wait to see what it holds.