Tuesday, January 31, 2012
let's recap
Monday, January 23, 2012
exhaustion
Friday, January 20, 2012
buona domenica
I'm going to bed soon so I'll write a lil' email now.
Basically i woke up early and all I could think about was "I need to make it to church".
So I took the address to the front desk man and he told me I could get on a bus. Bus 90. Bus 90? Ah. So I knocked on Elena's door and we put on dresses and walked to the bus stop.
Thank goodness I had written this address on a piece of paper because that's what we kept showing people.
we were guided by so many guardian angels today!
After we had shown one woman our address she went and asked the bus driver if the address was one of the stops. And another woman overheard our conversation and worries and she warned us that our stop was coming. We then walked about 5-10 mins down the street, stopped in a cafe to ask if we were going the right way and guess what? WE WERE. And then when we got to the piazza, we stopped an old lady "dove e' la chiesa?" (where is the church?) and the sweet old woman goes "la chiesa mormoni??" and pointed to the left.
Mom. I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY AS WHEN SHE SAID THOSE WORDS. We looked to the right and the brown building had the name of our church on it!!!!! We were there in time for Sunday School and they have Sacrament Meeting last. My FAVORITE part was singing the hymns in Italian. I remember we sang "Oh, My Father" and "Where Can I Turn For Peace?" The youth speaker was this really sweet girl and the theme of sacrament meeting was adversity. it was perfect. One of the speakers shared my favorite scripture!!!!! i totally knew that was exactly where I needed to be - and Heavenly Father helped me get there. I was so glad Elena came with me. She said she really like it and it was the least intimidating church experience she has ever had. SOOOOOOOOO cool. and the missionaires spoke English! they had 4 sets of missionaries in that ward - 2 elders, 1 sisters and a couple from Lake Arrowhead. The couple missionaries were so nice! They said they are serving until the temple is complete, which could be 3 years -- wowza. It was awesome. It was like experiencing a baby mission.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
buona sera
It has been a few days since I have updated this – so here it is!
The past few days have been really laid back; that’s the way I like it. We’ve started class and have been drowned in Italian (in the nicest possible way). I have purchased a purse, two scarves, and the Sandlot in Italian! I am waiting until we come back from Florence to make any big purchases. Which reminds me – We are going to Florence tomorrow! Bridgid, Lizzy, Olivia and I are taking the train to Firenze tomorrow afternoon. There, we will explore and I will get to see Kelly O’Connor – a sweet friend from high school! She is studying abroad in Florence this year through Pepperdine University. I am so excited. And then hopefully on Sunday, my friend Elena and I will be going to church here. I really hope so!
Class has been great, but almost exhausted. Today was the craziest day by far. After 3 hours of grammar and vocabulary, we had a special guest lecturer, Fabio Caramasci, come and speak to us. Two days ago we watched his documentary on the Tuareg tribe immigrating to Italy and today we were able to ask him questions. HE SPOKE SO FAST. I cannot explain this in a better way. SO FAST. THE FASTEST. But it was really interesting trying to understand and keep up with what he was saying. Usually in class we don’t really get to speak as the ‘natives’ do, so it was extremely eye-opening.
One confession: Two nights ago I ate at Burger King. I know, I’m horrible but eating out at Italian restaurants every night is really getting to me. It has never been my favorite kind of food and it was so rich and carb-y that I broke and got some chicken fingers. Sorry, everyone. I had to.
Tonight we have a test to do and then I’m going to bed! And then Florence! And then Church! And then Boston! This is so awesome. I love everyone in the program and getting to know them more than just as classmates. People are so incredible. Everyone has such a cool life journey.
Ciao!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
today's adventure
1. Trevi Fountain during the daytime
Friday, January 6, 2012
we found love in a roman place
Today our adventures were all about Ancient Rome.