As I mentioned before, at the Bible School we have what is called "Physical Friday." Two Fridays ago, our "physical Friday" was to trim the three enormous palm trees planted directly behind the Florence church. I’m not sure about you, but until now, I've never even considered such a task. The request was made because the palms were falling out of the trees, and were becoming a hazard at the church. So, the 9 of us AI workers and David headed over to help trim these trees.
I wish I had brought my camera. None of us realized just how massive, and dangerous this task would be. When Palm leaves die, they become as hard as wood and their leaves, literally become needles. After putting up the scaffolding, David climbed up to the top and began tearing the branches down-, which fell like large bricks down below. The rest of us would obviously gather and bundle them and take them away. During the process, we all were poked and scratched from the needles. The worst part was when one of the needles fell from the tree and actually flew vertically down into Ermenita's leg! It was so large (length and thickness) that she ended up having to go to the ER to have it removed! All this to say- think twice before you plant a palm tree. Ha.
In between classes and church, one Wednesday morning, Eric and I decided to go and visit our favorite church in Florence- San Miniato. What a beautiful sight. Alot of times, its so easy to get caught up in our work (which we love ) but we actually can forget what a beautiful city we live in!
Eric and Me.
Standing in front of San Miniato!
For those of you who know about our puppies at home- this is the church we named little Minnie after =)
A view of the Duomo.
Besides my four individual students, this semester I also have taken on the kid’s class at the Bible School. Last semester was the first try for this. Normally our students are strictly adults. However, a need arose for such a class as this, and we were happy to give it a try. I am loving it. Currently I have 7 students- ranging from 9-11 yrs old. Last semester with Emily and Laura they learned fruits, vegetables, and animals. This semester, I am using a great children's Bible that my mom sent (thanks mom!). The stories start from Genesis and go all the way through the Bible. It’s perfect because the vocabulary is limited and the stories are short. All of the kids know a small bit of English because it is in the school system, but not much. We've been learning new vocab from the Bible Stories and practicing what we learn with games. Their favorite one so far is basically like the board game Taboo. They have to understand the vocab word and explain it to the other classmates only in English- and the classmates have to understand the English explanation, as well as remember the English word in order to guess it. I think it is going great. They also seem to really enjoy the Bible Stories- and for most of them- they haven’t heard them before, so they are even more interested. I will take pictures soon =)
Last week, Andrea and I went to visit my student Renata's English class. This is my second visit and it was good to see all of the kids again. Andrea talked to them about the differences between schools in America and in Italia (mainly things such as sports and extra curricular activities). After discussing, we had them write a paragraph about a picture that we put on the board. They were so creative and I think had a good time.
Renata's Class.
By the way, the preschool with Emily this past week again was so fun!!! The kids are great! It’s amazing to me how immediately they latch on to us! Last week I had to tell them to let go because about 10 were hooked onto my legs while I was trying to come down the stairs! Ha. We taught the 3 yr olds a new song that Andrea made up. It was cute watching them trying to understand it- I’m excited to practice it with them again next week. Funny quote from one of the boys in the three yr old class. He had a very bad runny nose and so I was trying to clean it off for him when he says to me in Italian " No No! Mi piace! Mi piace mangiare!" Translated: "No No! I like them! I like to eat them!" ha!
The Teatro Communale in Firenze.
Me and Clizia!
Also last weekend, Sunday after services, some of the AI workers went to visit the church in Pistoia. They were hosting a singing service during the afternoon and other congregations were invited to come and participate. Eric and a few of the others went and had a great time meeting new people and worshiping together.
Later that same evening Eric and I, along with Peter, Angela, Andrea, Ryan, and David went to Marian's Birthday dinner at a restaurant downtown FLorence- just behind the Duomo. Marian is a member of the FLorence church and we wanted to celebrate with him on his special day!
Me, Danielle, and Marian.
An interesting fact- the diner where we ate for Marian's Birthday used to be the home and workshop of Ghiberti. Ghiberti was a sucessful artist during the Renaissance. He is most famous for his bronze doors on the Baptistery in front of the Duomo in centro Firenze: the Gates of Paradise.
Happy Birthday Marian!
Remember our Thursday night English conversation class at the church? Well, the boys got together and designed a curriculum to make the classes a little more cohesive. Last week was the first night with the new lesson plan and it was Eric's turn to teach. All last week he worked putting together the first lesson and worksheet. They decided for now (to finish out the semester), each of them (Eric, Ryan, and Peter) will create 5 lessons using the same outline/design. After they have created all of these they will laminate them and make a binder to have for other lessons in the future. Next semster they will begin working on lessons for the Old Testament. Way to go guys! =)
Yesterday, Emily, Andrea, Angela, and I all traveled to meet some ladies in Prato to help make our decorations for the Women's Retreat on the 18th. We arrived sometime after 11 am and worked all day, drawing, coloring, cutting, pasting, and creating! It was really great to already meet some of the ladies. We also met two of the AIM workers as well. AIM is a program similar to Avanti. However it is designed for younger people and they have the option of being sent anywhere after their 7 month training in the states. I believe there are around 7 of them currently working in Prato.
Making keys for Decoration.... more to come about this after the Retreat!
The focus for the Retreat is the Beattitdes, so we wrote those on the different colored keys we made.
Besides all of this, I am still in the process of planning and organizing Danielle's baby shower. I've never planned a Baby Shower before and I couldn’t help but remember how well the ladies were at this sort of thing at our church in Cabot. =) I miss all of you! I was trying to remember the details of the things you did and your wonderful planning skills. I definitely am learning alot about all of this and about babies! My mom had the cutest idea- instead of getting a card with the gift, to buy a small baby book instead. On the inside of the book, inscribe to the baby and who it is from. So when Danielle finishes opening her gifts- she has a great collection started of baby books! Isn’t that a great idea?? It has been fun finding new games and talking to the ladies at the Florence church about the details. In fact, I forgot to tell you, I was talking about the shower to one of the ladies at church and she said to me-Did she already have they baby?? I thought maybe I missed it! A couple of sentences later, I understood that in Italy they have the shower after the baby is born- oops! Danielle is American and so am I - our mistake. They were all ok with it though- and seem excited for the shower as well.
UNtil next time, we love all of you very much and as always are happy to be of His service here in Italia.
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