Fun in the Sun!

*FYI I started this blog post almost three weeks ago before we left for Florence, and I didnt get to post it before we left. We were planning on staying in Florence for only 1 week, but instead stayed 2. I will get you caught up to speed in the next post asap! For now, enjoy the happenings of almost a month ago!

Carmela 2011

Well, after Angela and Arnold left, we were back on the move again! Remember when I wote about that  Saturday that we took to rest and how I spent it painting a pitcure? Ta-da! Here it is! Sorry the photo of it isnt that great. To tell the whole story, about a month ago, I broke the flash on my camera- honestly, I dont even know how it happened, other than somehow I knocked it good with my right hand. Boh. Anyways, I waited too late in the evening to take a picture of the painting  before I gave it to Carmela Thursday night, and without a flash, the photo came out a little blurry. Anyways, she really loved it and it made me happy to be painting again. 

Its funny how God knows just what we need and when we need it. Another confession, even though we felt so close to Italy before we left for the states, returning, I found myself enduring a long stage of what I guess was/is culture shock again. Inevitable I suppose. I felt down, tired, hot (its been over 100 degress almost every day here) and just unmotivated. Looking back on these two weeks, im remembering what our friend Jim said to us last year when we were trying to sell our house and it felt like we were running out of time with a no win situation ahead. He said to us in an email one day, "Its always darkest just before the dawn."  These past two weeks I personally have been struggling alot living here in Taranto, and I was just about at what felt like "my emotional limit", when God stepped in. The blessings that he poured out on us over these past two weeks have been incredible- and I even found myself a little surprised...We always try to pray even when we are feeling down or discouraged that His perfect Will will be done, and His work will be done even if we are tired or weary- and we never doubt this- we dont worry about His plans succeding or His Spirit being fruitfull, but sometimes we, or more I, forget that he also will replenish us when we seek Him.

These past two weeks have been a time of rest, fun, and what felt like the hand of God moving us along as we enjoyed some of His blessings. What an incredible reality to be a child of God. 

Eric, Sergio, and Luca (Eric's student)

the week started off with Tuesday- Eric had class with Jon, then we met to go to Ninetta's house for lunch where we enjoyed a massive lunch :) and she surprised me with two cotton dresses that she said she saw in a store and thought of me, and so she bought them! When we were finished, like every other time, she also made sure to send us home with left overs, fruit, and dessert! She is one sweet lady. This past time, somehow we got to talking about pets, and she mentioned that she would like to have a Chihuahua! Its actually really sad because she is very afraid to be on her own. Her husband passed a few years ago, and now she lives alone. Since the passing of her husband, she has been mugged 6 times! Every time in broad daylight. She said, a few times, the muggers even followed her up the steps inside her apt building and stopped her in the stairwell.. I  cant imagine such a thing. Now she only goes out in the mornings. Eric and I have been talking about how fun it would be to find her a small dog to give her constant company..and maybe even a little bit stronger sense of security...a small dog that likes to bark. 

Later that evening, I had my second class with Sara. She is such a smart girl. we had some great discussions and I am excited to keep studying with her. The next day, Wednesday, Luca came over in the morning and helped us finish up  translating for Thursday. While Angela and Arnold were here, we found out that they had brought back a bunch of Dr Pepper. Luca loved Dr Pepper when he was visiting in the states, and it is not found here in Italy. Seeing as how Luca has helped us so much with these videos, we asked Angela and Arnold if we have a Dr Pepper to give to Luca on Wednesday. Wow, was he surprised! haha. The look on his face was priceless :) Thanks Angela and Arnold! That evening, we made plans to go out with our students (who happen to be together, my student Antonella is with Eric's student Luca). It was great to finally get together! We ate at a meat place close to San Vito (along the coast)- yum. In Italy, they have what are called "Bombette"which are pieces of meat usually rolled into a ball wrapped with bacon. They are so good! We also got to meet Luca's brother Sergio. After dinner, we headed back to Taranto and enjoyed some Icies on Lungo Mare. 

Thursday evening we had our Nooma get together at our house, and had a guest vistor- Aunt Tina! Aunt Tina is the aunt of Carmela who we see often and have grown quite fond of :) In fact, the next day, we all went to the beach together- Eric and I, Aunt Tina, Carmela and Laura, and Carmela's friend Carme and her daughter Maria Carla who are from the Domincan Republic. I havent got the whole story yet on why they are here, but they have been living here in Taranto for about 10 years now. We are getting to know them pretty well also because they are such good friends with Carmela and little Laura. I guess you could say that we went to the beach a lot these past weeks, because, we went again for the afternoon on Saturday with the brothers and their mom Adele! I think it is the heat that is pushing us all into the sea.. . 

Joelle, Pier Francesco, Fabrizio, Viktor, Eric, Luca and Andrea

Our plans for Sunday after church? You guessed it...the beach! Remember when we took the improvised trip to Roma a few weeks back to visit Joelle and Viktor? Well, Friday the 12th of August, they came south for a visit! They stayed with the Verardi family in Latiano, but we made plans to meet up with them in Brindisi Sunday evening with the brothers and Adele. This Sunday in particular was a special night  in Italy. August 15 is called Ferragosto. Im not exactly sure of all the details, but it is a day of appreciation for the Madonna, and its basically a national holiday. Anyways, the a lot of youth of southern Italy, as well as some families, spend the night on the beach. People bring tents, BBQ grills, lights, music, and camp out- and at midnight everyone lines up on the beach and jumps into the sea! 

Luca and Eric

Boys will be boys :)

Despite all of the crowds, it actually was a really beautiful evening. It wasnt too hot, and there was a nice cool breeze that stayed along the coast.

 Eric and I as well as the brothers and Adele, didnt stay the night on the beach like the others, but after having fun together, instead returned back to Taranto just before midnight. 

The next morning, we were up and at the bus stop around 8am to catch number 8 to the train station in Old Town. Where, like every other time, we would catch the train to Latiano where we would get off to meet the Verardi's...or so we thought. We kept circling the station looking for the time for the ticket we bought for the train heading towards Brindisi. It wasnt posted anywhere. Finally, its after the departure time and its our turn at the front desk, when we learn that because of the holiday, instead of a train departing for Latiano, it was a bus... that left 10 min ago. However, everything turned out ok. The brothers were able to come and take us from the station to Grottaglie where Franco and his brother met us and took us the rest of the way to Franco's parents villa in the country side of Latiano. Last time we were here was for mother's day, remember? This time it was Franco's birthday! Again, the whole family was present, as well as the family of Franco's wife, Anna Maria. It was a great day of feasting and celebrating with the Verardi's and we were thankful to be a part of it. :)

Franco's Parents

The next day, Tuesday, was full of baking cookies, translating, classes, and meeting new friends later in the evening. It felt good to have the video completed early in the afternoon for the Thursday devo and afterwards we enjoyed a nice visit with Fabrizio and Luca. 

Later that evening, we had made plans to go and eat dinner with some friends of our students Luca and Antonella, at their summer villa. The couple who was hosting the dinner party was very nice.Interestingly enough, he turned out to be a female basketball coach, while she was a high school italian teacher, who studied English in college and spoke very well. The dinner was almost American in that it was pot-luck style! This was why I had been baking cookies all day :) We enjoyed rice and breads and meat cooked on the grill.  Besides Eric and I and our students Antonella and Luca, I would say that there were probably about 10 other guests at the villa that night. It is always fun to meet new people and start new friendships. They were of course very intrigued about us living in Puglia to work with the churches and teach English. Antonella was so funny- she kept trying to get her friends to start classes with us! I told her she was the best agent I have ever had :) I also was especially excited for Eric that night because turns out that almost all of the men that night said that they like to play basketball! (which is rare here in Italy, being that soccer is the most popular sport here.)  There was one man in particular who invited Eric to play with them in the fall. Apparently they meet as a team once or twice a week and play throughout the fall season like Eric did while we were living in Arkansas. We enjoyed the evening together very much and are excited to see where these new friendships will lead. Our students are very sweet and I think they like the idea of sort of taking care of us while we are here in Puglia. :) 

(Left to Right) Laura, Enzo, me, Carmela, and Aunt Tina

This picture makes me laugh. Eric and I were supposed to be at Carmela's house at 10 am that next morning to leave together for the pool. I was late and we were trying to hurry to get there, when I tripped (wearing flip flops) and bloodied up my big toe in the middle of the road! No time to stop! we kept hurrying until we arrived! Anyways, here is Enzo and Carmela bandaging up my big toe- I think this qualifies us as family officially. :)

This day was probably one of the most fun/relaxing days we have had here in Taranto. Just another little blessing :) Carmela invited Eric and I to go with her, Laura, Aunt Tina, Carme, and Maria Carla to a "pool." We were thinking yeah! a pool sounds great! something different for a change from the usual beaches. However, it wasnt until when we got there, that we realized how much cooler it was than just a  regular pool!

Laura and Maria Carla

We got a little lost on the way there. The pool was 4 km right outside of a town called Crispiano. It was strange because, when we finally found it, it was literally in the middle of no where! Complete country side.

Entering in... we later found out that the pool is connected with a hotel facility (to the left). Carmela, Eric, and I went to scope it out, and it was so beautiful on the inside. Really nice and really relaxing.

Here is the "pool!" I dont know about you, but this is one of the best pools I have seen in a long time! what a treat! the water was so nice and cold, and the chairs and umbrellas were free to use! They also had a space where picnic tables and chairs were provided to use for lunch. And of course, there also was a Cafe bar that included Gelato. All of it was great. So. Much. Fun.

Maria Carla and Laura

Like most swimming parks/pools, there was a half for adults and one for kiddos. I have no idea how many times the girls went down these slides- but boy did they have a blast!

This slide was what I guess you would call an intermediate level slide?? :) All of us went down and it was fun. I took this picture above of Eric and the girls. We stayed until 5 that evening when we set out to return back to Taranto. It was an hour drive and I wanted to be back in time before my 6 :30 pm class with Sara. By the way, I cant remember if i already said this, but we are studying the Life of Christ together. She is really eager to learn what the Bible says, so i thought it was most important to start with Jesus! Please keep our studies in your prayers. I am excited to see how God will work in this area :)

After class with Sara, we met up with the brothers to go into the old city again. This would be our last chance to see Eric's student Jon's art gallery because the next week we would be in Florence for the family retreat. this time we went in with directions. we found the galleries easy enough and visited with Jon for a little. Later, we found a band of the brother of Fabrizios friend Grazia, where we stayed and enjoyed the music for awhile.

Friday morning Eric and I went out for an excursion to Auchan. We waited for the bus for over an hour until I went in and asked someone advice for a different bus we could take. They werent surprised that we had waited that long and advised us to take bus number 8 instead, get off on Via M. Greccia, and then take another bus from there where we were told there would be several options- and in fact there were. We hadnt waited 2 minutes when number 29 came around the corner and we hopped on to finally arrive at Auchan. (remember Auchan is like our Walmart...sort of). I have to tell you that spending the day in Auchan was like a date for us. It was so much fun. Like I said Auchan is like a Walmart, but its different for many reasons. One of which is that it is inside what is like a shopping mall. So before we even entered into Auchan for food items, we were able to look into other little shops inside the mall part. We even got to enjoy McDonalds for lunch! Obviously, I can look back on these 11 months that we have been here and write about many ways that we have changed and grew, things we have learned, new relationships, but right now, I just want to say how much Eric and I have grown together in our marriage. It is so neat to get to watch your spouse grow spiritually and to experience these hard times and growth spells together. When we get to have time just the two of us, I really really appreciate it so much now. Its a treat to get to be together and again, we are thankful for times like these, little moments of peace and joy together. Again, looking back on these past two weeks, I can see how clearly God blessed us with several of these little moments and I am reminded of the time Jesus compared earthly fathers to out Heavenly Father. When he said, "If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!" Matthew 7:11

Anna Maria 2011

We had church that evening and afterwards we went for a pizza and gelato with Fabrizio and Luca. Saturday turned into a uneventful day and I was able to finish the portrait I had started of Anna Maria. Before she had left for the mountains three weeks ago, she had asked me if I would paint her portrait, of course I was delighted to! I really wanted to get it finished for her before she returned from her trip.

Sunday Laura and I always have class together..here she is putting up her memory verse for the week :) Later that evening we spent time with Carmela , Enzo and Laura at another one of Carmela's aunts beach villa enjoying conversation and of course gelato!

The next morning, they invied us to go with them to the beach again! This was a new beach that we had never been to before called "Gira Sole" which means sunflower. This beach is ctually more rocks, but viewing it is absolutely beautiful and the water as always was so clear and blue.

At one point throughout the day, we took a walk along the rocks and look what we found! Fresh sea salt everywhere!!

I really wanted to taste it, but I was too chicken.

Eric climbing on the rocks!

As stated above, we have A LOT to fill you in on concerning our stay in Florence. We just arrived back to Taranto yesterday evening, so I am working as quickly as possible to get the new post ready :) Also, please pray for us during this time. We are at some crssroads and need prayers for wisdom and discernment. Please pray that God will make his will be VERY clearly known to us. We love you all and are always grateful for the opportunity to be here in His service.