How to begin...always an important question. And one that I find myself continually asking over and over again. What should I write about? What happened during my week? What will people actually want to read about?
I have a feeling that this blog will be a patchwork quilt of messy disorganized thoughts and experiences, so keeping that in mind, bare with me.
Life is being to develop a foundation and some stability. Since arriving to Firenze last month, I have not spend the night in another bed other than my own. Which is always a nice thing. Every morning we have the same breakfast laid out for us. Yogurts, hard-boiled eyes, corn flakes and toast with jam and butter. Considering all other foods we have during the remaining hours of the day, it's comforting to have a simple, predictable breakfast.
Classes are going well. I am under the impression that all of our professors are just as happy to be here as we are. Always encouraging. School is only a 3-5 min walk from my pensione and a good chance to stretch out my sleepy legs in the mornings.
I was elected as pensione representative for my building and report on the week each, on monday evenings to the school Dean about our living conditions. Mid week I have the responsibly to fill out a spread sheet indicating each persons weekend travel plans. For these reasons, I have been given the title of "mom", amongst the boys. *rolls eyes.
So far, I have only visited a few cities/towns outside of my home base, Florence.
Fiesole (which I sadly do not have a picture of) is located on the northern hill side and over looks the city! Quite the impressive view, I must say. Havilah and I took the bus up on saturday after noon, spending the afternoon eating snacks and reading course work in the sunshine, all the while marveling at Firenze. One can easily forget that we live in the valley. However, once you can see over the whole city, you are reminded that you live in the region of Tuscany! Olive trees full of harvest crowd the hillside, soaking up the sun.
The Following weekend, Havilah, new friend and classmate John and I traveled for the day to Cortona! The home of author Frances Mayes and real life setting for her biography, Under the Tuscan Sun. My eyes watered with tears of joy, as we took the bus in a zig zag pattern up the steep hill. I have poured so much of my heart into reading her books, and getting the opportunity to see with my own eyes what she sees when she describes her hill side home, moved me. We wandered the narrow cobble stone streets all afternoon. Stopping to eat lunch at a spot recommended by Rick. haha Love that man.
Last weekend was Assisi. Normally I would say that we are about 2 hours by train north of this holy city, however, it took as damn near six hours to arrive at our destination! lol We had an adventure. The afternoon was spent exploring every church from the top on the hill downwards. I prayed at the body of St. Fances and St. Clare! What an amazing opportunity and a beautiful spiritual day.
On another note, I have felt led to teach, although I wasn't sure just how to go about it. I prayed about it for a while and God gave my the perfect fit. At our Florence school, we have a married couple who are our campus ministers. They moved here to serve us for the year and with them, their two twin eleven year old daughters. I posed the question to mom Carla that I would love to hang out with the girls if she the husband ever needed a date night out...... they ended up inviting me to their flat for dinner the following Tuesday. Something just clicked!
The girls are so lovely and I am a perfect fit with their family! Now Tuesday nights is our time together. I come over after school and the girls and I bake a few dozen cookies, which we take to the Glee showing at school that night. Having dinner together as a family is so refreshing! And I get the chance to help the girls with their homeschooling.
I must just take a moment and say that this blog is a labor of love! I have been trying for the past two hours to upload pictures.... no bene! Which is quite a shame considering the fact that I had taken nearly 500 photos since we last connected. ugh.
I think that I'm going to give it up for the evening. Sorry, I guess your best bet is to have a look on fb.
Classes are going well. I am under the impression that all of our professors are just as happy to be here as we are. Always encouraging. School is only a 3-5 min walk from my pensione and a good chance to stretch out my sleepy legs in the mornings.
Last weekend was Assisi. Normally I would say that we are about 2 hours by train north of this holy city, however, it took as damn near six hours to arrive at our destination! lol We had an adventure. The afternoon was spent exploring every church from the top on the hill downwards. I prayed at the body of St. Fances and St. Clare! What an amazing opportunity and a beautiful spiritual day.
