FOREIGNER

Yesterday was a fantastic Monday.

I got my kindle, kindle cover, and extra battery! 

I got real mail from my good friend Wally! :) 

I mailed two letters (sorry it's taken so long... I still haven't bought any postcards, so yeah....)

I keep thinking that people know my travel plans until they ask me what they are. 

My mouth and my brain don't communicate sometimes...

Rome Oct 29-31

Sicily Oct 31-Nov 5

Verona Nov 5-?? 

I'm WAY excited to be traveling Italy and see some of the country I've never seen before. It will be an adventure for sure as I will be traveling alone and have to rely on my handy dandy Italian-English dictionary and my mad Italian language skills (ok, I don't really know much Italian, but I'm learning!).

In answer to the often heard question, how are you doing: 

I have had a few breakdowns in feelings of loneliness here. It's not easy being in a new place, not knowing the language and trying to find your way around... 

Being a "straniero" (foreigner) here reminds me of seeing the Hispanic people at Walmart in line with WIC cards. I was patient with them in trying to explain that certain items were not covered by WIC. I liked being in the fast lanes when the Hispanic men were buying boots and clothes or when the tall guy from El Rodeo (best Mexican in BH!) came in my lane. I tried remembering some of my Spanish from high school while they counted out the money in Spanish. 

Anyway, just a reminder to all you Americans: Please be patient with the foreigners living in your land. It's not easy and they are stepping out in faith that they can make it there. 

PS -- in looking for a cool picture to put here, I found this.

Might be one of the best concerts ever... and I WILL see Styx in concert someday!

I saw the SIGN...

I'm a huge fan of SIGNS (real ones, not the movie).

Here's one from England 2006:

Lolly and I LOVE Franklin Road.

Here are two from the Barcolana I went to on 10.10.10:

And... this one is downtown and always makes me laugh:

Might as well call this bank "Liar, liar pants on fire". haha....

Anyway, I think one of the BEST SIGNS in the world have been around for quite some time.

Yep. The stars. 

A sign to Abraham.

A guiding light to the kings searching for THE King.

Beautiful creation that reminds me that my problems are so small.

That these same stars were the ones that Jesus looked at.

Oh the connection with the past and present because of the stars. 

I LOVE LOOKING AT THE STARS! 

Thank You, God for signs from creation of your promises.

Food update

Mutti = ketchup
Top picture: cauliflower and cheese casserole that Mara (Irene's friend) made one night. It was fantastic.
Top right: my glass of Coke. It had ice, which I haven't seen in forever! haha... They put lemon in the glass, too.
Bottom right: spicy pasta. I can't remember what it was called, but it was good.
Last pic: pizza from one of my favorite places -- pizzasoia primavera. This was a simple salame pizza... it was delicious.

Words cannot describe my love of all things pasta!

PS -- Coke from Georgia (the country, not the state) tastes weird. We got a 6 pack of 1.5L Cokes... and they taste... different.

It's no secret...

I LOVE CHRISTMAS.

October is my favorite month. I'm definitely missing fall in Michigan... seeing all the red trees and everything beautiful about fall.

But my favorite day of the year is December 25! I count down by month and I am not ashamed.

I just started reading the Gospels in my chronological bible reading plan. I am reading all four gospel accounts -- and I love it! Just got done reading about Jesus' birth. What a beautiful story with a variety of characters...

While I was reading, I couldn't help but think of Linus from Peanuts. He gets it. Christmas is about Jesus coming down to earth. How humbling. How loving. How precious and perfect. What an amazing God we have and I love his birth story. I could read it over and over and still be amazed.

PS -- I love the small glimpse of Jesus as a middle schooler. Just goes to show how awesome middle schoolers are! (There's no mention of him in his teens -- haha).

War Monuments

In the past two months I have visited quite a few War Monuments/Memorials. While Tiffany was working one day, I went by myself to the US Navy Memorial. I love learning about what happened and find myself appreciating the sacrifices people made. It makes me want to talk to older people who remember the Wars before they start dying off and no one knows their stories.

It was fantastic getting to walk around with Tiffany at the beginning of September in DC. We saw:

WWII Memorial

Vietnam Wall Memorial (this was sobering because this was our parents' era).

Korean War Monument

So it's no surprise that when I saw this:

... I wanted to go check it out.

Turns out this Memorial is called Sacrario militare di Redipuglia. (Check out the link -- apparently this is Italy's largest military memorial)

This is Joe and me. He's my stepmom's brother-in-law (he's married to her sister, Anna). The entire day yesterday I hung out with Joe, Anna, their daughters Natasha and Anika, Anna's mom, and Natasha's daughter, Georgia. Joe and I were the only ones up for exploring this as the rest had seen this before and were tired from the exciting morning in Trieste for the Regatta.

Each step has a list of names of soldiers who died there. If we had more time I would have climbed to the top where there are three crosses and inside of the graves, there are the bones of thousands of unknown soldiers.

My favorite part of this place, although sobering, was going into the bunkers or as they called them trincea blindata (reinforced trench)

Here's a video of me and Joe inside:

I had to take a funny picture with all this serious stuff... 

I got my picture with some men who dressed in the uniforms from back in the day... Taps just started playing as we were taking this picture, so they don't look too happy.

Lately I've been finding myself praying a lot for Claudio, my Italian friend who's in Afghanistan until April. There was news that four Italians died in an attack close to where he was. I just pray God's protection for him and the others who are over there right now. Please join me in praying.

10.10.10 in Trieste, Italy

Yesterday was 10.10.10. I was in Trieste, Italy. What a beautiful little city with the perfect combination of mountains and sea. It is Italy's own "windy city". Trieste was settled in the 3rd Millennium BC! That's BEFORE CHRIST -- whoa! I mean, that's ANCIENT! Most Americans have very little understanding of what history is since we are such a new country!

I went there to see the Barcolana 101010: a sailboat regatta in Trieste (if you open this up in Google chrome it should have an option to translate the website into English). I recommend watching the highlight video (video link is in orange). I saw it all live -- the guys on the winning boat with their wine... It was the perfect day for it!

I thought this was funny: it was actually like face painting for kids...

They are still trying to make me a coffee drinker... so I had a cappuccino. Not bad, but I still would've preferred a Coke. :) 

One of the many pictures of sailboats. Fantastic day! 

I visited Saint Justus Cathedral, although it was closed so we couldn't go into it. This was a very cool door... this picture doesn't do it justice. If I go back, I'll get a better picture.

All things Italian

In trying to learn Italian, I just finished watching Sotto il sole della Toscana (Under the Tuscan Sun). I plan on watching 13 Going on 30 and 10 Things I Hate about You (you all know how much I love/miss Heath Ledger...). Here's the site in case you want to join me in this adventure. No subtitles, though...


I also wanted you to have a little taste of some youtube videos I saved under a playlist of mine called "All Things Italian":


Family Guy // Everybody Loves Raymond // Notto Sento // MINA // Italy vs. Europe


1. I don't watch Family Guy, but this was funny and I sometimes wish it was this easy to speak Italian. 
2. I LOVE Everybody Loves Raymond. I can relate to Deborah in feeling like an outsider, but sometimes you just have to join in... and I totally understand her while she's listening to the audio Italian... 
3. Found this video while searching for a site with Italian movies. I love it -- romantico!
4. Italian's version of Madonna.
5. This is quite accurate. I've seen my fair share of scary driving/crazy parking, tons of smokers, and heard about their politicians who stick around FOREVER. And yet I still love Italy. :)


Hope you enjoyed this little lesson on Italian culture...