As I mentioned in my last post, I arrived late on the first night of the convegno. There is a retreat for all the churches in Italy once every year in August, and I was glad that I got here in time for that. I met a lot of new people and made some new friends from all over Italy. I met Ermenita and Melissa in person, who were my facebook friends before I came. :) They were very welcoming and really made me feel at home right away. Ermenita lives and attends university here in Florence, so I will be seeing a good deal of her, but Melissa lives in Catania in southern Italy. She left today, but I hope to be able to travel down there sometime to visit and she wants to come back here. I talked with Adriana and Riccardo from Aprilia (near Rome) quite a bit the last few days, and I have made a deal with them - that when I come down to Aprilia I will teach them English in two days flat. haha!
I believe there were 70-80 people altogether that attended the conference, and it lasted from Wednesday until Sunday at about 3:00pm. The theme was "I colori dell'anima", or "the colors of the spirit/soul". Several men from the different congregations presented lessons to us, such as Vittorio Vitalone from Rome, Tonio Console from Bergamo, and Robbie Shackelford. Wednesday through Friday we had lessons, sang songs together, and ate wonderful meals prepared by Angelo, Mario, Carla, Giovanni, and my mom. Saturday we all went together to a big park with beach volleyball, soccer and a swimming pool and had a picnic and spent the day there. It was very nice - the weather even cooperated and was comparatively cool and breezy.
I met several women from the churches that will attend the Convegno delle Donne (Women's Retreat) in a few weeks - September 11-13 - just outside of Rome. Tonia Vitalone from Rome is in charge of it. Mom, Sarah Bailey, Ermenita, Jill, and I will drive down together from Florence. I am looking forward to it. I believe the theme has something to do with being different but unified. I talked with Tamara Short (a missionary working in Milan) about some ideas for the weekend, and I think it will be a great thing for getting to know all the women.
Last night, Jill, Kyle Thompson, Ermenita, Chad Fetters, Melissa, Sarah and I went and got Chinese food for dinner and brought it back to the Bible School. We had a lot of fun hanging out and talking. It is fun to hear Melissa say "Sweet Kyle"..... or "sweeet -ah Kihle". Then we played Guesstures together until midnight! Melissa, Ermenita and I were on a team - which was interesting because they would guess in Italian and I would in English. Ha!
Anyway, this is really long, so I will just wrap it up by saying that I am so very happy to be here. Thanks to everyone who helped get me here! Especially Aunt Pam, Uncle Tom, Gramma, and Liz on my trip over - they had many phone calls and video conversations to accomplish. :) God bless!
31 August 2009
28 August 2009
Che cosa e' succesa?
Well, as most of you know by now, I MADE IT!
I was getting a little worried as training came to a close and my VISA still had not come (Ah!!!). I had tried getting in touch with the Italian Consulate in Houston several times during the two weeks of training in various ways: phone calls, emails, faxes. No luck at all. I did not one time receive an answer or get a hold of anyone. Also Howard and Elizabeth were helping me try to contact them, as I was in training most of the day. I had applied for my VISA on July 17th, and they told me it would reach me in plenty of time - by the first week in August at the latest. We could not figure out what was going on, and I didn't know what else to do!
Well, I had bought a flight from Little Rock to Dallas on Monday, August 24th. Monday rolls around, I still don't have my VISA, and I was supposed to flight out Tuesday! On the way to the LR airport, I try calling my congressman's office, who referred me to the State Dept, who referred me to the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., who gave me the same number for the Houston Consulate that I'd been using all along. Weow.
So I flew to Dallas anyway, thinking that if by some miracle my VISA arrived that afternoon, Liz could just overnight it to me. Thank goodness Dad and Mom were on the case too! They had a specific extension number for someone in Houston, called it, and reached someone on the first try. Hahahaha! Ah. Anyway, turns out that my VISA had been ready since July 21st. Another reason it was distressing is because I had left my passport with them, and they were going to mail it back with the VISA. It was partially both parties fault, as I wasn't aware that I was supposed to have left a self-addressed envelope with them to mail to me, and they forgot to ask for it when I applied. Also, they didn't contact me, but left it sitting on a pile there. Good grief! But it all worked out. Dad had it FedEx-ed to me overnight, and it arrived at 7:00am Tuesday morning - in plenty of time for me to fly out from DFW at 11:45am!
Flying standby, as many of you know, has never been my forte. I have always gotten stuck somewhere along the way. This time I got as far as Washington D.C. before I caved. :) I ended up buying a flight from WA D.C. to Frankfurt, to Rome, and it was so nice to know for certain that I would be on that plane! Dad and Kyle met me in Rome and brought me home to Scandicci. Yay family reunion! I arrived late in the evening of the first day of Convegno, which has been great. I will tell you all about it when it is over! Ciao! A doppo!
I was getting a little worried as training came to a close and my VISA still had not come (Ah!!!). I had tried getting in touch with the Italian Consulate in Houston several times during the two weeks of training in various ways: phone calls, emails, faxes. No luck at all. I did not one time receive an answer or get a hold of anyone. Also Howard and Elizabeth were helping me try to contact them, as I was in training most of the day. I had applied for my VISA on July 17th, and they told me it would reach me in plenty of time - by the first week in August at the latest. We could not figure out what was going on, and I didn't know what else to do!
Well, I had bought a flight from Little Rock to Dallas on Monday, August 24th. Monday rolls around, I still don't have my VISA, and I was supposed to flight out Tuesday! On the way to the LR airport, I try calling my congressman's office, who referred me to the State Dept, who referred me to the Italian Embassy in Washington, D.C., who gave me the same number for the Houston Consulate that I'd been using all along. Weow.
So I flew to Dallas anyway, thinking that if by some miracle my VISA arrived that afternoon, Liz could just overnight it to me. Thank goodness Dad and Mom were on the case too! They had a specific extension number for someone in Houston, called it, and reached someone on the first try. Hahahaha! Ah. Anyway, turns out that my VISA had been ready since July 21st. Another reason it was distressing is because I had left my passport with them, and they were going to mail it back with the VISA. It was partially both parties fault, as I wasn't aware that I was supposed to have left a self-addressed envelope with them to mail to me, and they forgot to ask for it when I applied. Also, they didn't contact me, but left it sitting on a pile there. Good grief! But it all worked out. Dad had it FedEx-ed to me overnight, and it arrived at 7:00am Tuesday morning - in plenty of time for me to fly out from DFW at 11:45am!
Flying standby, as many of you know, has never been my forte. I have always gotten stuck somewhere along the way. This time I got as far as Washington D.C. before I caved. :) I ended up buying a flight from WA D.C. to Frankfurt, to Rome, and it was so nice to know for certain that I would be on that plane! Dad and Kyle met me in Rome and brought me home to Scandicci. Yay family reunion! I arrived late in the evening of the first day of Convegno, which has been great. I will tell you all about it when it is over! Ciao! A doppo!
19 August 2009
Il mio telefonino non c'e' di piu'!
Well, the slide into Italy begins!
Training comes to a close on Friday. We have had a wonderful two weeks, with teachers who have taught us SO much. I am lucky to live in a place where there are so many quality Christian men, who just happen to be fantastic teachers to boot. :) It has been intense, I will admit, but we are going so much better prepared! Thank you to everyone who opened their homes to us and fed us amazing meals - in all seriousness, we didn't have the same meal twice, and every single one was DELICIOUS.
Today I also killed my cell phone - literally and once and for all. I canceled my cellular plan, so if you need to reach me, the best way is by email or facebook. My email address is ewoodroof@harding.edu. That felt a little weird...I have had that phone number (and a cell phone) for five years, and now I can't be contacted automatically!! Whatever will I do? Ahh, nothing. A little break from technology will do me good. Provided that I can keep my computer. haha!
If I haven't started packing as of yet, I have at least started "sifting" through things that I want to take, things I can store, and things to take to His House. Plenty of time for all that! Hmmm.
So it seems I have everything in order! Oh. Except for my VISA still hasn't come. I was told it would be here the first week of August, and I have seen neither hide nor hair. This wouldn't be so detrimental, except that my passport is with my VISA! Wherever that may be. Also the Houston Consulate doesn't exactly rely on any form of modern communication to communicate with the people they work with. By that I mean that they aren't answering emails, picking up the telephone, or replying to faxes. All of which I (and Howard) have done with nothing to show for it. By some miracle, Howard (and I must) believe that it will come sailing into my hands the day before I leave. He says that this happens sometimes. Boh. I am flying standby out of Dallas, so I may have to be there a little longer than anticipated waiting for VISA to come. Gramma will be so disappointed! ;)
I know that everything will work out, and that I will get to Italy, so I am just waiting and praying that it works out SOON!
Training comes to a close on Friday. We have had a wonderful two weeks, with teachers who have taught us SO much. I am lucky to live in a place where there are so many quality Christian men, who just happen to be fantastic teachers to boot. :) It has been intense, I will admit, but we are going so much better prepared! Thank you to everyone who opened their homes to us and fed us amazing meals - in all seriousness, we didn't have the same meal twice, and every single one was DELICIOUS.
Today I also killed my cell phone - literally and once and for all. I canceled my cellular plan, so if you need to reach me, the best way is by email or facebook. My email address is ewoodroof@harding.edu. That felt a little weird...I have had that phone number (and a cell phone) for five years, and now I can't be contacted automatically!! Whatever will I do? Ahh, nothing. A little break from technology will do me good. Provided that I can keep my computer. haha!
If I haven't started packing as of yet, I have at least started "sifting" through things that I want to take, things I can store, and things to take to His House. Plenty of time for all that! Hmmm.
So it seems I have everything in order! Oh. Except for my VISA still hasn't come. I was told it would be here the first week of August, and I have seen neither hide nor hair. This wouldn't be so detrimental, except that my passport is with my VISA! Wherever that may be. Also the Houston Consulate doesn't exactly rely on any form of modern communication to communicate with the people they work with. By that I mean that they aren't answering emails, picking up the telephone, or replying to faxes. All of which I (and Howard) have done with nothing to show for it. By some miracle, Howard (and I must) believe that it will come sailing into my hands the day before I leave. He says that this happens sometimes. Boh. I am flying standby out of Dallas, so I may have to be there a little longer than anticipated waiting for VISA to come. Gramma will be so disappointed! ;)
I know that everything will work out, and that I will get to Italy, so I am just waiting and praying that it works out SOON!
10 August 2009
Abbiamo comminciato!
Wow, things are just going by in one BIG blur! This last week I had some friends come to stay with me to see me before I left - Amanda, Mikey, and Kinch, I had a blast with you! Also, Jillian, Travis, and Cullen arrived Sunday, so the company continues. As if that is not enough excitement for one weekend, I have also been moving out of our upstairs apartment where I have lived for the past two years (aka TOO MUCH STUFF). I am only moving downstairs to a bedroom, but moving is a big deal no matter where you are going. !!
Jillian, Travis, Cullen and I began our Avanti training today! For the next two weeks we will be soaking up as much wisdom and life experience from our teachers as possible. We have class from 8am to 5pm, and our classes include Catholic church principles, the Beatitudes, Italian music and drama (as a form of outreach), and also we are studying how Jesus evangelized the way he did. Grandaddy is teaching two of our classes, and I am loving having him and learning from him. He is so good at making the story of Jesus personal and touching. We also will start each day with an hour of team unity building supervised by Carl Mitchell. There is a couple doing the training with us - Bob and Marla Housby. They won't be doing the typical Avanti program - they will be going to do mission work and work with a church.
We had a great first day, and we learned so much already. The men involved are all wonderful, and we all feel very blessed to have them helping in our preparation.
I must mention that although I love singing (especially hymns in Italian!), I do NOT love singing solo in front of other people. I already knew this about myself, but it was brought to my attention again today. :) Thank you, Mrs. Marla, for also singing soprano, even though you didn't think I was really singing! haha. :)
A variety of families has offered to invite us into their homes and feed us dinner throughout the next two weeks, for which we are very thankful and excited. Tonight for dinner, we participated in the Sharing and Caring outreach program that is through the College Church. They invite people from the community to come participate in a devo and share a meal with some members from the church. I met three interesting and very nice people whom I sat with for dinner. One of them was a refugee from hurricane Katrina, so it was very humbling to hear his story. I was very impressed by the success that this outreach seems to have - I think I heard that their biggest number so far has been 153 non-church members. An experience worth having, for sure!
Two weeks from tomorrow, and I will be on my way!
Jillian, Travis, Cullen and I began our Avanti training today! For the next two weeks we will be soaking up as much wisdom and life experience from our teachers as possible. We have class from 8am to 5pm, and our classes include Catholic church principles, the Beatitudes, Italian music and drama (as a form of outreach), and also we are studying how Jesus evangelized the way he did. Grandaddy is teaching two of our classes, and I am loving having him and learning from him. He is so good at making the story of Jesus personal and touching. We also will start each day with an hour of team unity building supervised by Carl Mitchell. There is a couple doing the training with us - Bob and Marla Housby. They won't be doing the typical Avanti program - they will be going to do mission work and work with a church.
We had a great first day, and we learned so much already. The men involved are all wonderful, and we all feel very blessed to have them helping in our preparation.
I must mention that although I love singing (especially hymns in Italian!), I do NOT love singing solo in front of other people. I already knew this about myself, but it was brought to my attention again today. :) Thank you, Mrs. Marla, for also singing soprano, even though you didn't think I was really singing! haha. :)
A variety of families has offered to invite us into their homes and feed us dinner throughout the next two weeks, for which we are very thankful and excited. Tonight for dinner, we participated in the Sharing and Caring outreach program that is through the College Church. They invite people from the community to come participate in a devo and share a meal with some members from the church. I met three interesting and very nice people whom I sat with for dinner. One of them was a refugee from hurricane Katrina, so it was very humbling to hear his story. I was very impressed by the success that this outreach seems to have - I think I heard that their biggest number so far has been 153 non-church members. An experience worth having, for sure!
Two weeks from tomorrow, and I will be on my way!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)