Fiesole

Friday 8/26

Dennis and I went to the pool again today. We have exhausted our pool pass, so now if we want to spend the day at the pool we get a little worse of a deal. The time that I have been able to spend with Dennis has really been a blessing. Maybe its just Dennis' character, but sometimes he asks me questions that I would never anticipate. Now that I know Dennis, I know he is very prone to do that. Before we knew it the time was about 4:00 and we had to head back to the apartment and get ready for the Friday night group.

Eniola          Albiola       Oliviah             Mary    

Everyone came over around 7:00. We had Pizza, the staple, then two of the girls brought over some Nigerian style fried rice and chicken.. It was amazing. I feel a little spoiled; the Pizza was crap after I ate their food. We have been watching mostly Pixar movies on fridays. I had no idea which one to show, so I let them decide, the choices were between Wall•E, Toy Story 2, and Tangled; they chose Toy Story 2. They evening was fun, everyone left saying that we need to get together before Dennis and I head down to Naples and then back to the States, so they said we should all go swimming, so we will see what happens.

Saturday 8/27/11

View of Florence from Fiesole

Okay, so today we had Fiesole on the calendar. Fiesole is a city that is really just a suburb of Florence, but if you go back a few thousand years it was, just like all the others, its own city-state that was a rival of ...again, everyone else... It would be like Portland, Milwaukie, and Beaverton all being at war with each other. Only, 

Fiesole sits on a hill that is literally right next to Florence. So I guess it would be more like the West Hills being at war with downtown Portland. So back a few thousand years, they could just look down the hill at their rivals and plan their attacks. We went up and checked out some old Roman, and Etruscan ruins that were discovered back in the early 1900's. They had to stop during the war, then resumed in the 70's. The ruins were pretty cool. We walked up to a Monastery that sits way up at the top of the hill, and then met up with a friend of Dennis' who he has known for a really long time. His name is Alan Earheart. We were supposed to eat dinner at he and his wife's place, but before we ate Dennis really wanted me to see where Alan works. So we went to some place down on the hillside... oh wait. Its the former residence of John D Rockefeller's daughter and her husband which was donated to Georgetown University, and has become a Villa from which students are allowed to come and study. The site that I linked to does not give its view of Florence, but it is basically the same view that I gave you above.

It sits on a 50 degree slope and has an amazing unobstructed view of Florence. Its gardens are absolutely beautiful. It took a beating during WW2 from allied bombing and a few mortars, but let me just say that the Georgetown students have a treasure, and if I were a student, I would be fighting to get over here for a semester. Alan is the director of the facility and gets to spend a lot of time there, only he looks at retaining walls that are failing, and stairways that need to be closed off.. or gardens that are not being cared for correctly. In the end, I guess its still a job. We had a really nice dinner at his place out in the countryside. They have a little country villa that they rent. It sits on the other side of Fiesole from Florence, and is so quiet. Dennis and I went out into the olive/pear/fig orchard and ate some figs. 

Stayin' regular

I think I ate about 6... “Taken either fresh or dried, figs are very good in fighting constipation. This fruit is regarded as a dependable laxative because of its huge cellulose content and its tough skin. The tiny seeds in the fruit have the property of simulating wave-like movements of the intestines. This way, it can facilitate for the quick and easy evacuation of stool and keeps the alimentary canal clean.” Ill just stop there. Dinner was good, then we got a ride back home, and since I was so tired, I just went to sleep. I'm looking forward to serving down in Naples.

Napoli friends go home / Trip to Lucca

Thursday 8/18/11

For our last lunch before our friends went back down to Naples, we made them an American meal; mmm, delicious cheeseburgers. Besides my brother Taylor, I have never ran into someone who likes mayonnaise as much as Andrea Mazza. I couldn't believe the amount of mayo that he was putting on his burger and in his coleslaw.. I think he may have even licked the knife from the mayo jar. I have really enjoyed getting to know him. He and I sat at the table and would try so hard to communicate.. then we would bust out Google translator and go back and forth. Google translator will butcher sentences if you don't put them in perfect grammatical order. It amazed me that we could sit there and talk by typing back and forth. Its just like chatting on facebook, only you can look at each other and make noises, hand gestures, facial expressions, and even slap each other.

Eniola and Oliviah

Oliviah and Eniola are two girls from Tanzania and Nigeria that come to church with us and come to our bible studies. They decided that they were going to come and cook African foods for us tonight. Eniola made fried plantains, and Oliviah made a dish called Mtoro which is also made with plantains. We have air conditioners in all of the rooms of the apartment but the Kitchen. The large doors that open to the balcony makes it impossible to keep the kitchen cool. I decided I would endure the heat with them and keep them company as they cooked, so I sat at the kitchen table and talked with them. The food was very delicious. I was impressed.

Friday 8/19/11

We had our Friday night group meet in the evening. We had a great group! With two of the girls from Napoli still here, and two new people there were 14 of us. We setup Dennis' computer to watch “Kung Fu Panda 2”, and had American style hot dogs with potato salad. It was fun to get everyone together.

Saturday 8/20/11

Vania and Fabiana left for Napoli today.. Joubert and I helped them take all their luggage to the train station. There is a tunnel that passes under the intersection outside the station that we went under, I got some great looks from some of the vendors down there snickering at my bike. I made a Vanna White motion with my hand displaying my bike to them and said “Rossa Grande” which means “Big Pink”. That is what we named the bike that I typically ride. It is a pink girls bike with a nice pink bell to match. I feel like I have talked about it before, but I do feel mildly silly riding it around. It works awesome though. We dropped them off at the “Binario” (train bay) and came back home. Right now everyone is passed out around the apartment and I am just sitting on the couch in the living room thinking about reading some more of my book. I think I can read for about 5 minutes before my brain starts to wander off in another direction. I constantly find myself looking at the words as if I am reading realizing that have no idea what I just “read” I go back up to where I last remember and start over, but the same thing happens. If that happens to me 3 times in a row I put the book down and go do something else. The temperature inside the apartment is comfortable, and who knows what it is outside; probably right around 87°-90°F

Sunday 8/21/11

Just some door in Lucca

With the temperature being as hot as it has it sure has been nice to go to the pool. I don't think there has been a night since I got here that I have slept with anything covering me. Our dilemma is always who is going to take the bikes. Dennis cant walk because it pretty much cripples him. So that leaves two bikes. Micah likes to ride the bike, but gets a little anxiety when it comes to the crowds and fast moving traffic. Karen loves to ride but feels the need to be with Micah. Joubert and I love to ride the bike, but we don't want to ride if Karen wants to ride. When we all decided to leave the pool, Joubert decided to say at the pool a little longer with his friend Djogo, so my decisions were either stay at the pool, ride the bus with Micah so Joubert has a bike and Dennis and Karen could ride, or let Micah ride with Dennis and Karen and take the bus my myself. I chose to walk. I walked all along the Arno listening to my music. I saw no need to put my shirt back on since it was so hot. I had a nice and peaceful walk home. It was something that I have actually been wanting to do.

Monday 8/22/11

The Quicks (some of them)

We had some people that the Quicks have known for a long time over for dinner. Their names are Alan and Anna Marie Earheart. He is from the US, she is from Ecuador, and he works for Georgetown University here at their campus in Florence. She cooked some wonderful chicken for us, and we all sat around the table laughing and talking for a good hour. They have a son Max who is maybe two.. We turned on Toy Story 3 for him and ended up all getting sucked in. They had to leave halfway through the movie but by that time I was totally hooked. I cant think of a more manly thing to write on a blog for the world to see than how I found myself fighting back tears as the movie came to a close... Dennis, Karen, and Joubert were all sitting there watching; I had to start blinking/getting something out of my eye for a disguise. It was a sweet ending. It was sad, and happy at the same time. Man! So many of those kids movies get me...

Wednesday 8/24/11

Guinigi Tower

Today we went to Lucca; one of the old cities that has Etruscan origin. I think I read that it was colonized by the Romans in 180 BC. Like most of the cities around here, it was a city-state and was a rival of ...everyone else. It is one of the best preserved medieval cities I believe. Once you get inside the walls of the old city it is easy to get lost in the narrow streets and tall buildings. There are a number of towers in the city, but one of them in particular called Guinigi Tower that stands 45 meters tall has several oak trees that spout out its top. I have never really seen anything like this. It was only 3.50 Euro to go up in the tower and I have to say... it was one of the coolest places I think I have ever been. I tried to get a picture of the tower from somewhere other than at the bottom looking up, but failed.. ...probably at the fault of the narrow streets and tall buildings. Of the towers in Lucca this was the only tower that was spared during the 16^th century when most of the towers were either demolished, or cut down. 

It dates back to the 14^th century. Which means that it is from the 1300s. Its pretty stinking rad if you ask me. It was Karen's last day in Italy before she heads back to the states for 10 days, so she wanted to go and see something nice. The train ride only cost us about 5.30 Euro to get there... It was cheaper to get there, go up in the tower, and come back home than it was to buy two drinks during lunch. We still had a nice lunch, but for the cost, I don't know that I could see anything that would give me a more lasting impression. We took the train home and ate at Ciro and Son's for dinner.

Thursday 8/25/11

well, Karen is on her way back home for a few days. She has some things that need to be taken care of. She, Dennis, and Micah headed down to Rome this morning. Joubert and I took their luggage to the train station and loaded it all on the train for them. So now, I am sitting in the apartment by myself wondering what to do. I could walk around Florence, but I cant think of anything that I haven't already done. Not to mention that it is like 96º outside. And I dont feel like having sweat drip down my back into my pants. So I figure its a nice opportunity to update the blog, and keep reading Genesis. There are always dishes to be done, and clothes to be washed, so I will probably do that too. All good things.

Pisa and friends from the South

My apologies for the long time between posts.... things have gotten hectic. 

Wednesday 8/11/11

Karen wanted to take me to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Now that the time came; we got up, headed to the train station, and took a 20 minute ride to the west coast of Italy. I didnt notice anything very captivating in Pisa. Dennis had jokingly told me earlier that the Pisa tower was a third the height of the Duomo bell tower in Florence. So I was not expecting to see anything particularly amazing from a size standpoint. 

When I looked it up on Wikipedia however I found that it is much closer to two thirds; 183 feet. I remember climbing a tower crane that was that tall... and then my heart lunged into my throat for about 5 minutes... So I started to get more excited. I also found out for the first time that the Leaning tower isnt just some tower, it was the bell tower for the cathedral there. Construction started in.. 1173, no big deal.. I also found out that no one really knows when Pisa was founded, but they do know it was founded by the Romans back in 180 B.C., so it is at least 2191 years old. We got to Pisa, found the right bus, and drove across the city. I remember looking out of the bus at a wall with the spire of a dome sticking out above it. We all got out and walked through an arch in the wall, and there it was staring me in the face.

I found it very fascinating. The way it leans just draws you attention. I feel kind of bad for the cathedral, because I didn't see anyone paying any attention to it. I looked at if for a few moments before my attention was sucked back over to the tower. However, I did notice something. I guess you notice more when you have done some construction, lets just say I'm not surprised the leaning tower leaned. When things don't look quite right, that is usually because they aren't.

Moving back over to the leaning tower... 

When you stand under the lean and look back up at it, it is actually quite impressive. I was mesmerized. For 15 euro you could go up in the tower, but that was more than it took for a round trip from Florence. So, with my budget in mind I passed on that one. It's one more thing that I can save for someone special anyways. :) After we left Pisa we went to Livorno to try and eat some seafood.. I found that it was pretty much a port city with venetian design. Turned out none of the restaurants serve food until 7pm and it was only 3:30, so we checked out some of the HUGE cruise ships in port, took some pictures, watched some fishermen, and headed back to Florence. When we got back we ate at a nice Argentinean restaurant and called it a day.

Oh, I saw an amazing photo opportunity. Tourists are so funny to me. Everyone wants to hold up the tower... and walk on the grass... 

Saturday

We have been planning on hosting some of our friends from Naples. The pastor from the Church in Caserta and his family along with some of the youth from the Camp are coming to stay with us for a few nights. I believe that some of them have never been to Florence, so it will be fun and interesting to show some of the Italians their own country. I have to start reading up on all of the things that they are going to want to see so I can tell them the facts again. Two of the girls from the camp showed up today. Dennis went and met them in a piazza near the apartment, and we invited them over for lunch. They rented an apartment very near to ours, so it was easy to show them where it was.

Sunday 8/14/11

Having these bikes has really been a blessing when you have nothing to do. You can always just hop on a bike and take a ride. The city of Florence is very hospitable to bikes with lanes all over the place. When we are all riding the bikes we have to find creative ways to all stay together to get to wherever it may. Either some ride and some walk, or we all ride... if you know what I mean. On a number of occasions I have taken matters into my own hands to get places and jumped on the back of Dennis' bike and stood on the rack that sits on top of his back tire. With both Dennis and I on the bike the rims sit a little closer to the street, but we get around just fine. We attract stares too, but thats never hard to do when you have Dennis with you.

*Sometime in the last week*

A customary greeting for Italians, is to kiss both cheeks when you show up... at least that is what Italians from Napoli like to do. Alessia Crispo from camp came to the apartment this evening, and so I went up to greet her and started to do the whole cheek kiss thing. I realized that I was going to the wrong cheek and just sort of froze in place; completely forgetting which cheek I was supposed to go for first. She bobbed her head left and right in one of those awkward, “we almost kissed, but don't acknowledge that it happened even though everyone saw it” moments. Seems like it happens to me all the time around here..

There are 8 of them up from Napoli. 5 of them are staying with us in the apartment, and 3 have gone in together on another apartment. Two of the girls came up 2 days before any of the others, so we have been entertaining for just under a week I think. The apartment that they rented is about a 5 minute walk away from us but still in the historical downtown of Florence. We have had a wonderful time with them. The first day that we had them all here we walked them all around Florence. I really didn't take any pictures, I just took Joubert's video camera and started filming. I put together a little home video but its in English, so only a few of them can watch it and understand what I am saying. I had a good time making it though. We took them to see all the big tourist spots save the statue of David. There are so many fakes around here that I don't know if the feel the desire to. We stayed out walking around for quite a while getting gelato, and watching street performers, walking through the old city. I like to imagine what it would have looked like 1000 years ago, what people would be wearing. I like to think that they all wore those tights with the puffy leg ...things. Who knows. Anyways, we walked around Florence that night.

Wednesday 8/17/11

Today was a pool day. It is so hot around here right now so everyone liked the idea of going to the pool. I filled my backpack with my camera, the video camera, towel, and my mp3 player. Most of us had to walk to the bus station and take the bus to the pool, and 3 of us rode bikes. We had a great time. There is something about sweating profusely, then jumping into a nice refreshing pool that makes me feel like... I dont know what it makes me feel like other than good. For those who don't like talking about bodily fluids I apologize, but I like to lay in the sun with my music until I can see a drop of sweat running down my nose (which only takes maybe 4 minutes), then run and dive into the pool.. We had all kinds of Jumping contests. I took pictures, so I cant say that I am in any of them, but I had a good time. There are those moments where Dennis calls you over to the edge of the pool to “ask you a question”... Dennis is one of those people that you have to spend some time with before you know what is really happening. He can keep his composure through seemingly endless jokes. You go to the edge of the pool to see what he wants, and he grabs both of your feet so that you cant walk away and works it so that you eventually end up in the water... or everyone decides to have a nice little competition to see who can jump the furthest out into the water, and Dennis walks by and pushes you in on the count of 1 of 3. ...or when you are laying in the sun with your eyes closed he dumps a bottle of water on you... all of these things Dennis loves. If I leave you with only that, I feel that I am painting a poor and one-sided picture of Dennis, so I will also say that it is all in good fun, and he is actually one of the people in my life that I feel I can confide in. Though he is like a big child, he is an encourager, and someone that always makes you smile. When we were finished at the pool, Dennis and Karen took Angela and Tony up to Fiesole for dinner with Alan Earheart and his wife. Alan works for Georgetown University up on the hill overlooking Florence. The others and I went to the Duomo. They wanted to get up into the top to see the view, so finally I had someone to go with. It was a beautiful day; perfect for a view. We climbed the four hundred and sixty something steps up to the top. 

For anyone who is mildly claustrophobic I don't know that this would be an amazing experience for them. I remember looking at some of the modifications that they have done to the building for tourism, thinking, “How on earth did they get a full sheet of Plexiglass up here?! What a nightmare.” the corridors are not wide enough for two people. If you have to pass someone, then you need to turn sideways and shimmy past each other. I think I am the only one in my family that can just walk upright through most of the corridors. In the case of an evacuation... your finished. Your not getting out of there; its is pre-safety codes. However, I was intrigued by the masonry and the overall composition of the structure itself. I am thinking since they chopped down all the trees in Tuscany to build scaffolding for the dome; they figured they had some space to build all the other stuff. And when I say stuff I mean beautiful Florentine buildings. The view is really amazing and I think well worth the climb.

The Market

..From Sunday 8/7/11

Church was very comfortable. I have never gotten to recline in a nice plush couch during a service. 

This is one of the pictures he used.

We had a few people attend; I literally mean 2 people attended. Maybe it throws people for a loop when you tell them that church services will be held in our apartment for the next few weeks. Then they decide not to go, or maybe there just isn't anyone in Florence. Church is the people, not the building. We had a nice time. Dennis told me that even my pictures are a form of worship and asked if he could use them for our little service. He set them as the backdrop of lyrics for worship songs. It felt really good to have something I have done be used to glorify my God.

Tuesday 8/9/11

Just down the street from our apartment.

We went to the Open market today. I didn't pack my camera, but I had taken this picture of a small shop in one of the streets near our apartment and totally stole the picture below from someone else's website. We didn't go to the small shop, we went to the big one below. We were in search of more “Bomba” it is a kind of paste that is made with peppers, tomatoes, and oil. It is to die for; we put it on almost everything... Except yogurt; I can't imagine what that would taste like. I needed to go to find shorts. I left most all of my shorts in Uganda. I took only one pair. I also brought a pair of jeans – don't ask me why.!? The weather here has not really been catering to anything that covers legs. I think 90% of the time I don't wear a shirt either. So, when you have one pair of shorts, it makes it hard to do washing... I would have to walk around for a day in my underwear to let them dry. (Not saying I haven't done that, but it would be nice not to have to.) 

Open market only on tuesdays. 5 minute bike ride away.

I got up early and went out into the living room so that they didn't get out of the apartment without me. We rode the bikes and locked them up while we walked the really long market. I have to say I am not very good at shopping, but I did enjoy some of the things that I tried on. I am not the average 6' that the rest of my brothers and cousins are, so I usually have to hem most things that I buy. The shorts that I have been wearing come down a little below my knees which makes me hot too. Whether I am at home, riding the bike, or even walking around I tend to roll the bottom of my shorts up so that they are above my knees; it looks a little odd, but it is comfortable and keeps me much cooler. I wanted to find a pair of shorts that I didn't have to roll up, and I figured in Europe I could totally do that. I kept finding man-pris which are even worse. I started to consider finding a pair of pants and cutting them into shorts, but what ended up happening is that I found a few pair of pants that I really liked... as pants. So I bought them for a meager 2.50 Euro each and kept looking for my shorts. Dennis kept making me try them on. There aren't really any dressing rooms. So when we would ask they would point to the back of their vans, or behind the vans. I actually had a “Dressing Room” that was about a 1 ½' wide space between a dirty van and some kind of holly bush.. try taking off a pair of shorts and trying on a pair of pants while keeping them out of the dirt, not leaning against the prickly leaves or the dirty van, and avoiding being seen... I'm no good at it.. I felt like I was walking a tight rope. However, it resulted in a slick pair of European white pants that make me feel like I should be wearing a huge pair of sunglasses sitting on a Ducati. I eventually found a pair of shorts that I actually really like. They were more expensive than the pants, but they are a little shorter than normal, and aren't bulky like cargo shorts. Now I can stay cool and maintain a good temperature!

How do I capture the Glory of God?

I have been reading a book that Rena Anderson recommended to me. It was actually a free book that was mailed to me called 'Revolution in World Missions”, by K.P. Yohannan. It talks about getting back to the real purpose of missions. He criticizes the way that many churches today participate in missions,

        “When we allow a mission activity to focus only on the physical needs of man without the correct 

    spiritual balance, we are participating in a program that ultimately will fail. However this does not mean that 

    we must not be involved in compassion-type ministries that reach out to the poor, needy, and hurting 

    people all around us. 

        ...When Jesus came he not only fed the people's souls with the truths of heaven and Him as the Bread of 

    Life, but he filled their stomachs with fish and bread and wine as well.

        He opened not only the eyes of peoples hearts to see the truth, but also their physical eyes, restoring 

    their sight to see the world around them.

        He strengthened the faith of the weak, while strengthening the legs of the lame. 

    ...It was not one or the other – it was both, and for the glory of God.”

That makes me feel good because I see our mission teams doing that.

Passing time

Monday 8/1/2011

Now that the first leg of the Italy mission is complete, I decided to sleep in. The Duomo bells chimed all morning, but I resisted them. Honestly, I cant tell you if they wake me up, or put me to sleep.. There is something really nice about listening and nestling back down into the sheets. They are not an unpleasant sound at all.. Then there is the chime of a watch... when I hear people's watches, it mildly annoys me for some reason; especially when they let them beep and beep... when my watch goes off in the morning, I panic and search to find it so I can shut it up, and then stuff it under my pillow. As far as I'm concerned, the Duomo bells can just keep going. I didn't end up getting out of bed until dang near 11:30, which is absolutely ridiculous. As soon as I wake up, the day is half over. I was going to go with Dennis and Karen to the open market to find some leisure shorts to wear, but they had to leave without me since it closes not long after 1:00pm.

Yesterday we borrowed some bikes from the Methodist pastor of the church building that we meet in on Sundays. He allowed us to borrow them since he and his wife are heading to the beach along with the rest of Florence. Every corner you turn, most of the shops are closed. There is a 3 week period during the beginning of August where Florence basically shuts down. The only Italians that remain are the ones that work in any type of tourist business. Everyone else takes off for the beach. It is supposed to be unbearably hot during the 3 weeks. Well see how hot it gets. When Dennis and Karen returned from the market my day kept dragging on. I was feeling too lazy to do anything but just sit. I had to go through all my pictures and update my blog, but ended up “beating around the bush” until we finally decided to take the bikes out in the evening. The sun was down making it nice and cool. Dennis, Joubert, and I went up and down the cobble streets whizzing through crowds, and ringing our little bike bells..

The pastor of Florence Gospel Fellowship (which is our church here) and his wife are taking vacation for the next three weeks, so we are holding services in the apartment for the time. We have the guitar, the projector.... and that pretty much sums up the property of the church. We tried the projector out and watched a few episodes of Modern Family. Then eventually went to bed.

Friday 8/6/11

We invited as many students as possible over for dinner to spend some time together. Most of the students have headed back home for the summer... There are a few remaining that came over, but besides Dennis, Karen, Micah, Joubert, and I there are about 4. It was good to see them. One of them is returning home in the next few days, so it will be down to 3. We are setting up a “friday night fellowship” for students, or whomever would like to come and enjoy dinner and a movie.. What ended up happening last night was; 

while I was setting up a movie I just happened to open a flashlight picture with Dennis and Tony at camp wearing capes and crowns.. that spurred on a whole evening of drawing more pictures with flashlights. That has become something that everyone seems to enjoy. Dennis is getting the hang of it and is actually drawing some really beautiful pictures. He took a clear plastic cup, stuck the flashlight inside it, and drew huge angel wings on one of the girls that was here.. It is beautiful.

One thing that I have been thinking about lately is idleness.. I realize that I am in a transition period where I am basically waiting for the festival, and I find myself enjoying being idle. I don't want to enjoy being idle. We are trying to get bible studies and fellowship nights going, but the season is not catering to that at all.

As more and more students go home for summer, I feel more and more like I am being forced to sit. I am afraid to go and see too many things because I don't want anyone to get the impression that I am taking advantage of those back home who have sponsored me to come and be Jesus's hands and feet. If Jesus were here I don't think he would care about seeing the Duomo, or going to see the statue of David. He would be going to those people who are begging with their faces hidden against the cobble streets in the background, knowing full well that these things that the world looks for and desires to see is just that; what the world desires. Jesus sees through those things straight to the heart of those tired and needy souls who desperately need him. Just being in Italy looks like a vacation. When I look at the tourists walking around, I see people that are distracted; looking at things that were constructed by the direction of the saints and designed as if there was a way to somehow capture the beauty and extravagance of our creator using things of this world yet I feel are only, as I talked a little bit about in a previous post, bringing glory to the city, country, or author of the art. Forgive me for judging; I don't know the heart of the tourists or the beggars.

Sunday 8/7/11

I took a walk by myself listening to my iPod this morning. I intentionally left my camera so that I could enjoy the sights without trying to take a picture of them. I finished my walk and had to do it again with my camera. Seems that every time I take a picture it never looks the same as it did the moment I saw it. I think the reason for this is my peripherals. I cant capture the scale of anything without a wide angle lens... If I had a word of the day, it would be scale (or tourism, but lets talk about scale). Having said what I did in the previous paragraph, I find myself equally as mesmerized as all the other tourists by what I see. When you look down a street and see a giant looming dome that towers above everything around it, you feel the draw. I am impressed when I can walk 100 feet and all the buildings that are near me have changed, but the large one hasn't moved at all. Its the same as looking at Mt. Hood; whether you are downtown Portland or in Oregon City; it seems to look the same because of its immense size. I get that same impression when I am walking around here. ...Now that I have compared a mountain to a building I feel a little ridiculous... then again; its a nice comparison of a sliver of God's creative ability (that took him less than a day), to the total creative

power of man (that took One hundred and Forty years).. Whether you agree with me that it is the total creative power of man or not, show me something that is bigger and better than a mountain, and Ill show you something bigger and better than what you showed me. :) Okay, another thing that I find really hard to do is to take a nice picture without tourists in them. Oh my gosh, don't even go near the Ponte Vecchio on the weekend; what a joke. Yes, the picture on the right is of the Ponte Vecchio. I must have said “scusa” ...well, ..I don't know how many times, but I said it a lot.

Hey! A very small and out of place door!.. I wonder where it goes!? I think all the street vendors store their knock off umbrellas, paintings, sunglasses and purses in there. How else would they be able to flip their merchandise so fast.. You could look all day and never find an umbrella, but as soon as it starts to get cloudy, they have them at every street corner! Whether they are storage for the street vendors, or homes for little people; I love them and always experience a desire to go inside them. Tonight is our first church service being held in the apartment. We are re-stringing the guitar as I type this. The little pins that go into the bridge of the guitar have been launching past my head constantly. Ill keep you posted on how it goes!

The Camp

As I thought would happen; I have not touched my journal or my computer in the last 3 days. I have to fill in back to Saturday. We arrived at the Old Mill (Vecchio Mulino) camp. Saturday was a day of getting here, and helping to prepare for the incoming youth. The last camp had around 100 youth and were unable to get the place totally clean, so we helped out with that. For dinner we went to the Pizzaria down the road that we had eaten at a few times last year. Just as I remember, the Pizza was delicious. I always come back to the staple; Quattro Formaggi (Four Cheese). We came back to the camp and found out that somewhere the power had been switched off to the upstairs of the mill (which is where we stay). Dennis and I walked around with our flashlights and tried to figure out which switch needed to be turned on when we realized that we were not going to figure it out... Lets see...1500 year old structure with several additions in multiple locations.. None of the electrical breakers were labeled (not that it would make much more of a difference if they were..) and there are 4 separate panels (that I could find) that were all on. We accepted the fact that we were not going to turn the power on, and eventually just went to sleep. Andrew, Micah and I are in our own sleeping area that has many bunk beds. I chose to sleep on the top of Andrew's bunk.

Morning came. I cant say that I slept particularly well, although I didn't get attacked by mosquitoes. That was a problem last year.. Andrew however said that he was bitten a few times. The youth were going to show up around 3pm, so we had a few things that needed to be accomplished before they arrived. Our theme this year is “Re-born to run”, so we made a video where Andrew performs a task for Dennis, who will be speaking. He will tell everyone that he really needs a donut. Andrew will volunteer and run a great length to get him one. So, we wanted to film before any of the campers arrived. Shannon filmed Andrew running down the road, jumping walls, fences, swimming, climbing.. all to get a donut. Once he gets the donut, he does all the same things on the way back. He accidentally submerges it, stomps on it, takes a bite of it, and even sets it on top of the toilet when it just so happens to fall in. He runs back into the room where everyone is watching the video and gives it to Dennis, who takes a bite of it as quickly as possible. 

We were still filming some scenes when some of the campers were arriving, but they agreed to remain silent about the matter. We welcomed all the campers, reunited with many of them, and got our activities under way. We played capture the flag. I struggled to find a way to make it work. It is so hard since I cant speak the language and they are so social you never really get their attention.. We use a few who speak good English as interpreters but sometimes they aren't within reach. I thought for sure they were all frustrated with me and thought that I was cheating, but in the end they told me that they liked the game. I'm confident the arguing and yelling is mostly just a show, or a way of expressing themselves. The night came to a close, everyone went to sleep and the real camp started.

Monday 7/25/11

My watch alarm went off at 7:15, then again at 7:45. With a morning grimace, I rolled over to look for my watch which had fallen down between the mattress and the wall. After turning it off for the second time, I rolled back over and told myself “One more minute.” I woke up again to Tony (Camp Director) knocking on the door to our room as he walked down the hall into the boys sleeping area. I jumped down from my bunk and went to my knees. The fall is always larger than it looks when you don't have your glasses on... I threw some clothes on, walked down to the dining hall where we eat breakfast, and pumped the coffee dispenser that had been filled with espresso. Coffee spattered as it struggled to come out. I took matters into my own hand. I opened the dispenser, tipped it upside down over my little plastic cup, and dumped coffee all over the table. The whole crowd applauded my mistake. The breakfast was toast with Nutella Hazelnut Chocolate spread. It is delicious. The schedule has us doing morning bible study and meditation after breakfast. 

Then we move into morning activities and water games, then lunch, free time, afternoon games, dinner, praise and worship, night time activities, then to bed. We had a game called Angels and Demons in the morning, took a camp picture, lunch, then started to play soccer and volleyball. Our night time activity was karaoke and dance party. I get to run the karaoke machine, and then I tend to disappear before the dancing. I went outside and drew more pictures in the dark with flashlights. Between the two options, it is an easy choice for me. =)

Tuesday 7/26/11

Ok, Day 2. I have managed to take showers in the morning so far. It gives me warm water because all the campers tend to shower at night before dinner. For our morning activities we had a minute to win it game called “noodling around” (which doesn't translate... at all...) They take a long uncooked spaghetti noodle in their mouth, and have to go around a circular table picking up 6 pieces of uncooked penne pasta noodles without using their hands in under a minute. I think they enjoyed it. Then we went outside to do a water balloon toss, and then Tie-die the team camp shirts. In the evening we had a glow stick hunt.

Wednesday 7/27/11 – Friday 7/29//11

Since I can't remember what we did on Wednesday, I'll just try and remember what I can up to now. We have had many karaoke nights. One of the women here that is helping in the kitchen has a karaoke program on her computer in Italian, so we got that set up and the Italians have been able to do some karaoke in their language. Joubert came into the Caserta train station around 1:35pm, so Dennis and Tony went and picked him up. He told me when he arrived, “Now I am happy because I get to play soccer.” I had a hard time trying to place him on one of the teams. I assumed that he was good since he is a boy from somewhere other than the U.S. I asked him if he was good and he shrugged.. “I have been playing my whole life” he said... I decided to put him on the team that was struggling the most. When it came time to play, he impressed all of us. He is far more talented than we had expected. Vangela told him that it looks like he is dancing on the field. After the games were over, I played a game with him; “Try to get the ball from Joubert”. Andrew and I started playing keep away with him, but our skills are just not good enough. We have been playing water games the morning bible studies and usually Soccer games in the afternoon. In the evening it is usually either dancing, taking flashlight pictures, or karaoke. The worship times in the evening have been good. We have either been playing songs from our iPods and singing over them, playing guitar and singing, or having the Italians lead worship. I love to see the Italians worship in their own language.

It has been really cool to see some of the guys and girls that were here last year come back. One of the boys named Luca Borelli was here last year. He was right at that point in his life where he was on the fence. He came to the camp and gave his life to Christ. I consider it a huge blessing to see him one year later; how much God has changed his life! He allowed Christ to impact him and mold him. I feel like so many people are afraid of what they think might happen if they open up to God's will. I also feel like many people don't want to spend the time it takes to really understand the true message of Christ. As a non-believer, the idea of going to church doesn't spark much excitement. I think it has a connection with rejection by those “Christians” who are there waiting for them; standing there and judging them as soon as they walk through the door. It's so hard to break a stereotype... I think of some of my friends back home who I have invited to church and they have told me these things. It breaks my heart. To see Luca and so many of the kids from last year who hadn't experienced that stereotype allow themselves to hear the message of Christ is such a blessing. For our last day we had a morning game that Tony was really excited about. It was just a relay race but he said that it was perfect for the camp. At one station in the relay race I setup two hula-hoops that I made Dennis and Tony stand in. The kids had to run up to a rope and, using only 10 water balloons, hit both of them. While we were talking through the progression of the race, Tony told Dennis “After the race, if possible, me and you with all the students ..uh..” then Dennis took over and completed his sentence; “you

want to let the kids throw the rest of the water balloons at us?” Tony said, “Yes”. So then after the race I sent all the youth over to their station and they took the barrage of water balloons... Dennis actually grabbed two plastic bowls to protect he and Tony's vitals. Over the next 2 minutes there were a few hundred balloons thrown.. The bowls broke, there were several welts from the balloons, and multiple cuts from where the bowls had shattered. Tony went to Dennis after this and said, “Dennis, you no understand what I am saying.” and then limped away... what he actually wanted was to run the race with Dennis. Another detail lost in translation. After lunch, the afternoon games, and dinner we set the stage for an evening of worship and testimony. Just like last year I was asked if I would give my testimony.. I had been preparing for about a week since the pastor in Florence wanted me to preach on the 31^st. I had planned on giving my testimony then. Many of the people that were listening to me that night had heard the story the year before, but half of the youth were new, members of our team were new, and the cooks were new.. 

This time I wrote an outline of what I wanted to say. One thing that always amazes me is how uncovering memories that are buried in your mind can fill your eyes so full of tears and bring you straight to your knees. I found myself several times unable to speak. I remember saying to God in my head, “If you have a message that you want me to share, please let me speak.” It's not my job to know who I am speaking to.. or what I am saying to them. It is only God that decides what someone needs to hear. I had several of the youth, and even some of my team approach me after I shared to tell me what God was saying to them through my testimony. I realized then that my life is not simply another life that contains tragedy and pain, but something that I was allowed to endure so that through the healing of Christ it would bring people comfort and hope. The trials that I have endured molded me into what God wanted me to be. I also realized for the first time that it is my duty to share what God has done in my life. If I don't, then the pain I have experienced is for nothing.

We got up and started cleanup the next day, we said our goodbyes, and Tony took us to the train station. We all went to Rome, dropped off Andrew and the girls, then on to Florence. Joubert and I took a slow train to try and save some money. We bought our tickets, and then waited for the train as we watched the train schedules. Our train was canceled; so we ran to get onto another train that was heading to Milan. We had great conversation about how we saw God working in our lives, and even listened to a podcast from Francis Chan. We arrived in Florence around 8:30pm and went to bed.

Yesterday I attempted to go through the thousands of pictures that I have... It took me right up to the point when I had to go and give my testimony again at church. I waited to give my testimony as people began to show up. At first it was looking like it was going to be only our group and maybe a few others, and then more people came. There were not very many people in the crowd but I still planned to do my preaching. When it came time to preach I noticed a few more people in the back row that had snuck in while we were in worship. I gave my testimony. It actually turned out be quite different than when I gave it at the camp, but again I had some of the people come up to me and tell me what God was saying to them.. It was a confirmation for me that God was using my testimony to speak.

And now it is the evening of August 1^st.

As you must now know, I linked to Dennis's website every time his name appeared.
AND I have posted pictures from the camp on this website... CLICK HERE