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.