Ciao da Italia

I suppose it is safe to say that life has changed since I last updated this blog! I have been living in Italy for a little over 9 months now and it seems like just yesterday I was packing up my things to make the big move to Europe. I have learned a lot in the last 2 1/2 years of ministry and I know that I still have much more to learn. Italians have a very different way of life than Americans. Reposo (or literally "relax") happens here every day from about 12-3pm. All shops, gas stations, offices, etc. are closed during reposo. Every August Italians take a vacation month, forget about trying to get anything offical done or any work on utilities during this month, you will be lucky to even find a restaraunt that is open! Fireworks at midnight on a Tuesday night...sure why not? A 3-4 hour dinner...completely reasonable. Road rules? Standing in line? Not really necessary. While all of this sounds a little frustrating and crazy to a hectic American (especially working in a military culture) it makes for interesting experiences! It also forces you to slow down and plan ahead. Needless to say, I'm learning a lot. The students I work with here at Caserma Ederle are awesome! Frequent and long deployments during this 8 year war make these kids tough and resilient and a little fragile at times too. While I am missing friends and volunteers during this current year long deployment, my students are missing fathers and mothers. Please pray for these students as they finish out this school year and head into summer, some will be graduating and moving to the States for college, some will be moving to a new community...for the 11th or 12th time and others will be hanging out with me this summer. This school year has been a blur. It was my first year as a Community Director and there has been a lot of learning, lonliness, successes and failures, laughter, tears, obstacles and fun! I could tell you about all of the awesome things that have happened, but I think pictures can do it better justice...