My morning started at 7 a.m. with a shower, oatmeal, putting my hair in a bun with a flower, getting dressed quickly, and waiting for Lilla. Speed bumps are not intended to be taken at full speed, but alas...
So, Lilla's class was up first. I told her that I wanted to stay in the class first and talk to them about some Christmas stuff. She first handed me a loooong list of questions about the election lesson I did. She wanted me to ask the students questions. We had already answered many of them, but she insisted that this was an oral test for them. The problem is that these students, well, half of them, do not understand what I am saying. Their English skills are not that advanced. Lilla tends to get very upset with them, often yelling at them, and they seem very frustrated with this and just clam up. It is so heartbreaking to see the strained relationship between student and teacher some days. Teachers have played such an important role in my life, and I hate seeing this relationship marred by lack of respect. Maybe I am missing something, but it is stressful for me too when Lilla is yelling at them and pressuring me to ask them questions that they do not understand. I hate to be that person for them...I do not want to make them feel the way I felt in Florence. When I was finally able to change the subject, I asked them about their Christmas traditions. Not many of them were able to answer me, but I encouraged some of them to just say a few words....whatever words they knew. The vocab is lacking, but they did a good job answering me. I try to be very conscious of their comprehension so that I am not constantly speaking over their heads. I know that helpless feeling...I so desperately do NOT want my students to feel that way.
Eventually I somewhat gave up and told Lilla we could now go to the lab to allow the few students who had prepared something about traditional Christmas foods to do their presentations. Alright, well the thing was that the students had not prepared their own power point...Lilla was making them read from the power point that she had prepared; the loong one that she sent me via email. So Lilla started out by doing the first 20 slides or so, which by the way were covered in about 8 minutes. It was so fast that III had a hard time following. The students were NOT paying attention, and I hate it because I know that they do NOT understand the English, especially at this rate. Then Roberta and two of the guys did the food. I had to ask them to slow down as well, but Lilla kept telling them to hurry. I had to have them slooooww down so that I could understand, spell things, and ask some questions. If I was having a hard time, and English is my FIRST language, I KNOW the students were having a hard time. I did learn some things about Cosentine Christmas foods though. I plan to do a whole separate blog about the things I learn about Christmas. So, after I had them slow down, I gathered some information, and I think we set a record for a 40ish slide powerpoint...a total of about 15 minutes...that's right...you read it correctly...be blown away...I was!
So then we went back to the classroom and Lilla left me in the room with the students alone. I told them I am sorry that things were so bad today, but I DO want to have fun with them and make it fun. We then planned a Christmas party for next Tuesday because their school is closed on the last Tuesday before Christmas. So, next week they are bringing games, food, and music. Lilla came back in and got angry at them for something, but I did not understand. They continued to plan and Lilla calmed down. Earlier she told them that she was not going to work at that school anymore because she cannot take it.
After this was all over with, I went to the teacher's room to study. I had taken some of my Italian stuff with me so that I can use my two hours wisely; improving my Italian!! Yay!! I eventually went to the bar to get something to drink and then sat upstairs in the other building to study some. I was trying to mentally prepare for my next class. I also took a picture of my hair for today because I liked it so much!
When I went to Francesca's room the students were no where to be found. A few ran in and out, but then I went to the bathroom. When I came back, Francesca said she had been worried about where I was, but my stuff was there!! So, then she said the students were downstairs in some sort of meeting, so we had to go downstairs. It was in this weird meeting area place. They were apparently talking about alternatives to betting/gambling, which is a really big thing in Italy! The whole thing was weird, but I saw a lot of my students and they all waved and smiled at me! There was music that they all got excited to sing to, and there was a short clip from some film and when the people kissed they all "ooohed"...hmm...not just an American children's thing. At the end there was a song, which may have been the Italian national anthem. A bunch of guys put their arms around each other and started swaying back and forth!
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So, when class was over I took the bus home, talked to Nick, ate lunch, and laid in bed for a while. When Sofia came back from home this week, she brought this chocolate salami thing her mom made, who used to be a chocolate maker, and it looks like this:
The devil was attacking me big time. I was suddenly just wanting to stay in bed and not go anywhere. It was cold, raining, and I just wanted to rest. Why does this matter? Well, I was supposed to go meet the son of the pastor for that church in Castrolibero. However, I got up and went to meet him in Piazza Europa. When I walked up I saw a blue car that I thought might be him, and then when he called my cell, it was him! So, I got in, we greeted each other, with the traditional cheek kisses and all. He had just had a wisdom tooth taken out, well yesterday or something. So, we started driving towards his house. We talked about why I am here, how they ended up here because they are from Argentina, and more. They left because of the Argentine financial crisis, and his dad's family is from here in Cosenza. He said that his parents felt the Lord leading them here and so they started a church here.
When we went in his house, his mom and sister were immediately so warm and welcoming. Francisco speaks English very well, his sister is learning in school, and his mom seems to understand a bit, but does not speak it! However, we spent the whole afternoon/early evening speaking in both English and Italian. It was so beautiful and wonderful. They offered me juice, which I drank, and cake which I did not eat (well, before I left I pinched off a piece and it was AH-MAZING!). We talked about why I am here, why they are here, how they like it here, Italian culture (and differences between Argentine and Italian cultures), the Italian mammone, school, life, church, etc. It was just amazing! They were so very sweet and kind. They all learned Italian here, and so the kids are better at it. They have been here for 10 years now. Francisco is studying to be a computer engineer at the university here in Rende. It was amazing how much I could say in Italian, and the mom's Italian is easy to understand, so I was excited about that! I was just sitting there already thinking about how this was an answer to my prayers...like minded people...IN ITALY!!
So then they took me to the living room to show me that they had ESPN...LIKE REAL ESPN!!! They get some other American stations like FOXNEWS, CNN, etc. I told them about the National Championship and how my mom would be here. They invited us to watch, but I explained that it would be very late (and I dont know that ESPN is showing it). However, at the moment there was a Kansas St. vs. Texas game on, and it was good to see American Football. Roll Tide! They also showed me all of the Christian tv stations they get from around the world: USA, South America, South Africa, India, Russia, etc. Amazed...
Then, Francisco and Sofia (his sister...NOT roommate), took me to his room to listen to worship music. They wanted to see who I knew and watch some videos/listen to some songs. Sofia's voice is GORGEOUS!! Francisco plays the guitar and together they are the "worship team" type thing at the church. Francisco also meets with the youth. We sat there and sang, worshipped, and it was just AH MAZING. I had this moment of, "oh my gosh...is this my life?? This was exactly what I wanted in Italy! I wanted to be with other believers who love the Lord and want their life to reflect that!! I am sitting in Italy worshipping God...holy cow!!!" I was so excited and just filled with thanksgiving!! The church services and music ARE in Italian, but they are shorter songs and he said that I would catch on! They taught me a few verses and such! They said that because Italians express things differently, it sometimes takes the Italians a few times to catch on! When the mom came in and saw us all sitting there singing, and then the song changed into Spanish, but yet I still knew the words, and the people in the video were raising their hands, she said, "la lingua è diversa, ma il culto dello spirito santo è la stessa"!! The language is different, but the worship of the Holy Spirit is the same!!
No truer words have been spoken!! It was such a surreal moment...listening to Kari Jobe, Matthew West, etc. etc. here in Italy with others who love the Lord. I could not stop smiling and thanking God for leading me to these people! He is amazing...He is so good...He is so faithful. Words cannot even do all of this justice. I just kept closing my eyes and enjoying the worship and thanking God...over and over again.
Eventually they had to go so that Francisco could go to the doctor about his mouth; at like 7 pm...strange. It was raining and there was a lot of traffic, but I did not care because we were listening to worship music. Life is so good with God!! When they dropped me off, and even before that, they kept telling me to call them for anything. They said that they would take me shopping or to do anything I needed! They said that they would pick me up in Piazza Europa at 10 am on Sunday for church service at 10:30. They were surprised earlier that I knew which buses brought me to Castrolibero, but they wanted to pick me up! So sweet! So, we said goodbye, and they were off.
I came home, ate dinner, wrote blogs, and just kept thanking God for his faithfulness and provision!!
"Ive found that time can heal most anything
And you just might find who you're supposed to be
I didn't know who I was supposed to be at fifteen"
Fifteen by Taylor Swift
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