Christmas Eve Eve

So, I always love to say, "Merry Christmas Eve Eve", but this year I don't think anyone in Italy appreciates it as much as I do!  However, that is because they focus on Christmas Eve, and they do not even focus on Christmas Day as much as we do!  Nonetheless, "Merry Christmas Eve Eve!!"

This morning started out with the weirdest breakfast because I am trying not to buy too many groceries because I know that I will be leaving soon to go to Rome/Gubbio/Rome.  So, I had an apple...normal; and left over pasta with...wait for it...honey drizzled over it (after it was heated up of course!).  Judge me all you want, but it was actually pretty good!  So, with that, I got dressed and ran to the grocery store to get something...I dont remember what, but it was necessary.    I came home and looked at some things about Reggio (SOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!).   I also checked some emails about some important things I am considering doing (stay tuned in the coming months for details...and if you already know what I am talking about...shut it! ;)  ).

I was already dressed for church, so all I had to do was grab my coat and go!  So, I walked back to Piazza Europa, which is also where my grocery store is, and waited on Francisco to come pick me up!  While I was waiting, I saw this other girl that appeared to be waiting on something, and I had a feeling that she too was waiting on Francisco, but I was afraid to approach her.  However, when Francisco's dad pulled up, we both went for the car!  She got in without noticing that I did too, and then his dad introduced us (in Italian of course).  She is from Cuba, and when he told her that I was from The United States, she immediately shut down, and in Italian said, "I do not speak English!!"  He told her that I understand Italian, and I can speak it (well, you know...as much as I can!).  She barely said a word to me the rest of the day (I'll explain more in a minute).  So, we were off.  She was speaking to him in Italian, and I could follow some of it, but not all.  So, he also gave me the Kari Jobe cd that Francisco made for me, but I forgot to get it from him the other night.  I was so excited to have it, and friend still was not speaking to me.  Even when Francisco's dad tried to include me in the conversation, and I would speak, she would just change the subject and/or not address me at all.  So, I was a little curious about this, but tried to ignore it.

We arrived at church, and Francisco and Sofia came to give me welcoming kisses and such!  They are so sweet; so welcoming.  Some of the other early birds came up and hugged/kissed me as well!  This is how church is supposed to be...this is how we are all supposed to be...welcoming, warm, kind, loving.  I love that here in Italy, I have found this!  What an answered prayer...so thanks to all who were praying with me/for me on this one!  God is good!  So, I sat down to watch them warm up, and then Francisco came down to talk to me for a bit before we got started.  He told me that they wanted to take me to some castle that is about a 2 hour drive from here, but is amazing and totally worth the drive!  Ummmm...YES!!

We also talked about some differences between churches here in Cosenza/Italy.    One thing that I did not realize was that a lot of the Italians that Francisco has met in his 10 years of living here, believe that when he says he is not Catholic, that this means he is Jehovah Witness and/or not a Christian.  So, this actually puts a few things into perspective for me; a few reactions that I have received from some Italians I have met!  I am a little shocked that they are so unaware of other Christians...I know that Italy is a Catholic country, and I know that Southern Italy is less exposed to these things (according to them...not me!!!), but I guess I just assumed that they would understand that being protestant does not make you a non-christian!  Americans are often accused of being ignorant and unaware of others, but I have to say that I have been SHOCKED at some of the assumptions the Italians make/stereotypes they have of other countries/cultures (NOT just Americans).  Please do not misunderstand me here.  I am not trying to get Americans off the hook for being uninformed about other cultures, but rather I am just pointing out that we are not the only ones! 

So, it was about time to start, and even when Graziella (I think is how you spell the mom's name) tried to introduce me to my new Cuban friend (not realizing that we had already "met"), the girl still would not address me!  I was NOT okay with this!  If for no other reason than the fact that we are standing in church, and you know that even if we are not fluent in each other's languages, we are both Christians, and this gives us a link.  Not cool...not cool!

So, the service was great!  I picked up a lot of the songs finally; with the help of the lyrics that Francisco provided me with of course!  It was an AWESOME hour of worship!  Now that I know the words, and looked up a few of the ones I did not know, everything has more meaning and I can sing just as if I were singing in English!  This was the moment when I realized, worship truly is worship, no matter the language!  Is the sentence structure the same? No.  Are the words different for some songs that have been translated from English? Yes.  Do they make as much sense? Yes and no.  Are they still being used to worship an amazing, almighty, loving, wonderful, gracious God?? YES! Therefore, they are the same!  Worship is not about the words anyway; worship is about what you feel in your heart and what you are bringing to the feet of Jesus!  Praise God for worship in all languages...and that I have been able to find meaning in this other language!  Today especially, I was in awe of the fact that I do still struggle to understand some Italian, and some individuals when they speak in Italian, but when I walk into church, I understand about 90-95% of what they are saying.  I think a few things contribute to this: 1. God 2. Exodus 4:11-12 which says, "Then the Lord asked Moses, 'Who makes a person's mouth?  Who decides whether people speak or do not speak hear or do not hear, see or do not see?  Is it not I, the Lord?  Now go! I will instruct you in what to say!'"  3. THe fact that these are not native speakers, thus their Italian is a bit simpler, and clearer to understand because they are not speaking any dialect and such.  The message, given by the mom today, was about how God sent his Son for us.  We read:  John 3:16; Luke 2:10-11; 1 John 5:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, and of course I am using my English Bible for now, but I am going to ask Francisco where I can buy an Italian Bible (not the Catholic one) soon.  The whole time we were in church, the sun was shining brightly outside.  It was beautiful to see!  I was so glad that it was sunny and beautiful because it just helps lift your spirits.

So, when the service was over, a few of us were standing around talking.  We were speaking half in English and half in Italian, with a little bit of Spanish thrown in there!  A lot of the people at this church are from South America.  I know for sure that Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and then Cuba (yes I know that is not South America) are represented, and I am pretty sure that I a missing a few countries.  How awesome is it to be worshiping with people from so many different places, in the common language that we have, and loving every minute of it? So, Cuban friend walked up and heard us speaking a little bit in English, and then immediately walked away.  Well, her loss I suppose!  Another girl that I have seen a bit of was disappointed that I did not speak Spanish, but was very sweet and spoke in Italian with me!  She also wanted a picture with me and some of the others.  Her exact words were, "Vorrei fare una foto con Barbie!!" Guys...I do NOT look like Barbie, and while I suppose it is a compliment, it's not true.  Devorah, from Rome, was right about the fact that we are now the mysterious foreigners (well, she added the word sexy in there...but IIII dont know about that!   So, we took a few pictures, and even took a few with the Christmas tree.  I did not like the picture of me on my camera...so I will share the one they took with theirs. I'm still not crazy about this pic of me, but oh well...I want everyone to see Francisco. 

Francisco, Me, Armando, friend who called me Barbie, girl who would not speak to me

Tree at Church

I did tell them that after my birthday, I would start using Italian only...well, I suppose those are going to be some silent days!  Armando was there today too!  He agreed to go to the castle with us, though he had never heard of it!

So, after that it was time to go home.  Cuban girl, whose name I never really caught, was still not speaking to me, but she got in the car with me...so that was good at least.  So, Francisco and Sofia took us home.  So, starting this morning as I was getting ready to go to church, Francesca (teacher was calling me).  I could not answer immediately, but I tried calling her as I walked to the Piazza.  I had to leave a message, but then, in true Italian fashion, she called me like 6 or 7 times while I was in church!  When I got home, I was able to Skype with Nick while I ate lunch...YAY!! I called Francesca back while he had to go do something, and she was just calling to see if she could come by to bring me a small gift and some treats!  All that phone calling for that...ooh the Italians!  This is a rather consistent thing around here; remember the 35 phone calls from creeper??? Turns out that while that is excessive, they all call multiple times until you answer the phone.  So anyway, I spent about 2 hours total skyping with Nick because he was up really early his time, trying to adjust to Seattle time.  It was fun to see his face while talking; not something we can do here in Italy!

So, knowing that Francesca would be at my apartment around 6:30, and Nick was off to spend time with his family, I decided to head out for a walk on the Corso.  I got dressed, headed out, and walked a slightly different path tonight.  I found this big store that had so many different things.  It had clothing, household items, Christmas decor, make up, etc.  I guess it is the closest I have seen to an all-purpose store such as Wal-Mart, but without the food of course!  I was able to find some Napoletane cards for 1 euro vs. the 4 or 5 euros that some of the tabacchi places were wanting to charge!  So, feeling good about my deal, I headed out to walk some more!  I walked into random stores loking at things I did not need, but it was nice.  I also went down to the river and took some pictures as the sun was setting.

Sunsets are gorgeous anywhere, and they are a work of art created by God, but there is something so special about sunsets in places other than your home; there is something that makes you appreciate them that much more! So, then I started making my way back to my apartment!  I stopped in a few stores, watched some kids playing on the Corso, and then across the street from my apartment, I stopped in this music store that I have never been to!  I found Nick two more things for Christmas! I had to come back for them though because I did not have cash with me!

By this point, I had made my way back soooo slowly that it was just after 6:30 when I ran up the stairs. I had been in my apartment for like 2 minutes when my doorbell rang.  Francesca was here.  I felt bad that my room was a HOT MESS, and the garbage needed to go out, but whatever.  She was so sweet to bring me some homemade goodies (soooooooo yummy)

and a small gift to be opened on Christmas Eve.  She stayed for a little bit to talk, and to tell me all about how to play Bingo in England, which is how she plays it, and how she plays it with the students.  She seemed a little weird about the fact that I let the students teach me how to play Tombola, and that I had not taught them to teach them how to play American Bingo.  First of all, we would not have been able to use Tombola cards for American Bingo, and second of all...this is cultural exchange...I've given them lessons on the U.S., and I wanted this to be their opportunity to share something with me!  So, I was still satisfied with my way.  She also told me that I was coming to her house for Christmas Eve lunch, but that I would have to ride the bus.  She called her son to find out which bus, and which stop!

Once she left, I headed back out with my big Canon camera in hand, and the cash to buy Nick's other gifts.  I did that first, and the sweet guy even gift wrapped it for me!  Then I headed towards the Corso to take pictures of Christmas lights.  I walked down a few different streets, and went in this one store that I have been eyeing for a while now!  It had REALLY nice jewelry and such!  They were serving wine that Nick and I actually bought one day, which made me feel even better about our wine choice.  This store was SOOOOO incredibly crowded.  I looked around for a little bit, and then headed back out to take more pictures.  The Croso was SOO croweded with people, but it was really nice to be out with everyone.  I got a few strange looks for taking pictures, but I do not care!  I wanted to remember everything.  I saw a few of my students as well!  I love seeing familiar faces...again, it makes me feel like I belong here.  I took a TON of pictures, and I will post some here, but all of them will be on facebook for sure!

Tree in Piazza Loreto

Piazza Loreto

Ice skating rink

Some of the words hanging over Corso Mazzini

Tree in Piazza Kennedy

Me

One way to say it...not the way I say it though

The way I learned to say it! 

In a store...writing a letter to Santa

Entrance to my grocery store

I cleaned my room some after this, putting away a bunch of clothes, and cleaned some other things. All of this in anticipation of my mom being here soon!  YAY!!!!!!!! I ate dinner...relaxed...worked on blogs...and cleaned!