TO REGGIO!!!!

Today is (was) the day I go (went) to Reggio Emilia!  Reggio Emilia is a dream come true for me!  Want to know why?  Well, I will do my best to explain, but you can also look here or here  or here for additional information!

The morning started pretty early.  I got up, got dressed, ate some breakfast, got the last of my stuff together, and then went downstairs to wait on Francisco.  Thankfully I had asked Francisco to take me to the train station, despite the early hour on a Saturday morning.  You'll see why this was so important, in just a few minutes.  Anyway, so Francisco came and we went to the station.  When we walked in, I looked up at the board and asked Francisco what, "sopresso" meant.  He couldn't believe it...and we went to search for the train...and sure enough, it had been CANCELLED!!  My heart immediately sank to my feet!  The guy in the ticket booth told us that I could take the next train, which was at 8:25 to Paola.  Umm...so the train I was supposed to take from Paola to Naples leaves Paola at 8:26, which means...that doesn't work!  We searched around to see if we could find someone to tell us if there truly was not a train, and the guy told Francisco that they tried to start the train earlier, but when it didn't work, they just cancelled it all together.  The guy in the ticket booth was of NO help at all.  Francisco looked at me and said, "come on...I'll drive you to Paola!"  I was so grateful already to have him there because I would NOT have known what to do, and my Italian definitely is NOT good enough for this kind of thing!

So, we went to the car to leave.  He still had to go by his house and get his sister and take her to school!  I was getting really nervous, but he had to take her.  We did drop her off a little farther away than she probably would have liked, but we were PUSHING IT to get to Paola.  Apparently it is only like a 20 minute drive, but we had like 28 minutes to get there at this point.  So, we dropped Sophia off, and headed to Paola.  To get to Paola from Cosenza by car, you have to go through the mountains.  Of course, as soon as we got out of the city and on our way, we got stuck behind a snow truck.  Really guys...and he would NOT get out of the way!  We finally got to go around him, and we were getting close to Paola, but then got stuck behind a car.

**From the moment we left the station in Cosenza, I was a bit nervous, but I just kept praying.  I knew that God was with me, and He works all things for my good.  I knew I just had to stay calm and trust Him.  This was easier in some moments, and panic would take over in others.**

We had to stop and roll down the window to ask directions to the station a few times once we got into Paola (thank you for Paola for being one of the few Italian cities I have ever been to that does not have the train station clearly marked by signs along the way!!).  This was a slightly scary car ride for me by the way!  I was nervous the whole time and we definitely prayed for safe travels, but the speed at which we traveled made me a bit nervous.  WHen we pulled up in front of the station, I grabbed my small bags, and ran in while Francisco parked.  I knew as soon as I got inside and the departures board was already at like 8:32ish, that I had missed the train.  Just to be sure, I ran to the ticket window and Francisco ran into me and urged me to go to the tracks.  I told him that it had already left, and we confirmed that with the ticket lady!  OKay, a bit of panic set in here.  If I had missed this train, how would I get to Naples?  How would I get to Reggio?  Would it cost me a fortune to fix this?? I had no idea, but what I did know was that I was so excited to have Francisco there with me to speak Italian for me!  So, Francisco started dealing with the ticket lady for me!  He was beginning to "argue" with her in Italian when I realized that she was saying there was nothing she could do! My tears, as I was crying on the phone to Nick did no good!  She was insistent that there was NOTHING she could do!  Basically this lady kept saying that it was NOT her job to fix this or to help me!  Of course it isn't...why would you want to help me!  She said something about it being a special offer, and she just acted annoyed in general.  She was also annoyed that I had already purchased my return trips...umm...LADY....you are living in Southern Italy, you should know better than I do that the trains sell out and there aren't THAT MANY trains to the South!  Get over yourself and help me!  Alas, she would not!  Her solution was that we had to talk to the conductor of the next train to Naples, and see if he would let me go to Naples and get the problem fixed there!

So, we went to wait on the platform...Francisco made me speak in Italian some, which is good, but I was just so frazzled that my Italian was worse than normal!  He did talk to one of the capo trenos who said to go tell her to change it.  He could not come with us, and so Francisco said that we would win "round 2".  Alas, we did NOT win!  She was even more annoyed that we persisted.  So, when "my" train finally came, Francisco approached the train guys, and they were SO excited that I was American, that they shuffled me to the front of the train, and seemed so joyous that I was American.  So, I had the whole first class car to myself!  I can handle that! Francisco helped me get my stuff on the train, and I was so grateful; not to mention, that ridiculously heavy suitcase did not have to be handled by ME yet, so this was a blessing as well!   Francisco left me on the train, and waited until it left!  I am so grateful for people like him in my Italian life!  He is so kind, and I am so so so so so so incredibly grateful that God provided me with the forethought to ask Francisco to take me to the train station!  Without Francisco, this morning would have been DISASTROUS!!

The train ride was good!  As I looked out the window and saw the gorgeous blue water that was unbelievably gorgeous today, I began thanking God for this beautiful scenery!

God also took this time to remind me that I must be thankful in all situations; He reminded me that He is in control, and nothing touches me that does not pass through his hands.  One of the train conductor guys kept coming up and speaking to me, and I was really excited about the ease with which I spoke Italian to him.  I was able to speak at a decent speed as well!  This was a major success for me, and therefore I was thanking God yet again for how incredible He is.  This guy talked to me about my phone charger, about learning English, etc.  He wanted to know if it was difficult to learn English, and then he had me teach him how to say, "I am speaking with you" in English!  It made for some interesting time on the train, and I was really excited about how well I was doing in Italian.

 
I eventually put in my Chris Tomlin cd that Francisco gave me, and started worshiping while I wrote blogs.

When we made it to Naples, I found the ticket office, and they were INCREDIBLE.  The first guy was very kind about my Italian, and I could tell that he understood me, but asked if I wanted to do it in English.  So, he gave me to an English speaker, who then gave me to a "better" English speaker!  This was a lady, and she said that she could fix this with NO problem, and NO charge!!! yay!!! So, I now officially LOVE the people in the TrenItalia office in Naples.  SO then I ran to the "honeymoon" spot and got some fruit, and I loved the little fork that came with it!

So then my momma called me as I was walking to the train, and I talked to her for a little bit!!  I found my seat, and then changed seats because these other guys were "together" but not next to each other, and the trip was good! We stopped in Florence, and I wanted to get off the train soooo badly!  I could see the top of the Duomo, and I so desperately wanted to go wander the streets of Florence.  There are days that I do  miss living in Florence instead of being in Cosenza.  However, I will be there in a few weeks! So, I said "ciao Duomo" from afar, and then we were on our way!

 

I watched Sweet Home Alabama, which I LOVED as usual...then I took a short nap...Nick was asleep at home as well...then I did get to talk to him before I got to Bologna.  In Bologna I just had to walk across the track to get to my train!  THis was a blessing because I still had not really had to lift that heavy suitcase too much .  I was talking to Nick, but the train was so loud that we hung up!

I made it to Reggio Emilia, and I fell in love with the city within the first 5 minutes as I rode in the cab!  The cab driver was not nice though.  He insulted my Italian by telling me, in Italian, that I needed to be taking Italian lessons instead of teaching English!  UGHH...JERK!! So, I got to the hotel, which was right in the city center.  I checked in, and the guy took me to my building because I was actually staying in the annex area.  It was all really nice!  I put all of my stuff down and headed out to find something to eat.  This was not easy because things were closing, and I did not want like a sit down meal!  I saw some nice store, and I was becoming REALLY excited to explore the town some more the next day before the conference started! The place I found to eat was about to close, and the sandwiches looked...well, not so great!  So, I asked the guy if he could make me a sandwich using brasaola, arugula, tomatoes, and mozzarella!  He said yes, and I had a wonderful dinner! I ate half of the sandwich, and took the other half back with me!  I ate, took a shower, did Bible study, and then went to bed! 


Here are a few of the things I saw tonight:

Duomo

Theatre at night