Praise the Lord!

Although I have been back in the States for quite some time now, I have kept in touch with some of my students and wanted to share with you that Xin orginally from China, and Salvo from Catania have both been baptized and are attending the Catania church of Christ!

Thank you for all your prayers, and please continue to pray for these two. Pray especially for their families, who are still skeptical and can be discouraging.

Please continue to pray for Lindsay, as she is recovers and prepares to return to Italy in January.
www.lindsaywalle.blogspot.com

Also, Chad is finishing his work and returning to the states, so please pray for his safe trip home.

Arrivederci!

These past 2 weeks have been somewhat of a whirlwind! A lot has happened, and I will try to give a brief summary of the outcome. For a lot of different reasons (that I would be happy to discuss on an individual basis) Lindsay and I decided not to continue working in Catania. After a lot of prayer and discussion with some of the committee members, I made the decision to leave the Avanti Italia program. Everyone, including the church, was very supportive of the decision. We were all sad, but feel that we did the right thing. This decision was extremely difficult. I appreciate all the prayers and encouraging words from those of you I have talked to. Making the decision was hard, but I couldn't be happier to be home.

The church in Catania is made up of an amazing group of people and we love them very much. Please keep Chad in your prayers, as he remains as the only Avanti worker in Catania, as was originally planned. He has taken over all of the students there, which is a big job. He is very loved by the congregation and I know they will continue to take good care of him :)

Also keep Lindsay in your prayers. She has returned to the Bible School in Florence where she is helping with the large number of students and contemplating the possibilities of where she will spend her two years working in Italy.

Spring Cleaning!

The Edwards left today for 2 weeks to visit some churches in Scotland (where they will plan to work after leaving Italy), so Lindsay and I have been in FULL cleaning mode! We straightened, scrubbed, and scraped all morning and it was very refreshing! The happiest members of our household were our two goldfish who are too excited to sit still!

Some cool things:
First, a man that I will call Don came into the church building yesterday afternoon, interested in some English lessons. He and Chad talked for quite a while, and he decided to stay for our mid-week Bible study that night! He talked to several of the members and explained that he is "Catholic by tradition" but that he has recently began searching for a personal relationship with Jesus. Brandon's lesson last night was on the differences between denominations and the church of Christ. (Yes, I understood everything-whoo hoo!) Don agreed with everything that was discussed and said that he will definitely be back on Sunday!

Also, when I walked into the coffee bar today, the waitress handed me exactly what I always order without me having to say a word. Ok, so maybe it's not as cool as the first thing, but it is pretty neat...or just means that I need to quit my coffee addiction that I have developed since moving to Italy.

I will be "out of the office" all next week starting tomorrow. Please do not be offended if I am not able to respond to emails! I hope you all have a wonderful week, and don't forget to wear GREEN on Tuesday!!!

Nomenclature

I have been trying to figure out the best way to tell you things about my students in a way that you can keep up with their stories without knowing their real names. They may not mind if I have them on here, but I just want to be sure. I have decided to assign each of them an alias. When you pray for them, God will know who you are talking about :)

The first student shall be named John Johnson. (haha...I have to remember the names I give them!) John is our most involved student. He started coming for lessons in January. He loves to come everyday, even if he can only make it for a few minutes. When he doesn't have time for a lesson, he just loves to talk and listen to us speak English. He is married to Jane, and has a three year old son named Jimmy who is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen. He is also the one that is leasing Chad's new apartment to him. John found out about our English lessons through a church member that he works with. He has had us over for dinner, and even started attending church functions including Sunday morning worship. He is earnestly seeking to know God. He has come to believe that there is a God, but wants to understand more about Him. His wife is a little more skeptical. His English is limited, so our conversations are always interesting! He has also begun having Bible studies in Italian with one of the members.

Today he told us about spending the afternoon with his parents and in-laws last week. Someone asked him about his new tenant (Chad) and how he knew him. He explained that he met him through the church of Christ in Catania, which led to a 2 hour conversation about religion between all of them. He told us about this conversation and how excited it made him. He said that in 36 years, he had never once talked to his mother about religion until that day. I got chills. How amazing and powerful! He also told us that after they left the singing and pizza night, he and Jane went home and read the Bible. He was able to answer her questions from the studies he has been doing with all of us. This is very exciting and I hope that you will pray for their whole family. Not only is John being affected, but his wife, son, parents, and in-laws are all sharing in his new knowledge of Christ.

Later today, John made a joke in English. He was very proud of himself to have made such progress in the language that he can joke with us now! He and his family have become so special to us.

Another student that comes every day and we feel close to will be called Ann. Ann has been coming for lessons for a little over a year but, until recently, has not been interested in studying the Bible at all. She is a foreign student who lives with her parents. Her family has no belief in God. Ann is very studious and works very hard to make good grades. She asked me last week to explain more about the Bible to her. Of course, I was very excited about this opportunity! Thanks to everyone who sent suggestions about sources to help with a biblical outline. Lindsay and I began talking with her about this today, and I think it went really well. Please keep Ann in your prayers as well.

Beth is also a student who has recently started coming for English lessons. Beth is not very interested in studying the Bible at this point. She usually brings her English homework so that I can help her with it. This has been difficult because she speak almost no English, and my Italian is pretty weak. I am excited for Lindsay to begin studying with her because they will be able to communicate so much better, and hopefully be able to start some Bible lessons, since Lindsay will be able to explain them to her in Italian.

Carl and Carla are two students that have come a few times, but always seem to disappear for a while. They are teenagers, but I don't feel like I have gotten to know much else about them. They are very shy :) I hope to be able to encourage them, and spend more time with them.

Chad, Lindsay, and I have decided to put together a new weekly schedule that works well for the program and for us. We will begin this process once the Edwards leave, and we are settled into our new routine. At that time, we plan to distribute fliers about the English lessons and bring in a more steady stream of students that come at specified times during the day. At the moment, some students come at the same time each day, while others come and go randomly. I think this will benefit both us and our students. During the time that we have at the building when not in a lesson, we will be able to develop lesson plans for each individual student. All of these changes will take place in mid-April and we are very excited!

We Saw the Sea Today...kinda...!

(I started typing this post Tuesay, but am finishing it on Wednesday)

Chad, Lindsay, and I decided to walk to the sea since it appeared to be so close (looking at a map) from the other building, where we were today. We set out with high hopes of finally getting to see the water up close! Upon arriving at the end of the road we were disappointed to find a fence, a lot of grass, something that looked like a gross pond, more grass, and then the sea. So close, yet so far away. Someday.

It was such a beautiful day that we ate our Chinese food outside! The weather was absolutely perfect! This afternoon, Lindsay and I started working on the Bible outline for Xin. I think it's coming along pretty well.

Tonight, we had an amazing turn out for singing. Don and Joyce Shackelford and Shawn and Donna Daggett were all in town visiting. We had a special pizza fellowship to welcome them and it was a lot of fun!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JARED!!!
Woot woot!

We are Marcing!

I hope you all remembered to set your clocks forward on Saturday night! We won't be doing that here for a few more weeks. Now, there is only a 6 hour time difference between us. Aww.

Yesterday was a fun and eventful day. Everyone at church was so excited to see Lindsay! A lot of them know her from her time spent here on campaign in the summer. Brandon, Chad, Lindsay and I went with some of the members of the Catania congregation to visit the congregation in Paterno last night and help them eat the food at their fellowship meal (Agape) following services :)
You can see some pictures of the funny kids in my photobucket.

Also, be sure and check out Lindsay's blog! She has a link to a really fun video about the Italian culture and it is SO true!

This morning we met with our landlord and his wife to discuss the new lease that will begin in April. They are so nice, but they talk so fast that I can't understand a word! Luckily, Lindsay's Italian is great! I will try not to "use" her too much ;)

When we were at the building this morning, Chad walked in with an amazing surprise! He shaved his head! He looks like a different person! I know several of the members are going to be very excited!

Yay for Lindsay!

Lindsay got here last night, and I am SO excited! Now, our team is whole. To welcome her, we had dinner at our apartment last night and had Neil, Etta, Burton, and Daniel Guion over. There were 10 Americans around the table, and that's the most I've seen in 2 months! We had all American food, so it was a nice change for a night. I'll add some pictures to the photobucket album soon. After dinner, all the guys and Lindsay went to play soccer with a bunch of the guys from the congregation (like they do every Friday night) They play higher up on the mountain where it's colder and it snowed on them! They were also able to see lava flowing out of Etna!

Last night, one of my students (who has actually been very disinterested in the Bible) said that she would like for me to explain to her more about the Bible and who all the writers are and what each book is about. This is huge! I am going to need your help, though. If anyone has some type of "Bible Outline" or knows where I can find one online, that would be GREAT! I have found a few, but was wondering if anyone has a really good one that they have found helpful. Please keep this effort in your prayers, as well. I think that God is really working in this young woman's life.

As part of this transition period, I have been working on a new schedule to make sure that all of my time is managed in the best way possible. This includes an hour of Italian study each day. I had a breakthrough at the Thursday night Bible study. I understood everything that was being said! It was amazing! I was so excited!

I can't believe that it's March! Where has the time gone? I miss you all so much, and really appreciate your emails, cards, and most importantly your prayers!

Giulia and Elisa

There are two young ladies from the Catania congregation that are really shining examples, and encouraging to me. They are each happily present every time the doors are open. At worship services, they sing at the top of their lungs, and know every word to the songs by heart. They always make a point to come up and say hello with a big smile, and even a high five!
Giulia and Elisa are both six years old.
"...Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew 8:3-4

This week is flying by like all of the others! All of the English/Bible lessons are continuing to go very well, and I am encouraged by that. Presently, we are in an interesting transition mode as Brandon and Kristin prepare to leave next month, and we are preparing to step in and take over. Although we have taken all the English lessons, there are other aspects to our lives here (such as working with the congregation, starting new programs, taking the apartment) that we are learning how to manage. It's all a part of learning and growing. You really can't help but grow in all kinds of different ways in an experience like this.

Lindsay will be here in 2 days, and I couldn't be more excited! It will be really great to have her here and have our complete team.
Please keep all of us in your prayers as we transition. It's a very exciting, yet crucial time in our work here.

Snowday

Well, I am super jealous of all the snow that most of you are experiencing. Luckies. It's about 60 degrees here today, so I'm pretty sure it's not going to snow. Too bad it had to be on a Saturday, huh students and teachers? Thanks for all of the beautiful pictures you have sent!

Yesterday, Chad and I participated in our first Saturday Distribution. I was not sure what to expect! A lot of members met at the church building in the afternoon and we all folded fliers that told about Jesus and about the church of Christ. Then, we went out into the streets. At first I was nervous that someone was going to throw a flier back in my face, or at least ask me a bunch of questions that I didn't know how to answer in Italian. To my surprise and relief, it ended up being a wonderful evening! We split up into pairs and I had the pleasure of being partnered with an older member named Stefano. I won't even try to spell his last name now. We went to the busiest street in Catania, faced opposite directions, and handed fliers to people walking toward us. After a few minutes, I really got the hang of it. You don't have to be pushy, people just take the fliers when you hold them out! I felt like I was telling every single person that walked by about Jesus. It was great!

Today, Charlotte wore a lovely little blue dress to church. I am sharing this because it was one of the cutest things I have ever seen. It was blue and cream and she had teeny tights to match.

New things!

I decided to change the background of the blog to something a little happier. I know it's not quite spring in Memphis, but maybe this will help you have some springier thoughts :) I know it sure helped my mood!

I have 3 new students! Roberta is a 17 year old girl that came to the building last night. She needed help with an English report that she has to give in class today. She had a really difficult English text to read. I even had trouble understanding it! I think we got it all sorted out, though! I will find out tonight how her presentation went.

There is also a mother and 6 year old son that I have not met yet. They are planning to come on Friday. They live quite a ways out of town, so they will only be coming once or twice a week and staying for at least 2 hours each time. I am excited to meet them!

Chad moved to his new apartment today! Well, his stuff moved but he is still here. I think he is just using us for our internet access. (Just kidding Chad...I know you love us so much that you can't stand to leave us quite yet ;) He is excited about having his own place with his own space. I am excited about getting everything ready for Lindsay who will be here in just over a week! If you haven't checked out her blog, you can see it at
LindsayWalle.blogspot.com
She has been very busy at the Bible School and is doing great!

Lindsay is in Italy!

What a week! Chad and I had a wonderful week in Florence, and are now safely and happily back in Catania!

David and Debbie had invited some previous Avanti workers, who are still in Italy, to come meet, talk, and pray together. We spent most of the day on Thursday with Julie Giordano, Kelly Masini, Sarah Bailey, Katy Cross (who is now working in Milan) and the Woodroofs (David, Debbie, and Jim) It was a very productive get-together. We talked about all kinds of things from Italian culture to the difficulties we may face as missionaries in Italy.

One of the most interesting things to me was something I had not even really thought much about in the time that I have been here. It had to do with the fact that there are so few members of the church of Christ here in Italy, or any non-Catholic faith, for that matter. In the states (especially in the south) we are surrounded by other Christians. Even those that don't believe in God, respect that we have the right to believe (usually). When we are young we attend worship services 3 times a week, we go on retreats, we have VBS, we go to camps...we have plenty of opportunity to be with our Christian friends, without much effort on our part. We have a support system. The kids in America are taught from the time they are young how to be leaders as they get older, so that the church does not die out with the older generation. Here in Italy, most congregations (only one per major city) meet once a week and then go to their homes all over and outside of the towns alone. Even those who want to be more involved have to work 6 days a week and have families to take care of. It's just not feasible to spend a lot of time fellowshipping with other Christians. The children in each congregation are the only Christians they know. I have come to respect even more the Italian Christians because of the effort they must put into being together, and to live out their faith when there are so few of them here.
As an example, there are about 5 million people in Milan, with one church of Christ of around 60 members (which is a large congregation for Italy). One 10 year old boy asked Katy, "Am I the only 10 year old Christian in this whole city?"

Even the problems that we have within our congregations in America are usually taken care of by our Elders, which do not exist yet in the churches here because of the young Christians who are not yet qualified for different reasons. I also realized how much I appreciate our Elders in the states and all they have to do. Thanks, Elders :)
I think everyone benefited from our time together at the Bible School this week. Please keep the churches in Italy and all over the world in your prayers. I know it's not easy to be a Christian anywhere, but there are different types of obstacles everywhere you go and I think it's important to realize that. We have brothers and sisters all over the world with entirely different struggles. I know I have taken for granted how blessed we are in the States.

After our meeting, we went bowling. For anyone who is wondering...yes, I am just as terrible at bowling in Italy as I am in America. The new HUF group had 2 extra tickets to the opera that night, and Chad and I were lucky enough to get to go. Now, I am not exactly an opera-lovin' kinda girl...but it was pretty cool! We saw Pagliacci. It's the one about the crazy clown that kills his wife. Yeah, weird. But it was really interesting to see an actual Italian opera in Italy...for free!

On Friday night Lindsay flew into Florence!!! We were so excited, but poor Lindsay was so tired! We wanted to talk and spend time with her, and she was such a good sport! She has started a blog, and you can follow it by going to LindsayWalle.blogspot.com.
She will be here in Catania on March 6th, and I CAN'T wait!!

Also, you can view the other new Avanti newsletters here.

Today has been absolutely wonderful! We had an ALL day Agape (fellowship meal) after worship services. It is so good to spend time with the Christians here! They are SO much fun, and I love them more everytime I am around them. You can see pictures from today here. There are also pictures of Chad's new apartment, that he will be moving into tomorrow.

Also, Catania's soccer team won today so everyone is happy. All in all, it's been a good day :)

Bella Firenze

It always feels SO good to be back in Florence. It's like a second home. I absolutely love this city.

It has been quite a day! We got up (what I consider to be) very early to head down to the government office building to turn in more paperwork and get finger printed for our Permessi di Soggiorno. (Permission to stay) Upon entering the building, we were each given a number and herded like cattle with hundreds of other immigrants into a large cold room. A very loud, scary looking man called out groups of numbers, about 20 at a time. When our group was called about 30 minutes after arrival, Chad and I got so excited thinking that all the horror stories we had heard about "wait times" from previous victims had merely been urban legends. Alas, as we were standing in our new line, we quickly realized we were there only to receive...another number. I'm sure these amazingly wonderful Italian people have perfectly logical and reasonable explanations for the "systems" that they have. Someday, I would love to find out what those explanations are. By this point, we had our new numbers and were ushered back into the same room we had just exited. My number was B166. I looked up at the board. A32, F868, D120, C521. Hmm...where are the B's? Nowhere to be seen for quite some time. Then, there is was: B114. Five hours later (not joking) B165 popped up on the board, and I was ecstatic! Finally! I jumped up from my seat to prepare for my turn. B166-window 6. I ran. Someone else was already standing in window 6. "No," I thought, "No." I waited patiently. Eventually, I was waived to another line. I took care of business in window 5, and was given a sheet of paper, explaining that we are due back in Florence in June to go through this whole process again. At least this time we will actually RECEIVE our permessos that make us legal for this year! Then, we have to renew them in September for next year...and you guessed it...do this ALL over again :)

Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day! Thank you SOO much to EVERYone who sent me a Valentine's card!! You all have no idea how much it meant to me! I was SO excited!! I don't want to embarrass him...but I can't go without saying something about the BEAUTIFUL roses and Valentine's package I got from Jared :) I was completely shocked! I had no idea that sending roses here was even a possibility! Even though I was so far away, I felt the love from each one of you from across the ocean and I am so very thankful to all of you who thought of me!
I love you all! You made my day!

Last night, Chad and I had dinner with one of our students and his family in their home! He is the one with the 3 year old son. I have never seen so much energy in a single child! He is so happy, and so much fun! Their whole family is really wonderful to be around. We talked for hours and ate pizza. It was interesting because they speak very little English, and well...you know about our Italian. The best part was that they were at worship services this morning!

Tomorrow, Chad and I will fly to Florence to take care of some paperwork to keep us legal :) We will be there for one week. I am very excited about being back in Florence and getting to spend time with some of my friends from there. On Friday, Lindsay Walle will be flying in to start her work here! We are all VERY excited about Lindsay's arrival! She will spend two weeks in Florence before flying to Catania. Please pray for ALL of our safe travels (including my Dad and Steve Grinder who are in Costa Rica with the Rojas family. I'm sorry if there is anyone else who is with them that I don't know about!)

New Students!

I have two new students; a teenage boy and girl from China. They are really sweet! The high school students I have met here amaze me! They all know at least 2 languages. These two students are actually from a town near where Xin is from. It's interesting how both Brandon and Chad's experiences teaching in China are helpful here in Catania!
Xin's English has improved so much! She is really excited about it and constantly tells us how much she appreciates what we do. Remember to keep Xin in your prayers. She is very anxious about college and her future.

Our schedule is set up with hours at the church building so that students can stop by anytime we are there, even if they don't have a scheduled lesson. Because of this, many of our students have met each other and are even beginning to form friendships by spending time together. This is really exciting! The more comfortable they feel, the more interested they are in staying for activities with members from the church.

Chad's New Place

One of our students helped get Chad an apartment!! It's a great place for a really good price, not too far from here. When Lindsay arrives in March, Chad will move to his new home. Then, when Brandon and Kristen leave in April, this apartment will be ours. I just met the owner of this apartment a few minutes ago. He seems very nice. He will be coming in March with all of the paperwork work for Lindsay and I to sign. It's hard to believe that it is almost time for the Edwards to leave!

This afternoon's lessons went great! First of all, while I was with Xin, the other Chinese women from the restaurant (that I mentioned before) came in. They will be back for their first lesson tomorrow! Xin was able to speak with them in Chinese and let me know what they were saying! Then, I was having an English lesson with a woman who is a member of the church in Catania. One of our other students, who is not a member stopped by and wanted to study. It was great to have a non Christian Italian student with 2 Christians of 2 different languages. (Does that make sense?) My 2 students were able to help each other. The non Christian knew more English, so he was able to read and explain to her the text in Italian, and the Christian woman was then able to explain to him the spiritual aspect of what they were reading. I was just kinda there. Just kidding. I was able to help them with the words they didn't know and their pronunciation. It was such a great experience! My hope is that more of the Italian Christians could come be a part of our lessons to help our non Christian students really understand what they are reading from the Bible, because so many things get lost in translation.

Questa Mia Candelina

Brandon brought us a wonderful lesson on Sunday morning. At least, I think it was wonderful. It was all in Italian. He told the rest of us English speakers what it was about afterwards. I can usually understand Brandon's Italian better because of his accent, but it's really hard to listen to speakers talk so quickly. We went to Enna again on Sunday night. This time we went with Aldo and Margherita, another couple from the Catania congregation. They are the parents of Deborah and Rachelle (if you remember from the pictures)

Everyone's classes went really well today, and they all lasted right into singing time! I never get tired of hearing the Italians sing at the top of their lungs with their whole hearts!

Now, we are enjoying a "family night" of spaghetti and Indiana Jones. This is Charlotte's favorite movie. She loves Shia Labeouf.

It's Spring!

It is an absolutely beautiful day here in Catania! The sun is shining, the temperature is perfect, and it's SATURDAY! This morning was the first time that it was warm enough to eat breakfast outside on the terrace. It was perfect!

This has been a very busy week! We have had a lot of English/Bible lessons, our Tuesday night singing and prayer meeting, and our mid-week Bible study (that actually got moved to Friday because of the congestion in the streets that the Festival of St. Agatha caused). We were able to see a lot of fireworks from our apartment. After dark, there was a firework show almost every hour ALL night long for 3 days!! There are 2 videos in my photobucket that you can watch. Later today, we are meeting with the rest of the members at the church building to clean it, followed by a downtown distribution of fliers for the English/Bible lessons.

Here at the house, Charlotte has begun eating cereal and she is getting two tiny teeth! She isn't very excited about the tooth part, but she is handling it like a little lady. Xin brought us all some Chinese tea to try, and a movie to watch this weekend. The tiny bonsai tree that I planted named Alan finally sprouted! He is just a teeny tiny little thing now, but his picture will soon be on photobucket, so stay tuned! I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend. Spring is here in Catania, so hang in there and it will be in Memphis before long!

The Great Redeemer

When we got home last night, I made vegan cupcakes to celebrate my 3rd weekiversary of being in Catania! They seemed to be a big hit! You can see their pictures here. Some of them got a little out of hand in the oven. I had forgotten that they grow in there. Thanks for the recipe, Mom!
You can also see pictures from the Sicilian country side and St. Agatha lights there. Sorry for the poor quality. I was in a moving car.

Well, the Festival of St. Agatha has arrived! The whole city looks like a fairground, complete with cotton candy and balloons! It's very crowded and noisy...especially at night. The traffic is crazy. It is important for you to understand that the traffic here is crazy anyway. Most of the intersections don't have traffic lights OR stop signs. People just go. You think I'm kidding. People literally just pull out into the intersection and honk at each other until someone goes. This happens at each intersection all day long. So, you can only imagine how crazy it is now.

Once a week, we bring Chinese take out home for lunch. While we are waiting for our food, Brandon and Chad talk to the ladies at the restaurant about their experiences in China. They are very friendly and have gotten used to us coming in. Today, one of the ladies said that she is going to send some of her friends to us for English lessons!!

The English songbooks and Xin's Bible arrived today! Thank you to EVERYone who was involved in getting those items here! Xin was SO excited, and very appreciative. We used the English songbooks tonight in our singing service. We would sing a song in Italian, followed by the same song in English. It went really well! It is neat to hear the Italians all singing in English. My favorite was "The Great Redeemer." It was really cute :)
The songbooks will be delivered to Paterno on Sunday.

Etta's family has arrived in Catania! She brought them to the singing night. Her two sons are 15 and 8.

By the way, there is a Friday the 13th this month AND next month.
So...get ready.

Artichokes

Yesterday, Chad and I had the wonderful opportunity to accompany Stefano and Rina Spina to the church in the small town of Enna, which consists of one older couple. On the way there, we were able to enjoy the beautiful Sicilian countryside! I have never been to New Zealand, but it looked a lot like the pictures I have seen, complete with an overwhelming number of sheep. When we arrived at the apartment of the Christian couple in Enna, we worshipped and had a meal. It is amazing how well you feel as if you know someone after having worshipped and eaten together in their home...even when they speak a different language!

When we sat down to eat, there were two fresh artichokes on my plate. As I had never seen an artichoke served in this way, I was unsure how to go about eating it. (For those of you who are accustomed to seeing an artichoke with its leaves, please don't judge me) So I cut into it, took a big bite, and started chewing. And chewing. Ten minutes later, when I was still chewing, I decided that I must have done something wrong. As I continued to chew the impossible piece of steel artichoke, I began looking for a way out the dilemma that I had gotten myself into. I didn't want to appear rude, ungrateful, or just plain stupid. I sneakily put a napkin up to my face to "wipe my mouth," quickly spit out the unchewable mass, and slid the entire napkin into my pocket. Yes, my pocket. Classic. What in the world was I supposed to do? And now all I could think about was "How am I going to finish the rest of the food on my plate??" As I began to cut into the artichoke again, I got caught. Thank goodness. "Kensey, no no! We eat this with our hands!" Rina turned over my artichoke and pulled off one leaf and showed me that the only edible part was a tiny bit at the end of each leaf. After all the leaves have been nibbled on, only the center is left. Thus the artichoke heart. It was delicious.
Soon after that, I learned the proper way to eat an orange.
I told them all that I had learned so much, and everyone had a laugh...at my expense. It was a really enjoyable night nonetheless. I have learned to accept being a spectacle here.
If you do something wrong in Italy, the Italians will happily correct you instead of sitting silently, staring, and then laughing. For this, I am thankful.

Chad and I spent this morning with our student who has the 3 year old son. (You may have noticed that I have not put his name...I just think he would prefer that at this time) He is such a joy to be around, and always excited to learn. He teaches us a lot, too. This morning, we learned that it is a tradition in Catania for a baby not to have its nails clipped until it is one month old. At that time, it is given paper money to hold in one hand, while it's other hand is manicured. Babies are traditionally not to have their hair cut until they are one year old...but some mothers cut their babies hair in secret from their mother-in-laws :)
Also, instead of a tooth fairy, a mouse brings the children money in exchange for the teeth they have lost!

St. Agatha

This morning, I woke up to the sound of a lively parade in the streets below. It was just a practice run. One of many practice runs, in fact, that the Catanians (or Catanese, as they call themselves) have been participating in recently in preparation for the Festival of St. Agatha. I have been told that I have "no idea" what I'm in for! Apparently, St. Agatha is the patron saint of Catania, and her festival goes on for several days with music, fireworks, and so many people wearing all white that it is impossible to drive through the streets (usually around 1 million). Good thing we walk everywhere! Men take turns dragging the several ton silver covered carriage that holds her casket through the hilly streets non-stop for three days. There is even a specific time for the mayor to pay homage to the saint. The festival ends on Feb. 5, which is also the Catanian New Year. People decorate their houses, and kiosks fill the streets. The most disturbing part for me is the roasting, selling, and eating of horse meat. This, however, does not only happen during this festival. Eating horse meat is very common in Catania...for some people. No, thank you.
I added a couple of pictures to show one of the practice parades.

From our window we just saw an amazing display of fireworks. It's hard to believe that this is going to continue all week long!

We had been invited to go to dinner at the house of one of our students tonight, but his son is sick. (The same one that came and practiced his colors with puzzles the other night) Please keep him in your prayers. We have a stomach thing going around, as I have heard that you all do as well.
I will be praying for you all, too :)