Reflecting

Well, it has been quite a while since I spent a wonderfully adventurous summer in Italia.  I think about my summer in that beautiful country every day.  I miss it every day.  I feel the urge to do something crazy awesome like that again.  However, graduate school is crazy enough for now. :)

A little update on big "life" stuff - I have officially been accepted into the Special Education graduate program at Oklahoma State University.  I am staying because it is a 4+1 program, so I will be graduating in December of 2014 with both my undergraduate and graduate degrees!  It is all very scary and exciting.  I'm glad to not be done with school yet (yes, I'm weird - I know).  I love school.  Guess it's a good thing that I'm going to be a teacher then...

Another exciting adventure for this summer - I am going to be a nanny for a family here in Stillwater!  I have signed a lease for an apartment and will be working all day Monday-Friday from May until August.  I am so excited to be a nanny again - it will be a very different experience however.  Stillwater isn't exactly Italia.  But I am excited to spend the summer with two awesome kids going to the library, the pool, the movies, playing all over Stillwater, and just having a good time.  Hopefully I will think to post about my experience and how it maybe differs from last summer.

Last summer.  What a summer.  It seems like yesterday, and yet it seems so long ago....it's weird.  I remember riding my bike along the rode and picking the Gioele up from school.  I remember playing football with him until Elia got home - as well as with a few of the neighbor boys.  I remember them laughing at me when I was trying to understand what they were saying.  Unfortunately, I still remember the sting of the four sunburns I got that summer.  I think about our trips out on the boat - and how we had the best meals out there that consisted of wine, bread, cheese and salami.  I crave Rosanna's rice salad every single day!  I am so scared to try and replicate it, especially without the delicious Italian olive oil.  I think fondly back on our dinner's with Rosanna's parents - and how they were so gracious to me, even going so far as to never cook seafood when they knew that I was coming over.

One of the things I miss the most is the excitement of going on family outings on the weekend.  I looked forward to these nights so much I would go - even if they gave me the night off.  It was so different than America and so exciting.  The food was too good to convey, the environment was alive and exciting, the company I was lucky enough to be surrounded by were gracious and kind.  The nights we went to Rosanna's and the boys' musical performances were the most fun!

Reminiscing on my every day life in Venturina makes me a little sad.  I miss it.  I recently looked up a commercial that always come on when I was there - one that the boys and I all loved.  I found this commercial on YouTube and it made my day when I heard the familiar tune.

Anyway, that was just some stuff that I've been thinking about lately.  I just feel like I need to write out my reminiscing - I really don't want to forget anything about that trip.  It truly was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

My two little studs.

AMERICA!

Tomorrow is the big day!  I am leaving this beautiful country to go back to my own country.  The emotions I'm feeling are confusing and make me kind of tired.  I have had one of the best summer's ever, but it's also been the hardest.  I have learned so much about myself, about Italy, the people here, family life in another culture, how hard English is, how hard Italian is, and lots about patience.  Those are just a few things that come to my mind...but I know that I will take away so much more than that.  I'm looking forward to my trip home and some time at home to just reflect on everything that I have gone through the last two and a half months.  I sit here, trying to think of everything, and it is so overwhelming.

It's been hard saying goodbye to my new friends and the people here.  Tonight I was playing one last football game with the boys and other neighborhood kids and I got a little emotional.  The kids here are so fun and quite funny.  I will miss how they always want me to play goalie because I am terrible at it (they like to see me try), and I will also miss their excitement when I make a goal (this did, in fact, happen often).  All of this to say that I will miss Italy a lot.  However, I miss my family even more and I cannot wait to see all of them!  The thought of getting to see them tomorrow makes me so happy!

Alas, I am very tired and I have a long day ahead of me...so that is all for tonight.  I'm sorry this is so short, but I know you all understand.  I will post a few pictures I've taken recently for you all!
Please pray for my journey tomorrow!  I will be heading out at 7am tomorrow, taking a train to Pisa Airport, then to London, Chicago, and then HOME! :)  Please pray for safety, sleep, and that I don't worry about it - everything will go smoothly!

Thank you so much for reading and praying!  It means so much to me!
Ciao!
Maddy

Feeding the fish at the park.

Gioele being silly.

Me and my friend Rachele at the Calidario.

Rachele's sister Veronica.

The beautiful Calidario!

Calidario.

Coming to a Close

Well friends, my time here is quickly coming to an end.  It's crazy how fast the time has gone, and yet how it feels like I've been here an eternity.  Funny how time does that...
But next week is my last full week here in Italy, I leave to head home on the 25th.  I will try and post one more time before I leave.

Well, things have been pretty busy around here - English lessons, card games, hours upon hours at the beach, dinner parties, etc.  It's been a great couple of weeks!  I taught the boys how to play the card game gin and they love it!  It's actually quite the challenge trying to win, those boys can play a mean game of cards.
For the most part we have been keeping in our routine during the week of lessons and cards in the morning, rest time after lunch, and then the beach from 4 until about 7 every day.  It's a great routine that I am truly loving! :)  It's officially the weekend now though, and those are always full of surprises!  I will only have one more weekend after this one, and that is so crazy!

I will give you a quick update on what I've been up to since my last post.  You pretty much know how my weekdays have been - as explained above.  Last weekend, however, was very fun!  Friday we didn't really do much, but Saturday we went to the beach all afternoon and then went to Cecina with another family for dinner.  It was so fun!  We ate at this really cool restaurant right off of the town center and had pizza.  We then went walking around the shops while eating some gelato.  There were these two guys playing jazz music on their guitars - very talented!  So, of course, we stopped and danced for a while.  It was so fun!  The boys were going crazy with flips and (attempted) break dancing - I laughed so hard!  We were most definitely the only ones dancing, but we made a party of it!  After more walking around and laughing, we headed home and to bed.  Something that still blows my mind is how late everything is here - we didn't eat until almost 10pm and so didn't end up heading home until after midnight.  I was stunned by how many little children were up and about that late!  I was so tired...I felt old!  :)

So on Sunday the family headed off on the boat - but I stayed home for some much needed alone time.  I slept in a little bit and then headed to my friend, Rachele's house.  She is younger than me, but is excellent at speaking English.  She is such a sweet girl and has lots of enthusiasm for English!  She called me on my phone just so she could speak English on the phone for the very first time, it was so funny!  Anyway, her wonderful mother made us a delicious lunch and we had great conversation (with Rachele and her dad translating everything to her sister and mother).  After lunch they showed me around their house and property (they have two apartments that they rent out - they were gorgeous!) and then we watched a movie (in English!).  It was the perfect afternoon - very restful.  We then headed to the Calidario to swim in the pool.  I am always in awe of how generous and welcoming these people are...they do so much to make me feel welcome.  After swimming and talking the WHOLE time (which was not something I'm used to), we ate dinner and then headed home.  I was only home long enough to shower and get ready and then Marianna picked me up to go out for the night.  It was a nice night - a bit warm though (I think I might die from heat stroke when I get back to Oklahoma!).  We just walked around San Vincenzo and talked.  It was a nice relaxing night.  Good weekend overall! :)

I wanted to share something really exciting with you all!  I'm not sure if I have shared this, but for the last month I've been doing an online study of Hebrews through my church in Stillwater (Countryside).  It's been so so cool to really dive deep into scripture, study it, and figure out what it means.  Studying chapters 5 and 6 have been really neat - about how we need to strive towards maturity in our faith.  He said some signs that we are maturing are that we are able to discern (i.e. know the difference between right and wrong), able to take in solid food (ready for deeper knowledge of the Bible), as well as have the ability and willingness to teach others/show them the Truth.  I definitely agree that all of these things are signs of maturity - but the one that stuck out to me was sticking with "solid food".  I love that analogy - and not just because NLR had awesome green shirts with Solid Food written on the front.  The writer is telling these people (the Jewish believers who had turned away from Jesus and back to the Mosaic Law) that they have been taking backward steps in their faith.  He says that since they are not growing and learning more about the Lord, they are going backwards - that they now need to review the elementary truths.  Honestly, I was pretty judgmental of these people at first...how could they go back to what they knew after they had known Jesus?  But then I realized that we do the same thing all the time!  By not growing in our faith - we are also taking backward steps.  If I don't continue to get into His Word regularly and seek out His Truth in my life, I will start to go backwards too.  And since these people had not been learning and listening to the Lord, they had to learn the basics all over again...just like we have to relearn how to spend time with Him, how to read the Bible, how to pray, etc. after a "hiatus" from our faith.  I don't know about you guys - but I no longer want to have to relearn these things.  I want to go on to solid food and really grow and learn more about the Bible and the truths everywhere in that precious gift.  I am so excited!  The Lord has blessed me with a great desire to read His Word and really delve deep into the Truth that sets us all free!  It has really blown my mind how much knowledge and information is in the Bible, sometimes it can be overwhelming.  But I know that the Lord is with me and will help me through it all.  I urge all of you to not take backward steps - but to keep enjoying solid food!  Sorry this is so long - it's just something I've been thinking about a lot! :)

I also wanted to thank all of you for your prayers and support throughout this summer.  It's meant so much to me - I've loved all of the emails, comments, etc.  The Lord has blessed me so much with the most wonderful support system I could ask for.  No pictures or videos this time - but maybe next time!  Love you all!

Maddy

First 4th of July Abroad!

Well, it's weird not being in America on this fine Independence Day.  I've always done the whole family and fireworks thing...usually at New Life Ranch with all of the wonderful staff and family campers, which makes it even more fun.  But this year - alas - I am on my own in celebrating the birthday of my country.  I celebrated by singing God Bless America all day long....and that's about it!  I didn't even really have anything American to wear - the old red, white, and blue I mean.  I tried to plan my wardrobe to not look so American while I was over here (did NOT work out well - they are way too stylish over here), so I had to settle with annoying the boys with my own renditions of every USA song I know.  It's been great.

Okay, I will be honest with you all - I've had a really tough week.  The main thing that has been so hard on me is learning how to handle behavior problems with the boys.  I will say it again - the culture is so very different here.  What is acceptable here is different than what is acceptable back home.  It's just been really hard for me to deal with some of these differences in how things and situations are handled.  I've been getting so frustrated lately and I hate that.  I don't want to be mad or frustrated - especially at the boys.  Please continue to pray for me and that the Lord would continue to bless me with patience and endurance to finish strong.  


I've also been wanting to go home so badly - which has made everything a tad bit harder.  I've never really been away from home for more than a month before - and I'm coming up on almost two months since I've seen my family.  I miss them desperately.  I think it just really hit me last week how long I've been gone and how much I take them for granted sometimes.  My family is so so great, you guys.  I am seriously the luckiest girl in the whole world!  My have the best parents, the coolest siblings, the most loving grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  I just feel so blessed.  


Okay, so this will be somewhat brief - I am pretty exhausted tonight!  But this past weekend was another grand adventure!  I was able to go out with the family and we all slept on the boat!  It was so so much fun.  We went out to an island called Capraia (NOT Capri - google it!) on Saturday and had dinner on the island. It was so fun - we got pizza and then hung out at this little bar and Gioele and I danced the night away!  Sleeping on the boat was something I was a tad nervous about - but it was not bad at all!  Waking up on the sea was one of the coolest things ever.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  We then went to a beautiful little area off the island to swim and stayed there all day and had lunch on the boat.  I will add pictures below!  It was just a beautiful place - very special day!  The last few days we've just been going to the beach and Calidario to swim in the natural hot springs.


It's been a hard week - but today was a good day.  I am holding on to that.  Plus, I am going home in three weeks from today!  Can you believe it?!  Time has definitely flown by this summer, but I am starting to feel ready for school again.  I can't wait to get back!  Anyway, I think that is all for now, I am ready for bed.  But here are some pictures of our trip to Capraia!  Enjoy!
Buono notte!
Maddy

The port where we stayed the night.

My boys!

Where we spent our day.

Swimming with Gio!

The rocks were huge!

Try to find the family.

He's precious

He saw one jellyfish and never left the boat again. haha

Me and the boys

The family!

The islands around here remind me of Jurassic Park!

4 More Weeks in Italy

Can you believe that I only have four more weeks in this beautiful place?!  This summer has gone by at a supersonic speed! I'll be sad to leave this place and these people, but I am so excited to go home!  I miss my family!  :)

For the last couple of weeks Elia and I have been home alone until Gioele gets back in the afternoon.  It's been good...and challenging.  I take Gioele to school, then Elia and I have breakfast.  I have my quiet time after everything is cleaned up and then we hang out/play for a bit.  We do an english lesson late morning and that is a trying time for me.  It isn't Elia's favorite thing in the world...meaning he often fights it and wants to do other things.  So it's a good thing I have my quiet time before - I need it to make it through the lesson!  But then after the lesson we play for a bit and then have lunch.  By the time lunch is over and everything is cleaned up, we are both tired and are happy to take it easy.  After picking Gioele up from school, we usually have time to play cards for a bit or watch TV (it's too hot to play outside now), before we leave for swim lessons.  It's a nice hour of sitting outside and reading my book.  :)  But we are now done with swim lessons!  By the time we get home, it is close to dinner time.  This is the last week of this routine because Rosanna will be done with work and Gioele will be done with school.  I am excited to see what next week brings and the change in schedules.  My days will definitely change drastically.  I am excited for the change, I get kind of bored with repetition, so the change is most welcome!  Plus I am excited to go to the beach more!  I am pretty sure I've never been this tan in my life, and I still have a month of the beach!  My own parents probably won't even recognize me!  ;)


So that is my daily goings on during the week.  The weekend is always different.  I love the weekends!  They are so exciting!  Friday night was Gioele's school dinner.  We don't do this in the States, apparently everyone does it here...but the whole class (and teachers) get together right before school gets out and they all have dinner together.  It's so fun!  The kids loved it and the parents did as well.  We went to a pizzeria right on the beach, it was gorgeous!  I took a few pictures, I will add them at the end.


On Saturday night, I went out with my friend Marianna and we had a great time.  We met up with two of her friends, one of which, she told me, is a famous Italian athlete!  She plays sand tennis, and is very good!  We wanted to just have a laid back night and have dinner, so we went to this little place that was right on the beach in San Vincenzo (google it!  It's gorgeous!).  It was definitely a local place, we practically drove through the woods to get to it, and you would not be able to find it unless you knew where you were going.  It was so fun!  We stayed there for hours.  The guys who ran the place were very nice and the service was excellent.  We ended up staying late and all of the workers ended up coming and sitting with us and bringing us more and more food.  We each ordered only a pizza and a drink and ended up with appetizers, 5 pizzas, a dessert pizza, bowls of fruit, and dancing lessons!  Some of the guys even knew a little bit of english!  So they all tried to show me everything that they could say, it was really funny.  Overall, it was a fun night!


Sunday was another day at the beach!  Marianna took me so that we could see our famous sand tennis friend play a match!  It was a very nice and relaxing afternoon!  On Sunday night we went to Daniele's family for a big dinner and to watch the UK/Italy fooball game (match?).  It was at the Calidario, which is owned by his cousins.  It was really funny, because before I came here, I googled Venturina.  The Calidario was the main thing that came up, with it's natural spring and fancy restaurant.  So imagine my surprise when we got there and I saw what used to be the image I pictured when I thought of Venturina.  I was even more surprised to learn that his family had built and owned the beautiful place!  It was a really fun night, which started out with the owner, discovering that there was an American in his restaurant (me) and wanting to trick his father (the builder) into thinking that I was his niece from America!  I had no idea what was going on, my only job was to say "zio" when I saw him (zio is the Italian word for uncle).  It was a pretty funny beginning to a great night!  I even met a young girl who spoke english really well!  She had me sit next to her and we talked throughout the whole dinner.  It was great to talk with someone closer to my age and just goof off.  We exchanged numbers, so hopefully I will get to see her again soon!  


Monday night was a very exciting one as well!  Rosanna, Elia, and Gioele all performed at their music school's performance night.  Rosanna sang the song from Top Gun, "Take My Breath Away", which she has been practicing for months.  Right when I got here in May she had me sing it so that she could hear how to pronounce the words.  Elia played "Chariots of Fire" on the piano, and Gioele played a little drum in the intro song to the event.  It was the 20th Century Fox intro bit, and he was so cute!  There were a bunch of students up on stage, but he was the youngest one and at the very front!  I laughed so hard because it was just too precious.  It was a fun night with the fam.  :)


On a more embarrassing note, I am sunburned again.  For the third time.  I promise I put sunscreen on!  My skin just isn't used to this much sun exposure...but it isn't too bad.  I'm practically all better.  :)


Well, I think that is all for now.  I wasn't really sure what to write for this post, so I figured I would just go through my days.  I hope it wasn't boring!  Oh!  And I just love the comments being left on my posts.  So thank you to all who have posted them.  Papa Rex, you are so encouraging and I love reading your comments on every post - thank you!!!  I love you! :)  Lauren, I miss you too!  I can't wait to get back and come hang out with you and your precious kiddos!  Aunt Cindy, I just love hearing from you and the girls.  I was really encouraged and thankful for what you wrote - I love you!  Love you too Claire and Ellie!! :)
Lastly, I love you dad and miss you more than I can say.  You are such an inspiration to me and a great example for us kids.  You have taught me so much and continue to teach me in ways you probably don't even know.  You are the greatest man I know!  Love you so much!

Me and Gio

Elia (this is where we had Gio's school dinner)

Sunset

Right before their performances!

Thanks for reading all!
Maddy

Still Don't Like Seafood...

I've been sitting here trying to think of what exactly I want to share with all of you.  It's been a while since my last update, and I want to be consistent in my posts.  This will probably more writing and less pictures...I hope that's okay.  :)  First off, I want to apologize for all of my terrible grammar issues in the last post!  I reread it today and noticed so many mistakes!  I usually write right before I go to bed, like I am now, so I think I am just too tired to read through and spell check everything, so just ignore them.  :)

I've officially passed the halfway point of my trip.  It is crazy to think that I am going home in less than 40 days.  I miss being home and my family so so much.  It's also been a lot harder being away from camp than I thought it would be.  Camp has been my life every summer since I was 10 years old, so it's really weird to think that camp is going on and I'm not there.  It's hard, but it's also exhilarating!  The Lord is challenging me in new and exciting ways, I can't imagine being anywhere else this summer.  While I miss camp and all of the awesome things that go on at New Life Ranch, I am so glad that the Lord brought me to Tuscany for this adventure.  I've always wondered what it would be like to live life in another country, and that is exactly what I've been experiencing this summer.  I haven't gone to any museums, historical sites, or anything like that...I have been experiencing the Italian culture first hand.  I've been grocery shopping, bike riding around the neighborhood and parks, the beach, walking along the town square at night, local pizzerias.  I've taken the boys to school, I've taken them to their swim lessons, I've cooked for them, gone to big family dinners, spent a day out on the sea on a brand new boat, and so so much more!  I have been living life!  How cool is that?! I get really excited thinking about everything I will take back with me this summer, things that I've learned about Italy and her people.  It's such a different and amazing culture, I have definitely come to love these people...and I can't wait to share it with others when I get back home.

Like I said above, we spent Sunday out on the sea in Daniele's brand new boat!  It was so gorgeous and perfect weather for a day spent swimming, eating, snoozing, and just relaxing!  We met up with a bunch of the family's friends and they tied five boats all together and everyone was hopping to and from all of the boats.  It was so fun!  Here are a few pictures of our time out there!

A fun day is in store for us!

A nearby town called Piombino, where the marina was located.

My view from where I sat and read :)

The boys loved to climb through the window into the cabin...

Beautiful!

The sun was going down when we were leaving

My two buddies!  They were so tired..haha

Where we spent our Sunday...

I loved how the water looked...so smooth.

So that was our day in pictures!  It is just so gorgeous everywhere I go...I love it!  I am fascinated with the ocean, I freak out every single time I see it...and the family is so amused by this.  I keep trying to tell them how Oklahoma is NOT by an ocean and the closest one is not close at all.  They are very intrigued by this, having all grown up so close to the sea.  It's always a fun conversation. :)

I wanted to share with you all something that the Lord has been trying to get through to me.  It's something that I've always known, always have struggled with, and unfortunately will struggle with again.  It's about the importance of getting into His word daily and taking time to just be with Him.  It's something I've always struggled with, using excuses of exhaustion, not having time, laziness, etc.  The excuses are endless, but they are also pointless.  The Lord knows me, inside and out.  He knows exactly what I'm doing when I choose to watch a movie or take a nap - rather than spend time with him.  I don't really understand why I choose to not spend time with Him...He always has a way of cheering me up and encouraging during those times.  My days are always better, and easier, after I have a quiet time.  This summer, for example, I have been really really bad about spending time with Him.  I think I wanted to prove to myself that I could do this, I could leave my family and go to a foreign country - not knowing a single soul or even the language - and I could do it by myself.  That was so silly of me, you guys.  As the days went on, and I've already shared some of this with you all, but I would get so frustrated and was quick to get angry when the boys misbehaved.  I knew right away that I was being ridiculous in thinking that I could do this on my own.  I'm only me...but God is God and can do all things.  So lately I have been making time to spend alone and in the Word.  It is SO GOOD, you guys!!  The Lord is so cool in the ways He encourages me, He always lets me know exactly what I need to hear.  

The other day I was reading My Utmost for His Highest (which I LOVE) and it was talking about how one of our greatest hindrances in our spiritual lives is that we will only look for big things to do.  He explained that we need to learn how to live in the daily routine of life with the purpose of forming godly habits and starting with ourselves.  There are so many blessings in everyday life, and I am definitely seeing that this summer!  There are so many opportunities for us to further His Kingdom without having to go looking for that "big thing", whatever that may be.  We just have to keep our eyes, and hearts, open to whatever and wherever He may lead us.  So I challenge you all to keep your eyes and hearts open to whatever He may be trying to show you and teach you!

Oh, and in reference to the title of this post...it's true - I still do not like seafood.  Surprised?  Probably not.  But, in BIG news, I did eat lobster last week and actually liked it!  I even had seconds! :)  Go me!!

Lastly, I just want to ask for continued prayer for patience with the boys and that I will continue in my daily quiet times.  I am also missing my family a lot!  I am already so excited to see them all when I get home.  :)  Thanks so much for reading everybody!  I will update again soon, promise! 

One Whole Month....Without Milk!

Well folks, it's true.  One thing I think about when I think about having been here for a whole month is the fact that I haven't had a sip of milk in one whole month.  For those of you who know how much my family and I love milk, you will know what a big deal this is...we love our milk!  I miss it dearly and can't wait to indulge in a lot of cereal when I get home.  :)

In other news, my first day with Elia at home was yesterday and it went really good!  We did our English lesson, played cards, went for a walk, had a wonderful lunch, and had an overall good time.  He did a great job of listening to me and not putting up many fights, so that was a huge blessing!  Thank you so much for the prayers! :)

I wanted to tell all of you about this past weekend!  It was such a fun few days and I could go on and on about all of it, but I will try to limit myself.  Friday night I was able to go out with my friend Marianna again and boy did she come through!  We went to a town called Follonica and walked around the town square and the seaside.  It was so beautiful!  It was dark out, but I am hoping to go back during the daytime to explore a bit.  After walking around for a while, we drove to this club that looked like it was seriously from a really cool movie!  There were so many people there and everyone was dancing and the lights were crazy!  It was very upscale and right on the beach with sitting areas set up on the sand.  There were even firecrackers coming out of champagne bottles, streamers flying everywhere, and guys running around trying to get pictures of people (maybe famous Italians?? I wouldn't really know...).  But it was just such a fun atmosphere, I had a blast!  I was able to get a couple of pictures, the first is of me in Follonica and the second is over Marianna and I on the sand at the club!

Friday night was a lot of fun and I definitely made some memories, but Saturday night was almost more fun!  Elia had an end-of-the-year dinner with his class that night.  The dinner party was located at the top of this hill overlooking Venturina, and it had the most gorgeous villa on the top.  We ate right inside the villa!  It was such a gorgeous place to have dinner.  Here are some pictures of the view and the building!

We had a fabulous dinner of pasta pomodora and hotdogs with fries!  Rosy asked me if I was okay with being seated with the kids and I gave a definite yes!  I don't think I've ever been so glad to be sitting at the kids table.  I have never been so excited to see a hotdog and fries in my life!  The adults were served some delicious looking appetizers and I was feeling a little disappointed, but then the servers came out with clams!  So let's just say I was super glad with my hotdog!  Call me silly, but I took a picture!  (The kids at the table laughed so hard that I took a picture of a hotdog...)  

After dinner the kids and I went outside to play in the garden.  It was dark by that time (we finished eating by 10pm and didn't leave until around midnight...everything is always so much later here!)  But I had the best time with those kids.  When they heard me speaking English, they just stared at me and waited for me to talk more.  It was hilarious!  Eventually they were talking all over each other asking me questions about where I was from, where I was born, how old I was, what my parents' names were, etc!  I tried my best to answer in Italian and asked them the few questions I knew in Italian.  It was just a great time for me to teach them English words and them to teach me some Italian.  I had the best night!  Here are some pictures of the kids and a video of Federica teaching me an Italian game!

The view was gorgeous!  You could see all of Venturina!

I think I've said it before, but I'm not a huge fan of seafood....at all.  So I was a bit nervous, knowing that Venturina was right on the coast and thought that surely I'd be having it a lot.  Well, I have been very proud of myself - I try everything (no matter what it is) just to say that I tried it and I've even enjoyed things I didn't think I liked (like cherries, spinach, kiwi, artichoke salad, etc.)  Without knowing it, however, I ate a pasta that had octopus and cuttlefish (I had to look it up) pieces in it...I didn't ask what the meat was until after dinner on purpose.  I literally almost threw everything up.  If you don't know what cuttlefish is, just look it up and you will understand!  I've also had fish...at least three times that I know of and it really wasn't bad!  I don't really care to eat it again, but at least I did it!  :)  I really wish my dad were here...he would love the food - fresh fish, fresh produce, everything.  I would definitely let him eat my fish for me!

Lastly, I want to leave you all with some pictures to remind you to always protect your skin!  Enjoy! ;)

Thank you all so much for reading and for the prayers!  It means so much to me that I have so many people supporting me throughout this experience.  Look forward to the next blog...we are putting Daniele's boat into the water on Thursday and then spending the night out on the water this weekend I think!  I am super pumped!  I will make sure to take lots of pictures!  Until next time!  Ciao ciao!!