Classy

As you know, Callie came to visit for the weekend. We went out both Friday and Saturday nights to make sure my birthday was truly celebrated. And it was. This is at one of Decorah's finest establishments. We treated ourselves to martinis...because we can. :)

Happy Birthday To Me!

Well, a day at the funeral home wasn't at all how anyone should want to have to spend their birthday. The day became less of "my day" and more of my family's and my grandpa's and God's day. But at the end of the evening, I did have my first legal drink. :)

Prayer is Powerful

I love you. Today was bittersweet. There were so many tears. First because I was so happy to finally be seeing and talking with you. Second because my heart was breaking that I couldn't come to you and be with you. I spent so much time in prayer today. You were seriously my day. i hope you were able to celebrate your birthday just like your Grandpa is celebrating with Jesus in heaven. I just felt refreshed after hearing your voice. I hope you are feeling Jesus' peace, because He loves you too.

Bingo

I had my elementary school internship today and it was the first one where I was actually in charge. The children had been learning transportation, so we started with a word search. Then, to review their numbers, we played a game of Bingo. I seriously am loving these kids.
The rest of my afternoon was spent catching up with life and having some quiet time in the garden to think and pray for you. I went to my favorite spot--I think you would love it too.

Spaghetti

Tonight I legitimately had the best spaghetti of my life. Followed by the most delicious tiramisu ever. It was such a simple meal but our chef Bruno has some sort of magic touch. It was the perfect way to complete a day of homework and hiking. (Note: This is not my actual plate as I didn't have my camera with me at dinner. But this is my empty plate from the next night, and looks pretty much identical. Clean plate club!)

Cheese, Please

I ventured to Parma today in search of parmesan cheese. After a hilarious lunch mishap (accidentally went to a sushi bar?) and lots of wandering the streets, I was disappointed that I hadn't found the parmesan I had been searching for. Suddenly, like a dream, as we walked to the train station we stumbled upon a street with cheese shops galore. I felt like my wishes had been fulfilled.

Networking

I spent the day in Bologna. There was snow, which I definitely had not been missing. There was great food and cool museums, but my favorite part was the city-wide art exhibition that was on display. This piece was my favorite, called "Networking." It was colorful and beautiful, and just seems so natural strung between the buildings.

Schooling

This is my Shakespeare book. When I got him from Rosita (one of our on-site directors) she said "Here is your new best friend." It's a funny concept to study abroad, because technically I'm here for school but I certainly have no desire to study. Today I had my first paper due. I definitely had procrastinated and was scrambling to get it finished at the last minute. But otherwise I would have had to give up my afternoon in Florence yesterday!

Caffe

This afternoon was gorgeous. I decided to postpone writing a paper for my Shakespeare class and went into Florence. It was so wonderful to just wander on my own. I admired a palace for a while, strolled into some shops, and stopped to get a "caffe" before leaving. It was my first espresso, and Italians just stand at the counter and drink them. (You have to pay more to sit down.) I spoke Italian the whole time and felt like I actually fit in. I can get used to this.

L'Opera

Today was a really long day. Lots of classes, my conversation partner that I didn't know I had yet randomly showed up (more about her to come later.) However, I got to get dressed up for the evening and head to the opera with many of the students in my program. It was hard to understand what was going on because of the language barrier, but I took the opportunity to just soad in everything that was happening onstage--the music, the costumes, the atmosphere.

Not Just a Student

Today I had my first day of interning at an elementary school is Sesto. I'm in a fifth grade classroom and the kids are adorable. They asked me lots of questions and had each written a paragraph about themselves. Then we played a game where I had to try and remember what they had told me. My big accomplishment of the day was remembering all of the student's names by the end of the hour--I attribute it to learning campers names every Sunday! I cannot wait to go back every week!

A Sense of Direction

The title of this post has a double meaning. Today was a day to catch up on everything I had been neglecting--e-mails, homework, laundry, and more. Yet I took two hours to hike the hills nearby and decided I'm going to make it a weekly tradition. They were beautiful and it felt so good to just be outside. The paths went so many directions, but I stayed on track and just relished the surroundings. I also felt like today I'm finally starting to feel better about who my friends are here, what my experience is going to be like, and what I want to get from it. And I think that's something I had really been wanting.