A new appreciation for generosity...and food

Wow, there are many wonderful Italians here. They have embraced us with loving, wide open arms. First off, Bryan's birthday was the 24th. The restaurant where I wanted to take him for his birthday was closed that day, so we went the day before. He and I have tried many interesting foods while being here, and one of the ones he wanted to try was baccala--salt cod, a Vicentino specialty. We had it at the restaurant, and it was good. We also had some rabbit tortellini, veggies, and lots of really good bread. The desserts where delicious as well. Bryan loved it and was glad that I could keep it a surprise. I made the reservation a week before we went and was bursting with the secret until the day we went. ^_^ We had fun.
Anyway, the next day, we were invited to have Christmas Eve dinner at the house of one of the church ladies after church. We had some really good pasta and salad, bread, and...more baccala. Now, there are some foods that I can eat 3 or 4 times a week. Baccala is NOT one of them. This lady, God bless her, gave me a HEAPING portion, as well as a heaping portion of polenta--basically, grits. now, I got through half of each serving, very slowly, and thought that that was enough. I looked around at all the rest of people's plates and saw that they were almost done with their entire portions of BOTH. (Deep breath...hoooooooo boy) I scraped up some more food with my fork. Bite by bite I ate...and ate...and ATE. The last 5 bites I thought I would DIE! I finished, gave everybody a big smile, and said, "Che buono!!" which is a big compliment. The hostess smiled, and we were happy. ^_^ We ate little for dinner that night.
Now the NEXT day, we went to another ladies house, and we had Christmas dinner with her family. It was great. Again, a LOT of food. Italians can eat!!! I couldn't believe it--9 courses!!!! Now, a cool thing about the way Italians do food is that instead of 3 huge helpings of one dish, you have 9 small servings of 9 different things. They really like variety when they eat. We were fed appitizers when we got there, and then we got antipasto--a serving of other appetizers before the pasta. Very tasty. After that, we ate delicious pasta--fettucine and salmon. After that, there was a meat course--turkey and veggies. Then salad. After that, we had chocolate and fruit. Then we had cafe--espresso--and candy, and we took a 3 hour break to rest between food servings. Games were great fun. Bryan and I had a bit of translation help, thank goodness. one of the people in the family is really good at speaking English and translated for us every once ina while. Anyway, after we rested for a bit, we came back and ate more tortellini, more meat, more salad, and then we had dessert!!!! Italians can eat!!!
Now, I know I spent the past coupla paragraphs explaining how these Italians are different, but you know, I really hope I am like that some day. I want Bryan and me to be as generous to people we don't know as they were to us!! This was their christmas, and they welcomed us in, and they treated us like their family. This truly beautiful gesture is one of the things that God wants us to do for others. Although there are difficult times in our lives, we can always use our talents and gifts to help others and to make them feel special. I pray that I will someday help people in our future home as much as they helped us. How beautiful people can be! Love to all!

New eyes and our trip to Venice...

Okay, so everybody has done something amazing. Not just cool, aMAZing. When you get to do it a second time, you can't believe your luck. You get to do it a THIRD time, you pinch yourself to make sure you're awake. Well, going to Venice again was really cool. I knew it would be cool again, but being there with Bryan was truly amazing. Aunt Donna, didn't Uncle Mike propose to you in Europe? I think I remember hearing that story. Anyway, Europe is even more romantic with my spouse. That's what I mean by "new eyes." I see his excited expressions when we see San Marco's Cathedral. I see his face when we go over the gigantic bridges and look everywhere, seeing water all around us. Venice is truly breathtaking. Bryan made it new for me, and so I had the best time I've ever had in Venice. Thank God for Bryan and our love! Okay, enough mush. ^_^
Anyway, we went to the most fantastic restaurant for dinner last night. We were actually looking for a really good pizza place that we'd read about in one of those travel books, you know, like Rick Steves or whatever. Upon getting lost (again and again) in those little tiny streets, we came across a place called La Zucca--means "The Pumpkin" which was also in that book. It was fantastic!! I had Anatra dall'Arancia, which is the Italian way of saying Duck a l'orange. Wow. Bryan had some really good pork and mixed vegetables. We finished with fantastic desserts. Whee-hoo, do Italians know food!! Anyway, all this to say that it's okay if you get lost in the streets of Venice b/c you may just find another amzing little diner or cafe. Well, here are pics from our trip!! Love to ALL.
By the way, Carrie, can you tell which picture was put on specifically for you? This is the only time this shirt will be in Venice since you WON'T FLY.

Okay, I can admit when I'm wrong...

I've been catching up on classic movies lately. Bryan couldn't believe that I hadn't watched all the Star Wars movies since I was a kid. It was kinda cool, though, b/c it was as if I were watching them for the first time. I loved them--had lotsa fun watching them. Another set of movies that I'd never watched before, the exception being the first one, are the Rocky movies. They are GOOD!!! I always heard them grouped in with "those guy movies that girls never want to watch," but they were good!!! Could not believe how much I liked them. Another thing--I had always made fun of people who watched boxing with their fists clenched in the air. I did that today, watching "Rocky IV." I think what I like about the Rocky movies is that heart is crucial to succeeding. I have heart, but sometimes I forget that and get very discouraged. We all do. I've been discouraged lately b/c of the fact that we're coming home early. Customs has been insane with what they allow to get through, namely, Bryan's medicine. There are too many fees, too many difficult people to work with. We've decided to come home. We plan on serving there, and honestly probably will do better there for the Lord than here. Here at the church, they don't seem to have much needed to be done. I am updating their bulletin board--their pictures have the kids as babies, and now they're 7. ^_^ Anyway, that all said, heart fits into this whole thing b/c it is easy to lose heart. I encourage people to watch the Rocky movies b/c heart can be gained by fighting for it, realizing your priorities, and having a God manager--get it? ^_^ Love to all!!!

Part Two: Those long awaited pics...

Part one: Those long awaited pics...

We're having fun!!! Bryan and I are enjoying our time together, enjoying Italy, experiencing its goodness. Italians may not know much when it comes to getting things done efficiently, but on some things, that's part of their charm. They sure know food! I also like the way that they relax on certain things. One example is, Sunday evenings, after 6:00 PM, people walk all over Vicenza, window shopping, drinking coffee and eating gelato, enjoying Le Dolce Vita. Wonder why that was the name of the movie? Well, anyway, here are the pics. I hope the videos work right!

Pizza with french fries

Have you ever had pizza with french fries? Very tasty, believe it or not. No, I'm not going back to the states and ordering pizza with french fries on it. I liked it, though. It also had pancetta on it--yummy, yummy pancetta, which is an Italian bacon. Last night, the doorbell to the church rang, and it was Francesco Fergnani and his family, offering to take us out for pizza. How fun! It was great. Francesco has the cutest little family. He and his wife, Lorenza, have two beautiful little girls. They are so sweet, Miriam and Anna. If I decide to finish grad school for marriage and family therapy, I will think of them often as an example for an ideal family. I know every family has their difficulties, but Francesco's family is wonderful.
Other people in the church are cool as well. Valeria and Piero are very kind people. Valeria talks really quickly, but she's so expressive that I understand her the best. Between her and Lorenza, I can usually figure out what is going on b/c they describe as they talk, so even when I don't understand the actual words, I understand the basic meaning.
Okay, I'll write more when something else happens. Oh, and Aunt Donna, I have a surprise for you!! (With our history in presents for each other, you probably know what it is...)

Well I did it

I didn't want to, but I did. I said goodbye to Bryan today. I hate to see him take off on that bus to Pio-stinking-vene Rocchette. No, I'm sure it's a wonderful place. Chef Mauro and his family seem like really nice people, at least, that's what Bryan tells me. I just don't like to see him go! Before he left, though, we took a picture together in one of those photo booths, and it was fun. It's a pretty funny picture. We took a picture together that I will next week put on my blog, but we ran out of time this visit. We really enjoyed our time together, shopping together, cooking together, even cleaning together.
Okay, so what kind of work am I doing? I was given permission, first of all, to take the first coupla weeks and adjust to life in Vicenza. Lotsa things are like living in America--if you don't go out to eat, you cook for yourself. You clean, you watch movies or read if you get bored, although here I can always walk outside two steps and go to Teatro Olimpico, 15 more to go to Piazza Signoria, which has the best markets on Thursdays. It'll be packed with Christmas stuff the next few weeks.
Who's excited about Christmas??? ME!!!! I've been listening to the Mannheim Steamroller CDs like always, and I brought "It's a Wonderful Life" so Bryan and I can watch it together. We'll have fun celebrating his birthday, too.
Okay, I digress. Anyway, I will work with the Army Base, in a way, helping to advertise there for the church. I will put up signs letting them know we are here. With the church, I'm helping them organize a big dinner for another church. It's actually a weekend event that we plan with another church. We cook for them and just have fun together all weekend. Today, when I get back to the apartment, I'll study some more Italian, but everybody says I'm improving. Yeah!!!
Okay, nuff for now. Love to ALL!!!

Well I did it

I didn't want to, but I did. I said goodbye to Bryan today. I hate to see him take off on that bus to Pio-stinking-vene Rocchette. No, I'm sure it's a wonderful place. Chef Mauro and his family seem like really nice people, at least, that's what Bryan tells me. I just don't like to see him go! Before he left, though, we took a picture together in one of those photo booths, and it was fun. It's a pretty funny picture. We took a picture together that I will next week put on my blog, but we ran out of time this visit. We really enjoyed our time together, shopping together, cooking together, even cleaning together.
Okay, so what kind of work am I doing? I was given permission, first of all, to take the first coupla weeks and adjust to life in Vicenza. Lotsa things are like living in America--if you don't go out to eat, you cook for yourself. You clean, you watch movies or read if you get bored, although here I can always walk outside two steps and go to Teatro Olimpico, 15 more to go to Piazza Signoria, which has the best markets on Thursdays. It'll be packed with Christmas stuff the next few weeks.
Who's excited about Christmas??? ME!!!! I've been listening to the Mannheim Steamroller CDs like always, and I brought "It's a Wonderful Life" so Bryan and I can watch it together. We'll have fun celebrating his birthday, too.
Okay, I digress. Anyway, I will work with the Army Base, in a way, helping to advertise there for the church. I will put up signs letting them know we are here. With the church, I'm helping them organize a big dinner for another church. It's actually a weekend event that we plan with another church. We cook for them and just have fun together all weekend. Today, when I get back to the apartment, I'll study some more Italian, but everybody says I'm improving. Yeah!!!
Okay, nuff for now. Love to ALL!!!