The Month of June - Last Days in Florence

Before VBS we had a girls day on June 8th.  We invited our students and the Harding students to spend a day getting massages, haircuts, or pedicures.  We also played a bunch of "girly" movies that people watched while they waited for their haircut or whatever it was they were waiting for.  We cooked a breakfast of eggs, french toast sticks, and fruit.  A few of the Harding students came and After VBS the rest of the month flew by.

Alan and Rosa cooking for the Harding group
We visited Catania yet again from June 17th - 19th in order to try to find an apartment.  We were successful!  It's a nice apartment with a little garden(patio), and it's not to far from the church.  We can easily bike to the church from it.  It has a guest bedroom, so if you're thinking about visiting us, there's a place for you to stay!






When we came back we had only a few more days with the Athletic group from Harding left.  They are the second group of students that came.  They were only here for a total of two weeks.  A few of them joined in on the soccer games that we have with our students.  And Alan, Peter, and I went mountain bike riding with a couple of them one weekend.  It was truly mountain biking too - I think we climbed for 1.5hrs straight, and then enjoyed about 20 minutes of downhill.  :) 

Speaking of the soccer games earlier, I wanted to share a really cool think with you all.  One of Alan's students that started this semester originally came because he delivered some food to the Bible School once before and David tipped him really well.  He never forgot this and came this last semester to start lessons.  Well, after a while he started bringing his cousin, and his cousin his now bringing co-workers, and they are both bringing lots of friends/family to play soccer with Alan and Peter and whoever else joins in the soccer games that we have with our students.  Now, quite a few of those that come for the soccer games are saying that they want to start English lessons at the Bible school next semester.  I just wanted to share this story cause I think it's a really neat example of the "ripple effect."  Also, I really just love how it shows that you can be a missionary anywhere - at church, at work, or on the soccer field. :)




We enjoyed having the Harding students at the school, and it was awesome to hear some of them show interest in doing mission work (maybe with Avanti) after they finish college.  The day after the Harding Group left, we were busy cleaning up the place and putting it back in order.  The next day, Alan and I were busy packing and cleaning our little apartment because we left for Sicily the very next day, which was Thursday the 27th.   However, that's another story in and of itself that I will write about on a different post.  
One of my students took me her dad and brother's motor cross event.  It was pretty cool


Since our time in Florence was limited, I spent quite a bit of time hanging out with my students.  I didn't feel ready to leave them, and I know Alan enjoyed spending time with his students as well.  It was pretty sad the last week we were in Florence, but I'm really grateful for the time I got to spend going to visit some of my students at their homes or going out to eat.  They were so generous with their time, and I really enjoyed getting to build relationships with these people over the last six months!

My wonderful grammar class!


Valentina and I! I'm going to miss our great discussions!

Laura (one of my students) and I after one of our many lunch dates!


These boys are crazy! We already miss them!


 Last but definitely not least, a group of us went to a village close to Florence one night to watch a donkey race.  Notice in the last picture that two of the donkeys are without riders.  Those are the two that placed first and second.  It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen.  











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