Ciao Dall'Italia

Ciao y'all!

I arrived Thursday May 31st in Italy and I wanted to give y'all a quick update on how things are going. It has been great here; the work, the people, the food, the culture, the language, the countryside - all of it has been awesome. For reference, I am in Montebelluna, which is about 45min-1hr northwest from Venice. It has been hot and a bit humid, bust my body is adjusting surely enough.

The Work

So far, I have been helping doing construction at the new church building. I helped frame, drywall and insulate a massive 24 foot high wall that will be separating a game room and a community lounge area in one of the rooms. I had a little experience in the world of wood and set building, but none in this new area of metal stud and tracking framing or drywall. Well there is the saying that God doesn't really call the equipped but that He equips the called for His purposes. This is the truth of what I'm seeing here. Each day is a new skill, way of doing a task or learning how to accomplish a goal. I am learning or practically implementing upon the skills and lessons of the previous day and it has been a good experience to be doing something that I can see the fruit of my work through.

The People

I am staying with two guys this summer, Adam and Tyler, who have been both serving here for at least a year and a half or more. They have been a blessing already in these few days and it has been really comforting to be around these two like-minded Christian gentlemen who are also my age. There has also been a mission team from Fort Lauderdale, Florida here working on the building, but they leave this Thursday (6/7/18). They have done a bunch of work to help on the building and it's been good to have them here. Also, all of the other staff from the church have been very welcoming and inclusive of me into their fold of work and lives. This has been a blessing to be where I am valued and appreciated for the work and effort I am doing. I attended my first church service at Calvary Chapel Montebelluna and it was a positive time with good worship, good time in the Word and very friendly people. Although I am learning Italian from the ground up, people have all helped me understand words in Italian, attempt to speak in English for me or just give me the simple "Ciao" with a smiling face and a hug. I think also of the fine lady in the church, Esther, who baked us a berry pie to show her gratitude for the work being done on the new building.

The Food

The food has been excellent as you can imagine comes with eating locally in Italy. Each day of work we've had, a family from the church has provided a lunch for all of the team to enjoy. We have had a variant of Italian dishes, but all of them have incorporated pasta some way into the dish (I personally enjoy pasta quite a bit and I hope this doesn't change because of how much pasta is served here haha). I have made two dinners - one of beef/pork burgers with bacon, and one of pesto pasta (pesto is a sauce made of blended basil, Parmesan/Peccorino cheese, pine nuts and oil). Also, I have had the pleasure of trying prosciutto with Parmesan, as well as having it hot on a pizza with mushrooms. Overall, the food isn't too expensive, but it is mighty tasty!

The Culture

Yo, the culture is awesome. Very friendly. Consuming a whole pizza is considered normal, and eating gelato (a type of ice cream made in a different way) is not looked down upon if you're overweight, dieting, young, old or anything in between - gelato is a treat for all and is great. I haven't had any yet as I am sensitive to milk and am waiting for the right opportunity to enjoy it and not have it at a bad time. Part of the culture of Montebelluna is due to the fact that the city is only about 30,000-40,000 inhabitants, so it is not as uptight or tense as it may have been in a bigger city or own. Coffee is a much quicker thing. Excellent quality, but due to smaller serving sizes (and accompanying smaller prices), coffee is a sub-3 minute process to consume. Very different attitude to the coffee world in the US - basically three options: espresso, coffee with milk, or espresso with water (americano is the name for this drink option). Adding tons of milk, caramel or chocolate to a cup of coffee is unheard of - you just don't serve that.

The Language

If you haven't heard the Italian language before, it is Latin based and very pretty. It takes the Latin roots, but it pronounces words similarly to Spanish and French. There are 5 ways to pronounce vowels, unlike all of the options to pronounce vowels in English. I am very grateful I paid attention and had such a great teacher of French in high school. Much of French is similar to Italiano. Please pray for me that I would understand Italian, learn it effectively and that I wouldn't be fearful of using it.

The Countryside

This area of Italy is gorgeous! Absolutely beautiful! There are tall hills within sight (PRAISE THE LORD. THIS COLORADO BOY NEEDS MOUNTAINS IN SIGHT.) and the farmland around here either grows wheat, corn, grapes (vineyards) or olive trees. The land is fertile and grows great produce. Overall, this a nice Italian area.

Overall, the experience so far has been really good. Enjoying life here and waiting to see what God will have me do this Summer. Stay tuned to find out!