this week in photos

this week felt like a tornado! it was here and gone faster than any week i think i have ever lived, but a lot of really important things happened this week that have really made us feel like a part of the community here. mmmm, it brings so much peace when you feel like you are where god has intended for you to be. right this minute, that is how i feel and it makes me so thankful. thankful to God for opening doors and leading me, and thankful to others who have made this real through their prayers and support.

we will still have our italian classes in florence every week day from 9 to 1 until december, but we all started our english/bible classes this week. i had 1 student monday and 1 student tuesday. i usually have 3 on wednesday but for some reason none of them could come this week so they are all starting next week. ryan has 1 student on tuesdays and 2 on wednesdays. he, angela, and andrea teach a basic english grammar class on monday, tuesday, and wednesday nights at 9, so that's why he only has 3 individual students. all of our classes went really well and it is such a relief to have finally started what we have been planning on doing since january.

the rest of the week will be best summed up through the beautiful photos that the hubs has been snapping all over the place.

ryan got me flowers at the saturday market last week and i didn't have the photos to put up on the weekend post.

saturday is our laundry day. this was last weekend too, but i just like the photo.

sunday evening was pizza and a beatles concert at the HUF villa.

monday we came straight back after class, had lunch and a meeting, prepared for our first classes, and taught our first classes. that evening we had a simple supper and a women's and men's bible study. what an amazing way to start off the week. i don't know about the men, but the women's study was so great. debbie has put so much time and effort into an in depth study of 1 john and i really enjoy the quality time i get to spend with just women. i already look forward to monday because of this special time.

ok, this is the display window at an audiology clinic we pass by everyday walking to class in florence. i feel like i'm home when i see these hearing aids

tuesday after class, ryan and i ate a picnic in the piazza della signorina and wondered around florence until 6 pm when we both had classes to teach. we found so many cool places and things to do "off the beaten path". after that i feel like i could find anything in florence if i had to

church of san filippo, it was completely empty except for ryan and me. that was a first for me because there are usually millions of other tourists everywhere you go. not this time...it was so serene

in the past, when people would get engaged on the ponte vecchio, they used to put a lock on a gate that is on the bridge around a bust of some man. in an act to clean up the ponte vecchio, the city cut them all off and cleaned the statue (it does look much nicer). well, people that get engaged there now apparently still want to leave their mark on the city, so they have started putting locks on these chains lining the street right off the bridge. there are already thousands and this was just done recently

my favorite sculpture in florence. it's brunelleschi in the piazza of the duomo and he's looking up at his dome. i don't know why but it just speaks to me and i love it

the inside of our school...grandmother, make sure to show this photo to granddad. do you see what i'm talking about? yes, that's copper ductwork and it's everywhere! so pretty

enzo, one of our italian teachers. he loves us, he laughs at everything we say

wednesday after class (since i didn't have students) i and all these other lovely people helped set up, serve at, and clean up for a welcome convention thing for all the american students studying in florence this semester. there were probably 500-600 people there and we were there working from 2-10pm. needless to say, i was exhausted, but it was so much fun and incredibly hilarious working with these fun italians and my american/albanian friends.

thursday after class, we met david and emily at the post office in scandicci to do some more paperwork to live in italy. we walked to one building and it took us an hour and a half there. then we walked back to the post office and it took us another hour there. we walked back to the bible school (got gelato on the way), piled into the cars, and headed to church for the thursday night simple supper/conversation class/bible study. angela and i were in charge of the simple supper so we ran to a grocery store near the church, grabbed a few things, and successfully/quickly prepared pesto pasta and salad for 20 people. the food was ok, but the conversation, fellowship, and bible study were wonderful. it was such an uplifting and refreshing time to slow down and reflect after such a busy week.

oh, this was thursday at the government building where we were doing paperwork for health insurance and such. one of the ladies that worked there asked david to help her learn the words to a bruce springsteen song that she will be using to try out for the italian version of american idol. she doesn't speak a word of english so her pronunciation was hilarious, but i'm so proud of her for trying. ps the words of the song were something about lust and "in the bed until the morning" and baby this and baby that. it was amazing because david was singing it with her.

today, we came back for lunch and solomon and ann marie (brother and sister from ivory coast) joined us. they only speak french and the same amount of italian that we speak, but emily majored in french and she translated for us. they are so sweet and sometimes i think that they think we are crazy, but i'm really glad they came.

this afternoon we are just hanging out and relaxing. tomorrow ryan and i may go to lucca and explore...maybe rent a tandem bike or something. who knows?