italy

I made it to the farm! Praise God. The journey here was eventful. There were a lot of new things I had to figure out along the way. But I'm here now and am so glad. The family I'm living with is very kind. I got to their house on Friday around 4:30pm. They let me have yesterday and today to rest up before starting work on the farm tomorrow. Their farm is actually on top of a mountain. I haven't seen it yet. I'm looking forward to seeing it tomorrow! Their house is on the side of the mountain. They live in Avane. Avane is a province about 20 minutes (by car) from Pisa. It is so beautiful here.

I was exhausted from traveling here. I think I slept about 4 hours Thursday night. From the time I landed in Italy until I met Giacomo (the man who owns the farm) I had to figure out how to get from the Florence airport to Pisa Centrale. Carrying all my luggage made it even more difficult. The most challenging part was figuring out how to get a train ticket at the Santa Maria Novella train station in Florence and finding Giacomo once I arrived in Pisa. Not many people here speak English so asking for help wasn't very helpful.

I slept until 10 yesterday morning! That is the latest I have slept in in over two months. It is so quiet here compared to Jos and I think that's why it's so much easier to sleep late here. I had a relaxed morning and afternoon. Lunch is always at 1:45 and dinner is always at 8:30 here. Lunch is also always some type of pasta with sauce, bread with meat and cheese, salad, fruit, and chocolate. That's how it is for most Italians. They always have pasta for lunch. Some Italians have pasta for lunch and dinner.

I spent some time processing Nigeria yesterday. It has been a little difficult adjusting to such a different culture and living environment all over again. I know that I'm going to have many good experiences during my time in Italy but I also want to be able to share about my many experiences in Nigeria. So I'm really trying to be intentional about spending time to think and journal about Nigeria and all that God taught me.

I went to the commune of Vecchiano with Giacomo and Helena (the two owners of the farm). Vecchiano is a cute little town about 5 minutes drive from Avane. There was a fair going on and Helena wanted to visit her friend who weaves baskets out of twigs from trees. Some of the twigs he uses are from olive trees. Giacomo and Helena have a lot of olive trees on their farm. There were several different booths set up at the fair. There were stands selling fresh produce, meat, cheese, baked goods (including nutella crepes), animals, etc.

After visiting Vecchiano, we went to Pisa. Helena and I walked around while Giacomo went to pick up a bike for me to use during my time here. They said I can bike around during my time off but that the roads are narrow and I have to be very careful.

Yesterday evening I went back to Pisa with Susannah. Susannah is their daughter who will be 17 in May. I am sharing a room with her. We rode her motorbike to town and met up with some of her friends. We walked around Pisa for a while looking for a pizzeria that had space. We never found one so we settled on sandwiches for dinner and gelato for dessert. Everything you've heard about how good the food in Italy is, is true.

 I got to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa before we headed home. We didn't get home until about 12pm. It was pretty cool riding on the back of her motorbike from Pisa back to Avane at night. I'm still somewhat in shock that I am actually in Italy living with an Italian family.