Success!

As I was watering our little balcony garden tonight, I thought, "Wow, these are looking great!" As much as I love flowers, I always end up killing them. Yeah for this little victory! Since we posted about planting them, I thought it was only right to let you see them thriving. . .

Compared to our neighbors' balconies, they are a small contribution to building beautification. But in their own right, I think they are simply lovely. Hannah has done a great job helping me water them, and Ben has done a great job picking the petals off the blooms. Next year, we might try doing two boxes. :)

Latte Art

Every Wednesday morning before school, Hannah and Cody would stop at a bar (that's what they call coffee shops here) to get a little pastry and milk (latte caldo). Our whole family quickly became known at this little bar, and as is often the case in Italy, the baristas welcomed us into their family with open arms. They loved the kids, especially with Hannah going to public school and learning Italian. Every time we walk in, we're greeted with, "Ciao! Hannah!! Ciao Bella!" It's been a really fun way for Hannah to feel like she's building bridges outside of her school.

Anyway, as the year progressed, Salvatore (the head barista, who also speaks some English) practiced making all sorts of beautiful designs on Hannah's warmed milk. It is a little game to see if she can guess what he will surprise her with. The last week of school, he did some of his finest work! Cody was so impressed, he had to take a picture (Italian doesn't have the "H" sound, so everyone pronounces Hannah's name "Anna"). Then the next week when they went, Lucia, the sweet woman who works there and who always gives Hannah a piece of candy before she leaves, made Hannah's milk with the Hello Kitty design (Hello Kitty is really big among Italians). You can only imagine how it delighted Hannah.

We have to confess that the coffee culture is one of our favorite parts about Italian life. There is such incredible community that happens at your "bar." It's a great place to practice Italian and a great place to just hang out and hear what the locals are talking about. It's definitely been a very fun treat for us to feel so welcomed at our little bar by Hannah's school. The regulars there have contributed in countless ways to Hannah's (really our whole family's) transition. They helped us early on feel like we belonged and that were people who knew us.

In displaying these works of Latte Art, we have to share that they are not the norm. We don't know of any other bar in town that adds such pizzaz to their coffee (or frothed milk in Hannah's case). In fact, not even everyone at our bar gets such latte love. So we celebrate the incredible graciousness that these sweet baristas have poured out on our family. Oh, and have we mentioned that they also make one of the meanest espressos in town?

A Huge Milestone

Since we posted pictures of Hannah's first day of school NINE months ago, we thought it a fitting altar stone to post pictures of her last day.

God has so abundantly and lavishly answered so many prayers for Hannah this year! In all honesty, she has probably transitioned and inculturated better than anyone else. We prayed for her to have an English-speaking teacher, and she had one whose father is American. We prayed for her to pick up the language quickly. She is completely age-level fluent. (Her Italian is beautiful!) We prayed for God to provide her with some good friends. He has. Several. She has thrived in school--she has been appropriately challenged, where she wasn't as much in the States. It's been incredible what she's learned this year, and even more amazing that she learned it all in another language. In fact, our greatest concern now is keeping up with teaching her the English words for many of the things she's learned about (for example: parts of a tree, the names of the classes of animals, internal body parts, etc).
We can only look back in awe over the past nine months. We so clearly remember that first day of school and all of our fears and concerns. Cody and I will never forget that day! Nor will we forget how sweetly the Lord has cared for our daughter this year. We are privileged to have witnessed it.
In Italy, you remain with the same students and the same teachers (Hannah had four this year) for your entire five years in Elementary School. There have been some recent changes in the school laws that might dictate a new teacher next year (one instead of four), but we feel like her class has become a great family. It's fun to think of that already existing when she returns to school next September.

Until then, it's officially Summer Vacation (Gavin's preschool will actually go until mid-July though). We let Hannah have a day to do whatever she wanted on Friday, to celebrate all her hard work this year. She choose to stay in bed and watch movies all day! On Monday we will begin homeschooling in the areas she needs to stay up with for American schools. Spelling is going to be a huge hurdle. Italian is a completely phonetical language, so spelling is very easy. Hannah's found spelling in English to be a much greater challenge now--in fact, she often uses Italian spelling for English words. We'll also be doing some history and lots of reading. We'll confess our reluctance at first, but we're hoping for a great summer together. We're also really looking forward to a little vacation at the end of July.

Thanks for all your concern for Hannah this year! Thanks for all your prayers on her behalf. We hope you join with us in acknowledging God's gracious hand.

Oh the irony

 

Italy has a big election coming up on Friday. There have been political posters going up for weeks and there is a march or rally occuring almost daily now. It doesn't begin to touch the hoopla surrounding elections in the States, but it does get your attention.

I took a picture of a poster that is up across the street from our apartment. It probably doesn't take much interpreting to realize it is saying, "Vote Communist!" Could there be a more ironic sign? It cracked us up.

One of the identifying distinctives of Bologna is that is has always had a strong communist leaning. That is one of the reasons it is called "Bologna the Red." Many still claim the communist affiliation. We've begun to realize, however, that what they mean by communism is different than what we picture. It's more of a socialist idea than true communism. Still, it's a recognized political party, and as the sign communicates, the party is looking for the support of the people. A little taste of our world. . .

In other news, the Summer Project arrived last week from the States, and it has been so much fun to have them here! There are 10 students and three staff. It is a great group! They have really teachable hearts and have taken cultural-learning very seriously. We feel like what they are going to learn this summer is going to be incredibly valuable for our effectiveness heading into launching the ministry officially in the Fall.

As our schedule has begun to fill up, we are learning a lot about our capacity (as in how much we can handle) as a family of five. We're learning it's not as much as we thought it was. Partly because our family has grown and Ben is requiring more energy, and partly because of the added energy needed to do life in Italy. What our family was able to do in the States, we are learning, is not what we're able to do here. It's taken us a while to get that.

And so the learning continues! Every day seems to bring a new revelation, a new insight, a new way of doing things. All of which, we really do believe, are going to make us more effective in living and sharing the gospel.