International House Hunters

So maybe you have seen the TV show "International House Hunters," or maybe not.  The point is, people are usually hunting for a vacation or retirement home in a foreign country.  Most places are breathtakingly beautiful on beach front property or reveal the best of housing possibilities in whatever country one is house hunting.  This week I, Noella, have been an active participant in house hunting in the less glamourous city of Caselle.  So before you get the idea that we are moving, let me clarify that this if for our co-worker, now official Caselle-team member and friend, Catherine.  The approval for her to join us in the work in Caselle was granted in just the past two weeks.  We are excited to now have a "team" and are looking forward for the ways in which she will be able to contribute and enhance the ministry efforts in Caselle.

Catherine currently lives in Torino and it can take up to 40 mintues (depending on traffic) for her to reach our neck of the woods.  Therefore, the first order of business is to get her moved out to Caselle.  She and I have inquired at just about every realtors office in Caselle this week.  We wonder how they all stay in business as I can count 7 agencies just on the main street, all within a half mile distance. And that is not all of them!  Some had no rental properties, others overlapped with what we found at other agencies and one seemed to be the "jackpot" of the agencies listing 5 properties of interest.

The past two days we have been viewing apartments all across the spectrum.  One might find it strange to view rentals with no kitchen, no bathroom sinks, no closets or no light fixtures, but that is completely normal here.  You have to let your imagination go in trying to visualize how you might design a kitchen or get rid of the awful color paint.  There were some plusses and minuses in almost every place, some were just all negative.  We were thrilled with the success of our hunt yesterday as she found a place that she fell in love with immediately, even if it is going to be a downsize from what she has now.  It has lots of charm with autonomous heating, gas water heater, below ground parking, garage and cantina (storage closet), no condominium monthly fees and all in a newly constructed building in a very tranquil part of town.  With each of those items listed you would have to live here to know how important and hard to come by those things can be.  She now is proceeding to the next phase which is to write her proposal with the agency to the landlord.  He will review her application and then decide to accept her as a renter or not.  Until that happens you just have to hold your breath and pray he doesn't reject you because you are a foreigner or for some other reason of his choice.  Some properties she could not even view because the landlords will not rent to foreigners.  Oh, if only they knew!

It has been a fun and tiring week but very rewarding.  I think the kids will wonder around dinner time where Catherine is tonight.  No doubt she is enjoying her day at home as well.

My Coffee's [New] Delight

Sometimes it is the simple things that you long for from home.  The things you know you have to give up while living overseas.  Of course the #1 thing and most obvious is family and friends.  The list that follows mostly contains food items, at least for me.  We have learned to adapt and live without many comforts from home.  I used to cart back tons of American products in our luggage or request them to be shipped from the States that I thought I could not live without.  However, over the past several years I have learned that I can make most things from scratch and in the end, they turn out way better and are much healthier. For example, peanut butter.  I enjoy the hunt and learning how to make "X" from scratch.  I always have this huge sense of accomplishment too in doing so.

This week, my sister-in-law emailed me a link on how to make homemade coffee creamer.  I was delighted to read that most of the ingredients can be found here in Italy. (The syrup I had to make from scratch with my American maple extract.)  This afternoon I made "Cinnamon Strudel Creamer" and now my coffee has a new best friend.  Not to mention it is void of all preservatives and bad for you ingredients!  It's the little things, you know?  Thanks a million, Michelle, for adding to my list of expat homemade comforts!

Go here for the creamer recipes.

P.S.  While on the subject of food.  Today my grocery store finds of the day were: flax seed and cilantro seed.  Having fresh cilantro will only bring me that much closer to making my most savory Mexican dishes.  Hoping a fall crop will be successful.  Dad, you did say I can grow it year round, right?!

Answers

Dearest loved ones...so many of you have written or called to tell us that you are praying for our children in their adjustments to school.  We are deeply grateful for remembering them in your prayers.  Isn't it awesome to know that our God hears our prayers and answers?!  We are so thankful for the teaching moments this past week has given us with each of our children.  We have seen their compassion and concern for each other grow as they pray for one another.  Such tender and sweet prayers offered before the throne of grace that bring tears to my eyes even now as I replay them in my mind.

Yesterday I gave Emma a very important task of trying not to complain about going to school when she wakes up in the morning.  I explained how that creates more anxiety in Luca's heart about going to school and how much Luca looks up to her as a big sister.  She sweetly promised she would not complain and that she would pray for Luca.  This morning she stood firm to her promise and was greatly praised for being a good example.  I was so proud of her!

Luca's complaints came regardless this morning.  As we kept insisting that he needed to go to school he then started to insist back that "Mamma, you stay with me."  Instead of pulling Luca into his class today, he pushed me from behind in to the classroom.  I took some time with him to get him to play with toys, color a picture etc. but each time I stood to leave he ran after me.  I finally called my back-up, Jonathan, and stepped out of the class.  Jonathan talked and prayed with him and then after a few minutes Luca turned to him and said "Dadda, I'm going to be a big boy."  At that point Jonathan was able to leave the room.  When we picked Luca up the teacher was all smiles saying it was a WONDERFUL day!  No tears, no outbursts, obedience and cooperation filled Luca's morning.  Praise God!

Thank you so much for praying...and continuing to do so.  We pray this will soon become a consistent pattern for him.

End of Week One

Yea! We have survived the first week of school.  It was a mixed bag of emotions for everyone this week.  For the first time I have my mornings free with no children in the house.  I am definitely able to get a lot of work done but the silence is a little eery for me.  I am definitely ready and excited to see the kids come lunch time.  Jonathan and I have been able to have mornings out together to grocery shop (highly romantic, I know) and sit and have a coffee together at a local bar.  We are looking forward to our morning dates together this year.

Samuel continues to be the least disturbed about going to school.  No fussing, complaining or problems with his reentry in to school.  We are so thankful for his attitude.  Working on his Italian comes with less motivation at times as he feels he won't ever get it and so won't even try.  But thankfully in the end he puts his mind and effort into it and surprises himself with some practice.

Emma's week ended well.  Her teacher told me this morning that she is very good and understands everything being told to her.  I don't know that she is very vocal right now, but that will come as she gets accustomed to her new environment.  Emma puts up a daily episode of complaining and saying she doesn't want to go to school.  Not uncommon to her last year of school.  Once we get to school she is fine and she always says she had a great day of school when she comes home.

Luca started out well but really put up a fight today.  He is one strong kid so trying to muscle him in to a room is quite the challenge.  It took me a half hour this morning to get him calmed down and interacting with something before I could sneak out.  His teachers were saying how he can get really upset, almost angry.  I gave them some tips on how to help him calm down in those situations.  We saw a lot of that in him between 3-4 years of age.  His language ability in English at that age was very, very low which I think created a lot of frustration for him.  Since he has been speaking better we have seen less of those outbreaks in him.  Maybe throwing him in a situation where he can't communicate is now bringing some of these old issues up again.  My heart is heavy for him and his transition to school.  He told me today he cried and when I asked why he said "I want Mamma".  Luca is a social little guy and I know he will enjoy the interaction with other children and that the language acquisition is so vital for him at this age.  Just praying for God's strength and the Holy Spirit to work in Luca's life.

We are all thankful for the weekend!  Next week starts the normal school schedule:
Luca: M-F, 9-12
Samuel & Emma: M-W, 8:30-12:30/2:00-4:30; Th-F, 8:30-12:30      

First Days of School

We have arrived safely back in Italy after an uneventful but very long couple of days of traveling.  The kids held up well and each trip seems to get a bit easier for us to travel with them.  At least there are no strollers and car seats to juggle and for the most part they can carry their own backpacks.  We all slept amazingly the first night back turning in about 12 hours of uninterrupted sleep each.  The next few nights, however, were not so great as it was extremely hard for everyone to get to sleep before 1am.  Some Benadryl for the kids helped a bit.  Now that we have been having to wake up early for school this week it seems that our bodies are finally getting slightly more adjusted.

The first day of school was Monday.  Samuel and Emma both were very excited about going to school.  However, both were a little concerned as to what they would do in first grade and second grade.  We told Samuel he would have his same teachers, same classmates, same room and continue to do the same things he did in first grade with his different subjects.  Due to all those factors his first day of school was a smooth and good start for him.

First Day of 2nd Grade - 13 September 2010

On the other hand, Emma was nervous to not know what to expect or that she would not know how to do something in first grade.  We did our best to prepare her and excite her but in the end the jitters won over.

First Day of 1st Grade - 13 September 2010

As soon as she reached her class she started to back peddle and became very clingy.  The parents were in the room for an hour while the teachers gave out papers to sign, supply lists, and take information as to whether each child would need pre/after school care, take the bus, eat at school, participate in optional afternoon classes on Thursdays and Fridays, take religion class etc.  

One brief moment of smiling as she sat down at her desk.

Emma's two primary teachers.

Emma was holding my hand just about the entire time and when it came to say our goodbyes she broke down in tears.  It was a very hard goodbye that first day, but thankfully she has been doing better the past two mornings.  She comes home each day saying she enjoyed her day, so that is good.  She is still reluctant in the mornings to go but no tears shed since day one.  She has a small class of 14 and we think she will do well in the long run.

Such a tender moment as Jonathan gives Emma comfort and reassurance.

Still struggling to let go, the teacher was able to interest Emma in drawing a picture.

Scuola Tedeschi: A small elementary school, grades 1-5.  This is the hallway
looking from Emma's class.  Samuel's class is the first door on the left.

View from the outside

Luca began preschool on Tuesday.  He was so excited to go to school!  He knows the preschool well having taken his siblings there for the past 3 years.  He ran in with nothing but smiles and enthusiasm.  He was placed with the same teacher that Samuel had, Vittoria.  She was excited to have him and it is nice that she knows our family and understands our situation.  Her comment after picking Luca up yesterday was that he does what he wants to do and is "hard headed".  She said the same thing about Samuel when he started, but really when a child does not understand a word you say, of course they are going to be hard to get through.  She might be thankful that he will only attend in the mornings this year.  Apparently he is chatty in English and hopefully he will pick up Italian quickly.

First Day of preschool - 14 September 2010

Entrance to Luca's school.  We had to stop him running to get this picture.

The classroom

Jumping right in to play with toys

All the kids have half days this week so that has been helpful with getting over jet lag and adjusting to a new schedule for them.  Thanks for your continued prayers for our children.

Month in Michigan

Our summer in America is now down to the final 48 hours.  I am sure that once we return to Italy there will be more consistent blogging keeping you up to speed with life and ministry abroad.  So I guess I better get in at least one blog highlighting our month in Michigan while it is still relevant.

We have been living with Munga and Gramma (and Uncle Ben with glasses) for the past month.  For all the time we live abroad, it is so nice to spend such concentrated time with family when we return.  The kids have been introduced to some firsts such as bumper bowling.  Emma and Luca both got individual dates with Dad at the bowling lanes on top of our times as a family because they loved it so much.  Samuel went miniature golfing for his date with Dad and that was a first as well.

We spent a day a Michigan's Adventure with Munga and Gramma too.  The kids loved all the rides and Luca was beyond thrilled to ride the largest coasters that he could for his height.  Two more inches and look at world because this boy is scared of nothing!  He rode the roller coasters with hands raised the entire ride, no exceptions.  There was also a water park there but no pictures were taken as it was a full time job racing down the water slides and splashing in the pools.

The Grand Rapids Children's Museum filled another morning.  What a great place for the kids to explore, build, dress up and discover.

Bee keeper, Luca

Puppet performances staring Emma and froggie

Luca, the door man

Grandparents enjoying the show put on by their grandkids

Samuel was fascinated by the bees

Bike riding for all the kids was a daily must even though no one successfully graduated out of the training wheel stage.  A trip to the zoo was lots of fun as well but I see we have not downloaded the pictures yet to our computer.  Pony rides and operating construction equipment at a local church carnival was also lots of fun.  The list goes on, the memories are many and everyone will be greatly missed!