Oh, Happy Day!

Just had to write to say that for the first time today Emma went to school without a single complaint! As we approached her school Luca started to say "No school, Emma? No school?" I cringed when I heard him say that and to our shock she told Luca "Yes, school, Luca." She then proceeded to unbuckle herself and get out of the car saying "I'm going to school today and I'm not going to cry. I'm going to find my class and walk in." I nearly cried with excitement to hear her say that. True to her word, she did all of the above without any hesitation.

It was truly a God thing! Yesterday she declared that the Bible said she didn't have to go to school. We said if she could find where it said that then she could stay home. I think she opened up to Joshua somewhere, but we were not convinced. While at school I wrote out some verses on cards for her that were of course stamped all over with frogs. Deuteronomy 31:6 "Be strong and courageous...for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." and Isaiah 41:10 "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

She was very excited about the cards and the first thing she asked when she came home today was "do you still have my cards?" We continue to pray that God's word would penetrate her heart and help her in her fears. Hoping too this is the turning point we have been praying for in this process of adjustments for her in regards to school.

Re:set

A deep sigh of relief came over us this morning as we closed the seranda at our new center. The countless hours put in especially over the past four weeks on the center have now concluded. Well, enough that we can proudly open our doors to the community tomorrow night. Of course, there are still some curtains to be installed on the front window, signs to be ordered for the exterior, stocking of the bookshelves, and a few other things that need to be done, but nothing overly urgent.

It looks great (at least we think so!) Thank you to everyone who gave towards this project both in prayer and in financial support. We could not have opened our doors without either of those things!

Oh, and by the way the name of the center is "Re:set". It is a word also used in Italian with the same meaning as the English word. The name has a double meaning for us. It is a place to come and recharge, be refreshed, to reset. However, regarding "set" it also implies that it is not done alone, but in a group--a set. Plus it is extra cool in the cultural context to use English.

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy. To see some before shots click here.

The morning "cleaning crew" for the past 2.5 weeks. More work cleaning up after Luca at times. I'm sure he'll enjoy his new schedule of mornings at home again.

Thinking that some plates of cookies will be good to fill the empty shelves for the first night of class. We plan to put a library of English books there for people to borrow and some other Christian literature to sell from Casa della Bibbia.

THE chairs and tables bought through your giving. (30 chairs are on back order)

The back storage/class room...still a work in progress on the organizational end.

The bathroom before was so unsightly-trust us! Toilet, sink and mirror were replaced. And yes, it's a tiny bathroom!

Ready to fill the seats with people!

In the corner is an espresso machine. What Italian cultural center would be complete without one? We benefited from Giancarlo's bookstore move and got a few useful items that he has now replaced at his new location. i.e. espresso machine and curtains.

Songwriter

A while back I promised to get you some more video of the kids singing. Well, last night provided the perfect and impromptu opportunity to catch some more on video. We had just finished reading the story of Abraham and Isaac on Mt. Sinai and talking about obedience being an act of worship. We asked the kids about other ways we can worship God and the immediate answer from Samuel was singing. So when it came for our song time we asked for a request and Samuel gave a title that did not ring a bell for us. We asked him how it went and this is what he started to sing. After one verse I asked him if he could start over so that I could record it to remember how it goes. It was too precious! So here is Samuel creating his own worship song...

First Days of School

Yesterday was the beginning of adjustments for all of us and to a new routine. We as parents where nervous as well as the whole cross-cultural school experience is just as new to us as it is to them. It's hard not to be able to relate to your own kids in what they might be experiencing, because we have not been there ourselves.

Samuel's First Day:
He was very excited about going to his new school and is very proud of himself in that this is one step closer to growing up to be an adult. He really likes to learn and so we pray his lessons are stimulating and his teachers are both captivating and also understanding in his growing language ability. His first grade class now has 20 students. One of the additions being, Dario, a boy who was also in Samuel's preschool class. They are seated next to each other and I'm sure it was a comfort for him to see a familiar face. The parent's meeting lasted until a little after 9:00am at which time we received a school supply list and some basic need-to-know information. We left Samuel happy and smiling in his new classroom. He had a great first day and still carried his excitement home with him.


The only bad part of his day was when we arrived nearly 10 minutes late to pick him up. We had to pick up Emma and make a quick detour but it cost us deeply. Samuel was in tears when we got there and we felt HORRIBLE! What parent wouldn't?! He was the last child remaining and no doubt his anxiety was increased because of it being his first day. He said "we lost him." The rest of the day was full of reassurances that we loved him, we would never leave him and that we were deeply sorry. He took great comfort in having our phone numbers written in his school planner that if ever he or his teachers need to reach us that they can call. And believe me, that won't happen again!!

Emma's First Day:
She was not excited about going back to school and there was much anxiety in her little heart about it. Maybe not having her brother who is stronger and more outgoing in character walk in to school makes it harder. The language is greatly intimidating to her and she becomes extremely quiet in social settings. We are praying that with her soon to be all-day schedule that she will gain confidence in the language and come out of her shell. I had to pass off a clinging and crying Emma to her teacher before leaving her both yesterday and today. I am told she quickly calmed down and was very tranquil, saying very little to anyone.

When I picked her up she said she had a good day. Even better today, because when I picked her up the first thing she said was "I like school!" I asked if she wanted to come back and she said "yes." I asked Jonathan if he had a tape recorder so I could play what she said to her tonight as usually that is when she starts to whine about not wanting to go to school and just wanting to be a little girl her whole life. Keep Emma close in your thoughts and prayers in these initial weeks of adjustments. We were pleasantly surprised to hear that she just goes 1/2 days all this week too.

Luca's First Day:
He would have been just fine to stay at either of the schools. He was not happy to leave his siblings. At the preschool we stopped in to say hi to Vittoria, Samuel's teacher from last year and Luca just jumped right in playing with the other kids. I had to go and pry his fingers off the school door as he wanted to get back in to stay. His final year at home will be cherished by his parents even if he thinks otherwise.

After dropping the kids off and with our grocery and school supply lists in hand we headed off to the supermarket. It was an insane place to be with parents trying to find all the very specific list of items. For example, Samuel needs 7 different colored notebooks of graphing paper of a specific dimension with margins. The solid colored notebooks found were not the right dimension or were missing margins, the correct dimension ones didn't come in solid colors, the notebook covers came in packages that included only 4 of the colors you needed and so you can see how frustrating that process was. Of course, this being our first time experience at the elementary level we didn't know that these hassles could have been eliminated at a specific cartoleria store. The cost is higher, but to cut out the stress of school supply shopping with every parent with a school aged child, we will gladly pay any price next time around. Why is it again, that they can't mail you a school supply list 2 weeks prior? Answer: Not a clue, that's just the way it is!

My afternoon was spent organizing materials, covering notebooks, and labeling items for both kids to take to school today. The dishwasher wasn't unloaded from the night before, lunch dishes still remained, laundry needed to be hung, dinner needed to be made, and I was still missing 3 school items, when my loving husband came upstairs to give me a great big hug and say, "let's go out to eat tonight." His proposition could not have been better timed or more appreciated! The kids were thrilled to get a special treat of MickeyD's for dinner too. Not to mention that we got the final 3 items by visiting 2 additional stores.

Today after dropping the kids off we headed over to the center to clean all morning. It will be a busy week of much the same schedule as we try to get everything ready to open for the first ESL class on the 30th. Tomorrow morning I will clean with Giulia while Jonathan and Danilo hang up flyers for the ESL classes around Caselle. Fun, exciting times all around that continually keep us on our knees! Thanks for your prayers too!

School Schedule

Holding true to the advise I was given, the elementary school had posted a notice outside the school gate. It is confirmed that Samuel does indeed start "La Prima" (First grade) on Monday. For the entire first week of school he will only go from 8:30-12:30. There is a brief parent's meeting with the teachers the first day at 8:30am. Kind of crazy since we need to have Emma to her school in the center of town by 9:00am. Hoping the meeting is indeed brief and that they start on time! One can hope, right?!

For the regular school schedule this is how it works:
Monday-Wednesday: 8:30-12:30, 2:00-4:30
Thursday & Friday: 8:30-12:30

Samuel will come home for lunch each day. Thankfully the school is within walking distance and he will get a little break in the afternoons with us at home. I imagine motivating him to go back in the afternoons will be a real thrill!

Emma will start her final year of Scuola Materna also on Monday.
Her schedule will be Monday-Friday, 9:00am-4:00pm

To me it sounds like lots of running around, back and forth, but maybe it won't be so bad. I'll let you know.

City Center

Not really sure why it has taken us over 2 years to get to the city center of Torino to do some sightseeing and exploring. (Besides the hospitals and passing through on the way to some other destination). Maybe it's the habit of being in a routine and venturing out takes more effort that sometimes is not there just by the fact that all your energies are spent on just surviving in a cross-cultural setting. Maybe it's because we have had Italian friends telling us that they would show us around and we are still waiting for that to happen. Maybe it's because city driving is less than ideal if you don't know your way around. (Although, our new GPS App is most helpful and will no doubt make us more adventuresome.) For whatever reason or excuse, it was finally nice to cross a "tourist visit" to Torinio off our list of things to do. So next time, Fishers, we will have more to show you with more historical interest than the contemporary art museum. haha!


Catherine is a fellow co-worker of ours that lives in the city center. Apart from the summer months she has been coming to our house on a weekly basis to dine with us and then watch the kids so I can attend the Bible studies with Jonathan. She has truly been a blessing to us. So thank you dear friend, for your loving service and ministry to our family! On Tuesday, we finally made a visit to her apartment and spent the day together walking the city.

After just visiting Paris we have to confess it was a little bit anticlimatic. But no matter, it was good to visit some highlights of Torino. Jonathan is reading a book in Italian on the history of Torino so that will definitely increase our knowelge and appreciation for this city.

We had lunch at a sidewalk cafe' in one of the piazzas complete with a musical ensemble stopping by to play whilst we ate. We enjoyed our pizzas and the opportunity to sit and converse while soaking up the final days of summer warmth.

Mole Antonelliana

One of the five pieces of the original Roman wall that used to surround the city. This was the main gate.

Our ever growing munchkins

Main gate with statues of 2 different Ceasars

A gate leading in to the palace in Piazza Castello...a little less extravagant than the French version.

Inside the Chapel of the Holy Shroud

Behind the glass inside the large wooden box is where the Shroud is kept. You cannot take pictures any closer than this. The Shroud was last out on display in 2000 to celebrate the Christian Jubilee.

Pictures of the Shroud

Final Week of Summer

We are entering our final week of summer vacation. Soon the kids will be back in school and fall ministries will resume. Our week will be busy trying to get some back-to-school shopping done, putting another coat of paint on at the center, taking our rescheduled tour of Torino with Catherine, meeting with our core group for our first fall meeting and making a hospital visit. Our newest addition to the core group was Pierluigi & Cristina this past spring and just today they have welcomed their son, Natan, in to the world. We are very excited for them!

Samuel and Emma start school on Monday the 14th...we think and presume. The school system here is well, disorganized to say the least. One might expect with Samuel entering his first year of elementary at a new school that we would get a letter in the mail with a school supply list, start day and time, name of his teacher etc. But that has not and will not happen. I'll try not to be too hard on them, however, as this year the country is revamping their educational system and we were told we would not know anything until the first day of school, because that is when they themselves would find out the changes. I have been seeking out moms for advise on what to expect the first day of school and what Samuel should bring. I think the overall consensus is to bring some basic supplies and he should receive a list his first day of additional items to get. Don't try to call the school for information (they will either not be there or they won't know anything), just stop by this weekend sometime to see if there is a notice for the start time of the first day. I was also told to expect that Samuel would have a fairly light and unpredictable schedule for the first week or two, until they get everything finalized for their regular schedule. Of course, all this advise is coming from the "old system" so, who knows what kind of ride we are in for.

Emma will be returning to her same school and teachers and we know what to expect at that level, so I'm not so nervous about that transition. Both kids say they are excited about school, so hopefully that still rings true on their first day. More posts on the school adventure to come...

Vacation - pt. 2

Below are a collection of photos from our trip. I kept them in chronological order of when we saw things. Each day was packed full and since the kids woke up on several occasions before 6am, we were usually out the door between 8:30 and 9:00am. We would return in time for a late dinner and a game of UNO before putting the kids to bed. Most days we would pack a picnic lunch to eat along the way. We managed to eat out only three times over the course of the week and saved money by cooking our meals in the apartment. It worked out really great for us to rent an apartment, which was way cheaper than a hotel. Not to mention finding a hotel for a family of 5 is nearly impossible in Europe without having to stay in an executive suite or something.

Samuel kept us on our toes with his endless stream of questions. Since we saw so much stuff related to history, we had to answer a lot of questions about death and why and how people died. His first exposure to some WWII history made him really happy to know that the good guys beat the bad guys. He didn't like the fact that the bad guys bombed and destroyed Paris.

Emma made us laugh upon arriving to our apartment. The building had wooden steps that were carpeted and with the age of the building it gave off a musty/antique smell. She is hyper sensitive to smells and usually has a pretty amusing description for things. When she got a wiff of the stairwell she said, "ooh, it smells expensive! I like this smell."

I put captions with the pictures so hopefully you aren't too lost in trying to figure out what things are etc. Sorry for the numerous photos. In reality we all know that the grandparents are the ones who are most interested in viewing these photos, so we won't take offense if you bypass the slideshow. (Double-click on slideshow to view in a larger format)