I am constantly becoming aware of the lack of enthusiasm on the part of most Christians. So today I wanted to share something I read in my quiet time with a thought and a challenge. So, if your not up for that then stop reading.

Romans 5:1-2

Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this Grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

I know this is a verse that we have all heard a million times, but read it again and think about it.

“Into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.”

We have all of this in our lives because of God and I’m not sure why we so often do not show it. I speak for myself here, but also know that most of us Christians need to do better at living a life that displays the joy we have in Christ. So, my challenge is that as we go into a new month, that we would try to live more joyfully in the knowledge that we “stand in His grace,” and have the “hope of the glory of God.”

I hope that this is encouraging! It has been to me.

I already thought that life here was totally random, and couldn’t really get much more so…. And then last night happened.

Cortney, Kala and I where invited to come to a discussion last night at the church we are now attending. So we went not really knowing what it was all going to be about. We knew it was either about music or just some Italian learning…. So when we arrive they are running through auditions. And then somehow it was 20 minutes later and we’re singing “Trade my sorrows”. Yep. Us three Americans singing in English with a group of Italians. Gospel.
I was having so much fun, singing this way, praising God and feeling that sense of camaraderie with these people.
We walked away in a bit of a giddy daze, wondering if that really just happened.

So I guess we are now members of a gospel choir in Napoli, singing it out, real loud every Wednesday night. Facebook group to follow shortly.

Having fun today. Went to Sorrento with two of my favorite people in the world, Kala and Cortney. Took some good pictures, made a few new videos and just enjoyed "taking the sun". Yes... living in Italy does have it's perks:)

Last night was the night of the ESL party. Something that I had been looking forward to, and yet, with the prospect of twenty-some rowdy Italian kids was as well a bit daunting.

The party in my opinion, went really well! The kids behaved for the most part, and it was all pretty fun. I loved just being with the kids. They really know us now, and like us, so they are themselves around us and feel comfortable with us. It makes me happy.

The other exciting part of the night was when the story of Joseph was told again to round things off with that. We left the ending free for their discovery in a way, and to our great excitement, the kids and even the mom’s wanted to know where in the Bible the story of Joseph was so they could read through his life story!

I am praying that they will read it and maybe we can have some good talks with them about it.

Last Thursday Kala and I departed Napoli for Rome where we would continue on to Vienna the next morning.

It was crazy! I woke up in Napoli and three hours later I was standing in front of the colousium in Rome.
That was a cool experience that I had wanted to do for a long time. Seeing the Trevi fountain and eating at Hard Rock café where highlights as wellJ Not to mention getting to see Reid, Kyra and Nolyn again.

The next morning we where up early and after almost missing our train….we flew about 1.5 hours and presto! we where in Austria! Talk about culture shock! It is so European there. Clean, the people are considerate and speak English! It is so different from Italy.

We had a great week in Vienna, just enjoying the beautiful city. Highlights where: Schonbrunn palace, the Tiergarten zoo there (the oldest in the world), the Ringstrass district, carriage ride through the city, Starbucks, Sacher Torte and riding the oldest farris wheel in the world! Note that Kala gets a gold star for braving that one! So now I am pretty sure I want to move there. I definatly was not ready to leave, but alas there are things to be done back here in Naples.

We arrived here this morning and I was feeling culture shock (and quite honestly, depression) again as the train rolled into the city. I was looking out the window thinking about how different it is and I was thinking to myself, just what is it that is so different about this place other than just the surface? I started to pray about it and felt again just how dark this place is, how much it needs the hope and the light that we have in Jesus. That is why I am in Naples right now and it is my hope that my time here will help in some small way, to shine that light into the darkness.

Well. It’s now our 10th week here in Napoli. We have officially graduated from the two week course in language school and are able to understand and communicate much more efficiently… but…. The only problem now is that I can no longer speak English!

Kala and I teach ESL to 5th graders three days a week and this last week I am pretty sure that I was not teaching English any longer. Rather I was teaching “Italiash”.
Misspelling the word “cloud” was bad, but the low point was when I was trying to tell the kids how to make the word “chicken” plural. I told them “ yes, you just add ‘s to the end. Chicken’s” Oops! Kala just said um.. No. and I just laughed.
Something happened to my brain over the last few weeks while I was stuffing it full of Italian, hearing Napolitano, teaching English and speaking a combination of all three.
It has been really confusing and fun! It gives me a good insight into what it is like being the foreigner in another country. And let me tell you, it’s not easy! So next time you meet someone who is trying to speak to you in English, but are clearly not a native speaker… be kind to them! Speak slowly, clearly and encourage them! It means a lotJ

P.S. If anyone wants to teach ME English… that would be great.

“Of pasta and the Italian man”


“Ho fame!” Is the one thing that comes to mind after the bell rings at language school. Kala and I proceed to walk up Via Toledo toward the metro when I catch a glimpse of Courtney doing a lean (like the pimp that she is) against a lamp-post. So after figuring out that she was indeed waiting for us, we decided to eat lunch together. I’m thinking “ok, a nice cheep something at a tavolo caldo.” Well we decide to check-out a place across the street. So we stop, read the menu and before we have any chance to discus among ourselves, out pops the little man that most likely owns it. “Prego ragazza!” and some more words to get us in the place. So we’re like, ok, that’s fine we will just eat here. We walk in and he seats us in a very little nook in the front of the very little room that backs up to a very cute little cucina.
We all just looked at each other, unsure of what we had signed on for. I felt like I was in a home, not a restaurant. I could imagine having known the family for my whole life. Grandfather is the host and server. Grandma and the rest, down to grandson are in the kitchen cooking up pasta fagiolo (the special of the day) and any other pasta you want.

We waited a while and then suddenly “grandpa” appeared with the plate of antipasti that we where NOT expecting. It was some lovely bruschetta and fried bread. YumJ
I was now pretty excited about tasting my bowl of pasta fagiolo. It came out nice and hot with some fresh bread. This was the best pasta fagiolo ever! They kept asking us if we wanted carne or frutta or dolce, convinced that we needed more food than just two plates. We finally convinced them that it was plenty for us and eventually where allowed to pay and get on with the rest of our lives.

As we enjoyed our lunch I thought about what a great cultural experience this was. Where else would you be having a great meal, feeling surrounded by “family” and watching the workings of a family owned restaurant other than here in the heart of Italy?

It was a funny, fun experience that I hope I never forget!

This week Kala and I began language school! We are attending class for a two week intensive course in Italian.
We ride the metro to get down to the historic city center where the school is located, so it takes us about 30 minutes or so to get there each morning. Our schedule was intense yesterday. We got up at 6:30 am and got to the school at 8:45ish. Had a little written and verbal test before being placed in a class and starting our first lesson. I felt incredibly stupid and backwards… just being honest. So then we got out at 1pm and rushed back home to eat a quick bowl of ceriali before going to teach ESL for two hours. Needless to say that by the time we finished up at about 7:30, we where dead.
So it was hard to get out of bed this morning and think about going out into the rain. But God, being his awesome self, gave me something to rejoice about. I was reading my bible this morning and it was talking about Peter and the Gentiles. The apostles where upset with him because he had witnessed to and baptized a group of Gentiles. In “explaining” to them his actions, he simply stated: “then I remembered what the Lord had said: John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think I could oppose God?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “so then God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

I may have a long long way to go with Italian and may never be able to communicate the way I want to, but my struggle is with one language. God has made a way for all people to have “repentance unto life” and the fact that that is so much more extensive than one language or even two, is awesome to me! I mean, I am SO weak, but in him I am strong, and need nothing more than the knowledge of him and a willing spirit to follow where he leads me.

This week Kala and I started teaching ESL (that is, English as a second language) to 5th graders. Shannon (who is a proficient Italian speaker) has come with us for the first class with each group. That is VERY helpful! Next week Kala and I will be on our own, which is both exciting and a tad bit frightening.
We started out not sure how the parents would respond to the idea of ESL, wandering if we would get enough kids to form 2 groups…. Now we have 4!!! Each group consists of 4-6 kids. So far we have made it very successfully through two of the four.

It’s really fun. I enjoy being around the kids and seeing how they act, and think. It is fun to see their reactions to you asking them a question in English, or having them say something… “mamma mia!” is a common response! It’s great because you can see what they think and you relate, because we are on the same level as them with our Italian knowledge!
The mom’s are fantastic! They are so fun-loving and sweet. They really want to use their English words and want us to improve in Italian.

I am looking forward to building relationships and having more fun with these kids in the next few months!

The week in review:

Rainy days are in season apparently. Not good for trying to document an area with photographs!
Kala is sick anyway, so we have not had many productive days. There was one really nice day that I got a chance to go back to Parco Floridiana (a blog in itself) and enjoy the sun there.

One highlight of the week was going to talk to an English speaking girl that I met a couple weeks ago at “coin”, a department store in Vanvitelli. Her name is Simona and we exchanged phone numbers so we can hopefully hang out. This was a great achievement in my mind. It is really awkward to try and ask someone to be your friend and not come off as really strange…. It was difficult, and I felt really stupid. But she did not seem to think it weird and was seemingly into the idea.
Just so you know, it is totally normal to do that here… ask a stranger to get coffee or talk.

I had an interesting culture experience today as well, in going to the post office. There where about 20 people waiting for their number to be called and get waited on. Italians do a number of transactions at the post office. They pay bills and receive their pension there. The only impressive thing about it all was that they actually where orderly enough to take numbers and wait their turn. Quite impressive actually.

This is the end of my third week in Italy and I can say with confidence that I am adjusting more and more to life here. However, language is very difficult and I feel like I will never get it at all! I really desire to be able to communicate, even at a very base level, with people.

I am excited to say that I feel like I am growing closer to God and am hopeful about what He has planned for the rest of the time.

Things I have really noticed this week:

Graffiti is EVERYWHERE

PDA is the most appalling thing here

The sun is wonderful

There is such a huge contrast between old and new here. And it is amazing how much it changes throughout the city as you go from place to place.

Teenagers here are really loud and hyper

Fruit and vegetables are one of my favorite things and here I could eat them non-stop because they are AMAZING!

I am thankful for what I have been blessed with, especially the knowledge of a loving savior.

32 Gusti


2nd February, 2010


Can I recommend the jar sauce by Barilla? It makes delicious pasta so easy! There are lots of flavors and even more pastas to put them on.
With my food comment done for the day I will move on to the lovely walks that you can take here in Napoli to work off all the delicious (and plentiful) food!

Starting in the neighborhood of Aranella you can walk for about 30 minutes of tree lined roads, shops, apartments, and past the football stadium where there seems to be a perpetual group of sweet old men playing some kind of game around picnic tables.
You will eventually come to piazza Vanvitelli, a sensational neighborhood more in the European style. Wide pedestrian streets and higher end stores are characteristic of this quartiere.

Once in Vanvitelli you have a lot of great options. You can walk the quartiere of Vomero, full of beautiful and unique architecture and views of the bay and Mt. Vesuvius through the close buildings as you wind through the narrow streets.
Or you could ride the funicular (incline train) down the hills to the bay. There is a nice park down there and across from the park is the lovely bay of Naples. On a clear sunny day it is great! Views of two (or more) of the castles, views of the many buildings, the islands and of course, the imposing Mt. Vesuvius.

The fish market is a fun sight too! The fishermen bring in their boatfuls of fresh caught fish and sell them right there on the rocks by the water. I hate fish. But this made me wish that I liked them.

1st edition

32 Gusti

When trying to adjust to a new culture it’s nice to have a little something to really enjoy and help you fall in love with your surroundings. Besides the natural beauty of Napoli, the little café - Caffeteria Benninn - does an amazing job in providing guests with a wide selection (32 flavors, or gusto) of hot chocolate. This is not swiss miss or even hershey’s. It is thick, creamy, rich European hot chocolate. Everything the name should imply, chocolate. Served hot.

The consistency of pudding, I thought about how they must make it. Is it a giant lump of chocolate that they melt down and add nuts or anything too and serve like that? I think so! It is so warming, great for cool weather. The flavors range from pistacio to pepper to white chocolate fruit. I tried a dark chocolate hazelnut on our first visit.

Kala (my room-mate)and I had to return Wednesday evening. It was just what we needed. A place to sit back and talk, relax, enjoy. This café has the option of indoor or outdoor seating. We sat outdoor again. It is very enjoyable to sit and enjoy the air and whole experience. The deal here with tables, is that you can sit down and order something there and it’s yours for as long as you want it! Unlike the states where you feel rushed a lot of times, here it is like you own it for as long as you wish.

We sat back and enjoyed our time.
I think the waiter thought we where nut’s getting that and an order of biscotti at 5:00 pm, but bless his heart, he was very gracious to us and just smiled at my ill attempts at Italian. This time I tried a chocolate coffee one. Deliceoso!