Only in Italy

The weirdest thing happened yesterday. I ordered some Chinese food to go, walked out the door, threw my receipt in a trash can by the road, and then crossed the street via a crosswalk. As I was crossing, an Italian guy started talking to me. I'm to the point right now where I'm absolutely sick of the way Italian guys look at girls and try to hit on them. They eye girls head to toe as if they're pieces of meat. It's so gross. They need to get a life. Anyway, I kept ignoring the guy and saying "non parlo Italiano," but he began tapping my shoulder and then stopped me. He was dressed normal but pulled out his police badge and said "polizia!" He started rambling a bunch of fast spoken Italian. I had no idea what he was saying to me; I'm sure I had a confused look on my face. I kept saying "non parlo Italiano." Then, I finally figured out that he was asking where my receipt was. I told him it was in the garbage. He said, "por que" (why?). And I said, "cause I didn't want it." The "por que's" and my same response continued for several minutes. During this weird encounter, I was trying to figure out what I did to get stopped by a police. Did I cross the crosswalk at the wrong time? Was I not supposed to buy Chinese food in an Italian country? I seriously had no clue what was going on. The guy finally gave up trying to talk to me/fine me/arrest me or whatever the heck he was gonna do. I walked back to the hotel confused, trying to figure out this mystery. I told the girls what happened. They started laughing and told me that you must have a receipt for anything bought that's being carried around. What? How come I had never heard about silly rule? I don't know, but I now know why the police stopped me...he saw me throw my receipt away. Give me a break.

Nutella...

is my new favorite thing! (If you can't tell by the picture). It's amazing. I had heard about it before but never bought it or ate it in the states. Italians are pretty creative when it comes to using this stuff in food. Here's a few Nutella items I've tried since I've been here: crepes, filled dougnuts, gelato, cookies, pie, pitas, foccacio, pizza, cannoloni, & meringue sandwiches. And how could I forget-the one and only Chinese place nearby makes Nutella egg rolls and dumplings. Every day I discover something new. When I get home in December, I'm gonna use this incredible chocolate hazelnut spread with all kinds of desserts; Americans won't know what hit them!

Freedom . Contentment . Peace

What an amazing journey these past few weeks have been. I was hoping this study abroad experience would be a time of growth, and I’m blown away by what the Lord has been teaching me and how amazing and real He has become to me. I’m in an interesting place in life right now; I have no clue where I’ll be in December after I graduate yet have such a peace about the future. Peace comes from surrendering; I obviously don’t know what’s best for my life so that’s why I’m letting Christ take over and lead me wherever He wants. It’s such a great feeling! Also, being in this country where so many people think they have to follow unnecessary religious rules and aren’t experiencing spiritual freedom has made me appreciate what we freedom we do have as believers since Christ died on the cross for us.

A few weeks ago, a friend and I were going to catch a ferry to a nearby island for the day but ended up being 20 minutes too late because of traffic. I was mad and frustrated at first. But since the city we were in had a beach, we decided to lye out for the afternoon and head back to Ariccia later. The beach ended up being amazing (I mean, how could a beach on the Mediterranean not be), and I enjoyed a few hours of prayer, worship, and learning. In the U.S., I’m always in a rush to get places and feel like I always have somewhere to be or something to do. But I had absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be this day at the beach. No one was expecting us to be somewhere at a certain time. The beach was ours for as long as we so desired. As I was lying on my back, listening to music, the cool breeze swept over my body and the sun was shining without a cloud in the sky. It was an absolutely peaceful afternoon! I lifted my heart in praise to the Creator and realized just how blessed I am for the simple things in life like the beach and for the blessing of being able to study abroad and for the blessing of family and friends.

I realized that freedom in Christ leads to contentment, which leads to peace. Why have I been seldom content with where I am in life and always feeling like I have to know the next step? Maybe because I hadn’t fully surrendered everything to my Father due to lack of trust. Every book I’ve picked up to read lately along with Galatians that I finished studying recently is about grace, freedom, love, and trust. Obviously these are basic things the Lord wants me to understand. Each day I’m in awe of something new He shows me or teaches me. I’m beginning to get a small glimpse of His love for me. I don’t know why it’s been so hard to grasp and accept the incredible free gifts He gives to us.