Just A Heads Up...

I bought skinny jeans and nike high tops. I know this is a shock; I’ve always hated “tapered at the ankle” jeans, but I guess my taste has changed since I’ve been living in Italy. The high-tops are a bit random. But I needed a pair of comfortable, fashionable winter shoes, and the tweed high tops caught my eye. They’re pretty snazzy!! What can I say, the European style is rubbing off on me.

It's Official...

I hate flying. It scares the mess out of me. Each time I step on board, I think that the plane is going to crash. I used to love it and not think twice about it...until this year. And this last week did me in...6 flights in 9 days. European airlines offer cheap, no frill flights, so my friends and I opted to fly to 6 different countries during our fall break rather than taking trains that are expensive and take forever. The low cost airlines are exactly what I imagined them to be. Let me explain. My friend compared our first flight to a bus in the sky. It really was one of the bumpiest flights I've ever been on. I know the captain can't control turbulence, but they can control the landing to some degree. The first 4 of 6 landings were absolutely awful. #1: The back wheels landed first and the front ones landed a long time afterward and landed very hard. #2: As we neared the runway, the plane kept wobbling back and forth so once the wheels hit the ground, the plane took forever to drive straight. #3: I think the pilot forgot we were supposed to be landing when he saw the runway under us, so he just allowed the plane to drop out of the sky. I was in pain from the shock for a while. #4: Once we landed, the plane came to an abnormally quick, screeching halt. I suffered from a mild case of whiplash. Anyway, we had beautiful weather on our 5th flight to Prague. I was relaxed, doing just fine, until the engines got really loud and the plane began to decline quite steeply. It wasn't time to descend so of course I started freaking out. I put on some Christian music about Heaven to distract myself and prepare my heart since I was convinced we were going to crash. The last flight was ok. The scariest part was walking up the stairs to board it. One of the wing engines was making a clicking noise as it spun around - a noise like it was on its last leg. My heart dropped; I knew there had to be something wrong with it and that it would break as soon as we took off. I got one of my friends to ask the flight attendant about it. She smirked as she replied, "That's normal." I really felt nauseous cause I thought I wouldn't live to see the next few minutes. I'm not scared of death; I can't wait to see my Father in Heaven. But the thought of being in a plane while it crashes is awful. I still have more flights booked for the next few weeks so I need to chill out. I'm usually not a freak about stuff like this. I don't know what's wrong with me.

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.

The Sweet Sound & Taste Of Hard Rock

Who would have thought that Hard Rock Cafe could be so amazing?! Well, it was last night! I know, I know, it's a bit overrated and overpriced and and somewhat cheesy. But going two weeks without protein has been rough, so when we heard that there was a place to get American food in Rome, we went! I'm not a big salad eater, but my grilled chicken salad was incredible. Maybe it tasted so good since my diet in Italy pretty much consists of croissants, bread, pizza, and pasta. My eyes were excited to see some multi-colored food. My body was excited to digest something actually healthy. And my ears were excited to hear something familiar...American music! (even though much of it was 80's). Don't get me wrong, I love Italy, along with the food and the culture. But there's nothing like the familiar and nothing like some good ole American food. Anyway, we decided that a trip to Hard Rock is going to become a bi-monthly activity. Don't worry, I didn't buy the shirt...

When In Rome

Doesn't that saying remind you of "Anchorman?" Many things in Italy remind me of movies. The miniature cars and the electric outlets make me think of "Just Married." Speaking of movies, "Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls" came on TV this weekend. The girls in my hotel room in Cinque Terra turned it on for some back ground noise, I guess, and I actually found it to be quite amusing. Of course I couldn't understand the Italian, but Jim Carrey doesn't need words to be funny. And the random guy speaking Italian for him sounded nothing like him. Anyway, after being in Ariccia for almost a week, I was ready to see Rome. We went on Thursday to see a few of the many sights that the city has to offer. I'd never ridden on a train before so I was excited about that, too. However, it wasn't much different from the tram things that are in big airports. But when we got to the huge station in Rome, I was overwhelmed. There are about 30 tracks with all kinds of trains-ghetto trains, overnight trains, fast trains, etc. And I thought I'd never be able to figure out how European train schedules work, but after hours of riding on a train this weekend to the Italian Riviera and back, I think I've got it down. The Euro Star was amazing; it was much cleaner and faster than other trains. We rode through Tuscany on the way from Florence to Rome, and the scenery was absolutely beautiful! It's what I pictured that area to look like. I sat in my seat listening to some praise music in awe of God's creation. The Lord is so cool. And He sure is creative. I can't begin to imagine how amazing Heaven will be.