a remote island

this morning my sculpture class went on a bike ride around rome and in some of the gardens. it was so cool. we got to ride through these beautiful woodsy areas that reminded me of good old pa. we rode to the catacombs and took a tour through them. it was really interesting. i hadn't riden a bike in months and so it was really hard going up hills. i was way slower than almost eveyone else. also i was using my friend emily's bike, and it is not in the best shape. it kept making really loud noises and the chain kept falling off. people were staring at me. it was funny.

my paper is still in progress. my plan was to work on it at school until school closes tonight, but after my printmaking class i was so exhausted from the bike ride i decided it would be better if i went home to work. so i did. as i was relaxing on the couch, reading over some information, i realized that i had forgotten my actual paper at school. after a few minutes of contemplating my stupidity i realized i had also left my lithography stone out in the printmaking studio, uncoated. (i was letting it dry before i could coat it and totally forgot about it).

so, needless to say, i am back here at school. and thankfully my litho stone is still ok.

tomorrow morning i am going on an island trip with a few people from my school. it is a very small remote island called Ventotene (pictured above). i am really excited. its not even a mile wide or long, and the population is really small. we are going to stay in a condo (no camping this time!) and eat fish from the island. it should be relaxing, which will be great after this paperful week.

paper shmaper

hello. well, the last few days i have been working on my paper for my early renaissance art history class. i really don't like writing papers. i am writing about the misinterpretations of Christianity, the Bible, and God in early Christian art, and how those misinterpretations have skewd socities veiw of Christianity today. its really interesting but im struggling. does anyone have any resource suggestions???

went to church this morning with danielle. there was a whole group of americans from another calvary chapel church in Rochester, (sp?) New York. so there was a guest speaker. we talked about Psalms 27, and waiting on the Lord. afterwards, we went to pastor Brent's house for a fellowship meal. it was delicious.

today is the 25th. i am coming home in exactly one month.

some cinque terre pictures

me making a fire

that little island beside the big mountian is where we camped out

sorry this is crooked....me climbing down some rocks

one of the villages

i really wish this one was straight. the water was so amazingly blue.

there are still a lot more pictures i want to post, but for some reason i can only get a few up a time. so these will have to suffice for now.

school has been sorta a drag lately, but only a few more weeks until summer!! i am trying to see as much of rome in my last weeks here as i can.

jenn williams reminded me of one of john piper's great quotes, and i have been trying to meditate on it lately...."God is most glorified in me when i am most satisfied in Him"

<3

best weekend ever

happy birthday danielle

one veiw of montorosso

one of the beaches

i have tons more and better pictures to post, but these are the only ones i can get at the moment. more are sure to come.

wow, im not even sure where to start. going to cinque terra was so incredibly amazing. for so many reasons. it really was one of the most beautiful places i have even been to. it was so good to be with danielle and sarah-God really used my time with them to encourage me...we had lots of good conversations and fellowship together. It was wonderful to be outside...and sleep under the stars and enjoy Gods awesome creation.

we had lots of fun adventures. we spent the daylight exploring the little villages, going in cute shops, and relaxing on the beach. it wasn't really hot out, but it was warm enough. at the one beach area there were huge boulders at the shoreline, so we spent hours laying on the rocks, reading and talking. we had a picnic on the beach with cheese and crackers and cinque terra wine. and spent time looking for neat rocks and shells in the sand. the first night we hiked off the trail, on this little island (abou the size of a soccer field) that was connected to the coast by a pactch of rocks in our favorite village, Montorosso. there was no one there...we had the whole island to ourselves....it was amazing...we were surrounded by the ocean. the hard part came when, after hiking back to the town for dinner, realizing it was completely dark outside....and we didn't have a flashlight. so it was a very challenging hike, in the dark, down steep inclines, over huge rocks, back to our little private island. but very very worth it. when we finally got there for the night, we made a fire (my dad and brother would be so proud), and set up our sleeping area by the fire under the beautiful stars....it was really really cold, so we didn't really sleep well at all, but that didn't matter. it was so great. the next day we hiked up the mountian and to the next village. saturday night, it was colder, so we decided to try and find somewhere to sleep indoors. but everything we found was soo expensive. we searched for places to stay for a few hours with no luck. many of the places were full. we knew that God would provide us with somewhere good to sleep, but we were starting to worry a little....we saw a really really fancy hotel, and we were embarassed to go and ask how much a room would be, because we looked like we had been camping, and we also looked like we probably couldn't even afford to buy a cup of coffee from them....but sarah decided it couldn't hurt to at least ask. so we went in, and talked to the guy. he told us that they didn't have any room, but he gave us directions to his friend who could help us, Manuel. so we followed the directions, up the very top of the village. and started shouting "Manuel! Manuel!" (thats what hotel guy told us to do). Manuel came to the gate, only to tell us that he didn't have any rooms left. we asked him if he had a floor we could pay for, and he saw how dissappointed we were (and probably how tired we looked), so he said we could sleep on his terrace. we gladly accepted, even though we would still have to sleep outside, it would be better than on a rock or something. but then, as were getting our blankets out, he told us to follow him...and he took us to his shed. he said that we could sleep in it! yay....we were so excited- four walls, and a ceiling!! it was wonderful. we joked about how it was like our "stable" because "there was no room for us in the inn". haha..... also, we kept seeing this group of 4 american students in cinque terra. we had a strange feeling that they knew the Lord, but we hadn't even talked to them or anything. the one night when we were eating dinner, they were at the same restuarant! we said hello, and later they came over to our table and we ended up talking for an hour to them. they were catholic, and all loved Jesus very much. it was interesting to hear what God is doing at their school, on their campus, and in their lives. it was good for me to talk to them, and hear what they had to say, because it reminded me that people can come from different churches, and have different background, and still know, and love, and have a personal relationship with Jesus. it was an eye opening experience. anyways, this is getting to really long. this weekend was almost like a retreat of some sort. i feel refreshed and remotived. which is good because i have a lot things to do this week.

also, lets all remember to be praying for alivia haughery and ian murphy:
http://www.aliviarachelhaughery32005.blogspot.com/
http://www.prayforian.com/

cinque terra

very very early tomorrow morning sarah, danielle, and i are going to cinque terra for the weekend to celebrate danielle's birthday. cinque terra is a city of 5 villages, and you can hike in between them. its located a few hours north of rome. we have heard that it is a beautiful area with mountians and a beach. we are going to try to sleep out on the beach to save money, but it might be way too cold. either way, it should be a fun adventure. it will be really fun just to be with sarah and danielle for a weekend.

the picture is from a google search of "cinque terra".

i like wednesdays

today has been a good day so far. i always like wednesdays because i usually have a lot of free time since i am done with classes at 3. this morning i had an on site at piazza del popolo. we went to a church and saw some sweet paintings. it is soooo beautiful today. our professor gave a us a short lecture outside in the middle of the piazza. it was great.

i had about 2 hours to kill before my italian class so i went on a walk by myself to castel sant' angelo (pictured above). i dont really know anything about it. but it looks pretty cool.

then i had italian, and now i am going home to bake some banana bread (im trying your recipe aunt diane). my friend bridget's family is here, and they are coming over to my apartment tonight to hang out.

party pictures

here am i, lighting zekes birthday candels

everyone hanging out

and finally....our huge pasta dinner.....in the kitchen sink

The towel needs washed.

church was good today. its always like a breath of fresh air. today we finished our segment on the ten commandments, with the commandment about coveting. we talked about the importance of being content with what you have, and learning to demonstrate self control in temptations to covet. one example we discussed was david, and the married woman he coveted. fulfilling the desires of our flesh, ultimately lead to death. Jesus is the only one you can satisfy us.

yesterday i was talking to my roommates and they were looking for our dish towel, and i said, "we can't use it, it needs washed." we then got into a long discussion over the phrase "it needs washed". they were all telling me that it was completely wrong to say something that way, without the "to be" in it. (it needs to be washed) and i was blown away because i have always said it that way and have never been told it was wrong. do other people say it like that? maybe it is a lancaster thing? or maybe i am just crazy.

last night, for my roommates birthday party, we had to make dunner for 15 people. we made soooo much pasta. we didn't have any pots big enough to mix it or serve it in so we used our kitchen sink. it was really funny. don't worry, we cleaned it really well.

a tripod car

isn't this car great?? it only has three wheels. my friend conor is in the way, but he is a reference for scale.

nothing too exciting has been going on here. it is starting be get soooo nice outside. it almost feels like summer on some days. last night i had fun doing puzzles with emily, bridget, and sarah. (thanks mom) and tomorrow my house is having a birthday party for our roommate zeke. so that should be fun. im going to try baking a cake.

i just bought my plane ticket back home. i will be back in lancaster on wednesday, april 25th. i cant belive it. i am leaving rome in a month and a half. time has gone by so fast. there are still lots of things i want to do here. but i know i will be ready to come home.

back to school....

well i am back in rome and it is time to get back to my school work. i must say i am not too excited about that. but i think i will get more motivated once things get going again. my london trip was really great. on the flight back i ended up sitting beside a girl who goes to my school here! haha....cool huh?

yesterday i went to a different church. for anyone who doesn't know, i have really big interest in sign language. when i first got here, i was praying that God would provide me someone or something that i could have some kind of interaction with so that i could experience some italian sign language. i kinda gave on that idea after a month. but then, at church one sunday a few weeks ago, i met a girl named melanie. she was american and was living in rome for a year and she knew ASL (american sign language). she told me about a church that she went to a few times that had sign interpretation. so we exchanged emails and phone numbers. last week emailed me and told me that she was going to go to the church on sunday and that i could meet up with her if i wanted to. so of course i did. it was a really neat experice. the service was in all italian, but there was also a sign language interpreter. there was about 8 deaf people there. italian sign is different than american sign. they are very similiar, but there are some differences. (the same situation as when i was in puerto rico) i didn't really understand very much of the sermon because i am not very good at understanding italian or sign language, but it was still really cool. i liked it a lot. and it was so cool to see how God did provide for me a friend who knows sign and a place where i can be around sign again. yet another illistration of Gods provision.

the dysons are my friends

yesterday was really fun. jenelle and i got the train out to rayleigh, essex, which is right outside of london. it was very green and spacious. it reminded us of lancaster. martin (mr. dyson) picked us up from the station and brought us back to his house. his wife, baryl, made us hot tea. then martin took us out to their HUGE garden. it was sooo amazing. we couldn't believe it. it was like a dreamworld of magical gardenness. thier garden was one acre. it was filled with all sorts tree houses, plants, ponds, pathways, fountians, secret passagways, rope climbing thing, soccer field, "wendy house" (play house), barbque, summer house.....it was amazing. so then, it started to rain, so we went for a drive around the countryside...it was really nice. then they took us to two english pubs. they were so cool. they looked like they were out of a movie. very rustic and with lots and lots of character. after that it was around dinner time so they took us to this cute british resturant. after dinner we went back to their house for more tea and then martin drove us back to the train station. what a wonderful couple.

thanks a lot for your comments. they are always so encouraging. i miss you all.

<3