Giovanna

Yesterday was great!! I got out for an early morning run, came back for breakfast, and went outside to read a little bit in the yard. The sun was going behind the house as I was reading, so I decided that was a sign I needed to head to the beach. It was soooo nice outside!! I was in a tank top and shorts. I rode my bicycle down to the beach and found a nice spot where I could sit in a chair and read. Before it got too late, I wanted to go to the library and see if there was another book I could check out because I wasn't sure how far I would be able to get in The Lord of the Rings (did I mention it's huge?!). After a few minutes of trying to get the librarian to understand, he went to get me Robinson Crusoe from the ever small English section. When he handed me the book, I looked inside and saw there were paragraph numbers and the print was rather big. I flipped back to the cover and saw this particular book was on a 2nd grade level ... a book to help struggling readers :oP haha, I don't think I'll be reading it, and that's okay because I picked up The Lord of the Rings and I'm pretty excited about reading as much as I can. In the evening, Monica took Nicole to volleyball and I stayed home with Greta. She's fun :o) Nicole came home and Monica went to her spinning class. I helped Nicole (just instructed with basic English commands) make M&M cookies ... the most difficult part was going from standard units to metric (they don't have cups or tsp over here, we improvised lol). I think Nicole had a lot of fun making the cookies!! They tasted great even if we didn't have all the exact ingredients and we kind of guesstimated the measurements :oD


This morning was cloudy :oP I got up early to talk with Tristan and then went for a run. I feel really good after a nice run through the neighborhood. I'm finding my way in this city :o)
I made it back to the house just in time because after my shower it started to rain. Since I wasn't going anywhere outside with the rain, I spent the morning and afternoon reading Scripture and digging further with websites for commentaries and bible study notes. It was such a blessing. This month, I'm reading one chapter of Proverbs a day since there are 31 Proverbs and 31 days in October.


This afternoon when Monica came home, she told me I would meet with a friend's son's girlfriend and go for a walk around town. Her name is Giovanna. She is 16, goes to school in San Benedetto, and I am so impressed by her goals and values. It was such a great evening walking around on the beach, in town, and all around (even though I'm sore from running haha). She is a believer and feels her faith is important. I was encouraged to hear that, but she also told me that a lot of the young Italian students do not believe in Jesus because they don't feel it is important or relative to them (she didn't use the word relative, but that's what I gather from our conversation). Giovanna is learning languages: English, French, and Spanish. She wants to study business marketing when she goes to college. I hope to spend more time with her during my stay. Here's some great news she had for me tonight: Her English teacher might allow me to come into the school and be in their class!! I'm not sure if it would be an everyday thing or just for a short amount of time, but what an opportunity and what a way to connect with students!!!!!!! Please be in prayer for this opportunity. Giovanna said that she will ask and I may be able to come next week :oD This is so exciting!!


75 more days ... Yes, I'm counting down, but I'm still taking in every moment :o)


Grace and peace,
Jodi