Chiesa Italiano!

On Sunday evening, I went to a small Assemblies of God church down near the train station at the base of the cliff. This is the only non-catholic church in Orvieto. My friend and I arrived at the time services were supposed to start, but no one was there and the lights were off, and everything was locked. We wondered what was going on. In a couple minutes, a car pulled up with three sweet older ladies. They got out and one of them looked like she had a Bible in her hand. So I asked them if they were there for church, they said, "Si, si!" When I told them that we were too, they got so excited! We introduced ourselves and met each of them. We helped them open up the church, and went into their sanctuary once we got inside.

As people started showing up, the ladies kept introducing us to everyone as they came in. The pastor speaks pretty decent english, so I was able to talk with him. Then the service started. It was amazing to be there in the midst of honest praise being sung to God in Italian, surrounded by people passionately in love with Jesus. I recognized some of the tunes, but most were new to me. After the singing, the pastor asked if I wanted to say something to the congregation. I was nervous, because my Italian is not quite that good yet! But the pastor's friend translated for me. I said that while I am here to study archtitecture in Orvieto, I want to meet people who love the Lord and experience God with them here in Italy. They all said, "Amen!"

The sermon was about an hour long, and it was cool because I was able to follow along with some parts. I did not always understand what he was talking about, of course, but I did manage to understand some. That was encouraging! They invited us to stay afterwords for sort of a pot-luck meal that the members had all brought to the church. We enjoyed hanging out and eating some good food with them. (Me using my VERY limited Italian) These people are SO nice, so genuine, and so excited for us to be with them.

I started talking to the guy who played guitar during worship, telling him that I also play guitar. He offered to let me play and, of course, I accepted! They asked me to play some worship song that I knew in English. I played them "Blessed Be Your Name". They made me repeat it so the pastor could hear it. Then they asked for "Amazing Grace". The pastor asked me if I would like to play a song during one of the services! I said, that I would love to! It is so great to be around people that are so excited about the Lord! The pastor told me "You now have a family here in Italy." That really touched me. The love of Christ is so evident in their church.

So, after we jammed for a while, it was time to go. One of the ladies offered to give us a ride back to our apartment. The whole experience was about 3 and a half hours long. So amazing!

God is good. Praise Him that he has given me this Italian family!

stuff's happening.

Orvieto is a very medieval city. The streets wind all over, there's no straight lines in the whole town. It almost feels like you're in a maze the entire time. There are few wide open spaces. But when you go to the edge of the city, by a cliff, the view of the surrounding countryside is incredible. I haven't taken many pictures around town though, because I know I'm going to be living here for four months. But I did go picture taking a few nights ago. I wish I would have brought my tripod, but thats alright, it would have just taken up too much room I suppose.



I just got back to Orvieto from Rome. I spent a couple days there. On the first day our professors took us on a whirlwind tour of a few sites throughout the city, and then let us go to do our own thing. It was cool, but a little weird being back there so soon. It feels really normal being there, and now I really know how to get around in the city. So, needless to say, some of the awe of seeing these places was a little less than it was the first time, but St. Peter's was still cool. I tried to not take any repeat photos. It was a very wet day.

In the city

This is now my second day in Orvieto! It has been real fun to explore the city and find out where things are and all that stuff. Of course, I was real tired yesterday after traveling, but I took a 3 hour nap and that helped a bunch. We had lunch provided for us at the study center, and dinner was provided by the staff at a restaurant called Zeppelin. We'll be taking cooking classes from the chef there. Classes haven't started yet, so it still feels kinda like vacation. Some classes will start tomorrow but Monday is when things start for real.

Now, about our apartment:
This is the greatest thing ever. It is enormous, it is beautiful, and it has its own private courtyard! As if that weren't enough, it is less than 2 minutes from the Study Center! It is literally on the other side of the Duomo (cathedral) from the Study Center. I want to show you my luxurious accomodations.

This is our living room

This is also our living room

This is our (little) kitchen.This is our (freakin' cool) courtyard.

Our landlady is a really cool lady, doesn't speak any english, but she's super nice. (she made us a really good apple cake). Everone has been really nice, actually.

Orvieto

So, I am leaving soon. I just spent all day out shopping and getting the last bunch of things that I'm going to need.

I am bound for Orvieto on Monday, and in case people don't really know where that is, I have created a wonderful visual aid to assist you in your comprehension of my forthcoming location.


So, there it is. (I made this in Paint, what a wonderful program) Orvieto has a wonderful location, close to both Rome and Florence, on the main train line. I'm doing my best to pack right now. I am just tired and really full of pizza, so its hard to do stuff. I can't wait until I'm done packing though.

I promise I'll be posting more interesting pictures soon.

Coming up

Well, this next semester I will be doing some more learning, sleeping, and eating and what not. The only difference is that I will be in Orvieto, Italy. Hopefully I would have continued to learn wherever I found myself geographically this next semester, but Italy it is! And I'm so thankful for the opportunity.

Thinking about packing seems real annoying right now. I have a few days though, and I guess in a week or so I will have already figured it out, because I'll be there by then. I leave the morning of monday the 19th.

I am ready to speak to the Italians in their language.

I am ready to dive into the culture.

I am ready to walk a lot.

I am ready to accidentally develop a fake Italian accent.

I am ready to hear people of a different language praising God.