Today I was walking back from a park in the center with my friend Mika and was struck by how normal it felt to be living in Bologna. A life has been built here over the past 5 months and even though a big part of my heart has been in the states all this time, I will definitely be leaving a piece of it here with the beautiful people I've met in this amazing city. So I thought I'd show you a little bit more of the every day life that has been built in between the travels:
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| me and jenny and danielle at david's basketball game! |
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| italians playing basketball- one of the most entertaining things ever |
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| picnic at the park with our church! that's markino and danielle we met with markino to help him with his english, he calls me his little sister and he has a passion for the Lord that is absolutely contagious |
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| sweet girls! claudia, sarah, jenny and danielle |
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| MISS THEM |
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| we were there for a long, long time |
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| such an attractive picture of all of us |
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| sarah's family is from a country in northern africa her mom made african food for me one time it was SO spicy and SO delicious! |
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| Andy and Linda on the bus! |
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| Nicole and Jenny and David- they are like parents for a lot of people, taking in college students is kind of their thing |
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| Ruby Love and Jenny! |
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| tiny feet big feet |
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| i LOVE this sweet girl |
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| Nicole Hannah has been such an incredible gift to me these 5 months- the way she lives and the way she loves is truly something to see |
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| Jenny is coming to college in the states next year! WOOO! |
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| Danielle! I go to this bus stop almost every day! |
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| Andy, good man |
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| I chose to live outside the city center which means that I took a 20 minute bus ride into the center nearly ever day. 20 minutes to school, 45 minutes to David and Nicole's, plus walking- major transit time. but that is part of the italian culture- accepting that things take time and not being in a hurry about it. life is not about being productive and efficient! although some efficiency in the post office wouldn't kill Italy either |
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| at a REALLY GOOD pizzeria where the single pizzas are GIANT and you get to eat leftovers for days. i've eaten more pizza than ever in my life and still loving it |
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| sunset from our balcony- so, so sweet. i'm going to make an effort to catch it every night i'm here for the last 2 weeks! |
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| Mika! at Jenny's going away party |
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| so much love |
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| this was hilarious. i went to a fair with David and Nic and Ruby Love and our friend Emily- you know the traveling ones that come set up their rides and booths- and when we got there it was pretty much deserted |
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| it was bizarre and we laughed A LOT, the Italians showed up about an hour later, apparently we were early |
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| bumper cars are actually so fun though, do you remember? |
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| that's a pigs head, we ate his other half |
I've pictured the day I would be done with school here for so long but I'm not sure I actually thought that day would come. My anticipation to be finished with school for the summer is an age-old one that I'm sure you know or remember, but it is also one that was amplified for me in being in Italy this semester. I could easily write off the reason for that to be that I'm in Italy for the first time- Europe for the first time- and want to spend it traveling and seeing a million places I never knew I would, or that being in school still in June when you normally are done in May is rough, or that when it feels like summer outside studying is kind of like torture. But truthfully I know that the major factor for my heightened anticipation to be done is that going to school in Italy has been a huge challenge, one that has majorly humbled me. Because in between the trips to Venice and Ireland and investing in great friendships, I sat in lectures, suffered through Dante in old Italian and loved and hated contemporary, and oh so obscure, Italian poetry. When I think back to that first week of classes at the university I can't help but smile at the wide-eyed, overwhelmed girl I was who copiously tried to take notes by writing down words I didn't even know the meaning of. There were several moments along the way where I had to accept again that I wasn't going to understand everything I heard in lecture and that reading the books I was assigned was just going to have to take 4 times as long as it takes me to read in English. And there were meetings with professors that I had to practice the third-person formal and muster up the courage for, as well as just adjusting to the very different style of teaching practiced here. So it was difficult, but so, so valid and rewarding. I got to learn from some brilliant minds and make the Divine Comedy speak to me and struggle with an Italian author I wanted to throw across the room a hundred times only to discover that when I finally reached the end he had totally won me over. It forced me to let go of the too-high value I had put on my academic success and capability, taught me patience and perseverance, improved my Italian (times a thousand even though I also discovered there are about a thousand more degrees of fluency beyond what I have acquired), and truly humbled me. So when I walked out of that last exam yesterday, closing the door on that season, I felt a profound sense of gratitude. I could see so clearly that God alone sustained me through that experience. Only He felt every moment of defeat and joy and frustration with me along the way and only He supplied me with the peace and the strength to move forward- kind of feels like I climbed a huge mountain and now, finally, I get to enjoy the view at the top!
I was talking with a few other students who studied abroad here this semester and we came to the realization that Bologna is not a place we would recommend a tourist to go and see. There are not very many huge attractions or an abundance of entertainment to satisfy someone who is in Italy for a limited amount of time. BUT we also agreed that Bologna is an incredible city to live in. When you get to build a life here you get to appreciate a thousand little things like fantastic public transportation, sweet fruit and vegetable stand owners who get to know you and remember what you like, cute old Italian grandparents who walk around everywhere and make such huge exclamations when you run (as if you are attempting some huge feat like a marathon), grabbing a slice of pizza at 1 of 4 favorite places, hanging out in the beautiful city parks that are teeming with people, not being in a rush (really, you can't be in a hurry and live here- doesn't work) and getting to see the beauty of this city- in buildings old and new and in nature- that is not immediately apparent when you land here but so, so sweet when you're eyes have adjusted to the change and you get to see it.
Another a huge plus of living in Bologna is being centrally located in Italy- you can reach many other major cities by a short train ride... like Florence! I went for a weekend with my friend Megan, walked all around the city, took a bike tour of the Tuscan countryside, bought Italian made leather sandals and ate really, really good food! Here are some pics:
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| in line to get in the museum with the statue of David, it was a bit of a wait but SO COOL |
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| there he is- it really is an incredible thing to see in person (Megan snuck this picture cause you aren't supposed to take them, though I'm fairly certain every single person who came in did the same) and it is even cooler when you think about who this David really was |
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| that's Ponte Vecchio in the background across the water- famous bridge that is full of really fancy jewelry shops. it was SO fun to go and look at all of the jewelry, we even saw a couple buy their engagement ring- so precious, almost cried. you would have to! |
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| the Duomo- huge cathedral |
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| for the day long bike tour we each got a bike with a name on it- I had Harry Potter!! what an honor |
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| everyone on the bike tour was American (except for one Australian and the tour guides- a Scottish guy and an Italian guy who were incredibly entertaining) and I was kind of proud that they were all from America since they were so friendly and fun- well done America! |
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| helmets! |
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| one of many places we stopped on the way to take pictures! |
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| it was so beautiful! |
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| really, like what I dreamed up from watching movies |
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| we also toured this winery and olive oil production place that was inside a castle as a part of the tour! |
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| HUGE barrels they age the wine in! |
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| grape press! |
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| this is from the top of a turret we went up, it was so beautiful up there! |
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| AND we got to taste the products- really, it was kind of remarkable |
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| this cat was wandering around outside the castle and let me pick him up and just purred and purred i was SO HAPPY, and call me a crazy cat woman if you want but when was the last time you went 5 months without holding one? |
