Life Update

Hello friends!! It's been a while! Sometimes life just happens and then you realize you haven't blogged in two weeks. Oops! But I think it's better to live life than to get caught up documenting every detail. So that's the excuse I'm going with. To make up for my absence, here is an update on what's been going on lately:

Life has been pretty normal here. Lot of picking up the girls from school, teaching English, playing games, doing puzzles, etc. Filomena (the oldest; she's 10) and I have formed such a precious friendship and I really enjoy being with her. Her English is improving and my Italian is as well.

I've made some new friends: one from California and one from Italy. It's been fun hanging out with new people and experiencing new things together. And if you know me, you know I love Italians. So it's a win-win situation!

I've been going to French classes for a few weeks now and I'm slowly getting better. My teacher actually lived in Atlanta for five years. How random is that?! The language is difficult for me because it's so different from Spanish and Italian. There are so many silent letters! And pronouncing the letter r?? Forget it. I do it on accident but I can't do it when I try. (For those of you who don't know, it's a sound that comes from the back of your throat. It's totally different from the way we pronounce it in English and totally different from the rolling sound in Spanish or Italian.)

I'm understanding more and more Italian. I'm exposed to it every day (which I love!) so it's getting easier. Speaking it is a different story. I know a lot of words but I'm working on making them into sentences. Daniele, my Italian friend, is helping me. We practiced conjugating a few verbs on the way home from French class today and I'm pretty sure I butchered them. At least I'm assuming that's why he was laughing...

I'm learning how to drive a stick-shift. I'm getting better but I still have problems starting on hills. I avoid them at all costs. I also avoid stopping if I can. I have definitely rolled through some stop signs just so I don't have to put it in first gear. But everybody here does it so I'm not too worried. There aren't any police in this tiny town. Let me just say, though, that I miss my automatic car. A lot.

My best friend, Melissa, is currently living in Bangladesh. She's blogging about her adventures here. It's been really cool to be abroad at the same time. It's been great to share what God's doing in each of our situations. She is super entertaining so check it out!

And in 21 short days...my mom will be here!!!! I'm so so so so so excited to see her in person and hug the heck out of her. We're starting to plan what we want to do in each city. We're going to Modena (to visit my Italian family!!), Firenze, Luss (a little town outside of Glasgow), and Paris. And Geneva, of course. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!