Giorno della lingua

If I had to sum up today in one word, it would be language.

Today, I experienced both sides of the coin as I started today with our language course and essentially, finished by helping to teach an ESOL class. So, our Italian professor, Lucy, spoke nearly the entire lecture in Italian, and I was surprisingly able to follow about everything she said. She used a lot of repetition, one-on-one conversation with students, and pictures to help us grasp the phrases that she wanted us to get. We mainly learned basics, like - My name is...I'm from...I'm an American student...How are you doing...etc. My notes were kinda scattered because the way she spewed out information, but it was all good and I think I retained a lot of the verbal comprehension. The spelling and grammar were barely touched, so that can wait. But all in all, it was a sweet first Italian class, and I hope that I get proficient throughout the semester.

In the afternoon, I had a meeting with Kristen to talk about how she can challenge me and hold me accountable this semester, and I got an idea that I'm pretty excited about for a first program. Hopefully Papin, Curtis, and Conn-man read this and appreciate this idea - Trivia Night. I wanted to do something not too extravagant and that could work regardless of the weather. I know that may not sound super exciting, but I loved going to trivia when it was around my hometown, and with some sweet prizes and fun/goofy questions, it can be cool. That'll be coming up in a week or so, so I'll let you know how it goes....

In our Humanities discussion, and we discussed the extravagance of God in our lives and the extravagance of Mary's nard offering to Jesus. We also talked about what it means to be human an to accept the pure everyday gifts from God, which was refreshing.

I went for a run that I should've actually done yesterday, but I was so busy I couldn't fit it in. Sorry Nick, I adjusted the running plan a little :) It was just a leisurely 30 minute run through a few parks, one of which goes throughout Benito Mussolini's house and grounds, which is a pretty neat site.

After a quick shower, a group of about 9 of us plus the Doyles headed down to Church to teach English lessons. There are 6 levels, but most of us stayed in level 1 because that was the biggest and needed the most attention. It was so uplifting to see and hear people longing and hungry to learn English. I don't mean that in a selfish "Amerricuh" way. But the fact that these grown adults have the humility to say, "I want help." The fact that they trust me, a 20 year old who knows nothing about the world, and were willing to learn for 1.5 hours after a long day of work showed me a desire and willingness to learn that is scarce in any academic arena in the United States. I couldn't stop smiling the whole time and for 30 minutes afterward. To see them grasp the phrases and concepts was great, and I didn't mind having to repeat or practice each phrase with them. This is something that I will definitely do every week.

Sorry there are no pictures today, but maybe I can leave you with a visual.

Today, I physically and metaphorically put my feet in three pairs of shoes - I was a runner, Italian student, and English teacher. I wear a size 9.5 Nike Free running shoes, which fit nice and snug. These shoes are comfortable as I've worn them thousands of times. The other pairs of shoes must have been size 22EEE because they did not quite fit as comfortably. In class and in my attempts to teach, I was humbled and realized that as a beginner at both of these, I have plenty of toe-room in these shoes. I guess that's a good thing because whenever I shopped for shoes as a kid, my Mom always told us to make sure there was "grow-room" because she knew that our feet would eventually fill in the toe box as we matured through adolescence. In these particular situations, I am like a child, and I think that God has placed me in these bigger shoes expecting me to grow.

Proverbs 1:7-"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction."