Why Italy?!

A few days ago a friend who is thinking about starting the IDP program asked me to give some reasons why she should take classes in Italy rather than at Andrews. I messaged her and said that, first of all, the tuition is reduced, and secondly...YOU ARE IN ITALY!!! I also promised to expand on the second statement and today offered so many reasons that I was compelled to devote today's blog post to answering her question. My Patriots sandals are on and that can mean only one thing, it's Bloggin time, ahhhhhhhhh yeah...

First of all, we live in a 14th century villa.  In the 14th century there was nothing in Berrien.  Now...there is still basically nothing (I keed, I keed).  But seriously, after breakfast we all walk through the medieva courtyard complete with giant earthen pots bursting with flowers down the hill to class, it's about a 5 minute walk. During this short stroll we go by palm trees, honeysuckle, lavender plants, a cherry tree, an olive grove, a fig tree, apple and plum trees, and when I reach the bottom I look over my shoulder at the bottom see the monastery in the picturesque village of Fiesole (Fee-AY-so-lay) overlooking the Florentine Valley.

Happy Gilmore went to his happy place before taking big shots, well this is my happy place (without a midget running around) and it's, how do I put this...REAL! So saying my mind is in a great place every morning would be an understatement. The only thing that could make our classes better would be if we all laid around in togas with Italian women feeding us grapes periodically. And I wouldn't even be surprised if one of our professors said, "oh by the way Monday is Toga Day, everyone meet by the pool at 8:45am, pick up your sheets before supper tonight...

And that's just the start... There are about 30 students in this session and, as an American I am once again in the beautiful minority. The 6 inhabited continents are all represented in our group and our professor this week, the illustrious Frank Brenda (Head of Emergency Response for ADRA Germany) is a German with vast Development experience throughout Europe and Africa. So we have an intercultural group to say the least.

Then there's the food :-D. Tonight I rolled down to supper and saw what looked like unshelled hard-boiled eggs the size of tennis balls. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? If you are like, "wow that would be crazy if that was fresh mozzarella..." then yes. AND IT WAS!!!. So I sat down with a few pieces of sliced Italian bread and made my own homemade bruschetta with some halved cherry tomatoes and olive oil.

After dinner a group of about 20 of us took a gelato walk down to a little gelateria about 15 minutes from the Villa (can't do that in Berrien). Not only do little jaunts into Florence build camaraderie among our group, but we also had the privilege of listening to Professor Brenda share stories about how he was the first theology student at the German seminary with a beard (an apparently GINORMOUS one to boot). So we really get to know our professors, both professionally and facial-hairedly, I mean personally. Everything about our program is intense and I truly treasure the experiences we are sharing.  On the way back, we passed another gelateria, which posed a philosophical dilemma for me. If I just finished a gelato 10 minutes before arriving at a second gelateria, is it too soon to get another? 

The answer, of course, is 2 gelatos are ALWAYS better than one. Plus, I'm a man of honor, and when multiple people ask me to eat lots of gelato for them while I'm in Italy I don't want to let them down. So this one's for you sis, and Aunt Sarita, and Shimke. I'll get to everyone else later...

So there it is, a window into my day. Oh yeah, I just remembered the cherry on top of the sundae. On the bus ride back from Florence Tuesday night, we all started singing hymns on the bus. By the time we got to our stop 10 minutes after we started singing we realized that we were the only ones on the bus and that we had been getting louder and louder (not that our singing drove people off the bus, of course). Not only was it great to see the expressions on peoples faces, but it struck me on a few different levels. First, I'm in Italy with fellow believers singing hymns in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Secondly, how many of the Italians know the songs and/or are devout Catholics? And lastly, but def not leastly, what a great way to be a casual witness in a predominantly non-protestant nation...  The opportunities for learning, relationship building, cultural experiences, and reflection are endless. 

And on that note, the sandalias are off, grazie.