August 31, 2010 FRANCE

I have now been in France for just under a week. I took trains from Italy through Switzerland and then finally arrived in Paris at about 11:00 p.m. completely exhausted and sweaty with all my heavy luggage, which I was teased endlessly about in Italy. Only an American would bring 30 kilos I was told! haha. So I guess I was able to spread a little humour in Italy! The train rides were not too bad. I sat by an American on one of the trains and then 2 English students as well, so at our table of 4 we had a Canadian, an American and 2 English students! It was one of the trains you had to have a reservation for so it was interesting that it worked out this way! They were very good company! I was able to find my way with all my luggage because of some very nice guys. They always offered to help me with my luggage which I was extremely grateful for. I was even surprised at one station when an elderly man bent over to lift my luggage for me on a train and he looked so weak and I was impressed with his muscles! haha. When I arrived in Paris I took a taxi to a small hotel and was so relieved the journey was finally over. It took a whole day. The next day I took a taxi to the train station ( I'm pretty sure the taxi driver ripped me off but I wasn't in the mood to argue) and I met one of my mission companions, Sister Vanessa Techer. I only saw the top of the Eiffel Tower and it was pretty cool, but I didn't have time to look at anything further. So we caught a train to Nantes, where I am currently awaiting for my semester of University to start.

It has been interesting to be here in France. I have been to the town center a few times and today I ate my first crepe and it was delicious. Mmmmm. (minute to pause and imagine what a real French crepe must taste like) And I have eaten a few other French deserts. I haven’t really been that disappointed or impressed… I’m still waiting to be “wowed” by one though. I have tried to speak very basic French a few times to people but I just feel so stupid and they have been kind of unfriendly which has made me more hesitant to speak!! Alas, today I went to the post office to mail some postcards and there I asked for some stamps in french and she totally understood…it was a short lived glory because right after she started speaking very quickly to me and I just smiled and repeated how many stamps I wanted. Haha. She gave me some and I licked one and put it on one of my postcards and then she figured out she gave me the wrong stamps, so we had to peel the licked stamp off and she kept it for someone else. Ha! No wonder why we have diseases in the world. We are reusing licked stamps!!

Yesterday in the city center there was thriller playing by Michael Jackson…and there was this person dressed up like Michael dancing and people were dancing with him. I’m not going to lie, it totally made my day! Haha. It was hilarious! And today, I was completely run over by a drunk man walking down the street. He ran directly into me and got mad at me and I wasn’t even moving. I was looking into a shop longingly at a pair of boots I wanted that cost like 250 euros.

Hmmm what else…. Hope you like the few pictures on here. I don’t really have a lot yet because I haven’t been anywhere that cool yet! This girl is named Solene, and then Vanessa’s sister Melanie is by me. We were at some shops and were laughing at the ridiculous headbands. They found the kind that all the girls at home wear with the flowers and were asking me why American girls like to wear these…they said, “They look like they are for little girls!!”. So there you have it. That is the French opinion on the headbands with the flowers!! The girl in the “quick” outfit is my last mission companion Vanessa. This is where she works.

and a few more

More pictures from Italy

More pictures...This is a picture of Alessio and Simona. Simona was one of my favourite mission companions and we served together for 41/2 months!

August 23, 2010 "The Pig"

The funniest part, is that there is the "pig" and you have to pick a very special coin, wash your hand in the water coming out of the pigs mouth, pet the snout of the pig, and then place the coin you have chosen in the mouth and let it drop as you make a wish. If your coin goes into the drain, your wish will come true. If not, then your wish most likely will not come true. So, I gave it a try and I guess we will see if my wish comes true!!!

The market was also very fun. We ate the best waffles with chocolate and cream and saw things like this painting of the Mona Lisa recaptured by an artist. This is one of my favourite feelings in the world, when you are around people you love, eating something so good, and taking your time to enjoy your surroundings. It has been so fun to see Italy and to just soak in the culture.

August 23, 2010 FLORENCE cont...

There was this creepy gold guy, that kept bugging tourists and people who walked by him for money and I took out my camera to take his picture and he posed and then started yelling something at me in italian about remembering and saying thank you... and then the police came over to him and started to talk to him. Simona and Alessio said that maybe he was in trouble now that he got the police's attention because he wasn't supposed to be there doing what he does! Oooops! ha.

There is this famous bridge and everyone in love comes to this bridge and puts a lock of some kind on chains on the bridge as a sign of two people loving eachother. Apparently they have boarded up some of the areas and others they cut down and people in some places were so upset that they tried to stop it. I think its a cute tradition:)

August 23, 2010 FLORENCE

Well after spending some time away, Simona and Alessio took me back to where they live near Florence. Florence is known as the heart of Italy and it is a beautiful city. We went all around yesterday and saw some of the most beautiful architecture in the world, and lucky for me, I had some great tour guides to tell me stories about the construction, the people, and the culture. I have been very fortunate to have the opportunity to be with them instead of on my own. Brvnelleschi built the dome in the pictures- and was famous because he was the one who experimented with the idea of a keystone. The pictures don't even do it justice. When you are looking up at it, it is SO BIG.

August 21,2010 PISA

We got in the car, ate some more bread, and listened to a bunch of italian music and also to some Rascal Flatts (because Simona has their CD from the mission and loves them), and we drove to Pisa, where we stopped around 8:00 p.m. to see the famous "Leaning Tower of Pisa." Alessio and I paid some money and climbed to the top where we were able to see the small city of Pisa by night. It is interesting, because as you climb the tower, you feel the gravity pulling you to one side of the stairs. There were shops, purses, watches, and art all over the place, being sold by street vendors and it was fun to walk through them all. As the little car was packed to the brim with all of my luggage and Simona and Alessio's luggage from their trip to La Spezia, and while eating and listening to music with all the beautiful scenery around me, I couldn't help but feel so happy.

We arrived in Tuscany area last night and are staying with a friend of Alessio's. I just ate an amazing Italian dinner - I also ate a bunny!! haha. After I ate, they told me it was a cat. Then, a bunny. Simona translates everything for me because they all speak Italian and not very much English. Tuscany is gorgeous and the food is once again, AMAZING. We went to a tiny branch for church today- and with a family visiting from America plus Simona, Alessio and myself, we made up the majority of the branch. The spirit was really strong and I felt so grateful to hear the testimonies of the Savior from these wonderful people.

August 17-21, 2010

La Spezia! The beauty of this area cannot be captured by camera, but it was definitely appreciated! We stayed at Simona's grandparent's flat, just by downtown and very close to the beach. I ate the most amazing bread. I cannot remember the name now, but it was amazing.

Alessio's friend David lost the game we were playing and had to do something silly- so one night we went out late for gelato (ice cream) and David dressed in a silly outfit and pretended to talk to Roloffe my monkey! With the music playing in the streets that night and all the posh people walking by the side of the sea, everyone was looking at him like he was crazy. He made Roloffe dance on his shoulder, and it reminded me of the Italian "Mr. Bean." It was so funny.

The air is so hot and humid, but it feels so nice because it is so fresh by the sea. It was my first time ever swimming in the sea and when I jumped in my heart was racing so fast because I was a little nervous. I came up out of the water and licked my lips and they tasted so strongly of salt. I swam out aways from the rocks when Simona asks me, "It is much easier to swim with the salt than in a lake right?" Then, I noticed how hard I was trying to swim and relaxed a lot. It was so much easier. I asked Simona if people went swimming naked around here because everyone was in bikinis...and she was like not ever...well then only 3 minutes later I look over to my right and I saw a woman with her top off...and it wasn't a pretty sight!! haha so funny. She was swimming all over and didn't care about it at all. So gross!!

August 16, 2010

My mom and dad took me to the Calgary airport where I started my adventure. I first flew to London, then to Pisa. When I got to Pisa, not one person spoke English, and I found that I had no change in order to get a cart for all my luggage. So I asked and asked, and no one understood. Eventually, I had to leave all my luggage, cross my fingers, run out to the main part of the airport, and ask the change bureau for some change. Funny enough, the change bureau said, we don't give change. This is the only english I heard. Hmmmm...and the sign says "Change Bureau" - I went to another place, where the Italian woman rebuked me and shook her finger at me and then gave me change:) After catching 2 trains, and hauling my heavy luggage around, mostly without a cart, I arrived hours later in La Spezia. I got off the train to see Simona and her husband Alessio there so thankful that I caught this one last train to La Spezia that night. I was feeling a bit frustrated at times, because I was wandering around trying to figure out where to go, and how to do things, but eventually just stopped, looked around me and realized that the whole situation was really actually funny.