Boston Strong

During the tragic event on Marathon Monday, it was difficult being away from my friends and sister in Boston. I felt like my heart was thousands of miles away from me. All of us in Parma were barely able to communicate with our loved ones there and were intermittently following the news we attempted to live stream. We all had friends running the marathon, and many of us had siblings or family members spectating. I was so relieved when I found out everyone I knew was safe, but my heart was breaking for all the victims and their families.

In the wake of the Boston Bombings, I kept thinking of how much Chris Tomlin's song "God of this City" related to Boston when he sings: "You're the God of this city, you're the King of these people, you're the Lord of this nation...you're the Light in this darkness, you're the Hope to the hopeless, you're the Peace to the restless...greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city." My prayers for all of my loved ones and all those I don't know in Boston has been for Him to be their God and for us to trust that greater things will be done there. I am also reminded that despite the horrific acts of the perpetrators, Jesus tells us we also need grace like they do, for "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). 2 Peter 3:9 says, "The Lord is...not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." In my human nature, I want "an eye for an eye;" but in my Spirit, I want everyone's heart to turn to Christ. It is events like this showing the depravity in the world that I think point to our need for a Savior to redeem it. Thank God He has.

I may hate its sports teams, but I love Boston's community, strength, and endurance. God willing, Bostonians won't let this incident keep them down, but they'll use it as a way to see that when they are weak in themselves, they can be STRONG in the Lord (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Vino in Torino

Hazelnut chocolate is a must!

Our two days in Torino as a whole group were so much fun! This was one of my favorite cities in Italy and I would definitely love to go back. It also seems like it would be a great city to study in! When walking down the main streets of Torino you can see rolling green hills on one side and the Alps on the other. It's a comfortable enough size that it seems like I could learn my way around pretty quickly but still have areas to explore, similar to Parma.

View of Torino

The group and I visited the Cinema Museum, which was very interactive and had a bunch of
paraphernalia from various popular movies. We also rode a glass elevator to the top to see a panoramic view of Torino (not recommended for those with claustrophobia or a fear of heights...but two people from our group did still it). Torino also apparently has the third (they claim second) largest Egyptian museum in the world. The ancient artifacts were really interesting; the mummified bodies weren't my favorite (they still had their hair!). We also saw an old palace that now has, among other things, a lot of knights' armor and taxidermied horses.

Medieval Borgo

We took a boat along the Po River, the longest river in Italy, to a

Wine cellar tour

Medieval borgo (borough/castle area) next to a beautiful public park. Water, castle, green spaces: I obviously loved all of this. On Saturday, we made our way to Monforte d'Alba where we went wine tasting at Fontanafredda. I fell asleep on the bus ride and woke up to the most picturesque view of grasslands and flowers near a stream with the Alps as the backdrop. I felt like I was in a fairy tale, like I have for many of my trips around Italy. We tasted Alta Langa, Mirafiore, and Barolo, the latter of which is supposedly one of the best types of wines in Italy. I'm no wine connoisseur, but I thought it was pretty darn good!

Nice "family" in Monforte

Spring Break Part IV: Lisboa, Portugal

We arrived to Lisbon exhausted! We stayed in another very accommodating hostel...they let us sleep on their couches when we got there at 7am until breakfast started. We refueled for the day and got a

View from San José Castle

Queijadas

later start than I wanted to, but we had plenty of time to explore! (Whenever I travel I like to make the most of the time I have wherever I am, even I'm really tired. Why would I want to waste time in Lisbon sitting in a hostel?). A group of us walked to the water, the Sé Cathedral, and the San José Castle. I ran around and explored the castle on my own for a while, which I absolutely loved. I ended my first day with an amazing codfish dinner at a restaurant with excellent wine and an acoustic guitarist playing and singing 90s songs that my friends and I were belting. Next time I go to Libson (hopeful, I know) I want to go to a fado performance, which is a type of music "characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics," according to Wikipedia.

Where I found my friends

On Saturday, we took two "I hate tourism tours" vans to drive to the nearby town of Sintra (one of the favorite places I've visited) and get a taste of what the locals experience. We tried queijadas, traditional pastries made with egg yolks, sandwiches with chicken chorizo and cheese, and bought fruit from a local market as we made our way to the ocean. Before I finally felt the sand under my toes for the first time since the summer, we stopped at Quinta da

Waterfall from tunnel

Regaleira, a palace that I think is the greatest adult-sized playground ever built. The whole area of land has a palace, chapel, a waterfall, tunnels, grottoes, wells, towers, and a tree that looks just like Grandmother Willow! At one point during our exploration, we crossed over the stepping stones in front of the waterfall, passed through one of the

Grandmother Willow

tunnels, and I ended up at the bottom of a well. I started climbing up it, thinking my friends went this way, but they made a left at the fork in the tunnels. About 15 minutes later I came to the top of the well and found them calling my name from the top of a Medieval tower. I felt like I was a princess in a dream walking around this place!

Western-most point of Europe

We made it to the ocean to the top of a cliff that was the Western-most part of Europe. I was standing on these enormous rocks with green valleys to my left and the bluest ocean to my right. The two scenes didn't look like they even fit together. This kind of breathtaking creation often allows for great conversation about the Creator of it all. We drove a little farther and sat on the slightly-windy, but beautiful, beach. In Belem, another nearby town on our way back, we saw a well-known monastery and statue right on the coast with a view of the bridge and statue that are modeled after the Golden Gate Bridge and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

On our last day of spring break, some of us went to a nearby beach to relax in the sun. It wasn't bathing suit weather, but it was a great way to end my vacation. I was so grateful to have all the experiences I did in the four countries I visited, but I was really ready to get back to my "home" in Parma...which we finally did at 4am!

[Misfortunes: I can't remember any that stand out...especially because by the end everything great that I experienced outweighed anything "bad" that happened along the way!]

Spring Break Part III: Sevilla, Spain

I apologize for the excessive delay in my posts, but I hope the wait was worth it. I think I'll enjoy reliving my experiences too :)

Sevilla/Seville was another beautiful city and seems like it would also be a great place to study abroad. We stayed in the really nice "Garden Backpacker" hostel, which was voted Best Hostel in the World last year by some (I think) reputable hostel standards. We took a "free walking tour" (you tip at the end...Dad, you're right, nothing's ever free) around the city shortly after we got there. As I was huddled under our tour guide's umbrella, he told us one of his favorite things about Seville is that it's almost always sunny. We should have warned him we were coming.

My favorite sites throughout the weekend were the Cathedral, Plaza de España, Alcazar, Metropol Parasol, and the flamenco show we went to. The Cathedral used to be a temple, then was turned into a mosque, and is now the largest Gothic Cathedral and third-largest Cathedral in the world! The view from the top of the attached Giralda Tower was also beautiful. I must say, though, that after seeing countless church buildings while studying abroad, I really like the simplicity of my home church's place of worship. No one comes in to take pictures, but it helps keep my focus on the "Church" as the body of Christian believers, rather than the place we meet on Sundays.

Vanessa and me in Plaza de España

Plaza de España in Maria Luisa Park was built for the 1929

One ceiling in Alcazar

World's Fair and has also been the backdrop of a few movies, including Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. Alcazar is a royal palace that was originally a Moorish fort and is filled with beautiful Islamic art and is a great example of mudéjar (Muslims who remained in Iberia and didn't convert after the Christian Reconquista) architecture. I've always pretended to be a photographer, but I would imagine it's a real one's dream to photograph that place! The Metropol Parasol/Las Setas de la Encarnación (Incarnación's mushrooms) claims to be the largest wooden structure in the world and looks like giant connected mushrooms. You can walk around on top to see another amazing view of Seville. Unfortunately when it rains, the ceiling is slotted and really doesn't protect you at all. We learned that flamenco is not just a dance or performance but a "way of life." I still don't understand what that means but the show was great! It consisted of four people on stage, one female dancer, one male dancer, one female singer, and one male guitarist. Apparently if you have more than one female dancer on stage it's not "real" flamenco.

Tapas pre-rain

Inside the Bullring

Two of my friends and I also visited the Bullring near the river. We went inside, through the open gate and up the stairs, took a few pictures, and got yelled at from the next set of stairs by a lady who was giving a tour. We didn't realize we had inadvertently snuck in without paying. I felt bad, but they left the place wide open! The group of 15 or so of us enjoyed delicious tapas throughout our two days in Seville. The last night, right before our 8-hour overnight bus to Lisbon, we were eating tapas outside. They put the umbrellas up when it started to rain, but no amount of covering could stop the downpour from drowning the remainder of our food. Fortunately, I had already finished the food I ordered. Sometimes eating quickly can pay off!

[Misfortunes: mostly just the rain and some of the group started fighting.]

Metropol from below

From the top of the Metropol

Spring Break Part II: Barcelona, Spain

Gothic Quarter

I can no longer say Barcelona without the "Barsthelona" lisp. All those in my Spanish class senior year know I used to hate that with a passion, so I must really be okay with assimilating. Staying with my friend Mireia also probably helped, since she's unbelievably sweet. She was my former international student at BC and graciously welcomed me into her home for three nights while my friends stayed in a hostel in another part of the city. It was so nice to have my own room, to see a familiar face, and to have a personal local tour guide for two days!

Mireia took me all over her city, which I absolutely loved! Among many places, we went to:
- Las Ramblas (one of the main streets in Barcelona where cars can't drive down the middle)
- the Picasso Museum (I didn't realize how different and "normal" his earlier works were)

In Park Güell

- Santa Maria del Mar church
- Cathedral of Barcelona
- Gothic Quarter (which I loved!)
- Paseo de Gracia where three important buildings are: La Pedrera by Antoni Gaudí, Casa Batlló by Gaudí, and Casa Amatller by Josep Puig i Cadafalch. The last two were built for a competition.
- Sagrada Familia church (designed by Gaudí in 1883, a deeply religious man, but he died before it was finished...people still work on it every day)
- Park Güell (Gaudí - an absolutely beautiful and unique public park)

Mireia and me at Montjuic

- Montjuic hill
- Christopher Columbus statue (he's pointing out to sea, but the Americas aren't actually in that direction)
- walked along the beach!

Rachel!

I also had the great privilege of spending Easter Monday lunch at her grandparents' house. Even though I missed my own family that day, it was great to be around another loving family with delicious home-cooked food and little children running around. I had such a great time! I also met up with my friends one night for tapas at Can Eusebio and my friend Rachel from home at Rosa Negra for Tex-Mex. It's very surreal seeing people I know outside of the locations I know them from!

Hope.

One of my favorite parts of Barcelona was when Mireia and I came out of Sagrada Familia. It is a gorgeous church and we were happy to be inside of it protected from the rain. When we walked out, we were awestruck by the clearest double rainbow I've ever seen. After just praying in the church for a little while and experiencing some tough things a few days before, this was such a clear sign of hope from God for me. I practically shouted "God is good!" as I felt Him watching over me right then and there!

[Misfortunes: continued rain, three friends got food poisoning, one get an egg thrown at him at night, and another got her passport, camera, wallet, and everything valuable stolen. Understandably, most of my friends vow not to come back to this city, but I know I will...I have a list from Mireia of all that I still have to see!]

Spring Break Part I: Nice, France

Nice ("niece"), not to be confused with my unofficial host mom Nice ("nee-chay"), is a beautiful town in the French Riviera and was the first stop on my 10 day spring break adventure. As a group of 15+ of us, we were very sfortunato (unlucky) throughout our trip (you'll read why), but we still had a great time, saw some amazing sights, and arrived back to Parma with more knowledge of the world than we had before we left! Plus, those unplanned, unfortunate experiences often make for the best stories down the road.

Beach in Nice

My main objective for Nice was to have a lot of crepes (sweet and savory, of course), bread, cheese, and wine. I successfully accomplished all of this, often while overlooking the ocean, a mountaintop view, or wandering through a garden. Not a bad start to my week, especially since I got to share so many new experiences with Chris.

It was pouring rain our first day, but that made for a great romantic exploration through Old Town and up to Castle Hill, where a castle used to stand but is now the sight of a beautiful waterfall and view of the ocean and city. Because I made a "no eating Italian food outside of Italy" rule for myself, my meals consisted of escargot, French onion soup, croque monsieur, seafood, flank steak, and French (freedom?) fries...I wasn't complaining. I'm also glad Chris got to taste something besides rice, beans, and pupusa for a week!

Hiking in Eze

Saturday, the whole group went to the nearby Medieval town of Eze ("ezz"), but Chris and I missed the train because of the malfunctioning ticket machines/our slowness. Learning how to go with the flow, we hopped on the next train and found our group still waiting for the bus to take us to the top of the hill to the town. In case they weren't there, they resourcefully found a way to let us know where to meet them (since our phones are really expensive to use outside of Italy, it has to be more like the "olden days"). Eze was slightly reminiscent of Assisi, one of the favorite places I've visited so far while abroad. (If I haven't expressed this yet, I'm slightly obsessed with Medieval things right now, probably thanks to my new-found interest in the Lord of the Rings). Some of us walked around gardens and followed the Nietzche Path for about an hour, which was where the philosopher found inspiration for his "Thus Spoke Zarathustra." How he was able to see the beauty of that nature and claim "God is dead" is beyond me! I felt like a true explorer when we took the road less traveled that led to an almost secret waterfall.


On Easter morning, Chris, another Chris from the group, and I went to church (in French) at Notre Dame. Having my English Bible was imperative to understanding what was going on. After church, we were headed to Cannes ("kahn") with everyone, but once again missed the train. We didn't really know the details of this trip and wanted to be back in time for our departures, so we hopped on another train to Cagnes sul Mer, which we figured meant something like "on the sea." All we wanted was the beach, preferably one with sand instead of rocks. We got a mixture of both and some time to relax before we went our separate ways. Goodbyes are one of my least favorite things, but there was so much to be thankful for during our week together!

View from Castle Hill

[Misfortunes: wearing very wet clothes from the rain, missing trains, flooding the 8-person hostel room with my shower, realizing I left my quiche at the shop when I was already on the beach.]

He Gives and Takes Away

"The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" - Job 1:21

I was recently given the amazing gift of having my boyfriend Chris fly across the world from his study abroad program in El Salvador to visit me for a week. He traveled for an entire day just to see me and spend time with me, which made me feel incredibly special and loved! Having a whole week together when we've only been able to talk once or twice a week this semester was very surreal. I showed him all around Parma, we ate wonderful Italian meals on relaxed Italian time, and we traveled to Nice, France with 15 other BC students until Easter evening. Chris was a great sport when he unknowingly ordered raw horse (my elementary Italian skills weren't enough to avoid the mistake this time). At least he got to try some great tortelli and gelato!

While Chris was here, he celebrated with me when I found out about my summer internship. A few hours later, he also grieved with me when I got news that a close friend of mine from home passed away. It was such a strangely timed blessing to have him here for that, but I was so grateful for his comfort.

My third grade birthday party

My friend Casey was always such an amazing friend to me and an inspiration to everyone around her. She was my Sister in Christ and huge motivation for my field of study. She was so strong in SO many ways and I'm so blessed to have grown up with her in church and school and to call her my friend. While her spirit didn't show it, Casey had been confined to a wheelchair since fourth or fifth grade. I'm both mournful and incredibly joyful that she's no longer with us but that I can confidently say she's DANCING and JUMPING around right now with her dad, sister, and with our Lord in her new heavenly body! It was very fitting that her own passing would come on the same week we remember and celebrate Christ's death and resurrection! I can't wait for the day I get to join her again.

My graduation

I have been learning to love Jesus more and more for who He is, rather than for His blessings. Still, throughout this recent hardship, I'm so overwhelmingly convinced that He is sovereign, loving, and GOOD in all He does. Even if it hurts, He is my Comfort. Through the "good" and the "bad" I, like Job, want to be able to say "blessed be the name of the Lord!"