Monaco

This past weekend I went with my host family to the glamorous country of Monaco!

 There are two parts to Monaco: Dazzling Monte Carlo and charming Monaco-Ville.  Monte Carlo was full of fancy sports cars, designer brands, and yachts that I can't even begin to fathom the price tag, whereas Monaco-Ville was more historical and quaint (my preference).

First we walked to the Prince's Royal Palace, the heart of Monaco-Ville.  This provided a beautiful view of Monte Carlo, but my favorite parts were the pastel colored buildings and the pretty flowers and landscaping (spring is coming!)  We walked around this area and made our way along the beautifully groomed streets to a garden area overlooking the sea.  Stunning!

To get to Monte Carlo, we walked along the harbor to the Place du Casino to admire some of the cars (but in my case, I was more interested in the designer outfits people were wearing).

Monaco is fancy and full of money, and although visually appealing, there isn't much to do here other than admire the landscape and fancy cars and boats.

Xo,

Lake Como

On Friday I finished teaching at school school at 10:30, and decided to take a day trip to Lake Como, a place I had read about and always wanted to visit.  I hopped on the train and two and a half hours later I was in the precious town of Varenna: a small, quaint, and beautiful town situated  directly on Lake Como.  

It. Was. Adorable!  As soon as I got there, I knew that it would be a wonderful and peaceful afternoon.  The water was so blue and beautiful, and with the sun reflecting on it it was sparkling like a million diamonds!  In addition, the lake is surrounded by mountains - which made the landscape even more perfect.  Although I would have been perfectly content staying in Varenna all day, I decided to take the ferry across the lake to the popular Lake Como town of Bellagio.  (And I really just wanted to take a boat ride on Lake Como honestly.)  The ride was beautiful and I loved seeing the view of the towns from the water. 

When in Bellagio, I walked to the top of the hill (stopping to admire beautiful flowers on the way!) to the main street where there were many quaint little shops and restaurants.  I took my sweet time browsing in some of the stores that caught my eye, and then I wandered back down to the waterfront.  Although Bellagio is much more touristy than quiet Varenna, there were not an abundance of people.  However, almost everyone here seemed to be eating gelato.  Of course I decided to partake in the enjoyment!  After I got my gelato, I found a nice bench in the sun with a pretty view and simply enjoyed.

The gelato was the highlight of Bellagio, and I was more eager to get back to Varenna.  I got the next ferry back, and once I arrived in to Varenna I walked up and down cute, narrow walkways, exploring side streets and admiring the colors of the delightful small lakeside town. There truly wasn't an unpleasant view in sight.  

Considerably my favorite part of Varenna was sitting and enjoying the sunset by the water.  It is said that Varenna is known for it's beautiful sunsets, and I absolutely understand why.  

Such a peaceful and wonderful afternoon relaxing and enjoying God's beautiful creation.  

Xo,

Teaching and Learning

I just can't help but feel so blessed and happy each day when I go to school and the students excitedly greet me!  God is so good for putting me here and for letting me be with such sweet and kind children (and adults) that make me feel so loved.

Most of the classes I help with are Grade 5, but I have one class that is Grade 4 and couple classes that are Grade 3 (ages 7 and 8). Especially in Grade 3, despite not knowing all the students' names or being able to communicate too well, these kids are SO sweet.  As soon as I walk into the classroom or see them in the hall, they give me the best hugs and sweetest smiles.  My heart literally melts! So precious.

I LOVE my students and being at school.  This week was quite normal at school.  I helped teach the lessons, had conversations with the students during breaks and lunch.  

This week, one of the teacher's who I teach with was sick one day this past week, therefore I got to teach the entire morning by myself! This is my *favorite* class, and I simply adore all the students.  They are quite good at English, so we were able to communicate well together.  

For this lesson, I read a story them a story, and page by page they translated it into Italian.  Then I asked questions and they responded and wrote them down.  After this part of the lesson was finished, we played "Who's Who," which they LOVED.  

In some of the other classes, we have played BINGO using both colors and numbers,

charades, Simon Says, and a questioning board game.  The goal of these lessons is to improve students' ability to listen, read, and respond.  Not only are they learning, but we are also having so much fun and sharing so much laughter together.

Last week I also helped teach an English class for adults.  The topics for the class were online shopping and ordering food at a restaurant.  It was fun to be included in this class and talk to Italians who are so eager to learn and understand English.  

In addition, I attended an English teacher's workshop that was hosted by the school.  Two people (one girl from South Africa and a guy from London) were the instructors, and it was fantastic to get to know them a little bit and help out with their lesson. The company they work for sounds wonderful and I think it would be so fun to participate in some of the activities they put on during the summer months.  

Looking forward to another week, and I can't believe that my time is dwindling so quickly!

Xoxo,

Baking in Italy

I love love love to bake! However, baking in Italy has proven to be a little more challenging that I thought it would be.

The metric system makes no sense whatsoever to me. I mentioned to my host brother that I needed 2 cups of flour, in which he proceeded to get a drinking cup from the cabinet haha.  It seems much more simple to measure ingredients using the English measuring system instead of weighing everything, but I assume that the weight is much more precise.  I either eyeballed the quantities or used a liquid measuring cup (that had mL and cups listed) to measure both wet and dry ingredients.

Measurements aside, the ingredients here are much different.  The first time I tried to bake here I was making chocolate cupcakes with my host brothers.  Not knowing that there are so many different "types" of flour here, we used the wrong kind. Each has a different texture "hardness or softness" of the wheat.  In addition, baking soda is not a staple ingredient to keep on hand let alone use in recipes.  It is more common to use "lievito pane deglia angeli" which I later would discover is more like baking powder, not baking soda.  And when making buttercream, we of course needed powdered sugar.  However, powdered sugar here is sold in small packets containing maybe a cup or cup and a half each.  In order to make the buttercream we needed five packets, which they thought was so excessive haha.  The consistency of the powdered sugar is much more fine, and it is even sweeter than powdered sugar in the USA... The buttercream was not the right stiffness, and it was so so so sweet (it was yummy, but wow wayyy sweet). These factors caused the cupcakes to turn out differently than I desired, but the family still liked them!

When baking my *favorite* chocolate chip cookies, I needed Crisco vegetable shortening.  (And Hershey's chocolate chips of course are not a thing here, so my mom brought me some to use!)I looked up the Italian equivalent, and it said to use "strutto."  Later I found out that strutto is lard.  When making the cookies, the youngest boy was tasting the dough, and the older boy scolded him.  I proceeded to eat a bite of the dough also, telling the oldest boy that it was fine.  He proceeded to tell me that the strutto is not healthy... Okaaaayyy didn't realize we were trying to be healthy?  (And i continued to eat more raw cookie dough haha). The cookies turned out really good! But I guess it is uncommon to use strutto...Next time I will opt for butter, but I don't understand how it is healthier than strutto.

Vanilla here is also not common, which is sad to me because I think that vanilla makes everything 100% better! Vanilla is sold in small little vials, containing maybe a teaspoon each.  Instead, it is common for the "baking powder" or powdered sugar to be vanilla flavored. 

The third time I baked something, it went much more smoothly (third times a charm!) I made Nutella drop cookies, and they were a hit!  The recipe called for butter, flour (which I made sure to use type 00, best for baking ccokies and cakes), nutella, powdered sugar, and vanilla. I choose to convert the recipe to grams, and I used the kitchen scale to measure everything.  They were delicious, and tasted just like they do when I make them at home. 

My Italian families have been enjoying tasting "American" sweets! They always eat the cookies for breakfast, because in Italy a common breakfast food is biscotti and latte (cookies and milk)! This is so opposite than American breakfast, and goes against everything we think breakfast should consist of!

With love and powdered sugar,

The One Constant

Overall, I am LOVING life in Italy, and I thank God each day that I have this opportunity to be immersed into a different culture and be surrounded by wonderful people.

Despite some of my days being more "free" than others (meaning that I have a lot of free time in which I have to actively search for ways to fill) and despite struggling with where I "belong," I feel so happy and glad to be here.  Most days I find myself simply smiling, laughing, and enjoying life!  And especially as I learn more Italian and become more confident using it, I feel so successful when I can talk to and understand other people.

If you know me, you know that I love to laugh.  And I especially love to be around kindhearted, joyful people who make me laugh for no reason.  Enter: my Italian families.  

My host family consists of a mom, dad, and two boys ages 8 and 14.  They are all very kind and it is nice to live with them.  

The mom works at a pharmacy, and the dad works in a nearby city at a financial institution.  The boys arrive home from school around 4:30/5:00 daily, in which either their grandparents or their nanny comes to stay with them because the parents do not arrive home from work until 7:30/8:00. Supper is at 8:30 and then at 10:00/10:30 they go to bed.   

At the school where I am teaching at, I work with 7 different teachers, but I have one mentor teacher.  All of the teachers are absolutely wonderful.  They are always so friendly and warm towards me, and I appreciate this so much.  I have felt welcomed since the first day I walked into the school!

However, my mentor teacher is absolutely incredible, fantastic, and literally one of the most incredible people I have ever met!  She is truly the definition of a Italian mom, and I can not even explain how wonderful it is to spend time with her and her family.  I feel right at home when I am with them!  And thankfully they live right across the street from my host family, so I find myself there very often! 

However, my struggle is this: Where do I belong? Where should I spend my time?  I have two great places to call "home" here in Italy.

Besides eating too many carbs (haha), this is my main struggle lately. Perhaps I am overthinking and overanalyzing, but I just want to feel contentment and peace where I am. I want to feel loved and wanted and cherished.

And then God put on my heart: Rox, you are where you are supposed to be. Find your contentment and peace in me.  Know that I love you, want you, and cherish you.  Seek me, and find your joy here.  I will never fail you.  I am always with you.  I am your constant!

This is what I am striving to do.  I am clinging to the truth and striving to feel confident in whatever setting I find myself in, knowing that God doesn't make mistakes, and trusting that there is a reason that I am here and that I get to be surrounded by two great families.  I am focusing on what God says is true about me instead of allowing fickle feelings and circumstances determine my perception of my value or self esteem.  I am so thankful for a never changing God, for a God that is full of love, grace, promises, and peace, and a God who is with me me every moment and who is always constant. 

source

Xoxo,

Macaroons at Laudree

Day 2 in Paris began with none other than walking around the Eiffel Tower with my family as the morning dawned.

Then came the sad part of the last 9 days: Saying goodbye to my precious family. I am so thankful they came to visit and I love them so much! 

After they left, I leisurely got ready for the day and then of course went to the Eiffel Tower one last time!

Then I braved the metro by myself, traveling to the Champ Elysees area to go the the famous Laudree macaroon shop (a dream of mine)!

I think macaroons are the cutest things ever! I of course had to buy some!!! They are too pretty to eat, but too yummy not to eat... 

I have only ate one so far (the pink sugary one - strawberry candy flavored) and it is by far the best macaroon I have ever had. Slight crunch, chewy inside, smooth filling, perfect sweetness, and just perfect!

After drinking a cappuccino at a cute Parisian cafe, I said au revoir to the most beautiful city and ciao to lovely Italy.

Xoxo,