Love, Grace, and Gratitude

So today is my second official day in the classroom and it went SO WELL.  The kids are truly amazing, engaged, and very good at English even though they think they are not.  Even with a language barrier these kids connect with me, ask me very meaningful questions, and have bigs hearts.  Really everyone in Italy is like this.  It's a culture that is so warm and welcoming.  The classes I was in today were different than the ones I had on Friday so I had the pleasure of introducing myself, answering questions about where I'm from, what I do for a living, what my family is like, and most importantly what kind of food I like.  Food is everything here in Italy.  It's truly the heart and soul of the people.  They are all so passionate about food and they were thrilled to hear my favorite food was pizza.  I had them explain all the different types of pizza to me and describe what their favorite foods were because honestly I need suggestions about what to try next.  A gir told me her favorite food was nutella pizza and I laughed but apparently that's a real thing.  It's like a cake.  They use bread and nutella with strawberries and whipped cream.  That my friends sounds dangerous to me... Lol.  All I keep thinking about is how all the strategies I am using in the classrooms here are going to be vital when I start my career back home.  I am so much more animated when I talk to the students.  I use a lot of hand gestures, small phrases, and pictures to get my point across even before it is translated into Italian.  They seem to understand a lot more when I use these approaches and the same goes with students who suffer from any sort of communication delay, whether than be expressive, receptive, or hearing impairments.  I am so excited to be able to practice these techniques with such enthusiastic and fun groups of students, although they are teaching me much, much more than I could ever hope to teach them.  I say that about the kiddos in Life Skills at home and I think that will be the case for every class for the rest of my career.  I consider myself so very lucky.  I'm excited because Katie and I are already planning to take a trip this weekend to Florence.  I think the best way to get there is by bus because you have like 1000 stops if you take the train, which is interesting because it looks so close on the map.  I am excited to visit the southern coast of Italy and the Mediterranean side.  I really made a great decision to come to Italy because there is SO much to see and do and the country really isn't that big.  I keep thinking God really does have a plan and that my heart was meant to grow here.  I thank the Lord everyday for calling me here.  He knows this is exactly the place I needed to be in order to learn and grow and truly know myself and what I am capable of.  I am so happy.  It's funny even now to look back on my journals from my first few days here.  How scared I was.  How unsure I was.  I am so very proud of myself and my journey and this is only the beginning.  Wow, who would of thought a year ago that I would be here?  It's really so crazy.  I count my blessings everyday and remain so grateful.  I wish I could describe in words how much this experience has already changed me but I have 10 more weeks to try. :)

"Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn, or consumed.  Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude." -Denis Waitley

Ciao

Linsey