Induno

Me and Sr. Susan, the first of the Apostles

Me, Janelle, Sr. Tiziana, and Briana

Today I find myself under the shade of a fruit tree in the quaint little Italian town of Induno Olona. I am living with a family who I met through the Apostles of the Interior Life. Leaving Cortina and the Apostles was really difficult because I passed some beautiful days with those wonderful consecrated women. I met and spoke with a couple of Sisters who don't speak English. Even though there was a definite barrier, it was beautiful to be able to communicate (even on an elementary level) with them in their own language. The final night, we celebrated with a mini talent show and had fun with guitars, harmonies, and funny rhymes about each other (in Italian).

On Monday, I headed off on another day of travel with Sr. Elena, Briana, and Janelle. First we attended mass at the Basilica of St. Anthony of Padua in Padua. We were nearly late to mass due to the troubles of finding parking in Italy. You'd think smaller cars would signify more parking space, but after my short stay here, I'd venture to say the cars are small because there is no parking space. Long story short, we had to run a good quarter of a mile to make it to the church as the first bells began to chime. After this, we headed to the home town of St. Gianna Molla to pray for all of the pregnant women we know before her grave. (For her incredible story, click here.)

We then dropped Briana and Janelle off at a host family where they would stay the night before their day of travel back to the states. Saying goodbye was a bit tough but I know that I will see them again in the States so it wasn't as difficult as the others. After this, Sr. Elena and I hit the road for the last leg of our trip which landed us in the place I am now.

If I thought I was talking a lot of Italian before, last month has nothing on these past couple of days. I've only been here around 48 hours and it feels like 2 weeks. It's wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. I understand better than I speak which is difficult for me. I mean it's beautiful and necessary to understand but those of you who know me well know that I usually have quite a bit to say also and in Italian it's more difficult to share these thoughts of mine. Unfortunately, thoughts still first come to me in English but I'm slowly beginning to talk only in Italian. Oddly enough - perhaps because I force it upon myself - I struggle to only use English words when typing this blog or communicating with family and friends back home. It's a constant temptation to use Italian conjunctions or formulate a sentence in Italian because it is how I've been training myself here. But anyways...it's a beautiful place to learn the language because everyone is a good mix of curious and patient with this new American girl in town. But I must admit that the first day was very rough. Being around this beautiful family of four who eat every supper together and live in a well-kept, cheerful household, I found myself the most homesick that I've ever been. I also found myself feeling the loneliest that I have throughout the trip. I felt isolated because I couldn't fully engage in conversation and I missed the Sisters who I had grown even closer to throughout the week I spent with them. These feelings left me longing for my time of prayer - my time to talk with the one Person here who I knew before my arrival. I longed for intimacy with this Friend and I could barely wait for my chance to be alone with Him. This chance came in the afternoon after a morning of mass (in the Ambrosion Rite), little Italian kids, and an after-lunch nap. I sat before the tabernacle, shed a few tears, and spilled my heart out to the only One who I can communicate with without any written or spoken language as long as we speak with love. I sat before Him, took many deep breaths, and realized that in fact I was not alone and that He had always taken care of me before and would continue to do so. And sure enough, despite my many doubts, He gave me many cute and curious Italian youth to talk to in the afternoon who encouraged me in my speaking and gave me the attention my loneliness was craving.  With my confidence built up again, I rode home with Marina in a car no longer heavy with my silence but filled with light and delightful conversation.

Today instead of working with the kids, who are out on a gita, I spent my morning in prayer and running errands with Marina (the mother of the family I am living with). In the afternoon, we visited the St. Vincent de Paul Society to help package bags for the families who will pick them up tomorrow morning. There seem to be many social justice organizations in this area, all of which Marina helps out in some form or fashion. She's a pretty great lady and I'm very blessed to be living with her. I feel like one of her own as I eat the food she prepares and am chauffeured around by her. Also her daughter Bea has quickly become a great companion of mine. She is patient with my broken Italian and invites me with her to events with friends or activities around the house. Tomorrow we are even going to an Italian barbeque! Marina's husband and son are also around but I see less of them.

As a way to wrap up, I'm going to reemphasize some very important points for me this summer. First simplicity. I know that I have talked in length about this before but I really feel that I am living a life of beautiful simplicity here in Italy. I have few material items and less words to speak then normal since my italian vocabulary is still seemingly in its infancy. Also, I have been living in the present moment. During my program in Camerino this was a bit more difficult because I have a schedule (even though it changed quite often). But my days with the Apostles and my days here in Induno so far have been lived day-by-day. For example, I don't know my schedule for tomorrow and it's 7 pm. Heck, in all honesty, I don't know the schedule for tonight. I think we might be going to get gelato by the lake (fingers crossed eh?). This makes it a bit hard to schedule Skype dates or other plans but it also allows me to live a beautiful freedom. I am no longer a prisoner to my worries about the future and can concentrate on enjoying the present. It's also harder to dwell on the past because I am still working on developing a good memory in Italian. Much of what I hear or say is literally lost in translation (if I don't translate it into English, I may understand in the moment but probably wont remember it later). This is a bit odd and possibly not good but...I'm not worrying remember? As the Italians would say "Allora...". I think I will go now and try to be social with my host family. I think I hear Marina in the kitchen cooking up something delicious for supper no doubt. There may possibly be some Italian tv on as well which I could use to practice my listening and understanding skills. I need to shift back into Italian anyways since I have been spending the last hour writing this in English. Please continue to pray for me and trust that I am praying for you! Ciao, ciao!!