Dinner at Marisa's

While in Milan, I am staying with Marisa, one of the church members from the Via del Bollo congregation.  She was always the 'mom' of the church; as Tammy puts it, "cooking for people is one of her love languages."  During my time in Milan, she often invited church members into her home for meals and fellowship time; I have a lot of good memories of sitting around her table.  

Tonight was another good one; I actually arrived first (Marisa had texted me where to find the hidden key), as Marisa and the Shorts had gone out to visit Carlo, Marisa's husband who is now in the nursing home and got back just a bit later.  Maria Luz and Matteo also joined us! 

She had made some minestrone, pizza, and pasta ahead of time so we could have a quick dinner once we all got there.  Even though we were all exhausted, it was nice to spend some time over a meal together.  

Taking the Scenic Route

Hello everyone!  Sorry this post is coming a bit later than you might have expected it.  I thought I’d have wifi more often than it has turned out while I was in Italy.  (Although I’m posting this a few days later than when I originally wrote it, I’m backdating it.)

For those of you confused about why I’m mentioning Italy when you know I’m moving to Tanzania, let me explain:  From 2006 to 2009, I worked in Italy, mostly in the Via del Bollo church in Milan along with the Short family. They have now been in Tanzania for four years, and I am joining them there now.  They have found that for very close to the same price as flying directly to Tanzania, it is possible to break up the trip by stopping in Europe. So, they generally stop in Italy to visit the church there and all of our friends there, so I did so as well.

This was the first time in the nine years since I left Milan that I have had the chance to return;
when I left, I thought within a year or two at the most I would find a way back to see everyone, but then
I took a job in China, and it never worked out.  I have kept up with several people on facebook, but it’s
not the same as seeing them in person, so I’m grateful for this opportunity.

I’ll be in Italy until the 4th, when I will fly together with the Shorts to Tanzania, via a layover in Ethiopia.  

And I'm Off!

And I’m off!  

I wonder if my parents ever realized how much trouble their children would still be even in their thirties...my flight this morning was at six am, meaning I needed to be at the airport around four, which meant leaving the house around three, which meant waking up around two...and yet they still volunteered to take me to the airport.

I flew to Newark, where I had an eight-hour layover (I don’t mind layovers, really; I like airports), which was just annoying because of how early I had to fly out to get there.  Surely there’s another flight to Newark later in the day?? From Newark, I took an overnight flight to Lisbon, Portugal. Well, I say ‘overnight’ as it was nearly six am when we landed, but with the time difference, it was more like arriving around midnight.  I did manage to get some sleep on the flight though. From Lisbon, I will take a flight to Venice and then the train to Milan, where I’ll stop for a few days to visit the church where I worked previously for a few days before continuing on to Tanzania.

Thanksgiving in August

Since I won’t be home for the holidays this year, my mom decided to have Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday before my flight.  My brother came down from Nashville, and we made all of our favorites: besides the turkey, we had sweet potato casserole (my specialty), broccoli salad (which everyone in the family is addicted to), baked potato casserole (not something I’m particularly interested in, but my mom and brother love it), and rolls.  And one of the great thing about all of these dishes is that the leftovers are just as good.

Reviving the Blog: A New Adventure

Well, it's been nearly four years since my last proper update here.  I moved from Wuhan, China back to the US in 2015, and I've spent the last three years living in Nashville.  I wanted to be here for a few Thanksgivings and Christmases and birthdays with my family and friends, and I've enjoyed spending time on hobbies that aren't easy to take with me on the road.  I've been doing customer service for life insurance, which, while not a field I had ever imagined myself in, was a great job with great people and I've been blessed to have had that opportunity.  It's been good to be here, but the time has come to move on again.

I am leaving (in less than 48 hours--queue to-do-list panic) for a new chapter in my life.  Those of you who have known me a while know that I worked in Italy from 2006 to 2009, primarily in Milan alongside the Short family.  We have remained friends over the years, and they have now been in Monduli, Tanzania since 2014.  The oldest daughter in the family has been asking me ever since not if or will I come, but when are you getting here.  And now circumstances have worked out for me to join them in the work of Tanzania Christian Services.

Tanzania Christian Services is a church-of-Christ run nonprofit; the mission team in places runs Tanzania Christian Clinic and Alpha Omega Christian Secondary School.  With my previous experience in working with teenagers and teaching English, my role will be primarily with the school.

I'm looking forward to getting started!  I am leaving the US on August 27th (with a flight at 6 am...which means being at the airport around 4 am...I am not a morning person...), but I will be stopping in Italy for a few days on the way to visit friends from my years there.  Crazily enough, it works out to be only about $50 more to buy tickets that allow stopping there on the way than it would have to buy a plane ticket right to Tanzania.  I'm meeting the Shorts there, and we'll travel on to Tanzania together.  I should be actually arriving in Tanzania on September 5th.

I'm hoping to keep in touch with everyone through this blog and through other social media, as well as through a quarterly newsletter to my supporting churches.  Besides the blog, you can keep up with me these ways:

* My facebook page (primarily reposting what I write here, but if that format is easier for you to follow, feel free to follow my page): My Life in Monduli

* Instagram: foreverfreebird 

* Newsletter:  I have an email list to send out my quarterly newsletters; if you'd like to be on that list please send me a message through the contact box on the right side of the page with your email address.

More information to come in future posts; feel free to comment with any questions!


And with that, here we go again...