Grazie, Italia...

Grazie, l'Italia per la mia pasta e biscotti.

Oh what joy and what surprise when I ventured back to my local grocery store the other day and discovered that they decided to start selling my parmesan pasta and my chocolate chip cookies again!

I think those cookies are crack...I might have a slight addiction to them.  I just can't stop.  They taste like Chips Ahoy to me.  Caleb Klontz thinks I've been out of the States too long.  I will conduct a taste test upon my arrival home...get excited people, cause I'm bringing back some simply delectable chocolate chip cookies.  They do not taste like chalk, contrary to what Caleb may say.

Well...I will bring these scrumptious little goodies back as long as they are still available in 8 weeks...I make no guarantees.  This is Italy after all.

EIGHT WEEKS???  For real?  Dang.

Wooden Dowels...

I am sitting on the couch in my office...frantically finishing preparations for tomorrow's Spirit Day and House Competition...SUPERHERO DAY!  And I have a killer migraine.

So I took Excedrin...and am drinking a coke for caffeine...and eating some breadsticks to try and settle my stomach.

Kristin is sitting next to me as I eat the breadsticks.

"Um....are you eating w[insert something not understandable]??"

"I'm sorry...what??  Am I eating windmills?"

"Oh...it's a breadstick."

"Yes...its a breadstick."

"I thought it was a wooden dowel."

HAHA.  Yes Kristin...I am eating a wooden dowel.  It helps with the migraine.  

Liz is playing relaxing music for me and doing interpretive dance to aid in my recovery...

My friends are funny.

What's a cookin??

Kelly, from the living room: "Sara!  Something delicious is coming through our windows!!"

Me, from my bedroom: "What is it??"

Kelly: "Smells like lasagna maybe.  Or...I don't know.  Something Italian."

Me: "Oh my, you're right...it DOES smell good.  mmm...I want baked pasta.  Do you want some??"

Kelly: "When are you making it?"

Me: "Right now."

Kelly: "Then YES!"

And so now here I am 30 minutes later in my adorable apron...with onions and garlic sautéing, fresh mozzarella grated, pasta cooking and oven heating.  And it already smells delicious.

Thank you, random neighbor, for the inspiration!

And I thought I couldn't cook...if you could see me now.

Adventures in grocery shopping...

Today I went grocery shopping...it is nothing like shopping at home in California.  Nothing. like. it.

Top 10 crazy things about shopping in Italy:

10) You have to pay 1 euro for your cart.  You eventually get that euro back when you return the cart...but the likelihood of me actually having a euro coin in my possession at any given time is the same likelihood of me not eating chocolate for a day.  Slim to none.  I try to always keep a euro in my wallet...but somehow said euro always ends up in the cash register of the local gelateria...such a mystery how that happens!  So...I usually have to collect all my groceries in my arms while I shop.  I really need a few extra arms.

9) There is only one register open at all times.  If you are lucky.  Sometimes there is none.  On a REALLY busy day, there might be two registers.  But only if the line gets to be about 20 minutes long.  Then and only then will the store consider a second line.

8) An item you bought yesterday and every week for the past seven months may just disappear from the aisles, never to be seen again.  Such is the case with my favorite parmesan cheese tortellini.  I've bought it every week for the past seven months.  They didn't have it for a while...and so I searched all over town until I found it in some back corner of some random market downtown.  It returned to my local store for a few days and now is inexplicably gone again.  Moral of the story: don't get attached to any particular item...you may ever see it again.  I really miss that tortellini. 

7) The soundtrack in the store is "Hits from the 1980s".  The strangest selection of American music is pumped through the speakers in these stores...I've never heard so much obscure 80's music.

6) You have only three options of toothpaste...but 10 types of mozzarella cheese.  Mamma mia.  Just give me some Colgate and some cheddar!

5) You can only buy what you can carry.  Which for me is not much...since my house is uphill from every grocery store.  Thank goodness for cute reusable shopping bags!  

4) Your local store (and the entire city) might be out of milk, butter, eggs, pizza dough...  Yep, it's not a guarantee that the store will have staple items.  Last week all I wanted to make was a BBQ chicken pizza.  I needed mozzarella cheese and pizza dough.  Easy right?  No.  I went to FOUR stores all across town on a rampant search...and STILL came home empty handed.  I mean, really??  Apparently there was a sale city wide and people decided to stock up.  Four stores!  And now it's my favorite cookies that have been sold out for weeks.  It's a travesty.

3) You have to wear gloves when handling produce.  It's true.  Right by those little plastic bags they also have little plastic gloves that you must put on in order to touch any produce.  I have no idea why.  

2) There are two full aisles devoted to pasta and one full aisle for cans and jars of tomatoes in a plethora of styles.  But no lasanga noodles.  Or refried beans.  

1) If you realize you forgot to buy something and it is past 6:30pm you are out of luck. You are also out of luck if you need the store between noon and 4.  Or on a Sunday.  Or on a Monday.  Or on any type of holiday.  Or anytime there is a strike.  Or a parade.  Or if the management just decide they don't feel like working anymore.  Good luck knowing when any of those things might happen.  Thank goodness San Giacamo (my neighborhood) has a 24 hour vending machine room around the corner.  I've bought more milk, pasta sauce and toilet paper there than I can begin to remember.  

Albertsons, how I miss you so!  

Despite the crazy, my little neighborhood grocery store, the Coop, has become quite endearing to me...and I will probably miss those register ladies who yell at me...the tattoed guy who follows me...the lack of items...and the little plastic gloves.  But I certainly look forward to always having a cart...and regular store hours.

Oh Italy...you never cease to amaze me.  Now bring back my tortellini and cookies!  

Spring has sprung...

Today was an absolutely BEAUTIFUL day.  Just gorgeous!  The cherry blossoms have sprung to life...the trees in the back garden at school have bloomed with bright green leaves...the birds were chirping...the sky was clear with the exception of a few perfectly placed white puffy clouds.  I've never loved spring so much.  Probably because I've never lived through winter.  And probably because I've never experienced spring so vividly in all its wonderfulness.  It literally arrived overnight last weekend.  I think a beautiful spring is God's way of rewarding those who survived a rough winter.

As I was riding the school bus down the mountain this afternoon (Side note...this isn't just any old school bus.  This is like a coach bus you would take on a long journey...complete with comfy seats, air conditioning like airplanes etc...for a 20 minute ride.  It's fabulous.) So...as I was riding down from school and trying my hardest not to fall asleep (I was unsuccessful.)...I was looking out over Trieste and the Adriatic Sea and admiring how one week of spring has managed to change the entire landscape.  What has been dead, brown and boring for the past 4+ months once again looks fresh with life and beauty.  I realized that spring isn't just a reward...but also a reminder.  A reminder that God is in the process of making all things new.  That His mercies are new each morning.  That He remains the same throughout storms and trials.  That even through the toughest parts of life...there is hope...there is beauty...there is dawn of newness...there is God, the same yesterday, today and forever.

I feel like the trees in the back garden.  The ones that lost their leaves and were pruned back to seemingly nothing during the winter.  The Bora blew nearly knocking them over...the snow weighed heavy on their limbs...their color and beauty were stripped away...but despite the storms, they stood strong.  And now that the storms have passed and winter has gone away...they are starting to burst to life again.  Stronger, brighter and more beautiful than I remember.  Like the trees...I've had a rough winter.  Not just physically...although the Bora did blow me into a few buildings and one parked car and a headband or two suffered casualty and my feet did freeze from the lack of proper winter shoes.  But also just in life.  Strained friendships...lack of friendships...stress at work...home sickness...loneliness...defeat...wondering why God opened these doors leading to Trieste in the first place...seeking to find my place here.  A rough winter to say the least.  But with God as my Rock and my foundation I have lived through this storm...and am stronger this side of it.  This winter, the Lord pruned back all of the "extras" in my life...the things that I put my identity in.  Friends.  Family.  Success.  Image.  All of it.  Until all I had left was Him.  Which, I know in my heart is all I need...but isn't always what I live out.  This winter brought some tough lessons...in patience, trust, love, kindness, faith.  I've been stretched, challenged, blown over and whipped back into shape.  And now that my winter has passed, like the trees in the back garden...I am facing this side of the storm stronger and brighter than before.  More in love with my Savior...more excited to share Jesus with those around me...more grounded in the character that God is developing in me.

Now it is time to grow, to blossom, to shine...until the next storm comes.

So hello, spring.  It is so good to see you.

Today I went to Venice...

Well, actually...yesterday I went to Venice.

And yes...I've been speaking promises of a blog since my journey to Italy first became a thought last April...and I am fully aware that it is now almost one year later that I sit to write my first post.  I've sat down to begin this documentation of my ridiculous life here more times than I can count.  Or should I say...I've THOUGHT about sitting down to begin this documentation of my ridiculous life here more times than I can count.  But I couldn't think of a blog name.  And I haven't felt inspired.

But today...I feel inspired.

What's not to love about this??

Yesterday morning, my friend Lisa and I hopped on an early morning train and began our simple weekend getaway.  No plans...no to do list...just simple relaxation.  And boy were we both in dire need of simple relaxation.  (Side note...how crazy is it that I can just "hop on an early morning train" and go to Venice for the weekend??  Legit.  Crazy.  But oh. so. AWESOME.  End of sidenote.)  Lisa and I have a plethora of things in common...a few being our love of headbands, gelato and reality TV...one of the biggest being that neither of us ever run out of things to say.  (Shocking.  I know.)  So...before we knew it, two hours had pased and our train had arrived.  I tried to take a quick little power nap (moving vehicles ALWAYS put me to sleep...just ask any of my former OB students or any passengers on the #4 bus here in Trieste).  Unfortunately, Lisa wouldn't stop talking.

The best thing about the Venetian train station is the moment you step out of it.  You walk right out onto the Grand Canal.  Several dozen giant steps spanning the length of the station lead you right down to the bridges, gondolas and water taxis...and you immediately feel as though you stepped onto a movie set.  The first time I journeyed to Venice in October to rendezvous with a friend from home...I had tears well in my eyes as I walked out of the station.  I'd always dreamt of seeing Venice...but never thought it would actually happen!  And now...I've been there thrice.

Enjoying the sunshine outside the train station

 The sun was beating down and so Lisa and I perched upon the stairs to wait for Christine to arrive from Switzerland.  Delightful.  We tried to read a little...but our endless banter did not allow for such activities. Once Christine joined our little party, we hopped on the water bus and spent the next hour and a half searching for the hotel.  I think we stopped for gelato to rejuvenate during the great search.  Once we discovered the practically hidden door and walked up the steepest indoor steps in the history of architecture we spent the next hour checking in and deciphering broken English as the precious hotel keeper explained the location of our room in the "annex" and how to use the keys and where to eat lunch.  No joke...it took 45 min for her to explain those things.  She was hilarious.  And precious.

The rest of the day we wandered.  And meandered.  And ate.  Gelato, pizza, both twice.  We went to Murano and lazily looked in all the shops.  Ate some too expensive, sub par pizza for dinner and lounged around Piazza San Marco enjoying late night gelato while sitting at the waters edge.  It was here that we encountered the best people watching moment of our recent lives.  A girl about 12 years old was trailing quite a way behind her mom...and was mesmerized by the street vendor trying to sell these random light up things that you throw in the sky.  They are annoying.  And one almost hit Lisa.  But to this girl...they were the BEST THING EVER!  So...she grabbed the guy by the arm and ran shouting, "Mom!  Mom!  Mom!  Mom!  Mom!"...incessantly...overflowing with excitement.  Her mom, pulling the suitcases, stopped and turned around.  The girl caught up, still pulling the vendor and said, "Look!  You throw it in the air!!"  The guy, anticipating a sale and beaming with delight, said, "It's a flower...you can throw it!"  And then...in the best "I've been traveling all day and you are ridiculous and I'm tired and why on earth would you ever want that thing" mom voice she said..."Sophie......COME ON!"  Mamma mia.  The three of us doubled over with laughter simultaneously as Sophie hung her head in defeat and sadly walked away with her tired and annoyed mother.  HA.  HAHA.  

Picnic on a Venetian dock!

And while last night was awesome...today was perfect.  After a lazy morning...we wandered the streets and basked in the sunlight...and did a little shopping.  We drank Bellini's while sitting next to the Rialto Bridge watching the gondolas go by and getting a little tan.  We navigated our way down little alley's and through random little piazzas.  We bought a picnic lunch of salami, cheese, bread and apples at the store and found a hidden little dock jetting out into the Grand Canal and camped out for the afternoon.  It doesn't get much better than that.  Eating, sleeping, laughing, talking, lounging...as gondolas and water taxis drive by and the sun shines down.  We spent hours there.  HOURS.  If only we didn't have to leave...we would have spent DAYS there.  It was pure, simple, perfect contentment.

As we leisurely made our way back to the hotel to retrieve our bags...we stumbled upon the cutest little headband and jewelry store I've ever seen.  I absolutely fell in love with two headbands...two of the cutest my eyes have ever gazed upon.  Seriously.  Incredible.  Deciding to make a big splurge, I spent last weeks tutoring money to purchase both, since my heart couldn't decide between the two.  They were that amazing.  My little Venetian reminder of this perfect day.

Oh man, those headbands.  Absolutely fabulous.

With one more stop for gelato, we headed back to the train station to start our journeys home.  Christine back to Switzerland...Lisa and I back to Trieste.  With hearts full of happiness and contentment, cheeks pink with sunshine and tummies full of gelato and hurting from laughter.  The perfect weekend.

Lisa and I settled into our seats with our luggage safely stored on the shelf above us...snacks on our little armrests...and Tangled (so cute!!) all queued up on her iPad for viewing.  A few friends from IST hopped onto the same train a few stops down after running a 10k in Milan this weekend...what a small world.

It wasn't until our bus was halfway home and I was lost deep in thought and contentment reflecting on the perfect weekend that I realized...I left my bag with the headbands on the train.  MAMMA MIA.  Pit in my stomach.  Those fabulous headbands!  All my tutoring money gone to waste!  Lisa and I ran back (she's such a good friend...) only to find the platform void of any train.  An awesome train guy made some calls...sent someone to check the train where it had been moved...asked the cleaning guy...and an hour later confirmed that the little white bag was no where to be found.  Such sadness.  Props to the Trieste train station on their customer service though!  So helpful...and so friendly!  I only got creeped out by the guy when he started to teach us how to say, "Come, my love!" in Italian.  Um...confusion.

Of course, being my luck, I missed my bus home by 5 minutes...so I decided to walk.  While strolling through the nearly empty Trieste streets on this beautiful spring night...I couldn't stop thinking.  About the fabulous headbands.  And how my contentment had disappeared seemingly instantaneously.  And then it hit me...yes, it is tragic to have them never be seen again and now have no head accessory to wear in London for the royal wedding next month...but...I just had a PERFECT weekend.  I've been praying and asking the Lord for contentment...for friendships...for peace...for opportunities...for sunshine.  And this weekend...I had all of those things.  Twenty years down the road, I'm not going to remember the loss of those headbands.  I mean, I'm sure I will, but it will be a funny story.  I'm going to remember the absolute contentment I had lying on that dock in Venice for hours with my friends eating in the sunshine.  I going to remember the Lord providing for me...answering my prayers...and giving me this opportunity.  These moments, these days, these adventures...are worth worlds more than my 40 euro headband purchase.

So...to whoever now has those headbands...I hope you have as much fun wearing them as I had buying them.  I hope you one day have a perfect day in Venice...and I hope that on that day you are wearing an awesome head accessory.

Now...I'm going to go eat a giant bowl of pasta...and dream of my afternoon on that dock...pure contentment.