Buckets .. . Anziano Saga 9-22-09
Letter from Jason September 22, 2009
Dear Mommy,
So, this email may be a little short, because I seem to have lost my planner, which holds the records of my daily doings. I didn't really lose it, I guess, I just left it at a member's house far far away on Wednesday, and I didn't get it back until Sunday, but then it got lost at the house, so I don't have much to look at to spark memories of this week. So, I'll just go with what I remember.
Yesterday before English course we were doing house in a new area. I think I can give a professional opinion that Messina is home to some of the rudest people in the world. At least in southern Italy. These people would ignore the fact that I was speaking to them. It' really kind of sad for them. How can a person become so rude, I wonder? Anyhoo, so we rang an intercom doorbell, as is custom for us in this country, and instead of hearing an answer from the speaker, we hear an old lady's voice from up above us yelling "who is it?" So, we look up, and give her the well practiced invite. She looks at me. I look at her. We have a little moment of awkwardness where no one speaks. I was determined to not be the first person to break the silence. It lasted for about ten seconds, which can be a long time, if you think about it. You try being completely silent with a stranger for ten seconds. So, she eventually starts muttering something, and then her husband comes to look over the balcony. We look at him for a bit, and then they both just shake their heads and walk away. Around that same place, another old lady sticks her head out the window, and it's pretty much the same deal, wherein she just shakes her head no, and then closes the window. So, we keep ringing names on the intercom, and I casually look up, and I see a little bit of movement. What could that be, I asked myself. Then I see the eye of that same little old lady who said no to us before peeking through a minute slit in the window that had just slid open an inch or two. Just enough to see through. She was spying on us. I waved, smiled, and said Ciao. The window slammed shut with a surprising force. I didn't think a window that close to being closed could be slammed, let alone by an old grandma lady. Fun stuff.
We had a good English course lesson the other day. We talked about slang, and idioms and stuff. It's great to hear the students try to say What's up to you. We've added a third French teacher to our ranks. Apparently the economy is really hard for teachers nowadays. And now that there's a new president, there's apparently some trouble with the government for the temple in Rome. Hopefully all will work out there. Oh, and here's a kick in the pants. Of all the appointments that we had this week with members and investigators, and whatnot, only one didn't cancel on us. Everyone else called to cancel, or just didn't bother to show up. Lame. Our elder's quorum president is in the hospital. He said that he'd be in church on Sunday. Really cool guy. The only thing next to his hospital bed was a Book of Mormon. Cool guy.
Well, not too much else to mention. No Culinary adventures. Oh, we did go to Palermo for my comps documents. It was like two seconds, and they sent us on our way. All we had to do was give them a paper that we didn't have the first time. A big long trip for practically nothing. Meh. At least I had a migraine afterwards. That way I got to just collapse into my bed, and then cover my face so no light could get into my eyes. Fun day. Other than that, life is just house, and the occasional seeing a member to say hi, and stuff.
We're planning on a fireside for missionary work for all of the members. They finally got the order in for Preach my Gospel, so we're going to cram it into their hearts and brains. That shall be good. And all will be good. Life is usually like that after a long and dreary time. It's like the two buckets. One says to the other, all I do is go up and down, all day long, and no matter how many times I come up full, I always go down empty. The other one smiles, and says that's funny, I do the same exact thing that you do. Up and down, up and down, all day long. And no matter how many times I go down empty, I come up full... Even though some days/weeks/months are like that. Even in Australia.
Much love to all.
Jason
Dear Mommy,
So, this email may be a little short, because I seem to have lost my planner, which holds the records of my daily doings. I didn't really lose it, I guess, I just left it at a member's house far far away on Wednesday, and I didn't get it back until Sunday, but then it got lost at the house, so I don't have much to look at to spark memories of this week. So, I'll just go with what I remember.
Yesterday before English course we were doing house in a new area. I think I can give a professional opinion that Messina is home to some of the rudest people in the world. At least in southern Italy. These people would ignore the fact that I was speaking to them. It' really kind of sad for them. How can a person become so rude, I wonder? Anyhoo, so we rang an intercom doorbell, as is custom for us in this country, and instead of hearing an answer from the speaker, we hear an old lady's voice from up above us yelling "who is it?" So, we look up, and give her the well practiced invite. She looks at me. I look at her. We have a little moment of awkwardness where no one speaks. I was determined to not be the first person to break the silence. It lasted for about ten seconds, which can be a long time, if you think about it. You try being completely silent with a stranger for ten seconds. So, she eventually starts muttering something, and then her husband comes to look over the balcony. We look at him for a bit, and then they both just shake their heads and walk away. Around that same place, another old lady sticks her head out the window, and it's pretty much the same deal, wherein she just shakes her head no, and then closes the window. So, we keep ringing names on the intercom, and I casually look up, and I see a little bit of movement. What could that be, I asked myself. Then I see the eye of that same little old lady who said no to us before peeking through a minute slit in the window that had just slid open an inch or two. Just enough to see through. She was spying on us. I waved, smiled, and said Ciao. The window slammed shut with a surprising force. I didn't think a window that close to being closed could be slammed, let alone by an old grandma lady. Fun stuff.
We had a good English course lesson the other day. We talked about slang, and idioms and stuff. It's great to hear the students try to say What's up to you. We've added a third French teacher to our ranks. Apparently the economy is really hard for teachers nowadays. And now that there's a new president, there's apparently some trouble with the government for the temple in Rome. Hopefully all will work out there. Oh, and here's a kick in the pants. Of all the appointments that we had this week with members and investigators, and whatnot, only one didn't cancel on us. Everyone else called to cancel, or just didn't bother to show up. Lame. Our elder's quorum president is in the hospital. He said that he'd be in church on Sunday. Really cool guy. The only thing next to his hospital bed was a Book of Mormon. Cool guy.
Well, not too much else to mention. No Culinary adventures. Oh, we did go to Palermo for my comps documents. It was like two seconds, and they sent us on our way. All we had to do was give them a paper that we didn't have the first time. A big long trip for practically nothing. Meh. At least I had a migraine afterwards. That way I got to just collapse into my bed, and then cover my face so no light could get into my eyes. Fun day. Other than that, life is just house, and the occasional seeing a member to say hi, and stuff.
We're planning on a fireside for missionary work for all of the members. They finally got the order in for Preach my Gospel, so we're going to cram it into their hearts and brains. That shall be good. And all will be good. Life is usually like that after a long and dreary time. It's like the two buckets. One says to the other, all I do is go up and down, all day long, and no matter how many times I come up full, I always go down empty. The other one smiles, and says that's funny, I do the same exact thing that you do. Up and down, up and down, all day long. And no matter how many times I go down empty, I come up full... Even though some days/weeks/months are like that. Even in Australia.
Much love to all.
Jason