It is hard to believe that another week has passed since I updated. I’ve got about 40 minutes until I leave the villa for Normandy (via Paris and Caen) and Berchtesgaden on free travel, and I am pretty well packed, so I thought I’d give a quick update.
Thursday, Oct. 6 — We were still in Agrigento, and visited the archaeological museum there Thursday morning. Afterward, most of the group went down to the water, but I returned to the hotel where I worked on free travel and class prep.
Friday, Oct. 7 — We took the bus to Palermo, with a stop at the duomo and cloister at Monreale on the way, and a sobering visit to the Caputian Crypt in Palermo.
Saturday, Oct. 8 — We flew back to Pisa and bused to the villa, where I spent the rest of the day preparing a study guide, as well as Sunday’s lecture, in the Life of Paul class.
Sunday, Oct. 9 — We had worship at the villa, after which I spent most of the day writing a test for the Paul class. We did take time out to drive up the hill to a nice pizza place at which Kyle, Tripp and I had eaten several days ago. The trip back was not without some adventure. I found myself driving a van full of students back down the road to the villa. The Italians apparently save on money by building two-lane roads with only one lane. As I was driving downhill, around a corner, with a resident to my immediate right, in the dark, up came another vehicle from below. It was a standoff. I did not feel like I could back up the road, and the other driver was not much inclined to back down, until I leaned out the window and asked him — in English — what he would like me to do. (At least one witness says I was also waving my hands.) Upon realizing that I was a helpless American, the other driver backed down the road. The aforementioned vanload of students found the whole episode to be hilarious. We had talked in the Paul class about how the Apostle Paul had played his Roman citizenship card during his ministry, and Katie noted that I had just done the same thing with my American citizenship.
Monday, Oct. 10 — We had classes in the morning. Then after a quick but largely fruitless trip into town looking for a video adapter for my laptop — the one I brought over has suddenly gone missing — I returned to the villa and worked. Many of the students, meanwhile, played in a friendly basketball tournament with other American college students as well as Italian ones.
Tuesday, Oct. 11 — We spent the morning at Robbie & Mona’s very nice townhouse out in the country, then drove over to the American World War II cemetery near Florence. It is a beautiful place. Last night, we wrapped up the basketball tournament and cooked hot dogs and hamburgers for everyone as a service project. I was apparently going through hamburger withdrawal, and the burgers tasted really good.The time draws near for me to invade Normandy. Better go.
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