When Two Adventurers Come Together...

When two adventurers come together, there aren't many things that can hold them back. They become explorers, risk takers, and pioneers. They become discoverers, builders, connectors, and wanderers. The world is at their fingertips, and together they are an unstoppable force. 

                                                           So it is with Madeleine and Sarah. 

I can still remember so clearly back to that cold winter morning in Rome when I sat by myself on a hard church pew surrounded by a body of believers, yet feeling so completely alone. (Read the blog about it here). And yet even with an eagerness in me to meet people and make new friends, it took every ounce of courage inside me to approach that group of young people standing in a circle after the service and try to somehow introduce myself and integrate into their conversation in the most natural way possible. The awkward edge of that moment still makes me uncomfortable to think about. 

But there in that group of young people was a girl I never had a clue would end up being a lifelong friend, a partner in endless wild adventures, and a support to stand beside me in all my ups and downs of life over the next few years. 

Madeleine Wilgus. 

She was edgy. She was risky. She was completely spontaneous and independent. 

And our worlds collided that day, introducing me to a zeal and passion for life that only needed a little prodding and inspiration to be released. 

In the course of our friendship over the past two years, we have only seen each other face to face a handful of times. The rest of our relationship has grown thanks to the convenience of modern technology, but that still means that when we do get to see each other, it's a very special time. 

One might have picked up on this if he had observed the cinematic reunion of two friends torn apart for over a year when I exited my bus in the bus station of Portland, Maine. Our dramatic greeting with a running start and a lengthy embrace accompanied by squeals and tears was nothing short of theatrical, and already Madeleine's passionate zest for life was flying off from her in contagious sparks. 

And that was just the beginning :)

Each day of our week together ended with new stories to laugh about, new moments to remember forever, and new memories to tease each other about and new experiences to gawk at. There's probably enough to fill a whole book, but this is just a blog, so I'll just tell you the best :)

Day one began with homemade blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup, a wonder I had heard about but never actually tried myself. It was everything I've ever been told it is. The afternoon found us taking a long walk along the sunny beach, several miles from our car. When we finally arrived at the halfway point where we were ready to turn around and head back, hunger and fatigue (must've been from the exhausting sun) overtook us and we concluded we would have to find an alternative way back. Our solution? Ask one of the cute ranger boys working the beach grounds to give us a ride in their golf carts. Rather than responding with the no we expected, they informed us they would be returning shortly and then came back a few minutes later with their nicest truck and a pre-prepared piece of paper with their name and phone number written neatly on it, which they made sure to suavely leave with us when they dropped us off at our car.

Day number two brought us to the quaint coastal town of Booth Bay where we spent our time wandering around the shops and restaurants, and basking in the sun on one of the docks out by the harbor. While I was off taking photos, Madeleine encountered a woman she knew, the mom of one of her friends from high school, who was loading up a little motor boat to take for a spin in the harbor. All smiles on her face, she joyfully offered to take us out on the boat and have us come visit her love nest cottage on a tiny island right in the harbor where she's staying for the summer months. It didn't take long for us to accept her offer. We spun around in the motor boat, just a short way across the water to approach a unique round house that Madeleine had always seen as a kid and dreamed about living in. Thanks to the wonderful hospitality of Madeleine's friend, we spent a few relaxing moments enjoying a tour of the beachy and bright house with the cool ocean breeze blowing on our faces as we sat on the sunny balcony overlooking the sparkling waters. Madeleine and I spent the rest of our afternoon in a lengthy and uplifting conversation over our fish and chip lunch, and then concluded our day with our Bibles and a glass of wine at dusk out on the dock by the lake behind her house. 

dominating gelaterias.

Day three's adventures got a late start but with no regrets about the relaxing and slow morning we enjoyed. By late afternoon, we had meandered through several coastal towns on our way to the city of Portland, where we set out to explore the Old Port section of town, specifically on a hunt for an Italian grocery store or gelato. After being temporarily sidetracked by a happy hour special, we stormed the streets boldly (and loudly) crying out in grammatically incorrect Italian any thought that came to our minds, particularly and frequently referring to our insatiable desire for good Italian food and/or gelato. We found the gelato and some pizza, and convinced several innocent passersby that we were actually from Italy. I'm certain  it was because our loud use of Italian words and gestures was so convincing and that it had nothing to do with Madeleine telling everyone we are from Italy. She sometimes forgets that our meeting in Italy doesn't quite constitute true ethnic connections. To conclude our evening, we met for birthday celebrations for Madeleine's older sister and experienced the wild nightlife of Portland on a Wednesday night (along with the three other people who had decided to go out that night).

The Portland Lighthouse

somewhere in the middle of yelling out random Italian phrases on the street

Celebrating with Madeleine's sister, Geneva, for her birthday

Day four's plan for an early morning departure didn't exactly pan out as expected when the early alarms went off and Sarah and Madeleine's hands hit the snooze. Finally on the road by eleven, we began our three hour drive to the tourist famous city of Bar Harbor. Not one hour of the road trip went by without our little Corolla's speakers blaring our favorite Eurotechno dance tunes - windows down, sunglasses on, and dance party happening with every pounding beat of the bass drum and scratch of the dj's tracks. As soon as we arrived in the breezy beach town of Bar Harbor, we went straight away to the bike rental and set off on an adventure through Acadia national park. After a few hours zooming around below the tall pines trees and gazing out at beaver dams and a glistening lake, the heat of the sun started to beat down on our backs. Eventually the bike path led us to a bridge, where we pauses for a moment to take in the view. I reached into my purse to grab my camera for the photo op, and before I knew it, Madeleine had disappeared down a tiny path that led down to the creek flowing beneath the bridge. I delicately made my way down the rocky trail in my sparkly silver sandals and called out after Madeleine with no response. I followed the trail deeper and deeper into the brush (all the while trying not to break my shoes), and all the nearer to the trickling water I heard, not knowing what to expect when I found my friend. Naturally, once I cleared past all the brush, I looked around and spotted Madeleine's bright blue shirt dangerously close to the waters that she was giddily splashing around in up to her thighs. "Let's go swimming Sarah! Come on!" she enthusiastically yelled out to me. I reminded her that we didn't have our swimsuits (or maybe that was just my excuse for not wanting to swim in questionable waters) but she even more excitedly suggested we just go skinny dipping. I'm pretty sure she was serious. Another gentle reminder that we had an audience on the bridge above us seemed enough to stamp out that idea, but not enough for me to completely stand up against her continual pleas that I join her in the refreshing (and dirty) water. 

And there we were, splashing around, hopping on the rocks, forging through bubbling waterfalls.

 Adventuring, exploring, living...

The night ended perfectly when I finally got to eat my Maine meal - a lobster roll with chips, blueberry ale, and mouth watering blueberry pie a la mode for dessert. Every bite was succulent. 

Day five was the last and greatest adventure, the biggest and grandest so far for the week. But you'll have to read the next blog to hear about that one :)  

Rome #3

After my last blog, you may think I hate Rome. I don’t. I quite enjoy it actually; I’m just glad that I get to go visit it for a few days at a time and don’t have to live there. But when I am there I have a great time!

This weekend I went down on Saturday again to meet up with Madeleine. The only thing we had planned was shopping :) We met up in Termini Station around 1 (you can conclude from my last blog that I was not in the greatest mood when I arrived) and then decided to go back to her house to drop my stuff off. Madeleine has been in Rome since the summer working as an au pair but recently started working for a new family with five boys, ranging from age 2 to 18. When we got there, Mattia, the 16 year old, was cooking pasta on the stove while he was on the phone with his girlfriend. Madeleine and I chuckled at the thought of a very inexperienced sixteen year old attempting to cook pasta for the first time and then debated whether or not to eat at home or to go out. Mattia finished his pasta, put it on a plate, and Madeleine tried a bite. She almost spit it out. Apparently his girlfriend had instructed him to put a handful of salt in the boiling water. This measuring method may work if you are a girl with a very small hand, but for a growing teenage boy, a handful of salt is quite an excessive amount. Luckily, Nonna came rushing in to the rescue, dumped his pasta in the garbage, and immediately started a new pot on the stove. She told us she was making spaghetti for everyone. We stayed for lunch.

Over lunch, Alberto the 18 year old came home, so the four of us sat down to a wonderful homecooked meal of spaghetti, beef, greens, and fresh fruit from their garden. The rest of the family was out of town at their house in the mountains for the weekend, so Alberto informed us that he might be having a few friends over that night. His explanation of this get together was pretty vague, leaving us wondering what to expect when we got home that night. After lunch, Madeleine and I geared up for a trip to the Porta di Roma, one of the biggest malls in Rome (or Europe... not sure which). We weren't exactly sure how to get there, but hopped on what we thought was the right bus and figured that we would know when we got to the correct stop because it would be around an hour later and everyone else would probably get off too. Thank goodness we were right, and at the second to last stop of the bus' route, the whole bus emptied out and all the passengers headed into the mall.

OH my goodness.... I cannot begin to tell you how amazing it was to be in a mall!! I walked in and felt right at home again! Everything was sparkling, shiny, and calling my name. I have been on a hunt since I've been in Italy for stores that sell affordable clothes that people my age would wear. I haven't been real successful, but going to this mall certainly ended that streak! I found dozens of stores, just like American Eagle, Gap, Forever 21, Heritage, Hollister, J. Crew, and any other place with cute clothes that I might actually shop at. This was a fantastic thing, but also a very bad thing. I was supposed to be Christmas shopping for others, but you can't get much of that done when you're burning a hole in your own pocket ;) Needless to say, I walked away with just a few bags and the conclusion that shopping is a great way to build arm muscle. By the end of our trip, we were exhausted, beat, and totally ready for a relaxing evening at home.

Just a few bags to complete our shopping trip! ;-)

Before we even walked in the door of the house, we saw the cars out front. There were several unfamiliar cars that didn't belong to the family, so we knew that Alberto did indeed have "a few" friends over. We walked inside to find at least twenty high schoolers, booming music, and quite a spirited atmosphere. Madeleine and I retreated to her room and tried to come up with Plan B - because clearly our original plan of making pancakes and watching a Christmas movie was not going to work with dozens of people in the kitchen and music blasting through the walls. We knew we couldn't beat it - so we joined it.

It turned out to be a ton of fun, and we had a really great time. Finding English speakers in Rome is much different than finding them in a small town like Foligno, so we had no problem communicating with most of the people there. After meeting several of the high school students and hearing about their current preparations for college and studying abroad, Madeleine and I ended up outside with a group of Alberto's friends around us, asking us questions and making jokes about America and English. We spent the rest of the night making fun of ourselves and laughing at all the differences between Americans and Italians. We listened to music, heard the Italians sing every single word of all the American pop songs, and finally concluded the night with an Italian version of karaoke. Like I said... it was a blast. And there was no chance Madeleine and I were going to completely forgo out pancake craving. I don't know if I've mentioned or not, but it is impossible to find pancakes or even pancake mix in Italy. We basically possessed Gold in the eyes of the Italians because Madeleine's sister had sent her a Christmas package with Great Value Pancake Mix in it. Since the kitchen seemed to be the popular hang out spot for all the guests, Madeleine and I almost gave up our quest for cooking our favorite American breakfast, knowing that we'd have dozens of hungry and curious Italians to ward off. But you can't stare at a picture this amazing and just forget about it.

Needless to say, we followed our ravenous stomachs and somewhat crashed the kitchen party with a frying pan, a whisk, and a plate waiting for hot, freshly made pancakes. It turned out that our bag only made about 8 or 10 pancakes, so we had no problem hiding the evidence from the rest of the guests in the kitchen. As soon as a pancake came off the pan, it was quickly buttered and topped with Cinnamon Sugar (you weren't expecting a country with no pancake mix to have syrup were you??) and went straight into one of our mouths. By the time anyone noticed what we were doing and came to beg for some, they were already gone :)

Madeleine and I had promised ourselves that we would take pictures of our delicious American meal, but in light of the perilous situation our pancakes were in, the only memory we have is the savory taste of buttery, fluffy goodness melting in our mouths.

The next morning was painful. No one wants to get out of bed after only three hours of sleeping, especially when it's freezing outside. We had made plans to meet Jess and another friend for coffee before church, but when the alarm sounded at 8:00, we grunted, laughed at our misery, and rolled back over to go back to sleep. But as much as I wanted to sleep for the rest of the day, I knew I needed to get up and make the most of my time in Rome, especially since I don't get very many chances to go to church in the first place. I fought against my mind and my body, reminding myself of all the hundreds of times I've had to get up after three hours of sleep for Glowing Heart and somehow miraculously made it through all those days, and I got myself up, ready, and to the church - only 15 minutes late ;-)

I'm glad I went. I have to admit - I don't remember a whole lot that the pastor talked about (most of my concentration was going towards thinking how horrible I felt after sleeping so little), but I ended up meeting some really great people as soon as the service was over. I love the community of Rome Baptist Church. It's such a wide variety of people from all over the world, and I think it's great to be able to worship, still in my own language, with such a diverse crowd. Jess, my friend from Australia, introduced me to another guy from the"Land Down Under" after church. I asked how they knew each other and was informed that David had met our friends from Iowa while in Spain over Thanksgiving and was traveling on his own for a few months, so he made his way up to Rome for a visit. There he met Jess and was invited to come to Rome Baptist by her and the Iowa girls. It was his first time to church. We made plans to go to lunch with him, along with another friend named John who grew up in the Ivory Coast and is now a University student in Rome, and set out to find the perfect Sunday afternoon restaurant.

As we walked, it started raining and we knew we couldn't wander for forever. We walked around in circles for about 30 minutes before finally deciding on a cute restaurant that Jess had been to before. I ordered spinach ravioli and we all shared our food and tried each other's... just the way I like to eat! Madeleine joined us eventually (feeling much more rested than I did) and we set out to enjoy the rest of the rainy afternoon in Rome.

 

 

I forgot to mention - the main reason I went to Rome this weekend was to see the new Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. If I was ever excited about Harry Potter, I was ten times more excited about the Dawn Treader. Apparently it's not quite as popular as HP (this is news to me) and people don't really understand my obsession, so let me take a minute to explain. A lot of people grew up reading the Chronicles of Narnia and were familiar with the tales of Aslan and the Pevensies, but not me. I was not introduced to C.S. Lewis' collection until my sophomore year of college when a friend started reading through the series and encouraged me to do the same. I know the books are written for children, but they are so much deeper than that. C.S. Lewis has an incredible way of taking the hopeful and loving story of Christ and illustrating it in a beautiful, creative, and inspiring story of Aslan the Lion and his mighty and powerful reign over the land of Narnia. Perfectly knitted into Lewis' creative stories are precious lessons and pieces of wisdom that can apply to people of all ages, not just children. It is these lessons and these reminders of truth that have greatly impacted my life and shaped who I have come to be, which is why these books, particularly the Dawn Treader are so significant to me. The stories give me hope when things in my life seem a little too dark. The help me remember what I'm living for, what to fight for, and who I can be.

Sadly enough, even though my heart was yearning to see the cinematic approach to this inspiring story, I guess it's not popular enough to play in English in movie theaters, so I came and went without ever seeing it.

My first trip to the movie theaters when I'm back in the U.S. is going to be a special one. :)

We unsuccessfully searched for a theater that afternoon until we ran out of time and Madeleine and I had to hurry off so I could catch my train. After a very long two hour journey on the train, I arrived in Foligno and Aurelio picked me up from the station so I wouldn't have to walk home in the rain. It was good to be home, but I certainly had a great weekend.

Weekend in Rome

Me and Chiara on Friday Night

And yet another exciting weekend! Friday night rolled around, and I was already feeling pretty tired, so I just figured I would stay in and head to bed. But thank goodness for Aurelio and Zoila! We finished up dinner and Aurelio looked at me and said, “It’s Friday night! Aren’t you going out?” Well, I didn’t know where I would go or what I would do, so I hadn’t really considered it, but fortunately Aurelio and Zoila had some good places in mind. As everyone else got ready for bed, I got ready to go out and hit the town, Italian style! I really wasn’t sure what to expect, but I figured I’d at least give it a try. What better chance to meet and get to know some of the young people in Foligno?? Aurelio knows the owner of a really popular wine bar in town, so he took me there and brought me inside to introduce me to some people. I met the owner, although he didn’t speak much English, and one of the bartenders named Chiara. Chiara spoke great English and I spent a lot of time hanging out and talking with her. Apparently she’s quite the social butterfly, so she knew tons of people and introduced me to all of them! Some spoke English, some not so much, but I was happy to not be standing around by myself!

After about an hour, Chiara told me that everyone at the wine bar was leaving to go to a party. She said pretty much all the young people in Foligno would be there, so if I wanted to meet lots of people that would be a great place. I debated whether or not to go but thought, how many chances will I have to go to a big event like this? We headed over to the party and what an experience! This wasn’t like a small party at someone’s house. It was a social gathering at a huge venue with hundreds of people (mostly all from Foligno). There was music by a DJ, art being created on the walls, and awesome decorations – really a neat set-up. From my time there, I learned that Italians aren’t as crazy as Americans or British people when they go out. Most people there were just talking and hanging out. A few were dancing, but overall the atmosphere was pretty chill. Chiara took me from person to person, introducing me to every English-speaking friend she had. All of them had done lots of traveling and have lived abroad (hence why they know English), so we had lots to talk about. For those who didn’t speak English, Chiara just pointed them out and told me who they were, how she knew them, and what everyone thought of them. Because Foligno is such a small town, everybody there already knew each other. I actually recognized some of the people as the students I had seen studying in the library earlier that week. I left a couple hours later, before it got too late, and took a bus home with some of the girls I met.

with some of Chiara's English speaking friends

The next morning, I was supposed to take a train to Rome, but I was so tired I slept in a little too late. When Zoila woke me up, I spent a couple hours frantically trying to plan and put together my trip to Rome, so that I would know exactly where to go, how to get around, and where I was staying. I booked a hostel, figured out the train times, and was on my way to the train station. Two hours later, I arrived in the very wet city of Rome. It was pouring outside so I bought an umbrella from the first vendor I saw. (By the way, never pay 5 Euros for an umbrella from a street vendor… it’ll only last you about five minutes.) I decided to go to my hostel first in order to drop off my backpack. I followed the directions to the hostel just fine, but once I got to the street it was on, I had a really difficult time locating the right number. I eventually found what I thought was it and went upstairs to check in.

Of course, things never work out as you plan, so I attempted to check in, only to find out that my reservation was actually made for the next night. I asked if they could change it to that night. They said there was no room. I tried not to freak out, but was pretty discouraged that I might have to spend my afternoon in Rome trying to find a hostel, in addition to paying double the amount that I anticipated. Fortunately, I think because I look like a helpless little girl, they decided to be very nice and give me a room in another hostel owned by the same company. It was actually the same location I was checking in at, so I didn't have to go far at all. The only downside was that I had originally booked an all female hostel so that I would be able to be in a room with only girls, but the only opening available in the hostel I'd be staying at was co-ed. It turned out to be not bad at all. There were only two other people in there, a couple that I think was backpacking, and they were asleep when I got in the room at night and asleep when I left. The room had bunk beds and was clean enough, and I left in the morning and even got a coupon for a free breakfast at the caffe' across the street.

After I sorted out the hostel mix-up, I headed out into the city to explore and look around. I had planned to take the metro, but when I realized that I didn't have a whole lot of time in the city in the first place, I figured I'd walk and take in as much as I could at once. I wanted to make sure I was able to get to church in the morning without getting lost, so I headed out to locate the church, intending to sight see along the way. I walked for about 30 minutes or so, and finally arrived at what seemed to be a very crowded tourist destination. As I rounded the corner, I stumbled upon an absolutely breathtaking view. My route had taken me right near the Piazza di Spagna, to the very top of the famous Spanish steps that lead down to an incredibly expensive and nice shopping district. The view overlooked the entire city and was accented by a gorgeous, colorful sunset. I got my camera out, took some pictures, and enjoyed the amazing view.

Gorgeous!

The rest of the evening was spent walking. I'm pretty sure I walked for about 3 hours straight. I walked to the location of Rome Baptist Church, I walked to the movie theater to buy my ticket for Harry Potter (in English!!), I walked to McDonald's to eat dinner, I walked through H&M and all the great shops several times, I even walked to Trevi Fountain and threw a coin in. That would be my third time throwing a coin in that fountain. And I'm pretty certain that I've made the same wish every single time. It still has yet to come true.

And don't worry! I definitely got some gelato! It's not quite as silly to eat gelato in Rome in the winter. Everyone else there is a tourist too, and what do tourists want in Rome? Pizza and gelato. So I fit right in :) Except maybe it was a little lame to go to McDonald's... but I had a serious craving for some American food. How much more American can you get than that? If I had seen a Starbucks I might have gone there, but surprisingly, there are NO Starbucks in Rome. I have seen them literally all over the world, in pretty much every major city I've been to, but I didn't see a single one in Rome! So weird, and so sad!

Walking on Via del Corso

After all that walking, I was totally beat, and I very gladly went to sit down in the movie theater. Harry Potter was great. The theater was packed, and there were tons of Americans and English speaking people all around. It would have been really nice to have met some people and hung out with them, but it didn't happen.

This is what I've learned about traveling by yourself. It is amazing and it sucks all at the same time. It was absolutely incredible to be on my own schedule. I could go wherever I wanted, any direction I wanted, any destination I wanted, on my own time, as fast or as quick as I wanted, without a single other opinion to conflict with mine. It was quite a freeing feeling. I loved it. Yet at the same time, doing whatever you want on your own is only fun for so long. By the time the movie got out, I was incredibly lonely. I was doing so many fun things, but I know they would have been so much more fun if I had someone else to enjoy them with.

Harry Potter was great, but it was a kind of a dark movie, which wasn't helpful for me right before I had to walk around in an unfamiliar city by myself at night. On my way back to my hostel, I was hurrying through the streets when I looked up at a building next to me and noticed that it was an absolutely beautiful hotel. I was outside in the cold, in the dark, and could hear peaceful piano music floating out from inside where there was an amazing lobby with cozy, warm, and beautiful atmosphere. It was totally calling me. I didn't even have to think about and walked right inside. I sat down on a comfy couch, listened to the calming jazz piano, and appreciated the ornate decorations. It was bliss. I ordered a cup of tea, and they brought me an entire tray of cookies to accompany the whole pot of tea that I got. I didn't even want to know how much it was going to cost, but I knew that the whole experience was totally worth it.

While I was sitting there, I was joined by some unexpected company. A man about 80 years old walked up to me and asked if I was all alone. I offered him some cookies since I had way more than I'd ever eat, and he sat down and we began to talk. Well, we attempted to talk. He kept asking me questions, but considering the fact that he is almost completely deaf, he could not understand me at all. Every time he asked me a question I had to repeat my answer five times, not before he would get it, but before I would give up trying to get him to understand. The conversation went something like this:

Old Man: So how far are you from the place you're staying?
Me: (After repeating myself three times) Oh I don't know. A little ways. (I really didn't know. But even if I had, I wasn't about to tell some random man where I was staying)
Old Man: Well that's nice. It's too bad you're not staying at the hotel I'm at. It's quite lovely. There's a shuttle service right to the front door.
Me: Awkward smile
Old Man: So how far did you travel to come to Rome?
Me: A few hours (again, why would I give him my exact whereabouts?)
Old Man: And how old are the children you watch?
Me: Three and six
Old Man: Oh there's three children?
Me: No, two. A three year old boy and six year old girl.
Old Man: Oh how lovely, three boys. How old are they?
Me: No answer
Old Man: Hmm... that must be the head waiter over there. I think it's... no maybe it's the other waiter. No that's the one, he's the head one.
Me: Sipping tea....

And, Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.
Repeat.

Yes, that's right. We had the EXACT same conversation FIVE times. He would ask me all those questions, pause for a moment, and then start all over again. I do believe he asked how far my hostel was from where we were about umm.... EIGHT times. I am not exaggerating. Really. So it's true... short term memory loss actually does happen! I experienced it firsthand!

The next morning I got up and checked out of the hostel before heading to church. I attended Rome Baptist Church, a place I found online when I typed in "Baptist churches in Rome." Let me tell you... the list is short. RBC is it. It may even be the only Protestant church in Rome. So I went, and it was so refreshing to be able to worship with English speaking, Christ-loving people. I went to Biblestudy at 9:30 before the main service and found it quite interesting what the topic was: why church is important. We read from Acts 2 and talked about how church is more than an event. It's a group of people. The important of going to church is not just to learn about God, but to be able to have community and to fellowship with other believers. That is why just watching sermons online while I'm in Italy is not going to cut it. That's not why my heart craves to go to church. I yearn for this type of community, this interaction with other believers - teaching, having fellowship, eating together, praying, and praising God together, just as it describes in Acts 2. And God is so good. I found exactly that while I was at the church.

The church was a little more traditional than maybe I would prefer, but how wonderful it felt to sing alongside other Christians and say Blessed Be the Name of the Lord, in another country, in a different time zone, with people around me from all over the world. It was absolutely beautiful. And just in the short time I was there, I connected with dozens of people that offered to let me stay with them the next time I'm in Rome or that wanted to hang out whenever we get a chance. I found one group of people that looked about my age and walked up and introduced myself. Turns out, two of the girls are actually au pairs in Rome and are planning to stay for about another year. I was thrilled, because most people I meet at this time are heading back to the States in just a couple weeks since they're on a semester schedule. Here, I not only found girls that are my age and that can totally relate to what I am doing right now, but I also have the assurance that they will be around the whole time I'm over here. It was really enjoyable getting to talk to them and hear about their own nannying experiences. It was the first time I've had any sort of connection or contact with other au pairs so I loved being able to share stories with people who could really understand. We ended up hanging out all afternoon on Sunday. They showed me around Rome to some of their favorite spots, and we got lunch and gelato. I don't know if I'll be able to go to Rome every weekend, but as long as I do, I now have friends to hang out with and stay with there! What a wonderful blessing God has given me!

Madeleine and Jess, the au pair girls I met

exploring Rome with my new friends!