Okay, I'm not too sure what to tell you all in this post. It has been a week or so since my last post and no, I don't have pictures yet. I need a converter thing for my three pronged American laptop plug and as you all are aware, I can't post pics if I can't access the photos on my computer and I would rather not download pictures from my camera onto the house computer because then everyone would have access to them. I found a converter here in Rome at some store near St. Peter's but, unfortunately, the lady there did not know the price and told me to come back later. I attempted to come back later but Italy and its siesta hours can be so frustrating. A person doesn't know what stores will be closed during what hours.
So this past Tuesday, four of us went to this church on the outskirts of Rome called Eur. We went in Sr. Pat's car which is a small five seater but we fit quite comfortably. At the church we helped box blankets, clothes, and medicines that are to be sent to the Sudan in a few weeks. We help out this church in exchange for drugs, no, not the illegal ones, but medicines for the people of Africa. Sr. Pat received several boxes of medicines which we shall ship out in a couple of weeks also to the missions in Togo and Congo. Unfortunately, these boxes created a problem with space when it was time to transport them back to the convent with us. Because there were so many boxes Mary had the unpleasant task of having to sit in an awkward position on the laps of Tomas and Martin. Mary was none too pleased and it didn't help that Martin jinxed her half way through the car ride and she couldn't speak. It was hilarious.
Oh a little about my housemates:
Mary and Martin are from the U.S. Mary's from New Mexico but was born in Germany and lived there until she was 10 or so. She's 22 and just graduated from a university in New Mexico with a degree in Biology. She and I will be traveling together to West Timor and Mary hopes to help out in the clinic there.
Martin is from New Jersey. He's also 22 and graduated from Middlebury college in Vermont. He has studied abroad in China and Uruguay. He is half Spanish and half white and speaks not only English and Spanish but also Chinese and French and he's picking up on Italian pretty quickly which I find quite annoying. He identifies strongly with Latino culture and likes to speak with me in Spanish.
Rebecca just turned 30 on July 1st. She is from India but lived in England these past four years working for the Leimann Brothers bank. She's an incredibly kind person and the boys, unfortunately, torture her incessantly.
Tomas is our 22 year old Czech seminarian. He is very knowledgable about scripture and is kind for the most part, except that, as I mentioned before he insists on torturing poor Rebecca and sometimes myself. He is quiet when he's not being a nuisance and is very helpful to us all.
I'll end this post by letting you know that I have started my Bahasa lessons and that they are going fairly well. The language is unlike any I have studied before because there are no conjugation of verbs. Mary and I mostly have to memorise words. This is simple enough except there is one little difficulty. Mary and I travel every Wednesday and Friday by train to Ottavia which is on the outskirts of Rome. We go to the Canossian Sister house there and meet with Sr. Joanna for lessons. Unfortunately, Sr. Joanna speaks no English. She only speaks Italian and Bahasan. Since Mary doesn't know any Italian I am left with the unenviable task of having to use my horrible Italian to translate what Sr. Joanna is saying to Mary. I also have to use my horrible Italian to ask questions Mary and I have. On the bright side I imagine that my Italian will improve, although, I have to work on my accent. (The different Italian employees of one of the local gelaterias are always able to pick up on my Spanish accent.)
Okay well that's all for today as another needs to use the computer. If anyone has any questions just ask or message me through Facebook.
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