Loving Milan!

I am LOVING Milan!! We have been SO busy since the moment I got here that I don't know where to begin!

My plane landed and I saw Taylor, Heidi and Jason waiting for me after I got through "customs" where I don't think he even looked at my passport! Quite different from Egypt! After lots of hugs and "I can't believe I am here!" squeals, we left to get some espresso! The way Italians do coffee is get little espresso cups and stand at these little tables where they chug it in about 5 minutes or less. And oh was it AMAZING! However, 5 minutes after I shot it down, my stomach was torn up! I had not eaten anything except for an apple since I left and didn't eat very much at all before I left because of the stress. Espresso was not the best thing on a completely empty stomach which greatly pained me for another 6 hours!

We raced back to the house and got to meet Allyson and the kids! The whole family is wonderful! We ate dinner and then left to go to a concert, which was fun! I loved being around the Italian language and was surprisingly not overwhelmed at all. I felt really comfortable and understood probably quite a bit of the content of the songs because they had the words on the screen so I could read it. (I think I am finally getting my c's and ch's right, Mael!) I met a lot of their friends there and a few of them were able to speak English. After the concert, we went to meet Nicola who is an Italian soccer player and also a really committed Christian who Jason knows well. Jason was telling me some of the about-face changes he made now that he is a Christian and how fast he is growing. So, even though I really don't know "who" he is, it was still nice to met him.

We came back to the house around 1:30 after piling 7 of us in a 4 seater car! Taylor, Heidi, Jason, and I stayed up until 4:00 talking together and then us girls stayed up an extra 30 minutes or so while they told me some of their crazy life experiences. We were up and out the next morning to take T & H to the metro and then the rest of us to Church. Church was really nice and the structure was very similar to Messiah. I was so overjoyed to have understood probably 25% of what was spoken, and at least 50% of what was written down in songs or the sermon outline. I was worried this trip would make me overwhelmed with language but it has done just the opposite!

After lunch, Jason, Jake and I raced off to buy tickets for the AC Milan game. They literally live right across the street from the stadium! Boy was it crazy trying to get tickets though! Italians have NO concept of "lines" whatsoever. The game was so much fun! I took lots of pictures!

So, that's what has been going on! I really love the people I met and the city. Tomorrow, Allyson and I are meeting another girl to explore the downtown area and then Jason and I leave for the Atleti Di Cristo meeting. I also am hoping to meet Mael's parents at some point too. Time is flying! I hate thought of going back to finals and FPO before I can come back! I am so grateful God blessed me with this opportunity