Gaeta and Poppi
Hello Blog People,
In the week between going to Rome and my family coming, I had the opportunity to travel on behalf of the school and go to a town called Gaeta. As the spiritual rep, I was asked to go for Global Youth Day to represent Villa. Overall, it was a short trip. We left early in the morning on Saturday, around 4 AM, and continued past Rome. It’s a very nice town on the coast in the southern part of Italy. I went with two other ACA students (Natalie and Yasmine), some volunteers, and some theology students. I got to ride in Nicolò's car along with the other ACA students, his wife, and their dog, Nilo. We arrived at the church and immediately went into the church service. Everybody was talking Italian (obviously) and everybody kind of knew everybody. There are only about 10,000 Adventists in all of Italy, so most people that are involved with the church know each other. After church service we were given sack lunches that the church had prepared and we walked down to the beach about 10 minutes away. We got to eat our lunches on the beach and play around in the water a little bit. It wasn't super warm, but it was nice to sit in the sun.
That afternoon we went back up to the church and got assigned out afternoon activity. Our job as people from ACA was to help promote the free health fairs that were happening in Gaeta. We have things kind of like this in the US, so I knew what the idea was. We set up stations in two locations, a park and near a beach. My job and the job of some other volunteers was to create posters to attract people to the Health Fair. I made the posters (I feel like mine was really good) and that's all I really did. That was also the day that my brother's high school basketball team was playing in the state championship. I had talked to Nicolò before, so I sat frozen to a bench for the whole game and supported them from across the ocean.
After we were done with the health fair we went back to the church and had pizza and played some games. This is probably the most Italian thing I have ever seen. When you order a pizza in Italy, you get a personal size pizza. They’re bigger than the ones in the US but that's just the normal. Since this is a bunch of native Italians, the church ordered tons of pizzas, one for everybody that was there. People came walking in with just piles and piles of pizzas, and later brought drinks and fries. It was a really good time. I got to talk to some of the theology students and volunteers and just play games with them. It was just a very nice time, but by the end of the night I was very tired.
We stayed in a motel that night and I shared a room with my friend Natalie. We got up the next morning and were given the option to either go to the beach or walk around Gaeta. We decided to walk around the town and just look at the view of the water and an old church that was there. We also got coffee, an Italian staple. It was nice to have a slow morning and see what a Sunday morning is like for the local people there. After we walked around for a little bit, we met up with the group at the beach and decided to head back a little bit later so we all got to have some beach time. Some people played in the water or swim around, but I decided to just walk along the beach and then sit and play some games with some friends. it was a really nice time just to chill and hang out altogether in a place that wasn’t at Vila. Around 1 we started driving back. There was a lot of traffic on the way back so it took us a lot longer, but we got back in time for dinner. It was a really nice time just to get away from Villa and see a new part of Italy. Plus (added bonus) the school paid for us to go, so it was a free trip! I really enjoyed my time and I’m really grateful that I was able to have this opportunity to travel a little bit more.
The second spiritual trip I've gone on was the Spring spiritual retreat at Poppi. We came here in the fall and it was a very nice time. It felt good to be back at a spot some of us had been to before. It made me think about how much has changed and how well I know the people I came with in comparison to last time. It blows my mind how much I've grown and changed. And this time, I asked to take a step back from planning and I just wanted to attend. I did do music with my worship team, but that was fun and easy.
I rode the bus to get there which was ok. I hadn't ridden the bus the first time, and there were a lot of twists and turns in the Tuscan hills. But I didn't get motion sick, so that was the goal. When I got there, we walked a little ways to the camp (I got a ride up so that was nice. Thanks Michele!) and got settled in my cabin. I was in a room with Brianna, Anna, Sarah, and Linda. Then in the evening we had dinner and a meeting. Then we headed to bed.
There's a game that we have played here at Villa at most of our big group parties. It's basically a "find your partner" kind of game. Everyone couples up and then are put in one of two circles. The circles go opposite directions, one inside of the other, until the music stops. An action/position is called, and the couples try to find each other in the crowd. The last to do the action/get in the position is eliminated. It's a chaotic game and can get kind of loud. But it is one of our favorites. We played 4 rounds, and I won once with Paige! It was so so fun! After the group game event we went down to the bonfire and made s'mores and danced to music. It was just such a fun time. I love the enthusiastic and fun energy that this group at Villa has.
The next morning we had one more meeting to recap everything we had discussed over the weekend. We were given some free time to clean our cabins and play some outdoor sports. There was a very competitive game of soccer that had been organized (I did not participate) and also a chill-er game of volleyball (and I did participate in this one!). After lunch we loaded up and walked back to the pickup spot of the bus. Walking back with everyone was kind of a vibe. Someone was obviously playing music and you can just bounce between groups depending on your speed. And it's nice to just see everyone out together. We rode back to Villa and that was the end of the spiritual retreat.
It was interesting to be back because of how much we have changed, like I said before. At the time I'm writing this, I'm at less than 20 days until I leave. I have a hard time processing and imagining not being here. I almost don't want to think about it at all and just live in denial, but life events and responsibilities are not allowing that. I cannot help but think of all the ways that I have changed in this year. I'm not going back as the person I was in September. I'm grown and learned and experienced more. I even look a bit older than I did in September (or so I've been told :) ). I've grown my relationships with people and I've grown in my relationship with Christ. And that is the most beautiful thing of all.
Ciao,
Ellie
Comments
Post a Comment