Looking back

Yesterday we spent the day packing up our apartment... a strange feeling when you have 2 weeks left in the country. Two of my teammates leave Friday to return to America. How has the end of our year come up so quickly? It seems like yesterday we were in language class figuring out how to say "I work for a Christian organization called Agape Italia".
In fact, I found a slip of paper while we were cleaning out everything that said "Posso ordinare tre turcini per la data 22 di Novembre" - "Can I order 3 turkies for the 22nd of November?"
That's right, the three HUGE turkies from Thanksgiving. What struck me as strange is that I had to write down the sentence and take it with me to the butcher! Seeing how far we've come in our language ability shows me just how much I've learned this year without even realizing it. I talked with a girl on campus today, going through the Gospel and then discussing the Holy Spirit - I never would have been comfortable discussing these things in Italian 8 months ago, now, it's completely normal. I've really settled into life here. I was given the opportunity to go to Florence with Summer Project for the weekend, which helped me to process part of the year with my boyfriend, Richie. As we sat on a bridge over the Arno River, we discussed how normal it was for me to be in Italy, and how it will be strange now for us to see each other in Orlando. He asked me my favorite and worst parts of the year and so began my individual "debriefing" - my time to process through all that's happened in the past year. I wanted to let you in on some of this debriefing. Throughout the next few weeks I will be posting thoughts on ministry, life, and random events that have made my year. Enjoy the journey.