VBS 2010 Daniel... in English

This past week we had our version of Vacation Bible School. We used it to teach the kids English and Bibles stories at the same time. We had about 9 Italian kids and it was a great week. A little culture shock for Jenae and Brittany, but good for them. I enjoyed working with the kids. Most of the kids had been a part of Kala and Ellie's English classes so they were excited to use their English and to learn more. We taught them new vocabulary, we told them the stories of Daniel, we taught them songs in English, and of course played games.

On Friday we had a parent night. The moms came so the kids could show what they learned. They read the story of Daniel to their moms, in English, and they sang the English songs all by themselves. It was great to see them so excited about it. Here are some pictures from our crazy, busy, fun week.

The kids getting ready to start a game of Ninja

I did the music for the week. We were teaching the kids the movements that went with the song.

Shannon giving the English lesson for the day.

Working to perfect our English songs.

Micah and Emma, playing with the big parachute.

Jenae's thoughts on preparing the snacks.

Giorgia came to play with Alessia one day.

Our whole group.

Why I Like Volunteer Teams

I will start by confessing that, yes, of course one reason I like volunteer teams is because they bring fun American things. BUT, there are many other reasons, both fun and serious, for liking volunteer teams. Let me list a few for you...

Reasons List:

• They are American
• They bring a fire and passion with them that remind me why I was called to Naples in the first place.
• I get to see God do HUGE things in their hearts
• I get more peanut butter
• Sometimes they remind me of people from home. sometimes in a real freakish way.
• Occasionally they have weird tattoos, in weird places
• I tend to laugh a lot when teams are here
• I meet great new people, that I might hang out with when I go back to America
• The change to live in a house with 7 children arises
• I meet another person that can be just like Emily Moore
• I get some great encouragement from some great people
• People come to know Jesus
• People do nice things for you, even when you don't deserve it
• I can speak English

Ok I'll stop now. I'm sure I could go on and on. It can be really tiring having teams here, because we wake up earlier and go to bed later than normal; and we do it for 8 days straight. Props to Il Capo for working real hard and a whole bunch. I really enjoyed working with this last team. We saw three people accept Christ in the neighborhood we were in. God worked through prayer and it reminded me of a lot of things. I'm convinced that this is God's city and that He has called us here for a reason. So we better keep telling people about Jesus.

I just ate a whole ton of peanut butter. Whoops.

Languages, languages, languages

So as if it isn't hard enough learning a new language; try living in a city where they speak two languages, both of which are foreign to you. All of Italy speaks Italian, but every region also has it's own dialect. In Naples they speak Neapolitan (which is not how you say it in Italian but I can't spell it in Italian, so you get it in English). At language school we learn Italian, so any picking up of the other language comes off of the streets.

Much like in America, the south of Italy is known for better food and a being lazy in the language department. Meaning the Italian spoken in Naples is not always correct, just like my English skills (I'm a true Cajun at heart). But, I think I can tell the difference between English and French. Sunday afternoon, after a long weekend of music rehearsal, this conversation occurred.........

Me : "Ok, Devo andare a casa (i need to go home)"

Emanuele : "Mo?"

Me : "Che cosa? Non ho capito (what?, i didn't understand)"

Emanuele : "Cortney! You don't know that word?"

Me : "Nope, sorry"

Emanuele : "Cortney, you need to know that word. People say it all the time."

Me : "Really? I've never heard it. Is it Italian?"

Emanuele : "Yes it's Italian, so learn it. It's means "now". "

Me : "Hmm, well ok."

Marta : "No it's not Italian, it's Napoletano"

Emanuele : "Really?, Oh, well ok it's not Italian, but Cortney still needs to know it."

Me : "Wow. Maybe you should learn which language is which."

Emanuele : " :) "

And there you have it. I will justify my lack of language learning by blaming it on the fact that Neapolitans don't even know what language they are speaking. Therefore I get confused and can't speak any language.