Religious asylum

Tuesday morning I walked up to Todis to get some tortillas, because I had had to park way up there the night before. It was to be a win-win, getting something we needed and moving the car closer. Well, the best laid plans don't always work. They were out of tortillas, so all I got was a little cheese for Dee. When I drove the car down the hill, there were no parking spots to be found, unusual for late morning. I went around the block twice and then found a spot half the way back to Todis. Sigh.

Our Taco Tuesday group was pretty small. We think the lower numbers recently are due partly to it being time for exams, which stretch over a month at the end of the semester. But we had a nice time together. Doug is doing a lot more of the Taco Tuesday prep, setting out food and doing a ton of dishes. Fabrizio has been coming for the last few months. He is on the right in the photo below. He works nearby, and always comes to help us get ready. I really appreciate that he grates the cheese! He sells tickets to cultural events nearby, and has offered us free entrance to see the Three Tenors. Sounds like fun! There were no young girls, now that Margie's internship has begun, though Claudia showed up well over an hour late and was able to eat the final taco. 

There was no choir class again, because Lorenzo had to take care of a car problem. In the afternoon we got news that Michela, one of our wonderful girls, had just gotten engaged to her long-time boyfriend from up north.  Everyone was quite delighted with the news, with a flurry of congratulations on WhatsApp. Both of them served missions and speak English.

Several kids showed up in the late afternoon, including two of our Rome 3 Anziani with a girl from China. She is Christian and had to flee and ask for asylum here because of religious persecution there. The Anziani met her at the refugee Friendship Center nearby, and they taught her a discussion in English at the Institute, with help from Jomar and Sheyla. The Canfield couple also dropped by to check on parking and their upcoming ZTL pass application.

In the evening, Ugo taught the church history class from his home via Zoom, with my laptop used to log in to the class for Claudia and Alessio to participate. Dee writes: His wife was in England visiting her parents, who are finishing their mission. It was her mother's 70th birthday, too. Alessio arrived limping, having broken his big toe at the gym. I kidded him that he was just trying to be like my wife, but he shrugged it off and still plans to go the gym every morning. After class, a number of the kids started playing Five Crowns, and they were still there when we left. It is good to see them hanging together. Dario showed up for the first time since his mom passed away, and it was good to see him. I went to the class, too. Usually I'm too busy in the kitchen to get to be a student, so it was a treat. Since choir was cancelled, I got to knit for a while in the quiet library. It was good to elevate my foot and help it to heal. 

Our daughter Wendy had a minor fender bender, where a truck rear-ended her car at low speed. Fortunately she was fine, but her rear bumper probably needs to be replaced. 

I also sent off a proposed itinerary to our son Wes for their visit in July. We need to get going on tickets and tour reservations.

I sent information to our mission insurance, including eleven attachments! I think they will reimburse us for the expenses from my foot.

Our new Elder Papritz is doing a great job. They have been busy teaching and finding. I'm very impressed with him.

Although the temperature is wonderful right now, we can tell hot weather is coming and Doug is worried about it. We don't have air conditioning in our front room, where we study. Doug asked Anziano Balzotti about it, and they kidded around the Balzottis getting an air conditioner themselves as kickback. We have them in the bedrooms, but the front room gets a lot of direct sun, so if we could manage it, we'd really like it. It's also dubious whether we can find a spot for the condenser unit on our tiny balcony.