Taco Tuesday afterparty

Tuesday was really hot and humid. I turned on the AC at home in my back-bedroom office. We got to Institute in time to start preparing for Taco Tuesday. Ugo, Claudia, and two Anziani were there already, with Claudia helping the elders teach a missionary lesson to one of their new investigators, a Lithuanian guy who speaks English. Ugo had started our Alexa there playing soft classical music in the background, which was very nice. We don't use her enough. There was a pretty good turnout for tacos, bigger than in recent weeks. Final exams are still going on, so a number of the kids are busy, but it seems like things are calming down a bit. Ugo had brought limes, avocado and cilantro, making a nice bowl of guacamole; Noelle gasped when she saw it -- rather unknown here, but quite popular at the Institute.

 

 

 

 

After lunch, a bunch of the kids hung around, playing music and singing together.

 

 

The air conditioner unit in the Institute entryway has started dripping lots of water on the (wood) floor after running for a little while. Perhaps it has to do with how humid it is outside, but the other units don't have the problem, and this unit is fairly new. I called it in to the church FM (Facilities Management) group, so we will see if anything happens. 

Ugo, Claudia and I were in the library for much of the afternoon, working on various things: Ugo on his lesson for that evening, me on my talk and lessons for the weekend, and Claudia translating something for her job. We worked quietly most of the time but also chatted a bit, which is always fun. With that group it is a mix of English and Italian, with no real rhyme or reason as to which word or which sentence is in which language, which makes it fun. Ugo was going to teach a lesson next week on Masonry and the church, so I told him to ask Scott Gordon, our friend and president of FairMormon, who has given talks on that before (including here in Rome three years ago), to give the lesson as a guest teacher via Zoom. Scott quickly agreed via email; that will be fun.

I bought a copy of Misreading Scripture With Western Eyes as a graduation present for Claudia. The Kindle version was only available on amazon.com (the US site), but when she tried to load it into her Kindle app it didn't work, saying that the book couldn't be used in her country. So then I ordered a paperback copy for her from amazon.it, which will arrive Wednesday. Seems to me that electronic copies should be easier to ship internationally than paperbacks! Not to worry, I gifted the Kindle version to Ugo, who has a US account on Amazon, and he was able to load it. So we got to give two gifts in one day 😊.

A number of the kids went over for the gospel choir practice at the friendship center at 4pm, which apparently had quite a good turnout. I didn't go because I needed to work on my lessons. Afterwards, they came back and started playing games, with a few more kids joining them in the evening. It was a really fun group. At one point Ugo walked in, looked around, and asked us, "are there any members here?" He was joking, but it was about half members and half nonmembers, which is a nice thing. Jomar said that the games were like a Taco Tuesday "afterparty", which was an appropriate description. Dee made more butterless Reese's bars for the evening English class and the card players. Ugo in particular loved them! The place had a great vibe, and we all enjoyed it. 

 

 

With Wednesday being July 4th (not a holiday here) and no activities scheduled at the Institute, we decided to take the day off. That will be my first afternoon at home in quite a while, and our absence doesn't seem like it will impact anyone. There are a few July 4th picnics and barbecues going on for Americans, and we might go to one of them, but it will be good to have some down time.

I experimented with making peanut butter bars with oil instead of butter. I added extra cookie crumbs, and they were delicious! People liked them better than the original recipe. I am still amazed at how many things can be duplicated or improved without butter. I used to buy a kilo or more (a couple of pounds) of butter a week, and now I rarely use it. Wow. 

Just doing stuff in the kitchen was hard on my feet. I don't know why they're both acting up, except that I stood so little for the first five weeks after the accident. I sure hope I can get over this. I'll ask the doctor when I see her next week.

It's always great to see Ugo and get to talk with him. He is perfect for working with youth. He is always available, always online, and full of great ideas. He loves the kids and they know it. And he's a terrific teacher!

One nonmember, Christian, is really fitting in. He came twice to hang out today, and really enjoyed the musical time and the game time.