All around Rome

Dee and I both woke up early Sunday morning so that we could shower before Karen and Dave got up, since we have limited hot water. Karen came into the living room for a while after she got up, and we had a nice visit. We all left for church at our regular time, 8:45am. They seemed to enjoy our ward a lot, going to the English Sunday School class the second hour. 

My Sunday School class on Isaiah 1-6 went pretty well, with a lot of discussion and not enough time to finish the topics, which is always a good formula. I used the old story about the bullet not being able to get through (the Isaiah portion of) 2nd Nephi, although Jenna Perego ruined the punch line early! Stefano Bosco had never heard it before and laughed really hard. Dee had only the Perego kids in Primary and was able to keep Levi engaged and in the room for the whole hour, which never happens! It was such a sweet class. Marcella, the chorister, came in to help. She was amazed at the visuals I had brought. It was so wonderful to have a smiling, attentive Levi. His parents took away his tech access for a whole week due to his behavior last Sunday. He has lost his two front teeth. Sam loved the red and black gloves I brought for a visual aid, so I gave them to him. Levi played with playdough and Sam with my tablet while I taught. It worked well. We did it in English, so we even got to sing the wise man song, since I knew the words. Third hour I translated for Dave in Priesthood meeting, and Dee did the same for Karen in Relief Society. The tricky parts of translating are that some of the speakers mix in Spanish, others have a strong accent, some don't speak loudly enough, some non-native speakers just don't have standard grammar. 

We got home about 1pm to finish our fast. Dee and Karen prepared some coconut rice and curry chicken, similar to what she had done for Anziano Papritz a few months ago, and it was wonderful. For dessert we had a Pandoro, the first of the season.

After lunch we drove with a trunk full of boxes to the Institute downtown, including some books, paper towels, and liquid soap. Dave and Karen are doing a lot of carrying for us! From there we took the bus to the Pantheon, then walked back to Trevi fountain, the Spanish Steps, and Piazza del Popolo. The weather was gorgeous, and the streets were pretty full though not oppressively so. Karen bought some gelato near the Trevi fountain for some of us, after we gave them coins to throw in. Overall it was a great starting point for their sightseeing here. They particularly loved the Pantheon, which is a hard act to follow.

In the Pantheon

Gelato

Piazza del Popolo

 

Huge quantities of big bubbles

The bubble guy had a great sign: For Ferrari, dentist and socks.

We drove home as it got dark and then spent a delightful evening relaxing and visiting in the living room.


Sergio tried to phone us through Facebook, but we were on the Metro, so it went to voicemail. I sent him a message and will try to phone in a couple of days.