Arsene returns

Tuesday morning I woke up way too early, very congested, even though I had taken Afrin and slept half upright. Once up, I was able to breathe ok, but I didn't have a lot of energy after a while. I emptied the trash and carried it downstairs to find the trash bins overflowing; apparently there was a one-day garbage strike. This is Rome, so I guess I should expect such things.  I also walked down to Conad for some bananas and then to the Chinese store for an adhesive hook for my apron the in kitchen -- the old one fell off the wall and wouldn't stick any more.

We left early together, going to Lidl to buy stuff for meals upcoming this weekend. On the way, we stopped quickly at Todis, but they still didn't have tortillas or buns. At Lidl I stayed in the car to save my energy, so Dee did the whole thing herself. There was horrible traffic all morning, backed up well past our apartment in one direction. I have never seen it like that, but fortunately we were headed the other way. With the car fairly full from Lidl, we arrived downtown at the Institute by noon, in plenty of time to prepare for Taco Tuesday.

The kids the night before had set up the tables for Taco Tuesday, which was very thoughtful and appreciated in my weakened state.  

Our group for Taco Tuesday was the smallest we have had in a while, with a bunch of taco meat left over, which we froze. We never know from week to week how many will show up, but that is the nature of the beast. In any case, it is always fun to hang out with the kids. The Ganziani always give a spiritual thought at the end of Taco Tuesday. We went for almost an hour with only young men, until Almendra finally showed up. Our demographics here are definitely unusual for an LDS Institute, where usually there are far more girls than guys.

Ugo brought the Russels, a senior couple serving the YSAs in all of Hungary. They are planning a trip here in February for the temple open house with 50 of their kids, so they came down to scout out the hotel and sightseeing ahead of time. They enjoyed hanging with our kids and were around for the afternoon, working with Ugo on plans for their trip.

 

At 4pm, a bunch of the kids left to go over to the Friendship Center for gospel choir practice, which has become a real favorite with them. Meanwhile, the Larsens came by for some help with her Italian family history. Normally we only help YSA kids here, but he is a long-time friend of Ugo, so we got permission. I had helped him a bit on Sunday after church, but this time Dee was able to have him log onto his FamilySearch account and see what has been done on his wife's Italian line. It turns out that they have some helpful  source documents, from work posted by someone else, and we were able to find the small towns up north where her grandfather and his relatives were born. They will drive up there on Wednesday to look around and get a feel for the place. They want to do more family history work, but that is usually best done on the internet (from home) these days. At least Dee gave them some good pointers on how to proceed, but it will be challenging, due to the language barrier and possible lack of records.

About 6pm, the intercom rang. When I asked who it was, he said "Arsene". Wow! Arsene is the young Catholic priest from Burundi, a marvelous man, fluent in French and Italian. He was back from many months in Wisconsin and Canada and wanted to see us. There were big hugs all around. We only visited for a few minutes, but he promised to return sometime. 

Once English class started, I was getting really tired and my throat was sore. Dee finished up the chicken she had cooked in the crock pots, and we got to leave early with Ugo there to close up after his class. We stopped at another Todis on the way home, and she scored 11 packages of tortillas (she bought them out!) and enough buns for dinner Friday. We were home by 8:30pm, and I got into my pajamas almost immediately and was out early. This cold is not severe, but it is persistent.

The Larsens are about ten years older than I, so they are more comfortable with paper than with tech. They diligently took notes and were sincere in their desire to find their family. I hope they have a wonderful experience.

We swapped ideas and challenges with the Russells and she left with some of my recipes. I still can't get over being the recipe lady.

I bought over forty legs and thighs, and I can cook 18 at a time. The crockpot will be busy for the next few days! I cook it and then cut it up for future use.

It is always nice to see Ugo. He was busy with all these visitors, but also connects so much with the kids. He lives near a D Più market. The name means More D, so I asked him to get me some of their shopping bags. Can't wait!

I've been wanting to roast veggies all week, but so far there just hasn't been enough time.

Sister Benincosa is a senior missionary and doesn't speak Italian. This is her first mission. I am so impressed with her. She likes to talk with people on the metro and the bus, and invites them to come to the Temple open house. Nothing stops that woman.