Making soap

Wednesday morning I woke up very congested, but then felt pretty good for the rest of the day other than being tired. This cold behaves very differently than most for me. The weather has been nice, with no rain and highs in the upper 60s. I have been wearing sweaters because of not feeling great, but it is comfortable with or without a jacket during the day. Our district council meeting was cancelled because the Anziani got a last minute assignment from the mission office; just as well, since I wasn't feeling well enough to spend the time and energy going there. On the way into the Institute we went to Metro to stock up on meat and cheese. I stayed in the car so I could rest, while Dee went in and bought stuff. Soon after we got downtown, Daniele showed up with a friend, and then Riccardo came to study. 

Dee went over to the Friendship Center at 2:30pm to translate from Italian into English for a  Red Cross doctor who was giving training to the refugees on how to be a caretaker. The hope is for them to be able to get a (better) job with some training. She was there working for three hours. The doctor asked her if she would be there the next day, so she took that as a compliment.  

Meanwhile, Ugo showed up and the two of us went out to look at some new possible locations for the Institute campus. The church facilities management folks are actively checking real estate listings and came up with a couple of places nearby. One of them is just around the corner at Piazza Repubblica, a great location. We met Cristiano and Daniele from church there, then waited for the listing agent. The first property looks pretty good, with two bathrooms and an office for Ugo but otherwise the same number of rooms, though each corresponding room is bigger than in our current place. It would take relatively little work to get it ready to move in, though parking for us is a possible problem. The second place was ten minutes further away -- too far from the train station for the kids  in my opinion -- and was also nice but needs much more work. Our big concern is that the rent for each of both these places is well over twice our current rent, which is a lot to pay for a small increase in functionality. The rent at our current location is so low that we probably fly under the radar when Ugo's bosses look at finances. If we increase it significantly, they would probably scrutinize our numbers much more. We will see what happens. At least the ball is rolling forward. It sure hurts to have lost that other spot downstairs, which was larger than both the new ones but cost less than 20% more than our current rent.

Ugo in what would be our kitchen in the first place we saw

At 6pm we had a quick correlation meeting with Joyce, Veronica, and the Ganziani. Joyce really does a nice job being in charge. These elders are doing some fine work fellowshipping and teaching.

Linda Di Martino came by for the evening. We hadn't seen her since July. She lives in Battipaglia and commutes each week to go to school up here. School just started again, so hopefully we will get to see her more often.

For our weekly Wednesday activity, Francesco came to teach us how to make soap. His family lives out in the boonies, and they make it both to use and for Christmas gifts. He used caustic soda, distilled water, and extra virgin olive oil, mixed in exact proportions. Mixing the first two ingredients leads to a lot of heat being released, and the utensils and containers can never be used again for food because of the toxins involved. He hadn't thought to bring all the stuff needed for mixing, so we sacrificed a couple of inexpensive kitchen items to the cause (e.g., a glass bowl, spatula, wooden cutting board). The kids were really fascinated by the process. Francesco was a bit late because he was taking a midnight bus up to Milano and had to bring his suitcase as well as the soap-making ingredients and equipment in on the train. All in all, it was a very successful activity. It takes about six weeks for the soap to completely set, so look for the result in mid-December!

Jomar covers his eyes just in case something explodes!

 

 

The cleanup took quite a while, so we got home late. Dee did most of the work, because she had the gloves on and I was feeling pretty tired.

This was the first time I had been to the Friendship Center. Since I broke my foot, I couldn't navigate their long staircase, and then Doug started going to choir while I kept the Institute open. The center is in the basement of St. Paul's Within the Walls. It has arched ceilings and lots of room. It's painted white and is clean and roomy. The Canfields serve there, and Anita is in CHARGE! When she speaks, people fall into line. They're doing a great job. There's a lot of love there, given and received. Unlike most refugee areas we've seen, this one has women as well as men. 

The class had 26 students, and 25 were very attentive. The doctor talked about caring for the elderly with Parkinsons or Alzheimers. He was very warm and patient, and I enjoyed the whole thing. I translated his Italian into English for them, and their questions from English to Italian for him. However, he spent about twenty minutes telling them how dangerous cell phone radiation is, even when the phone is off. This belief is not supported by scientific research, according to the NIH, but I just translated. The refugees were very upset by it, since their phones are their lifeline.

Pam and Pina were at the Friendship Center as well, with posters about a Christmas party at Roma 1, to which the refugees are invited. They were excited when I told them about Minute to Win It games on Pinterest. They would like us to come to translate, but it depends on our own ward's party.

Ugo brought me D Più bags! It's a grocery store near his house. The name means D More, and I really like them, since my name is Dee. I'll save some to bring home.