Chris came by after his work, which isn't going well. He had a new job application to submit on our computer here. Dee fed him some Sloppy Joes and sent him away with some extra food as well. We were able to help him in a few ways, but it is hard to see how difficult his life is.
I got something caught in my throat, which bothered me most of the afternoon. It felt like something was irritating the back of my mouth, causing me to cough and making my nose run and my eyes water. Very frustrating. By evening it was finally somewhat better. Sorelle Muce and Ashton dropped by to study for a while before heading up to the mission office to pick up their car. Sorella Muce has a license but is from a small town and is understandably intimidated to drive here in the big city (as am I). Dee went out for a walk, meeting Chris at the train station, then stopping by the nearby ATM to replenish our cash. We buy most things here with credit cards, but the cash does run out slowly. Soon we'll have to decide how many euros to bring home with us. In the past we have always kept a good stash at home because we plan to come back here regularly; hopefully that will continue in the future.
Our internet went out for a couple of hours. It happens occasionally when it rains, but this was longer than usual. We have an LTE wireless connection, not DSL or fiber, so weather can mess it up. They don't have cable (or cable modem) here at all. Finally I called the tech support line and they had me do a factory reset on the modem, which fixed the problem -- not sure why, but it worked. So then I had to reconfigure the WiFi and network settings; we use the LDSAccess name like all the chapels around the world. I am encouraging Ugo to sign up for fiber at the campus, which costs more but should give better reliability. The internet loss was stressful for Chris, who was trying so hard to submit this job application. He couldn't get the site to work from the Friendship Center, so he came to us. At last he got through.
I finally had time to work on lesson prep for Friday, which was later than usual in the week for me. There are a bunch of bills and other things coming in the mail at my in-laws' home which need attention. Fortunately Donna is scanning them and sending them to us, but she goes home next week. I spoke with the property manager, and there are items needing attention at the family rentals. We are slowly taking over all the paperwork and bills for my in-laws, though it will be much easier once we are back home.
In the early evening, the little restaurant downstairs called Quel Che C'รจ, which Dee has written about, brought up 55 sack lunches that Ugo had ordered for the S&I training going on here. Early Friday morning they finish and head out for a visit to the temple Open House, and they will take these lunches with them. Unfortunately, despite Dee's efforts in clearing out about 1.5 fridges worth of space, it didn't all fit, so she had to take all 55 sandwiches out of the bags and put them alone into the fridge, leaving the water bottles, fruit, and cookies out on the counters. That was a job! Friday morning Ugo will come with some colleagues and reassemble everything.
In the evening there was the English class, with only Jomar and Junior, as well as the Benincosas self-reliance class with only Riccardo. Thursdays are always light, but this was lighter than usual.
On my walk, I saw the Terme di Diocleziano for the first time. It's always a shock to see such ruins right in the middle of traffic. It's so nice to take a walk. The weather was crisp but not painfully cold, and the days are a little longer. I love feasting my eyes on Rome--such a nice break from the homogeneity of Carlsbad.
