5.21.2014

The Cage, and other fun stuff...

For the past week we have been partnering with a local church in a nearby town (Rozzano) to assist with community events aimed at kids and teenagers.  We will continue with similar activities through the end of this week with more of a focus on young kids in the kids playground area. 

There are numerous activities and treasures we offer for kids such as face painting, balloon animals, dart throwing, soccer in a cage, puppet show, simple English vocabulary, etc.  The Cage [soccer] was the star activity this past weekend: 2-on-2 soccer in a small space for 2 minutes at a time.  Then several times throughout the day we'd have the kids and staff all enter the cage and do a drama, tell a short personal story, etc.  We ended the weekend with a tournament and trophies, which was a lot of fun for those involved. 

It has been a lot of fun getting to know another community here and being able to be involved with the church and their ministry. Keith and his wife Debbie are the leaders at the church in Rozzano and are doing a fantastic job of organizing the daily events for our team.

It's starting to feel like summer here so the afternoons spent outside are pretty warm and we are working on a pretty nice tan the last few weeks :)  Time is flying by with only a little over 4 weeks left here till we return to SF.  It's hard to believe how fast the time has gone.

Love to all,
Jason and Sara -a collaborative effort this time =)

5.11.2014

Milano, Italy.

The beautiful town of Casorate
Blogging has been sporadic.  Schedule is irregular and a bit unpredictable.  It's time to attempt to describe where we are and what we're doing in Italy.

Working with our hosts at their home in Casorate
















I'm sitting on the balcony of a home in the little town of Casorate, enjoying a rare thunder storm.  This is a beautiful place.  A quaint village with little streets, old houses, little shops and restaurants.  Nine of the thirteen people in our team are staying in Casorate with a host family of 5.  Jason and I staying about 30 minutes away in Milan in a 2-bedroom apartment (or "flat" as it's called in Italy) with another couple, actually our team leader and his wife.  We're typically together with the entire team during the day, usually we commute to Casorate, but some days they drive to Milan to meet us there. 

Jason in the "pandemonium"




We have been in this part of Italy for about one week.  Our days have rather diverse.  So far our time has been mostly divided between hanging out at local parks talking to people ... partnering with an organization working with teens ... helping our hosts with projects at the house ... squeezing into our small rented Fiat Panda (aka "pandemonium") for our daily commutes ... volunteering at church events and joining the youth group for an evening ... participating in an informal worship team on frequent occasions (Jason plays the keyboard and I sing) ... and just spending time in and getting to know the communities in which we live.  We are still figuring out what the routine here will look like, but are excited about what is ahead.  Already, we have met some amazing people and have made some wonderful friends.
Ultimate Frisbee at the park
























As always, thanks for your interest and support.  We love and miss you all!
-sara