Gladness Loves Company!!

...they say misery loves company, but I think it's GOOD NEWS that begs to be told! So, here's mine:

I consider myself most to be congratulated because,...
in God's good timing, one Ryan Szrama-- more than every prayer I've prayed and dream I didn't dare ask for--
has asked me to be his bride!!!(it SO doesn't seem real!)

And I said "yes!"

HOORAY!! =D

I read this (in Isaiah 61 & 65) the first morning I woke up feeling a ring on my left ring-finger, and it brought tears of amazed joy and thanksgiving to my eyes.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
my soul shall exult in my God,
for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a [...] bride adorns herself with her jewels. [...] Behold, my servants shall eat, [...] shall drink, [...] shall rejoice, [...] shall sing for gladness of heart..."

God's goodness was so evident, so unexpected. I wasn't "supposed" to go to Louisville last summer. I was driven there by painful circumstances and plans that "fell through..." And all along, God was plotting this. Wow! Truly, any pain that came before is way outweighed by this-- to be engaged, not just to anyone, but to THIS man, whose love for me is more evident every day, and who knows me in & out. And those verses are about joy so much BIGGER than mine, too: they're about God leading people to know Him, which is the ultimate satisfaction and cause for joy! It made it all triply wonderful to realize my joy in Ryan is a legitimate reflection of, even part of, that Greater joy!!

Rejoice with me! Woohooo!!
--a very happy girl =D

A little more on time in Portland

Ryan & I flew out to Portland, Oregon last Thursday to "meet the fam"-- most notably his father, Robert & step-mother, Joanna. It was wonderful to see each other for 4 days straight after 7 weeks without, Oregon is beautiful (and somewhere I'd never been), and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting Ryan's "other set" of parents.

The future Mr & Mrs Szrama, and the senior Mr & Mrs Szrama! (this was at a really pretty park in Portland, designed by the same guy who designed Central Park)

Now I know "where he gets" SOOOO much! Joanna and I exchanged many a look of "oh, he does that too?," and she teasingly asked if, after meeting Robert I wasn't afraid to say yes. Not at all! His parents were most welcoming, and it was wonderful to have them join in our joy! Right after The Event (which apparently everyone but me knew to expect. =D), they threw us a "Congratulations!" dinner in celebration, at a Lebanese restaurant called 'Ya Hala.' There I got to meet Ryan's step-brother Willie & his wife Iala (from Cuba!), his step-sister Jenny & her husband and their adorable bundle-of- energy daughter, Shyanna . We had a literal feast a la Lebanon, complete with skewers of lamb, beef, chicken and tuna, gluten-free falafel and a chocolate mousse on the house "for the happy couple."

All throughout our trip, Ryan & I were both rather amazed at (and thankful for!) all the people who shared our joy without even really knowing us. Like the owners of Ya Hala who made the falafel without wheat just to make sure I could eat some, or Rabbi Warren who had us stand and be congratulated by the congregation and addressed us directly, or even Ryan's parents were so kind ...I mean I guess they had to be nice for Ryan, but I felt absolutely embraced, and they'd never met me before! One really special moment was when Robert & Joanna's congregation sang a traditional Jewish prayer, the Shehecheyanu, for us-- they are Messianic Jews, and we were able to go worship with them on Saturday morning. The Shehecheyanu goes like this: Barukh atah Adonai, Eloheinu, melekh ha'olam shehecheyanu v'kiyimanu v'higi'anu laz'man hazeh. Amein. In English: "Blessed are you, Lord, our God, sovereign king of the universe, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Amen." Apparantly it is sung at the start of something new-- like the first day of a feast, or... an engagement. =D

We celebrated the close of Shabbat (Havdalah) with Ryan's parents...you can read about it to sort of understand the context you want, but at one point you pass a lit Havdalah candle around the table, and you look at the contrast of light and shadow the flame makes against your hand. It represents the contrasts, between Shabbat and workdays, between holy and profane, (light-dark) and Ryan's father told us to think about things God had taught us (changed in us) or places He'd brought about change in our lives during the past week. It was a good call to stop and think. My favorite part was Ryan's grabbing of my left hand as I passed him the candle and his holding my ringed finger up to the light so that the stones sparkled. That certainly was a change-- it wasn't there before!! =D We closed Shabbat with Vin Santo, a very sweet dessert wine which I brought from Florence, and that was quite enjoyable, too.

Ok, I'll put up a post with the proposal story later...I'm needin' to get on a beauty-sleep schedule! I also haven't been able to take a really good picture of the ring yet, but it's absolutely perfect for me...as was the proposal. My fiance (heheh I love saying that) did good!! I'll keep trying and will post more words and pictures later!

Oh, and no date set for wedding yet...thinking end of this summer...will let y'all know!

--the very happy future Christina Maria Ruiz Szrama (how's that for an ethnically confused name?)

In Pictures (for more, click here):

The feast table-- that's Robert, Joanna, Shyanna & Jenny. hehehe, wow-- these are my future in-laws!! Yay!

From other side of table: back of Aaron's head, Willy (in the red), Iala, Me, Ryan

Joanna & Shyanna-- It was under her instructions that I took this shot. =D

Ryan, me, Shyanaa & Iala after dinner.

We thought we may as well get a plane pic, since we spent a good deal of time together on them these past couple days. I was very sad to have to leave him, right after this picture was taken. :( [hey can you see the ring?]=D

It Never Seems Too Long...

Well, folks, I'm back in the States, and somewhat back in the appropriate time zone. I'm still waking up at 6:30 am and in a zombie-like state most of the day, but is that so unusual? =D I've enjoyed not having to jump out of bed upon waking to get in the shower, ready to go, and down to breakfast with 30 other people. Though I do miss the cappucinos every morning, the friends I made, and the sights & sounds of Italy, I'm quite content to have taken a respite from my world-traveling.

It's been wonderful to kick around in PJs until noon, wonderful to go to Starbucks with my little sis, wonderful to spend hours just talking to my mom, wonderful to have Anna bug me about whether or not I can identify her classical piano pieces, wonderful to go to church and get wrapped up in hugs and hear just how many people were praying for me!! Last night I spent 5 hours at "The Powell Estates" [aka Chris & Val, my best girlfriend's, house] making cheesy slideshows out of my pictures, making Val laugh by imitating both Guiseppe (our Rome tour guide) and Homestar, getting caught up on them and being so encouraged by all God's doing in/through them in and through our church. And Hannah's walking and talking and is way too big way too fast. I only left for 2 months, and she's all grown up on me now-- and doesn't remember "Aunt Christina." :( (by the end of the night she did come over and climb on my lap and let me hold her, though).

Most wonderful of all, though, was the hug that snatched me up at the Atlanta airport, was seeing the face I missed most all up & down the Italian peninsula: Ryan drove 7 hours to Atlanta from Louisville to pick me up, and then drove me the 2 hours to Greenville, and on Sunday, 7 hours back to Louisville. He told me he might be able to come get me last Sunday, and any concentration I might have had on Monday was a lost cause, lol. I was one happy girl when he called Monday night and said it was a go, AND I got a 6-page, handwritten letter from said studly individual...

I discovered a lot about myself on this trip...one was that the old never- homesick- Christina is gone forever. I enjoyed Italy, I really did!-- but I couldn't have stayed another week-- missing Ryan so hard just made it less than worth it. At least that's how it felt at the time. All through the 12 hour flight excitement kept me from being able to properly eat, and all of us awaiting greetings from significant others (most notably Will DuVal, Katie, Ivey & Johanna) were pretty much beaming from the moment we saw the sun rise over the Roman sky-- "today's the day!" Polly (Will's girlfriend) said her waiting at the airport felt "like the first date all over again." I think we all concur.

I said the separation seemed nearly unbearably hard by the end of the 7 weeks apart, but it seemed nothing more than a passing dream, when I found myself in his arms. "I can't believe you're here-- I can't believe you're not just a voice on the phone..." It really seemed like I never left, and when I told him so, he asked where the heck I'd been for the past 2 months then. "I haven't been gone 2 months! More like...a week." His retort made me laugh: "Then it was the longest week of my life!"

22 hours together after 7 weeks apart could seem quite less than ideal, but it was an unexpected treat, and I am NOT complaining! I will say that I am counting down the days (now two) 'til I get to be with him again, and trusting that once again, the wait won't seem "too long" when I'm back by his side.

I've got more pictures d'Italia to post, now that I have a reliable internet connection and abounding time in which to upload pics (free, high-speed internet must NOT be taken for granted!). And after Ryan & I get back from our trip to Oregon, I'll have more! I hear it's one of the most beautiful areas of the country, one I've never visited. So yippee!

Happy to be home, and so thankful I have a home in which to feel "at home,"
~Christina

(pics, from top down: Roman sunrise as we rode to the airport, Me with Will DuVal, my plane-buddy both there & back, and the Alps from my window as we flew over Europe)

Goofin' Around Rome...

Sometimes when the days get long, you just got to cut up a little...



Blue Ice Gelato is just THAT GOOD

(my cousin Adriana recommended it, and she didn't lead us wrong! at least, so I hear. It isn't gluten-free, so I didn't get to partake. But I got a kick out of THEM! =D)




Sacrificing RJ at the Ara Pacis...the cost of peace, people...

[the Altar of Peace Caesar Augustus built to commemorate & thank the gods for his victories in Gaul & Hispania (France & Spain)]

Me goin' tete-a-tete with ol' Julius...

As if Romulus (founder of Rome) & Remus weren't scary enough... you would'v been frightened by the She-Wolf, too.

My #1 Geek

I'm in love with an Alpha Geek!! I told him he'd been my 'Geek of the Month' for 7 months running now! =D

Roma—the Eternal City

…cappuccino, leather, baking pizza, European cologne, intermixed with the less appealing acrid scents of cigars or cigarettes, diesel, and city sewage: these are the smells d’Italia, of Rome. The high-pitched whine of scooters, the lower rumble of public (or tourist) buses, the stacatto hundreds of feet, and a babble of Spanish, French, German, English, and Italian form the street music; a pedestrian soundtrack, you could say (I’m always thrilled when literal music fills the streets—accordion, saxophone, or violin—the latter always playing Vivaldi – but most often, the music in restaurants, buses, and stores is old American pop. I’ve heard more Phil Collins, Jackson 5, and Justin Timberlake here than I think anywhere else!). I’ve grown quite courageous in my wanderings, having learned that despite their honking impatience with each other, Italian drivers are remarkably accommodating to pedestrians. Look both ways, look determined, and step out, that’s my motto. So far, no ill consequences! However, both my well-traveled Tia (Virginia) and our Ravenna tour guide warned “watch out for scooters!” So we do.

Today, our last free day, was absolutely PERFECT for roaming the city: cloudless blue sky, hint of a breeze, and so warm that I had no need of a jacket. For a while I walked around with a group of girls; we walked from our hotel down Via Pinciana into the Walls of the City. Feeling pretty confident, we wondered why we don't walk around Greenville much, and decided that we're going to walk downtown from campus one day when we get back. Distance wise, it's not any further at ALL than what we do every day here! I split off from the grou eventually and went on my own, to find my namesake street-- Via Maria Christina, past the Piazza Populo. Then I headed outside the walls again, and crossed the Tiber. I got my last gelato (only 5th since I came)-- banana, bacio (an Italian hazelnut chocolate that's SOOO good!) and nocciola (hazelnut). They were out of tiramisu, waaah! Anyway, it was a wonderful lunch—Ryan asked me what’s so special about Italian gelato, versus, say Coldstone Creamery. It’s made with whole milk that’s pasteurized differently, for one (so’s their cappuccinos, yoghurt, and hot chocolate), so it’s creamier…then there’s the all-natural ingredients…they actually taste JUST like whatever flavor you ordered…and it’s got a lower melting point. Yummm.

Well, Clay needs my expertise in getting wine & stuff for his fam, so I’d better go. Please be in prayer for my dad, who is in surgery as I type. It’s his eyes again. He wants us to pray for his eyesight to be restored, and for witnessing boldness during & after it! Poor man…this is to remove scar tissue from the past 4 surgeries!

Pray for me, too. There are at least three conversations I’d like to finish with people here, about the Sovereignty of God, His holiness/our need for a Savior, and about Jesus being the only Way…about us NEEDING a way to God. I’ve been reading through Isaiah, Psalms & Acts, and have been sweetly struck with a Bigger view of God. The cure for depression, self-pity and fear is to think about Him! I love this hymn, and listen to it often. May it encourage you, too!

“Survey the beauties of His Face
And on His glories dwell—
Think on the wonders of His grace,
And all His triumphs tell”

In that sweet, triumphant grace,
--Christina

--Me with my Journal-- Sina gave it to me for Christmas, and it's lasted EXACTLY this trip!

Precariously Perched

My hand's starting to cramp from how I'm having to balance-- both myself on the verfy edge of Davis' bed, and the laptop in one hand, so I can get a very faint mysterious "default" wireless signal. Typing's really slow, so I'm just downloading everything and will answer emails offline, type up a blog post, and then do the old cut-and-paste...

Pics are easy to upload, though. Today was a wonderful, Daisy-Day...I'll let the pictures explain. Some of these are older-- I'm getting tired of pictures of dead peoples' tombs, so here are some from our group:

Kira, our official photographer, and my roommate here in Roma =D


Dr. O'Rourke, our Rhetoric prof (who reminds me of Don Donell)


Today I had a LOVELY day, making daisy crowns under a wind-swept-clear blue Roman sky, my mind quite away from the Ostian ruins, and quite joyful in it. =D


Carolyn ("Caro" "the other C-Thompson"), my little sis for the trip, and my daisy-chain buddy. We had sweet fellowship, great talks, and closed the day listening to Nickel Creek & Florez on the bus ride home.


I traded a daisy chain-crown for a non-ball-point pen from Will. He liked it =D

(ps the trade was HIS idea)

Speedy Entry from Rome

Well... I answered several other emails and googled gluten free stuff and read emails and deleted all my spam and now i'm out of time! I like Rome better than I thought I would for sure! Can't hate anything with this much ancient history!

Fellowship's been good...my roommate in Rome is a fellow Singer, Kira, and we have great times together. We're like middle schoolers at a sleepover some nights. We've had really good talks, too. Pray that I can encourage her in Christ!

God's being very faithful to me...and can I just say that I have the sweetest boyfriend in the world? How is it that he can be so PRESENT when he's not even here? Seriously, he's in just about every memory...because I guess I just bring him along. =D SUCH A blessing...and I smile way too big whenever I think about him or tell anyone about him. God gets lots of glory for one Ryan Szrama!

I'm off to class!
More later
--Christina

--Picture Edit:--

Me hugging the Colosseum...


Eeirily resemblant...


Newby & Maryann Gladiating to the Death


David ("Prentiss") & I on top of Palatine Hill-- the birthplace of Rome

Last day of January, Last Day before Rome

Real quick because I've got to hike back to the hotel for dinner, and with a pulled right glute, that's not exactly easy! (stairs all day every day, and then an unlucky almost-trip this morning on my run did it in) You can tell we're getting real comfortable with eachother on this trip, when I was limping and someone asked why and I answered "pulled gluteous maximus" and this individual was like "does that mean your bum?" LOL

Hopefully I'll be able to compose a better post tomorrow: we have a long bus ride to Rome tomorrow (we're near Naples now), so that should give me good post-card writin' time. Hehehe...between writing the last paper I have due.

Sorrento is beautiful, with lemon & orange trees everywhere. You can just pick them! While Assisi's still holds its place as my favorite, I would absolutely NOT mind coming back to the Amalfi coast (where we are) during the summer some day!  We can see Mt. Vesuvius accross the water, and the water itself is SO blue and clear.  A lot of people in our group went to the Island of Capri yesterday, and I think I'd like to come back in the early summer and visit there. Pompei & Herculaneum are a history fan like me's dream!  We walked in 2000 year old streets-- How cool is that!?? It's really sobering, too: those people had absolutely no idea they were about to die. There are bread loaves in ovens, political ads on the walls, children playing together...just another day in the life of a very modern, very ingenious, very wealthy, very SINFUL town. It reminds me a lot of the Flood, or Sodom & Gommorah. Or us. Just living life, and suddenly Eternity crashes in, and Time is up. I am so thankful that Eternity has already intruded on my life, and that I welcome it!!

Our hotel (the Michaelangelo) is really really nice, once again. They take care of me with gluten free goodies! There's a grand piano downstairs, where I like to doodle around when Allan isn't, and play iGrace songs. Yesterday I figured out "Jesus, Lord of Life and Glory," and that made me quite happy. =D

It's so wonderful to hear from those of you who have commented or emailed, to hear that you are praying for me! I know that I am being strengthened and blessed through them! This trip is FULL of opportunities to testify of Christ, to serve in His name, and to learn to die to myself. Since last Saturday, there's been a lot more fellowship for me, too, which is a HUGE blessing! Sat. night all us RUFers (Tierney, Carolyn-- the other C. Thompson =D-- Allan, RJ & I) prayed together for RUF and especially the Salters and Taylor, our intern. It was hard, because RUF's going through hard things, but it was so good to SHARE the burden, and to pray together. That night my Spoleto-roommate, Johanna & I were up late laughing and talking, about everything from the problem of evil to the sovereignty of God to marriage as a matrix for Christian hedonism to boys and back again! Sunday Tierney & I split an iPod & listened to a Piper sermon...Liz & I talked for over an hour about God's grace in our lives, and the Doctrines of Grace... There's been more & more as we get to know one another. But I've also been dismayed to notice a hardening of my heart as familiarity breeds at least annoyance if not contempt. It's easy to have holy, "thankful" thoughts as you watch the Amalfi coast unwind...and then... somebody takes your seat, and what then?

Oh wow, I've got to run to dinner. It took so much to get here, to find this place, and then to configure the IP address so I could access their wireless...the guy didn' know a think about Macs, so I am quite proud of myself. =D

Wow my blood sugar's low-- the room keeps spinning. Can't get into this eat-at-7 thing.

Keep praying for me!! You are all conduits of grace to me, and I am so thankful!
Ciao for now,
--Christina

Hotel of the Grand Duke

Ciao di Spoleto, in Umbrato, Italy!

I refuse to believe in global warming when I am only now, after half an hour of typing, regaining feeling in my fingres. An undershirt, two long sleeve tee-shirts, a polartec vest, a sweater, scarf and polarfleece jacket are NOT signs that the earth is in danger of overheating, in my mind. Oh, and there were leggings, cords, wool socks, a baseball cap (Furman Paladins of couse), and earwarmer headband, too. :) My friends, it is winter in Spoleto.

I can't write too long, as this is the free (yay!) computer in the hotel lobby, and my group will return from their vinyard tour any minute now (having grown up in front of a vinyard, I thought I'd save my 10 euros). I couldn't even do my usual write-up-save-to-jump-drive, because this elegant machine only accomodates floppies and CDs. I brought neither. I will say, though, that my favorite spot in Italy (so far, of course), is Asissi. I can't wait to post pictures and text that may come CLOSE to conveying it. If you can go anywhere, go there!

I've liked the small towns best: Pisa, Ravenna, Padua, Asissi, Siena and now Spoleto, rather than the larger cities (Florence and Venice). Not that the towns aren't full of beauty, culture, and history! They are! I think I just love the scholasticism tangible in university towns, epecially ancient ones (aka Pisa & Padua). I feel I can grasp little towns better, they aren't so overwhelming. The countrystide is way too beautful to miss, too. That's what sets small towns apart from the cities: the backdrop. Ravenna I loved because I'm a fan of ANCIENT history over more recent: give me Byzantine over Baroque anyday.

All right, I think I've pushed my luck here long enough. Please keep praying for me.

--Edit: from email
I'm getting some opportunities for fellowship (and trying to make them when they aren't there), as well as TONS of opportunities to share the Gospel. Please KEEP praying for me! I struggle a ton with fear for man--with wanting people here to like me, and just being eaten up when I think they might not. But then on the other hand, I also really want to bear witness to Christ, and sometimes that means offending people, not on purpose, but just because their consciences bug them, you know? But then again I know that the primary way to testify of Christ's power to CHANGE a person (aka selfish me) is to be a servant... so...basically (sorry if this makes no sense), would you pray that I will genuinely LOVE people here?

Thank You Lord, for slow computers...

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for computers
for the ones that are so slow they stretch every fiber of my being into patience
for the ones that remind me of how impatient I am, and in need of a Savior
for the ones that open my eyes to yet another blessing I tend to take for granted
for the ones that are unepectedly free, and available for use!
for the ability to commnicate across miles and miles,
for friends with whom to communicate, and though whom You encourage me, and remind me
''hold on!''
for a mind to understand, and love to want to transmit,
and for the very words themselves: without them, there would be no speaking at all.

Hotel Life in Florence, the inside scoop

Mine & Caye's room (I'm the one on the right, can you tell?)

Heated towel racks-- the key to drying clothes swiftly!

Firenze in Photos

My journal (proof of my presence) in "il Duomo" (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiori), Florence's main cathedral.

Some of our group-- Kira, David (mohawk), Markee (blonde), Selah (looking away), Will DuVal (back steps), and Davis (mouth full)-- on the steps of The Duomo

Pics from Ravenna, City of Mosaics

Daisies on the Mosoleum of Galla Placidia, Empress of Rome and a pious woman. Daisies stood for eternal life back then. I knew there was a reason they were my favorite!

From the Basilica di San Vitale-- Jesus is depicted looking quite the Greek hero! He's supposed to resemble Apollo- young, strong, and as our tour guide said, "The Winner!"

My favorite part of the mosaic at San Apollinare en Classe... Byzantine art-- I LOVE IT! (there are 99 stars, 3 x 33-- for the Trinity, and the parable of the Lost Sheep)

Promised Pictures, from Padua & Ravenna

Clay looking victorious because we deciphered the Latin Inscription successfully! (We took another one of him looking confused...because we were stumped for quite a while)

A church not on our tour, into which Clay, Liz & I ventured (Padua)

Me looking studious in front of the University of Padua
After a long, cold day of touring Padua, Markee (my Ravenna-roomie) and I unwound with a LOVELY snack of melted chocolate (I mean, we HAD to eat it then) and Tuscan wine... now THAT's a 4-o'clock snack!

Di Firenze, City of the Medicis

Happy Birthday, Daddy! :D

I’m feeling rather victorious after getting through every single room in the Ufizzi Galleries…though I will admit that some of the paintings are a blur. My newfound friend Clay & I were the last students to get through the museum—it only took us 5 hours! It’s beginning to be a pattern: Clay & I, Carolyn & RJ & the profs are always the cabooses at these art galleries. I really liked some of the paintings—I took copious notes (also becoming a pattern), but I won’t go into them now. My favorite painting was perhaps “Primavera” by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510, from Florence)—he’s the same guy who did “Birth of Venus.” I loved this painting mostly because of a character in George MacDonald’s The Lost Princess. The main character meets a magical Flower-Child, eternally young while wise and mature, whose flowers take root where ever she throws them. Since my dad read me that story as a little girl, I wanted to be that girl, and on seeing Botticelli’s rendition of Spring, I exclaimed “There she is!” I really do wonder if MacDonald had this painting in mind when he wrote that part of the book. I thought something similar when I saw Giambologna’s bronze “Bacchus.” I wrote in my notes: “Here is the wild man CS Lewis knew, the fine-featured boyish bringer of revelry, pouring wine on our heads.” (read Prince Caspian to catch that reference) Walking among these statues of gods, kings, saints and legends, I feel a bit closer to the realm of those masters of fantasy and lore—Tolkien, MacDonald, Lewis and Sayers. They were steeped in Classical myths and the history of the West, and out of those stories built their own. I’m writing down all sorts of topics I want to study now!! J I’m learning so much… among them what I have yet to learn!

Florence is beautiful. I’m so glad we have 9 days here; there’s so much to take in! We have 3 free days (Sat-Mon), and instead of going away like many of my compatriots, I think I’ll have plenty to do here! One day to rest and catch up on journals, letters, papers, and postcards; one to revisit some of the sites I was too brain-dead to appreciate; one to hike up into the “soul-stirring countryside” that surrounds the city, and voila! The bus ride through Tuscany from Ravenna was beautiful, vineyards, olive-groves, villas, and Romanesque bridges tucked away in the rolling hills… Yeah, I could totally come back and chill here a while. Speaking of vineyards, last night we had a wine-tasting, and I am about a step closer to becoming a wine-connoiseusse (feminine of “connoisseur”?). It’s going to be a tough choice deciding which to bring home!

I tried gelato! I was holding out for Rome, but Dr. Bibb had compassion on me, saying “you have to try it in Florence—it’s the best here!), and handing me 5 euro. (and I thought he didn’t like me..) I tried the cinnamon flavor, and can testify that it was well-worth savoring!

I haven’t talked much about Ravenna! My time is short but I have to mention the mosaic capital of the world! The churches there are among the oldest we’ve visited—the Basilica di San Apollinare is maybe my favorite church we’ve seen yet. It and the Basilica di San Vitale have amazing Byzantine mosaics. By amazing I mean literally breathtaking. There isn’t anywhere else on earth that has the intense blue and green of Ravenna mosaics. The Mausoleum of the Empress Galla Placidia has really cool mosaics, too. Check them out online! One thing I loved about these is the symbolism that would have shouted volumes to the 6th century worshippers, proclaiming the Truths of the Trinity, of salvation, of Victory… wow!

I’m still getting along well with people here. My roommate in Florence (“Firenze” as they call it here) is Caye, and she’s a sweetheart, too. David’s given me a nickname which he seems intent on making stick “Wikki-tina” because he says I’m a walking encyclopedia. Of course, he’s the king of trivia, especially when it comes to Australia or movies, so I don’t think he really should be talking. Seriously, I am thrilled to be a part of this group—everyone’s very friendly, and we all have our own spins on things. For the past two nights, Elizabeth (Crockett—she suffered through Religion 11 with me last Winter), Weston (the most Italian-looking of our group), and Will Hall & I have ended up together at dinner, and have spent the meal asking riddles to each other. If y’all have any good ones, feel free to pass them on. Last night RJ & Carolyn joined us, making our answers rather hilarious.

Wow, it’s felt amazing to lie/sit on my bed! Hopefully soon, I’ll be able to take my handy-dandy USB jump drive to the Internet Café by the Duomo, and upload this to my blog/email list. You should have seen the extensive jimmy I had to set up to charge this thing, quite a conglomoration of plug adaptors, voltage converters, and extension cords—talk about a fire hazard! All right, time for class. Tonight is part 2 of presentations on aspects of rhetoric. Then some dinner, then coffee with my Aunt LM & Uncle Lance!! They live in New York City, and I haven’t seen them in almost 2 years. So we figured we’d go halfway around the world to meet up…

Well, as usual there’s much much more I could say. I’m sure I’m leaving out SO many important things, but…time is as usual short. CS Lewis is so right in saying that we aren’t meant to live in time—we never feel at home in it! We’re always being surprised at its passage! We were made for more than struggle! We are made for glory! May I live that out here! Please keep me in your prayers! I need them a lot.

Trying not to seek “to rule and conquer sin, but to cleave to the One who will do all for me,” (The Valley of Vision)
~Christina

can't take a bad picture of Venice!

From Ravenna

well, I'd just gotten situated for bed, when I remembered that Dr. O'Rourke found a free wireless connection late last night, so I bolted upright and went through the hotel in my PJs (don't worry they're decent) looking for it, only to find it right in my room! My computer's about to die, though, and the plugs here don't like my adaptor, so this is ultra-short. I'm now in Ravenna, and this has been the most historically-rich/information-saturated day I think of my life. We went to 3 churches, a masoleum, a museum, and a wonderful hot chocolate shop...I mean it was like liquid mousse! Anyway, check out the mosaics of S. Apollinare di Classe-- they are amazing. Ravenna was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire under Justinian, and it's still the mosaic capital of the world. Amazing.

God's teaching me so much, and I'm loving Europe. I forgot how much I love this place!
Got to go to bed...tomorrow we go to mass (optional), and then a group of us are congregating to listen to a sermon, then on we go to Florence for 9 days!! WOOHOO!

Pray for me! I need it!
--Christina

From ITATLY!!!

Five days into our adventure, we are leaving behind Venice, with all her mists and canals, her tight alleys that are really streets, her red brick, her houses held together with metal bars (basically staples) because of the shifting sand that is her foundation, and Padua (or as the Italians say Padova), with her ancient university and cobblestone streets, where we spent the day, and are headed to Ravenna. I know that was a long beginning sentence, but …how do you express the sights and sounds of another continent? A little running on is bound to happen.

Venice is…beautiful. Surely there isn’t any city like it anywhere else on Earth. If anything, it reminds me a little of New Orleans, just because the similar environment (lots and lots of water) has induced certain shared characteristics. We arrived Monday in Marco Polo airport at 9 am local time—to our cramped bodies, it felt like 3 am. A bus, a walk, a ferry later, we found ourselves walking in Venice! There are no cars in the city, nor bikes—either foot, or boat to get you around. I can’t capture the beauty that is everywhere here—culture, history, care…recorded bits of times when craftsmanship was valued. We’ve visited churches, synagogues, museums, and today, Italy’s second oldest university, the University of Padua, where Galileo Galilei was Professor of Mathematics for 18 years. Honestly, though, I know I’m enriched just walking down these streets, to be surrounded by such beauty, such history. Looking back on my childhood, I realize again what an impact those 3 years in Europe had on me. One could scarcely grow up in such an environment, surrounded by such beauty, without being changed!

I definitely feel like I’m “along for the ride” here. I don’t really know what we’re doing, where we’re going, or what the history of each place is. For once, I can’t speak the language! (Today I braved the Padua Post Office, and felt completely helpless—it’s hard to even get in the correct line if all the signs and instructions are in Italian!). Most people do speak English, or we can get by with a Patois of French and Spanish, and good ol’ sign language. I’m picking up on more and more of the language, though. Kyle’s Christmas gift, a phrase book, is proving extremely valuable, and the source of entertainment at dinner. (The illustrations for the pickup lines in there are downright hysterical!)

Last night, Jen (my roommate in Venice) and I got left behind for dinner—no one told us we were leaving 15 minutes earlier than set time. But we made it through Venice and found our dinner place just fine on our own—we’ve eaten dinner every night at the same restaurant, the “Veneziano Anonimo” (the Anonymous Venician). The food is quite a different affair than in the States. We begin with an antipasta, eat through a pasta dish, a salad (no dressing—only oil, vinegar, lemon, salt, pepper, or parmesan), then a meat & vegetable plate (so far, we’ve had veal, salmon, swordfish, and chicken), before arriving at dessert. I haven’t actually gotten to taste any of the desserts, as they’re all full of The Poison (aka gluten), but from what my compatriots tell me, they’re drier and less sweet than our desserts. I was so excited when, on the little island of Burano, I was treated to my first Italian pasta! The restaurant where we ate is top-notch—the best fish I’ve ever tasted—the chef was so cute and kind. He came out when he was told I couldn’t eat gluten, bringing with him a package of gluten free pasta! “Is good?” I nodded emphatically, almost too excited to talk. He made me a sumptious dish of pasta with zucchini and shrimp, then I was served an entire fish all to myself, cooked separately from the others, and grilled instead of fried. Several of my new friends told me it made their day that I got to eat pasta in Italy—wasn’t that kind?

God is teaching me so much about my own heart, and how I fear man. I’m finally reading through When People Are Big & God is Small, and that doesn’t hurt any. But I’ve been struck by how readily I categorize people! God’s Word and Spirit are convicting me about that, and it saddens me as I realize how often I “need” (use) people instead of loving them. please pray for me about that, if you think about it. I’m being befriended by a lot of people here. We eat with different people at our table each night, and there aren’t any clique divisions, which is wonderful. I’d never met some of these people before this trip! There’s my roommate Jen, who is so innocent and sweet that it makes you smile, or Amanda, who’s finishing Furman in 3 years and is already accepted in medical school, or Clay, who as the only other Latin-reader is my inscription-decoding buddy, Carolyn & Tierney, whom I know from RUF, and who were so intrigued by comments I’d made about Ryan that last night they made me tell the whole story of how we met & started dating (and oh it was SOOO hard to get me to talk about that subject…HAH ☺), or David, the Aussie soccer player who gets these fits of laughter right in the middle of serious portions of our tours, and about 25 others whom I’m being blessed and stretched to get to know. Pray that I will really love them, and my professors—not love their good opinion of me. Please also pray for my testimony here. One of my new year’s resolves is to daily see Jesus, and it’s only as I see Him that others will be able to see Him in me. I don’t want to be the obnoxious Christian, but I also don’t want to care more about being “nice” or smart than I do about loving Jesus publicly, before the very ones who need Him, whose worship He deserves!

All right, the bus is dark and my eyes are starting to smart from staring at the back-lit screen, so I’m going to close the screen and focus on the Andrew Peterson in my headset right now. “All shall be well, yay all shall be well—the Word of God shall never fail, and all manner of all things shall be well. There’s a Light in the darkness; there’s an end to the night.”

There is going to be a day when every one on this trip will bow before the Name of Jesus, and there will come a complete and total end to the darkness that hovers over our planet, our world. May that begin to happen now!

Caught up in the bosom of the Savior even in Italy,
--Christina

Sisters...

Anna's response to the portion of Ryan's blog-post Mom read aloud to her:

"Ryan's blog...a bulimic's new best friend."

gotta love sisters...