Buon Giorno from Fair Verona

We are in Verona!

I don't know exactly why, but I have had an emotional day.  After yesterday's good news, you would think I would be all confidence.  Today, though, I really had to remind myself that all of this is worth it for Anna to hear.  Part of me just wanted to run away today - to say "Anna is just fine; let's just go home."  I have to continually remind myself that fear runs.  Fear retreats.  And fear is NOT from God.  What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee.  It's one of the first scriptures I ever learned, and today I am clinging to it.















While we were waiting for the train, a lady who might have been on the ark with Noah came up to us.  She looked at Anna and looked at me.  I understood the word "bambino."  As I am very used to the question, I didn't need to know Italian to get the gist of it -- yes, she's my bambino; yes, she's adopted.  Then the lady tried to talk to Anna, and I explained in English with some Spanish thrown in for good measure, that Anna is in Italy to have surgery to help her hear.  The lady's eyes filled with tears and she smiled and she hugged Anna and put her hands on Anna's head.  I don't know what she said next, but it felt like a word of blessing to me.  Maybe that lady was there today not just to bless Anna, but to encourage my heart.

The train ride was an easy hour and a half from Milan to Verona.  After my train fiascos in Taiwan and China (too much luggage, too little time!), I was concerned that I would repeat that in Italy.  It was absolutely no problem.  We have a lot of luggage, and you always have to have a hand on Anna because she can't hear a train approaching or cars coming, but my dad and I make a pretty good team.  We got right on the train, all luggage in tow, with no problem and got off the same way.  We easily found a taxi to our apartment and settled in our home away from home for the next several weeks.

Since we will be in Verona so long, it was much more economical and practical for us to let an apartment.  Our apartment is just what you would find in the States - a little dated, maybe, but clean and functional.  It has a bathroom with a tub/shower combo and a kitchen with a refrigerator, oven/stovetop, and microwave. We even have a small washing machine.  I thought there was a dryer, too, but apparently, they meant a hair dryer.  No problemo.  I don't think that's Italian.

While I was unpacking at the apartment, it all hit me -- 6 weeks away, Amelia and Lucy at home, Anna in the hospital.  Today it seemed more than my mother-heart could bear.  And yet, we see the perfect example in Jesus.  He tells us that He will leave the 99 to go after the one lamb who needs Him.  Right now, I am having to leave my two precious girls in the care of the grandma and family and friends and church who love them so that I can tend to my one precious girl who needs me now.  It will be okay.  I trust the one who makes ALL things - even hard things - beautiful in their times.

We ventured out into Verona today in search of a supermarket so we could get a few necessities.  Someone should have told me not to come to Verona on Valentine's weekend.  The place is packed!  Apparently there is some kind of love fest in Verona to celebrate Valentine's.  The lady who rented me the apartment said they had the Romeo & Juliet half-marathon today as well as the national chocolate exhibition.  I did not run the marathon or eat chocolate.

There is one street that we went down that is filled with fancy boutiques.  I saw a coat on sale in a store window - marked down to 5400 Euros - that's around $7,000.  I saw Prada, Gucci, Louis Vitton - all of it.  This is the real stuff, not the stuff you see at the kiosk in the mall.  There are shoe and purse shops on every corner, with wonderful shoes and bags.  I have a couple of friends who will remain nameless on this blog - but you know who you are! - who would have some serious fun in Italy.

As we searched for the supermarket, we came across the Verona colliseum, which we understand is one of the best examples, outside Rome, of the style/architecture of the period.  We walked through several piazzas.  I mistakenly booked our apartment near the wrong hospital (I didn't know there were two hospitals in Verona), so we are in the old downtown part of the city, instead of the more modern outskirts, where our hospital is.  I had already signed the contract, though, and the price was right, so we think once we figure out the bus schedule it will be okay.  That's our plan for tomorrow.

We did find the supermarket, and delightfully, they had my staple: microwave popcorn.  Somehow, I left mine at home.  Hallelujah.  A little gift from above.  The little gifts count.  At the grocery store, another lady - this one who predated Noah's ark - came up and grabbed Anna's face and said "bellissimo!"  She was dressed in all black and even had a little black veil on her head.  She wasn't a nun, though.  She looked like someone in an old movie who was in mourning.  She wanted Anna to talk to her, and when I explained that Anna could not hear her, she bent over even further than she was already bent by age, rubbed Anna's head tenderly.  Again, I don't know what she was thinking or praying in her heart, but it felt like a blessing. 

We ended our day with our first Italian meal in Italy.  Anna LOVED the food.  She ate her pasta (potato gnocchi with cheese sauce - she picked it out from a photo...I think she thought it was potato soup!) and mine (penne with pesto) with a fork in one hand and a spoon in the other.  The waitress was so kind to Anna, and even asked us to please bring her back after her surgery.  We will have to do that, but for now, we have groceries and a kitchen, so we'll be cooking at home.

Enjoy the photos from today, and please continue to keep us all in your prayers.  We have tomorrow to figure out the bus and bank details, and then on Tuesday, Anna is supposed to check into the hospital.  The other parents tell me there is no wi-fi at the hospital, so my updates may be more sporadic, but I will try hard to keep the blog updated daily.

I tried to upload more photos, but I am still having trouble with slow connections.  It took 2 hours just to get two loaded. Sorry, folks, but trust me, there are some cute photos of Anna the Banana-girl in all her Italian glory.

Hugs,
Amy