August 20 - 26, 2014 Petacciato Convention

August 20 - 26, 2014  Couple of days in Bari to do laundry and repack, then off to Petacciato Conv.

So after I arrived in Bari late Tuesday evening of the 19th, I phoned Luigi and Teresa who came and helped me unload my things into my apartment.  How can I ever thank them enough!  The actual task was not the problem... just the logistics of it all.  Teresa stayed with the van, while Luigi and I trekked the things in and up to the apartment (I have an elevator...NICE!)  

I cannot tell you how wonderfully nice these people in Bari have been to me.  Everyone has gone out of their way to be helpful and they are just awesome people. Luigi & Teresa, all Caputo's, Liliana, Malfalda, Caterina, Carlo & family, Giacinto & Tanya, Annarita & Daniele and so many others!  

Due to drinking so much coffee and eating coffee beans on the trip down from Vicchio to Bari, I was unable to sleep, and ended up staying up all night.  Since I had plenty to keep me busy with all my unpacking, next thing I knew it was 7am on Weds, 20th.  Teresa and I went to Ikea (EE-KAY-AH, stress 2nd syllable). What a great help she was!  Anyway, after much shopping, returning home and helping me unload once again, I quickly showered and returned the van to the Bari airport, where Luigi and Marco picked me up and off we went to Bible study, then a late supper with Luigi and Teresa.  By then, I was feeling the lack of sleep, so had no problem sleeping that night ☺

Thurs, 21st was up early getting things sorted out in the apartment and getting laundry done and repacked in preperation to leave for Petacciato on Friday.

This is my view of the Adriatic and I never get tired of it.  Cruise ship and sailboat in the distance.

 Love all the unique old cars driven here in Italy, however, none in mint condition... not a matter of if, but when you will get dinged/scratched or worse ☺

Mariella sun drying tomatoes. Marco picked me up and took me to their home to catch my ride to Petacciato with Carlo and his son & wife.  Caputo's were full up in their car as was Malfalda.  I really could have taken the train and had actually gone on-line to purchase my ticket when Marco called that Carlo's were going up, so I rode with them.... My ride to Petacciato was a little 'harem/scarem' but all is well that ends well.... I think

Anyway, we were traveling at 90+ miles per hour (150kph) with no seat belts, mostly taking our half out of the middle or where ever we felt like driving at the moment, and everyone in the car talking loudly and waiving their hands.  The back seat, where I was sitting had NO seat belts and the front seats had seat belts, but neither of them were ever worn so this added to the chaos as the seat belt warning buzzer would ding for about 15 minutes every time the door got opened and I really don't understand why the door got opened so much, as we actually only stopped two times the whole trip.  Anyway, as you can see from the side of the car (picture below) there have been a few close calls ☺  They did not speak English, and I was too petrified to speak what little Italian I can, also afraid if I distracted the driver, the car would be in even worse condition!  All in all, we had a safe trip and I did appreciate the ride, however, I rode back with the Caputo's ☺  Keep in mind, this is the way 99 percent of Italians drive!!

David Butterworth saying goodbye to Carlo's.

Arriving in Petacciato

The view from their place is just spectacular! 

 L. Caroppi's home

 

 Love the lemon trees!

 More pictures of the view!

 Victor, Michaela and Lorenzo out for a stroll.  They live in Venice

 Freda Good.  I will get to spend some time with her in Bari.  Looking forward to it!

 They take their coffee (caffe) very seriously here.  Jars of little spoons to stir their sugar into their tiny espresso cups.  Breakfast for the Italians was bread, jam and maybe peanut butter with their espresso.  For the English/American, etc. there was cold cereal as well, so if you are hungry, make sure you sit at the 'right' table ☺

   Tomatoes and pasta... Italian staples!

 Pantry stocked with Pasta!

 In the dorm, Cristina and the kids sleeping in.  I love these people!

Dorms were tight, and beds were small, but we had a wonderful time visiting!

Aurora and Natalie's little girl

 Sunrise... awesome!

 Sunrise over the Sea

 Preparing vegetables for the soup

 Natalie and her adorable daughter!  Natalie is Carissa's friend from Bellingham, WA and is now living in Venice.  Was so fun to connect with her.  Her husband is currently working in Lebanon, but will soon be 'home'.

  Roberto and Ralf (Ralph) learning the Italian way of expressing themselves ☺

 Sorry I didn't get a better picture of Jennifer Horton in yellow top on right.  She is now in Greece, but was originally from Oklahoma.

 I just cannot get enough pictures of this spectacular view.

 Mariano, Stefano and Daniele.  What awesome young men!

 Wonderful to get to see John VanDenBerg here from California!!  Always so good to see familiar faces, even if we both were half way around the world.

John and Mariano

John and Lauren

Sunset over the Sea

 Stefano, Mariano, Daniele

  Herbert (Ireland now living in Pisa) translating into English for us!  Thanks to all the translators... not as easy as it would seem, since we use different expressions, and structure than the Italians.

 Salvatore in front of Caterina and her husband (seated) who live in Bari.  Mariano on the right.

 Fruit of the catus. Very much tastes like figs, however, the seeds are much bigger and hard, so you just swallow them.

  Loved the walk to the sea, however, I never made it all the way, as it was just too hot to walk that far... about 5 km.

The view was awesome though!

   Lorenzo is a ball of energy. Having fun with Lucca here ☺

 Kingsley Stone from South Africa.  He knows our own dear Steve Pierson!

 Heidi (originally from N Dakota where we have mutual friends) and Herbert (originally from Ireland, friends with Doug Fulton, Trevor's brother-n-law).  They now live in Pisa.

 Ha, Ha... Mariano standing above, getting a picture of all of us who were taking pictures ☺

Back: Ralph Wendt, David Butterworth, Enrico Imbimbo, Lloyd Haugen, Roberto Pepper, John Van Den Berg, Hansruedi Fehr , Kingsley Stone

Middle: Sharon Worden,  Crenguta Dusciuc, May Chambers, Jennifer Horton, Freda Good, Janet Pollard, Barbara Murray, Heather Davies

Front: Concettina Grassi, Dorothy Fletcher, Natalina Degl'Innocenti, Maria Sigismondo, Elisa Di Pentima, Carol Castleberry, AnnaMaria Grassi, Esther Roulet

 What a great bunch of children here.

 Alanna Webb (Ireland) and I.  She lives just S of Dublin.

Somehow I missed getting a picture of Doug's cousin Ingrid Armstrong, who was also here with her husband.  He told me a very interesting story... in a one week span, his business burned to the ground, (2nd thing I can't remember right now), and 3rd was they were already scheduled for a cruise, so went anyway, but they got into a storm so fierce, that it threw gravel from the sea floor all the way up to their deck on the 8th story of the ship!  He said he had never been so scared in his life!   

    Ralf (Ralph) Wendt

 He is the Nigerian Ambassador to Italy in Rome.  Here with his daughter and his driver/BG.

 Random shots.  Enrico facing camera and Janet Pollard (Scotland) in green sweater.

 May Chambers.  She was recently in the USA.  Some of you may have met her there.

   Victor, Michaela and Lorenzo who live in Venice, but originally from Romania

Angi and ?? Ionita

So many other wonderful people I met, but did not get pictures of.  However, I will be seeing many of them again in the future.  Monday evening was a very drawn out affair.  Many were staying over until Tuesday to help, but I was riding back with the Caputo's so we left Monday night.  Saying goodbye in Italy takes longer than any American will ever understand... you have to experience it.  We were slated to leave at 8:30pm and started saying our goodbyes... finally left around 9:30pm.  The car was loaded, just sitting there as we and everyone else just hung around it, giving many Italian cheek kisses (both men and women).  Hard to say goodbye to each other.... they sincerely love one another.  

Marco got us safely back to Bari, albeit in record time!  Dropped his family off, then drove me to my apartment, arriving around 11pm.  I was planning to go back to the Caputo's for lunch the next day, however, after being NON-STOP since I arrived back in Italy on August 5th, I was seriously needing a day of rest, so I did just that.  Stayed put, did my laundry, a bite to eat and rested!  Then yesterday, I walked to the Poste Italiane to mail documents, did a bit of window shopping, then stopped at the Supermercato for a couple items and also the fresh market for some fruit and veggies.  After that, I started blogging to try and catch up, then shortly after 5pm Luigi and AnnaMaria and Concettina picked me up for Bible Study. 

Went to bed a bit later than I had intended, but had a wonderful rest and after I finish this blog, I plan to take a walk to the beach for some wonderful sunshine.  All for now; feels good to be caught up.  I know I forgot much to write, since it took me two weeks to post, but I will never forget the wonderful feelings of all I've experienced these last two weeks.  

Some Gems to share with you:  Carema & Petacciato, August 2014

• We never see Jesus without seeing ourselves at the same time.
•  God plans the mixture in our cup... not what we like or don't like, but what is best for us.
• Washing each other's feet means to help each other keep our walk clean.
• Jesus said "I command you" only once and that was "to love one another as I have loved you".  This is the main thing  and still uniting God's people today.
• The pearl is nature's only perfect jewel.  All other jewels have to be worked with... cut, shaped, polished, but the pearl is already perfect.  There is nothing we can do to perfect it.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl.  Rev. tells us we cannot add to or take from.
• The oyster has something within it that is worth more than the oyster itself.
•  We have no right to question decisions that are made if we haven't prayed for those making the decisions.
• We believe in Easter every week.
• Jesus said when he partook of bread and cup, "This do in remembrance of me".  What do we remember when we partake of the emblems?
• The Sabbath we have to keep begins the day we begin to serve God and ends the day we die.  Ceasing from our own works... the works of the flesh and resting from our human wills.
• Lighthouse doesn't know how many lives it has saved.
• We may be the only Bible this careless world will ever read.
• We cannot hold a grudge and get something from God.
• Two things that can make our prayers effective or useless:  "Pray believing and Forgiveness"
• Sheep do not recognize the voice of a stranger, only the voice of their shepherd.
• We are the fruit of our meditations.
• Starting does not give us the reward, but finishing does.
• Discouragement cannot grow in a thankful heart
• Victory or defeat is in our mind.  If we think we won't finish, then we won't
• We wouldn't recognize our prayers that are presented to God because of the Spirit interceding with "Groanings which cannot be uttered"
• Christ didn't fix the price, He paid it.
• Danger in being zealous without wisdom.
• We can love many things in our own name, but Jesus said to love in His name.
• When we hear the same words... 1st time is normal, 2nd time is important, 3rd time is fundamental.  John 20: verses 19, 21, 26 "Peace"
• Sometimes we think we have to have all the answers to have peace.  "Peace of God passes all understanding".  We can have all understanding and still not have peace.  Better to have Peace.
• Jesus was killed as a criminal, but resurrected as the "Prince of Peace".
• Job had friends, but no brothers.  Joseph had brothers but no friends.  We need to be a friend and a brother.
• Adam and Eve had everything in the Garden.  It was as if they never even saw ALL they had, all they could see was the one thing they couldn't have.
• It is our tongue that proves our wisdom.  What we say and how we say it.
• We will not become more than we pray for. 
•  Fruit can only grow in crucified flesh
• When we want to see the sunrise, we look to the East, not the West.  Have to look in the right direction if we want to see Jesus.