Ciao amici!
A few days ago marked the half way point of our time at L’Arche. It seems crazy that we have been here a month, but also that we are almost done. The time has gone by so quickly. It seems like a long time ago that I arrived, met my house residents, and began this journey. Time at L’Arche is interesting because the days are very long, but the weeks pass by so quickly.
After being here a month, the language barrier is not nearly the challenge it was in our first few weeks. I am comprehending more and more each day and am learning to be conversant in Italian. Each day I try to learn a new word that can help me in my conversations with rigazzi (the residents) and assistants. For example, today I learned what “sit” is in Italian (its sedersi). The rigazzi are also improving in communicating with me. The one rigazzi who refused to talk to me because I was not fluent in Italian gave in and we had a conversation about his band Fuori Tempo.
In my time here there have been many highs. This week I had several things happen that I enjoyed and made me laugh. They are little things but showed me the character of the rigazzi. I listed a few below.
-I got to take one of the rigazzi out by myself for a walk without an assistant (usually there is always an assistant with the rigazzi)
-One of the rigazzi who doesn’t talk to anyone but has a good character, walked past me and put napkins on my head as a joke.
-I had the opportunity to cook for all of the volunteers and my food was edible!. (It’s a lot harder to cook in Italy than the US – talk about pressure to make something good!)
-Played Uno with the rigazzi and they beat me and yes I did try to win 🙂
-I got to do an art project where we made jewelry from clay. I really enjoyed this activity because at home in Boise I teach mentally disabled adults art.
-I was lectured by one of the rigazzi because I didn’t set the table the way they wanted. This was funny because they often care so much about the little things.
-I was able to go with our workshop to the park and have a picnic. Everyone likes getting out into town so outings are always fun.
-I did have one not so great moment. I did not make the bus on schedule and had to walk 8 km back from the train station. While I enjoy a good walk, 8km is pretty far!
These are just a few of the things that happened to me this week and which will be good memories for me. I feel blessed to be able to help the rigazzi as well being blessed by them. They are a very special group of people.
Ciao from Italy!!
Ellie Jacobs