Italy: The Scavenger Hunt!

Instead of holding the usual English Clubs this afternoon, we took our new friends on a walk-your-legs-off version of the great American sleepover staple: the scavenger hunt. 

The two teams were given several envelopes, each holding a rhyming clue that would lead them to the next point on their quest. At each stop, the entire team had to pose for a picture while doing what the clue demanded.

 For example, at one stop we bought gelato, at another stop we climbed a playground’s monkey bars, and at another, we posed by the life-size statue of an orca whale that sits in the lobby of the geology building on the University campus. (Don’t ask…I have NO idea what an orca whale has to do with geology.)

I don't think our Italian friends had never done anything so random, silly, or so...American. Some of them were a little shy of the goofy-ness we indulged in so freely, but deep down, I think they liked it. Frank, who lives here full-time, later assured me that they will lose their shyness soon. "At the end of these two weeks", he said, "many of them will be crying. They will have friendships with you that are deeper than they ever imagined they could have."

Even before the conversation with Frank, I had noticed that many of my new friends seemed lonely, discouraged, or cynical about life. Some are flippant and nonchalant, a crust that they wear to guard some hidden hurt. Some fish for compliments and attention, glowing when they are given but always needing more.

As we power-walked from clue to clue, we talked about life, about culture, about their families and their plans for the future. I often walked with Natalya, a beautiful girl two years older than me. 

I REALLY want to upload the pictures and show you how well our new friends did on their very first scavenger hunt, but alas…they are in Jordan’s camera, he is asleep from a sugar-and-coffee crash, and I’m just not savvy enough to figure out how to do it.

However, I do have one picture that I took with my phone:

The team climbed a small version of Mount Everest close to campus to find a clue taped to a pole at the summit. Yes, it really was as vertical as it looks (check out our shadows!), and I was pretty winded after reaching the top!

Here are a few more pictures from the day: 

Nearly every wall in Italy is decorated with graffiti, but no one seems to mind.This one is next to the tram stop near our hotel. We want to name these gangster-looking fish...any suggestions?

Hubby ordered a Nutella Choccino today. Starbucks could definitely learn some things from the Italians!

My miniature Morroccino was only three inches tall, but every sip flooded my tongue with flavor. Definitely worth 2 Euro.

This is one of my bus passes for the week. As we file conspicuously onto the tram in the morning (Americans are ALWAYS conspicuous, fyi), we insert our cards into a little orange machine that beeps, clicks, and spits it back out. 

Tomorrow we will resume the English Clubs. Please pray for: 

-Good weather! (It's been beautiful so far!)

-That many students would continue coming to the Clubs.

-That we would listen well, and take every opportunity to show love.

Homeschooled? Why yes, I was.

"Really? You were homeschooled?" 

My friend's pale eyes widened in her pretty face on Sunday night when I mentioned the fact casually in conversation. 

"How..." she faltered. "I mean, what was that like?"

I love this question, because I love dispelling the myths that all homeschoolers are awkward, or shy, or had prom in their living rooms. Some are, and some do, but in my experience, homeschoolers are some of the most fun, interesting, and mentally alive people I've known. 

One of the most interesting effects of homeschooling is that the homeschooler usually doesn't see a sharp divide between "learning time" and "play time".  The two were so intertwined and overlapped that life is learning. Mom and Dad did a great job of making school fun, and even our vacations had plenty of teachable moments.

I suddenly realized just how true this is in my life the weekend that hubby and I were visiting his family at the beach. I was playing with our nieces, and we came up with a writing game. We made a crazy list of fun topics--vacation, puppies, swimming, gymnastics, ballet--and then rolled dice to pick one. Then I set a timer for 5 minutes, gave each of us a piece of paper and pencil, and...GO!

The idea was to write as fast as you could about the topic without erasing or correcting, and see what you could come up with.

Yes, this was an exact replica of something my college prof made us do last semester.

And yes, my little nieces loved it.

The topic we picked was "swimming", and this was the result of my five minutes (unedited!):

The nearest to weightless I’ve ever been was when I was submerged in the light-flecked water of the pool at the Wycliffe Center. My goggles pressed in around my eye sockets painfully, but I didn’t care—it was a watery forest of interesting legs down there. There were fat legs, skinny legs, lumpy legs, plump baby legs kicking near the top, and the big, hairy legs of dads. Everything had a pale, greenish tint.

 I prided myself on being able to endure the pressure of the deep-end to get the diving rings. I would grab them and then come up through the pressure zones to the breathless sunlight, gasping and wiping away the hair plastered to my face. On the ride home, my nose would be stuffy with chlorine and my eyes raccoon-like from the goggles, but I was a happy girl. 










* Addendum: While I loved homeschooling, it is only one of many good educational options. It's not the perfect choice for every family. The into on this mommy's blog is an awesome perspective on the flexibility I believe parents have in this area. As she says, "this is descriptive for our lives, not prescriptive for anyone else". 

Carnival!

As promised, here is the update about the carnival our church put on for the inner-city kids at SOS Ministries! It's more pictures than words, but we all know how many words a picture is worth. :)

Our booth was a good ol' fashioned ring toss! Grand prize: ring pops!

My old homegroup had the awesome idea of playing basketball with the kids using a garbage can as the hoop.  As you can see, they were having a blast!

Awww....

Such a cutie...

This homegroup had a giant slingshot for water bombs! 

Homegroup Connect had the most creative bowling game I've ever seen. Instead of pins, kids rolled a ball to knock over little paper cups of watered-down paint onto squares of clean fabric. The result: ART!

Yeah, I'm collecting awesome ideas to do with my own kids someday. :)

Goofiness after the carnival just melted my heart.

Rich man, Poor man

Two nights ago, hubby and I spent a hilarious night of goofiness with another couple and friends from their homegroup. With six of us crowding close around their kitchen table, the sugar rush from the homemade ice cream compounded the goofiness factor several times over.

The game we played was one of those hybrids that combines a standard deck of cards with the individual silliness of the players.   For a group of un-selfconscious people, (or for people who become that way when hyped on sugar), it is the perfect game!

Which I will now share with you. Ahem. 

"Rich Man, Poor Man"

SETUP:

The dealer gives cards to every player in the circle, starting with those on his/her left. If the number of cards does not deal evenly, those on the left will have more than the rest...and this is part of being "poor". :)

GOAL:

You want to get rid of all your cards as quickly as possible.  This is called "going out". 

PLAYING THE CARDS:

1) In your hand, arrange the cards by number, with 2 being the highest card, three being the lowest. (Example: 3, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 10, Jack, King, Ace, 2)

2) The dealer places a card (usually a low card) on the table, face up. The person to his left must then match that card (by playing the same number) or beat it (by playing a higher card). Obviously, you want to get rid of your low cards if you can, while keeping your high cards for later. 

3) 2 is the trump card! If a 2 is played, the one who played it moves the pile of cards to the side and plays whatever new card they choose.

4) Sometimes, the first one to play a card may choose to play 2 of the same card (eg. two sevens). If they do, the person to their right must play two matching cards that are also sevens or a higher value.

5) If you are unable to play a card, you must say "pass".  There is no penalty for passing, but you lose the chance to play a card. 

6) The first person to "go out" will be the "rich man" for the next round and will sit in the chair designated for this position. The next person to "go out" will be the next richest, and will sit to the rich man's right, and so on, down to the poorest person. 

7) At the beginning of the second round (as in real life) the poor get poorer and the rich get richer. The poorest person gives their two best cards to the "rich man", while the rich man gives the poorest their two worst cards.  The second-richest person also exchanges one card with the second-poorest person. 

THE FUN PART:

When you are "rich", there are certain privileges...and these can be as silly as the imagination of the rich person.  

For example, last night, I was richer than JC, so I made him sit for the rest of that round with his knees up close to his chest, looking pretty silly.  Another dude who likes to wear his hair long was told by a richer person that he had to put his hair in pigtails. (see pic!)
At one point, I had to make, um, farting noises every time I "passed" in the card game.

Obviously, these privileges are not limited only to the single person who is "richest". Anyone sitting to your right is poorer than you, and you can order them to do silly things. (One caution: DON'T make anyone do things that would make them sick, injured, or do something that goes against their conscience.)

You can imagine the chaos as we played. Pure awesomeness.