It was a little crazy this week. Monday seems like a long time ago. I think we just did some grocery shopping, ate, napped (well I napped), and then talked with some people on the streets. On Tuesday, we did the normal trip to Palermo for District Meeting. When we got on the bus to head to the church in the ghetto side of Palermo, this old man got on after us. He mumbled something in Siciliano which I responded politely to with a "Come?" Being a typical Sicilian old man on public trans he impatiently screamed at me what he had asked before sending spit everywhere and angrily waving his cane at me. After the meeting we ate at Old Wild West for Anz. Teichert's b-day. I think it's funny that our idea of a special treat in Italy is American burgers and fries. It was pretty good and there were free peanuts which you could throw on the ground... well it would be special but apparently you can throw anything you want on the ground here in Italy (there is trash everywhere). Later we were waiting at the bus station for a bus to Trapani. A man in robes (Muslim) came up to us asking where the buses going to Catania were. I hopped up and showed him. He was very grateful for the help and he told us about how everyone in the world should be respectful and kind to each other. It was a nice moment that showed me that some stereotypes just aren't true for the most part. Then we had English course later that day.
On Wednesday we met this guy who is some politician for the province of Trapani. He wanted help in English for a job he was going to have in the future. He bought us some pastries and pop so it was pretty cool. Later we had a lesson. The next day we had a lesson in the morning and during pranzo I received a call from the office that my permesso di soggiorno (permission to stay in the country for an extended amount of time) was ready to pick up in Ragusa. Then we met with our ward mission leader and planned the trip to Ragusa as far as bus times and sleeping arrangements. The next morning I called the Questura in Ragusa (place to pick up permesso) for an appointment. Surprisingly I got one since before they were always difficult with me. So on Saturday we were about to walk to the bus station to go to Palermo when it started to rain (no surprise there, it rained everyday last week). It was a bummer since we had to walk 40 minutes to the bus stop. So we prayed for it to stop. It didn't whatsoever (and continued to rain the rest of the day the entire journey). So we got some umbrellas and walked to a city bus stop where we got on a bus that took us to the other bus stop. There we met a woman who asked us who we were and wanted to know more. She also said she'd come to church. So maybe it was meant to rain after all. Sometimes we don't understand why things happen but someone does.
So then we went to Palermo and were waiting in a diner for our bus to Ragusa when a bunch of Africans I recognized from my time in Ragusa came in. They immediately recognized me and when I said a few of their names in greeting they got super happy. They were going to Ragusa too so we all rode together. The next day we went to my old ward and then had pranzo with some members. Then we met up with some of my old investigators and went to Marina di Ragusa. We walked the beach and then went to their 2nd home to eat some pizza. They have 5 kids so it was fun and really crazy. Then today we went to a members home for pranzo before my permesso appointment at 3:30. We had a good time and I received my permesso with a little difficulty after having to work past the fact I didn't have original receipts because some guy threw them away on accident. Tomorrow we head back to Trapani with a little lunch break in Palermo. That's all for now. Have a great week errbody.
Anz. Blazzard
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