Well, here it is September and thankfully the weather is beginning to cool into the lower 20s celsius. During the hottest, stickiest days this past summer I had to remind myself that I still preferred that over -30 in Calgary in the winter. When it does rain here, it seems to come down in an absolute downpour.
Such was the case on that fateful day a few weeks ago when the Morandi Bridge collapsed here in Genova. The rain was coming down like cats and dogs and the thunder had been rolling all morning. We were being brave and took our umbrellas down to the street that runs along the harbour for some errands. We were walking but when we arrived at a shop, we were soaked through in spite of our umbrellas. Not long after getting to the shop, we heard an enormous noise. We thought it was just a particularly close roll of thunder but it was loud enough that everyone reacted to it. Now I realize it was the sound of the bridge collapsing. We began getting group text messages through What'sApp from members of the church indicating that the Morandi had collapsed. We couldn't think which bridge that was at the time but we later realized it was a bridge we traveled across two or three times a week. The bishop of the Genova 2 ward soon posted a picture of the bridge to the What's App group.
I gasped when I saw it and then showed it to Hermes. Pretty soon the street in front of us had ambulances and emergency vehicles screaming by one after the other. One of the members messaged that the casualty toll was in the 100s and, although that was an over-estimation, it was still a very bad tragedy where 43 men, women and children died. I checked via text message on the welfare of the young missionaries and was relieved to find out that none were affected. I didn't think it was likely but one can never be too sure.
There were no members of the church hurt by the collapsed bridge but there are several members of the Genova 2 ward who are volunteer first responders. Also several apartment buildings under the bridge had to be evacuated and the people who lived there will never be able to return home because of fears the rest of the bridge will collapse on the buildings (and probably will when the rest is demolished). We believe there is a member of Genova 2 affected by this though we know nothing more.
The Sunday after the tragedy we attended Genova 2 church meetings and much time was given for the first responders and others to talk about what happened and to grieve. There were many tears and much emotion. I worry for not only them but all the first responders. I've seen news reports lately of how badly some first responders are affected by what they experienced at various tragedies and how it leads to mental health problems.
I'm reminded of something that happened a few years ago when I was working for a high school. At one particular graduation ceremony, a student with severe physical disabilities was given a standing ovation by his classmates. I commented to the teacher beside me how wonderful and inspiring this was and she commented something to the affect of: "There are lots of students here who have overcome terrible difficulties to get here and they'll never get the applause." I don't think she was downplaying the achievements of the one student with physical disabilities but it did make me think about all those students with mental health challenges and terrible home situations who, nonetheless, were able to graduate high school. They also would be unsung heroes.
Well enough of that sobering subject.
As for what we've been doing here, we've had some opportunities for service which we really enjoyed. There was a member family from Sicily who came up by ferry for their young child to get a much needed operation at the children's hopsital here in Genova. Apparently this hospital is the best pediatric hospital in Italy. Unfortunately the mother caught a terrible virus on the ferry and couldn't be with her child in the hospital so we were able to step in and provide some service by taking her to a different hospital for treatment. It all ended well and we were happy that we had the time and ability to help them out when they were so far from home.
We had just started visiting an elderly woman in a nursing home but after only a couple of visits with us, she passed away. The senior couple previous to us had visited her every week but we never had the opportunity to get to know her very well. When we went to the funeral, we felt like we were doing so on behalf of the previous senior couple. Then we attended the cremation and my husband said the prayer dedicating her burial site at the cemetery. We gave as many comforting words as we could to her daughter.
We've also done hospital visits and visiting with a widow. We'd like to do more visits with Young Adults but it seems like in the summer, everyone disappears here - August in particular. We anticipate our lives becoming much more involved with the young adults soon. Institute (scripture classes) will start soon as will the fun activities they do. We also anticipate running weekly Skype gatherings of people all over Italy who are taking the BYU Pathway program. This is a university gateway program at a very low cost for English speakers. Since it's in English, it's something I can run with without depending on Hermes to translate for me.
I'm trying lots of different strategies to improve my Italian but listening comprehension is my Waterloo and I'm trying not to be Napoleon in this battle. I sat through Relief Society today not understanding a darn thing. If only the world was set up so that everybody who speaks has closed captioning running across their chest. It could even be closed captioning in Italian as my reading skills are somewhat better than my listening skills. To all the young people out there: learn a different language while you're young because when you get old, it is much harder to learn.
As for beautiful and interesting places we've been to, that never ends in Italy. This past week we discovered Genova Nervi, on the eastern side of Genova. It was once it's own town but it's now considered part of Genova. Wikipedia says it has one of the best seaside promenades in Europe so we did a hike on it on our day off.
We got off the path and climbed on the rocks where we thought it was safe but mostly we were above on the path looking down. You can see the beach goers and snorkelers here and I love how the sky looks in this picture.
And I have to say that I love that watermelon beach umbrella. It looks good enough to eat.
I know I've rhapsodized in the past about Italian gelato, but I think I've started loving Sicilian style granite even more. I was once scolded on Facebook that granite in Genova couldn't possibly be as good as granite in Sicily. I'm not disputing that having never been to Sicily and never experienced true Sicilian granite, but there are several places both close to home and at the seaside that sell what they call Sicilian granite and I really love it. On a hot day, it's the perfect treat.
So until next time, I will say "Cheers."
