03.06.08
Posted in technology, travel
at 5:54 pm
So our life changed pretty dramatically this month. After almost three years of living without a car, we finally saved up enough Euro pennies for a 2001 Fiat Multipla Bipower.
It’s called Bipower because it runs off two different kinds of fuel: plain old unleaded, and methane. One of Italy’s natural resources is methane, so many cars are sold that use both fuels. Many people even add a methane tank after the fact, if the car they like isn’t available with methane. When first starting the car, it uses gasoline. As soon as the engine is running, it switches to methane, usually in about 5 or 10 seconds.
Here’s some math: Gas is currently €1.40 per liter, or $8.19 per gallon. Methane is €0.85 per kg. Meaning it costs about $80.86 to fill the gas tank and $34.24 to fill the methane tank. However, I bought the car with about 1/4 tank of gas, and it still has about 1/4 of a tank. I’ve only had to buy methane.
But all of the figures are meaningless unless we also look at mileage (though in Italy mileage is measured in liters of fuel per 100 km - so smaller numbers are better here!). Using gas, it should get about 27 mpg. Using methane, it should get 36 mpg. Meaning that methane is both cheaper, and gets better mileage.
But it doesn’t end there. Burning methane produces less CO2 than burning gas, so it’s easier on the environment. I like to say that butterflies and rain forests come out of the tailpipe.
There are a couple of drawbacks: 1) it’s a little more difficult to find a methane station for refueling. Most cities won’t allow giant tanks of explosive gases downtown, so we have to plan when and where we refuel more carefully. 2) There’s a little less get-up-and-go when using methane.
And you wouldn’t believe how many of these things are on the road. Hopefully, our 181,000 km old Multipla will stay on the road at least for a little while!
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02.29.08
Posted in travel
at 3:54 pm
We made it back from our mini-vacation to Florence. What an incredible city! It seemed like no matter what corner we turned we found some little secret tucked away.
I was amazed when we walked into the duomo and saw a Michelino’s painting Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita - the famous portrait of Dante holding The Divine Comedy with illustrations from the poem in the background. It dawned on me … Dante was from Florence!
So as we were walking around I kept my eye open and found a sign that said chiesa di Dante - Dante’s church. I had found the church where Dante met his famous Beatrice, the woman who becomes almost God-like in many of Dante’s works. I was amazed. The church itself wasn’t much to look at, but the fact that the real Dante had met the real Beatrice in the very place I was standing was incredible. These old works or art sometime take on a mythical feeling. Then when you’re in the city where these people walked and ate and went to church it hits you. This guy was an actual person!
It’s one of my favorite things about living in Italy. I’ve never been a big fan of history, but I think it’s because history in school was always a class with a big textbook taught by a boring teacher. But around here you can’t dig in your garden without discovering something ancient.
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12.13.07
Posted in culture, travel
at 2:57 am
I’ll have to admit … they certainly are creative with who gets to go on strike in Italy. This time, the truckers have quit working. And things are looking a little crazy.
I think the most immediate impact was gas supplies. I’m not sure if there was a run on gas before hand, but all the gas stations are empty and closed. And traffic is noticeably quieter today as people save what they have left in their cars.
The strike started in the middle of the trucker’s routes, so the highways are jammed with semis that have pulled over on the side of the road. We passed by some who have decided to burn pallets to keep warm. Some have set up tents with hot drinks and things. I’ve heard that tensions got a little high around Rome.
If things go on, food supplies are going to start getting low, as grocery stores aren’t able to restock their shelves.
And I’ve decided that I’m really kind of angry about this strike. This time it isn’t for higher salaries, it’s for lower diesel prices. Granted, they’re sky high here in Italy (and the majority of the cost is taxes). But instead of heading to Rome and complaining, they’re inconveniencing an entire country.
Last night during our English lessons I brought this subject up. Everyone there was in support of the strike. A couple of people said that this was the only way for the truckers demands to be met. They had exhausted other options, and if anything was going to change they had to strike.
And I can’t help but think that something is wrong when the only way to cause change is a method with so much collateral damage.
Update: Merry Christmas, strike is over! Last night around 7 PM they were able to reach some kind of agreement, and the trucks are moving. It will be 48 hours until gas is fully distributed and 7 days until other supplies return to normal. Damage to the Italian economy? €2,000,000,000 ($2,900,000,000)
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08.26.07
Posted in Team, church, ministry, travel
at 3:43 pm
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Our team recently hosted one of the first events focused on the guys in our church. We decided to go white water “refting” (that’s how it’s pronounced here) at the Cascata delle Marmore, about two hours away from Ancona. Being the manly men that we are, we opted for the normal rafting, and not the rafting “soft.” The falls in the video above started just up the river from where we began our adventure down the river. And, incredibly, these falls can be turned off. Several times a day the water is diverted from the falls to a nearby hydroelectric plant.
I really enjoyed getting to have a time for only the guys to get together and do something quasi-dangerous. I got to see a side of our normally-mild-mannered church members that I might not have gotten to see otherwise. And you can’t help but see the lessons involved as we tried our best to be unified and work together to get home safely.
The only thing I didn’t really enjoy … the wet suits.
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07.26.07
Posted in culture, travel
at 5:45 am
Our flight to Ancona was completely normal. No lost luggage. No bumpy flights. No missed connections. After another round of goodbyes at the airport, it was as if we all, at the same time, realized we were going home.
As we waited to get off the airplane in Ancona, I first noticed the change when the stewardess opened the airplane door. The rush of hot, Italian air hit me and it was just different somehow. I knew I was home. I smiled as I rode in the taxi going to my house and realized the driver never started the meter - a good way to rip off an inexperienced foreigner. I quickly asked him how much he was going to charge, and thus avoided a suprise later. I knew I was home. As I sat in my living room last night, enjoying the cool breeze coming in the window, I heard a noisy scooter drive down our street. I knew I was home.
And it feels really good.
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04.30.07
Posted in Team, travel
at 9:39 am
I was surprised to hear Jason offer me an apology on the phone the other day. I really had no idea what he was talking about. He explained that he felt bad for missing the anniversary date for our move to Italy - April 15, 2005. I looked at a calendar, and sure enough, we left the US for Italy more than two years ago.
I sort of felt like it was cheating, since we came back from Italy a tad early because of some scheduling issues. I tried to remember the excitement and raw nerves of that day. The picture of us in the ticketing line with three kids and thirteen large containers must have been something. I remembered Heidi’s mom and sister crying as we went back behind security. I remembered Heidi’s dad’s quick goodbye at the curb. I thought about all the goodbyes that I had already said in the days before our departure.
But as my mind snapped back to the present, I was really surprised that two years had passed since that day. All in all, the move to Italy was … do I even say it? … easy. God blessed us with a great team who made the transition as painless as possible. There were always hard days where we longed for the comfort and ease of our life in the US. But we’ve settled in, and are excited to see how God will use us in Ancona.
Here’s to as many anniversaries as God will allow us in Ancona…
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04.13.07
Posted in family, home service, kids, travel
at 8:59 pm
So we’re in America on “furlough.” Furlough is kind of a strange word that doesn’t mean much to people I think. No one is really sure what exactly it is, probably because we’ve only heard of missionaries taking one. Many missionaries use other names for it like “home service.”
Furlough sounds like a big vacation, which I am learning it is not. While it has been wonderful visiting with so many people who have lots of encouraging things to say about the work in Ancona, at the same time it has been very difficult to be away from our home in Italy and the work there. We sort of feel like we have a foot in each culture, not exactly comfortable in either one. It’s hard to live out of suitcases. Traveling takes its toll on a family with small children. Just the number of people and churches that we want to see is enough to make our heads spin!
I feel ungrateful as I go back and reread what I have written. So many people have sacrificed to give us a great home in Rockford while we are here. People have thrown open their arms to welcome us wherever we have gone. It’s been a huge blessing to see the kids reconnect with Grandmas and Grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Furlough is an interesting beast. It certainly isn’t a vacation. But it’s not the day-to-day life of ministry in Italy. One of these days I’m going to come up with a really good name for it.
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02.13.07
Posted in church, home service, travel
at 12:01 pm
Going into our first home assignment, I have to admit that I was nervous. There are lots of people to see and churches to report to. Having never done any of that, it was all a bit nebulous and unknown to me. It seemed odd to me that churches would want to cancel their normal services to hear me speak. I really am about the most normal person.
But my opinion changed slightly on Sunday when I spoke to Iron Gates Christian Church in Joplin, Missouri. I was the youth minister of this church for 6 years before moving to Italy. Now they support our work in Ancona. It’s a small church, but the welcome that we received far outweighed their numbers. There was a large basket of medicines and other things that we can’t get in Italy right by the front door. There were lots of hugs and handshakes. One dear couple handed me a check for $1,000 before I had even said hello to them. Another woman was so excited to share a tithe of her recent bonus check. After church, they threw a wonderful potluck dinner. They also had bought birthday presents for the kids for the birthdays that they had missed while we were in Ancona.
They just took care of us. They loved on us, and thanked us for working so far from home. They told us (some in words, others by listening so intently) that they were behind us.
I still get a little uncomfortable by all the attention. But it’s nice to know that the people that love and know you the best are behind you and want to take care of you.
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01.18.07
Posted in culture, ministry, travel
at 4:14 pm
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”
Proverbs 27:17
Just after Christmas we attended the Mid-Winter Rally in Germany. This annual missionary convention is one of my favorite events to attend. One of the best parts (in my opinion) happens when the items on the schedule are done for the day, and all that is left to do is hang out with other missionaries who know better than anyone what you are going through.
My good buddy Randy was there this year. He and I arrived on the mission field about the same time, and so it’s been great to have a sounding board in another country. One night after all the other convention attendees had gone to bed, Randy, Josh, Cory, and I stayed up to talk. Randy shared some of the struggles of missionary work in a closed country. He told us about how hard the culture was, and how he struggled to fit into it. We mostly sat and listened, and then prayed with him. We asked God to break through the culture and work through Randy. When we were finished, we played another round of Spades, and headed for bed.
I think one reason the church exists is for this very reason: we need each other. I need friends like Randy to sharpen the rough spots off of me. I need people who notice subtle imperfections that I can’t see. And somehow in the process both people become a little more like the One we seek to imitate: Jesus.
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01.16.07
Posted in family, kids, ministry, travel
at 10:52 am
We have found ourselves in another transition period - this time as we transition from ministry here in Ancona to our first home service in America. The kids have been very excited about getting to see Grandmas and Grandpas back home, but the gravity of being away from friends here has begun to settle in.
I was walking with the kids home from school today, and Chloe told me that she cried a little at school today. I asked her why and she said that she didn’t want to leave her friends here. Her teacher noticed that she was upset and Chloe explained what was going on. Her teacher told Chloe that she was lucky because she has two hearts: one for her friends and classmates here in Ancona, and one for her family and friends in America. I could see how this just made sense to Chloe. Even though one heart was hurting, the other one was happily beating away!
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