Teaching English in Italian Schools

I have been working with Public Affairs on Sigonella to provide service projects for the Catania missionaries as well as our Sigonella Branch.  Tuesday, November  13, was our designated day for  missionaries to teach English in an Elementary School. I checked out some library books from the Sigonella Base Library and we were off on a great adventure.  Following is the invitation and directions:

Just spoke with Ms Consoli, the Chairwoman for Education of the City of Pedara, who confirmed the school's availability to host a language interaction event in class with the elementary school children on Tuesday, November 13th. The project will last from 0930 to approximately 1300. The school will have refreshments for the volunteers. The name of the school is  "PLESSO GIUSEPPINA FARO" and is located in VIA SAN GIOVANNI BOSCO in PEDARA (the city's main square next to the Town Hall of Municipio) google map's address:
https://www.google.it/maps/place/Piazza+Don+Giovanni+Bosco,+95030+Pedara+CT/@37.6169472,15.0608489,3a,75y,248.08h,96.9t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sUCSs2YTSh8v2ufA6IusDbw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!4m5!3m4!1s0x1313fe6a0e759e37:0x7443d6f750245e11!8m2!3d37.6171335!4d15.0602637
When you arrive to the school both Ms Consoli and the English Teacher Gemi Spaziano will be waiting for you.

For any issues, please do not hesitate to call me at 335.7790451. I will be facilitating another school COMREL in a Riposto school  but I will be available via phone to assist you.  

Thank you,
V/r
Alberto

Dr. Alberto Lunetta
NAS Sigonella PAO  Community Relations Director Duty cell : 335.7790451

Italian Teachers at the school with Sorelle Moshier and Catani  and Anzaini Huntsman and DiLiberto.

Fifth Grade class

Fifth Grade classroom

Fourth grade classroom

The parents made Italian desserts for refreshments and brought each dish with ingredients included.

Students are line up with their notebooks to get autographs of the English speaking teachers.

Quite an Italian spread of delicacies!  Needless to say we loved the homemade Italian delights!

We had a great experience, students asked for autographs, they were so excited to have native English speakers.  I just received a call requesting a return visit to the school.  What a great way to serve Italy!

Sigonella Baptism

Meet the newest member of the Sigonella Branch, Italy. Miss Caylee Levine was baptized on Saturday, November 3, 2018 in the Catania Chapel font. She lives in Maraini with her mom Diana, stepdad Brandon, sister Ellory and brother Jacob.  Her oldest brother Daniel is currently serving  a mission in the Phillipines. Caylee currently attends Embry-Riddle Aeronauticial University on base and is studying to be an engineer.  She carrys a full load at school and yet can be found at the Marine Corp Relief Society volunteering in the office or the Thrift Shop.  She is a treasure and we are so excited to have her join us at church on Sundays.

Murder Mystrey Dinner Relief Society

Who doesn’t like a good Murder Mystery with dinner? Our October Relief Society activity was exactly that and a smashing good time was had by all.  The script was set in the southern US, with a cast of plantation millionaires and a few swamp rats to add to the mix. The menu included authentic southern dishes because all of us had spent at least one station in the south. Jambalaya, cornbread, crab dip, bread pudding and flan to finish it off. The southern menu primed the dinner conversation with a perfect “who done it” script to keep the laughter and spicy accusations flying across the table. Our Sigonella Branch turned out in great form and the southern drawls kept the competition standard high.  

Connika Gothika- Dupre neighbor and famous author Chrissy Finucane

Matthew "Gator" Crovitz boyfriend of Alexis- Caylee Levine

Alexis Du Preh heiress to the Dupre estate- Chelsea George

Melissa F. DuPree wife #2- Alison Martinsen

Elise St. Gresch the DuPre maid-Carmen Grieder

Cayenne Pepper The DuPre Chef-Diana Southcombe

J. Stephen Peek the DuPre family attorney- Abbey Hawkes

 

The Southern Belles of Sigonella

The culprit was fettered out by the clues and questions and all is well that ends well right? Hard to get anything by this Relief Society group.

Missionary Halloween

Italy doesn’t celebrate Halloween, but they do celebrate November 2, The Day of the Dead.  I did a Halloween Poetry activity in my English Class at the church on Tuesday and everyone was knowledgeable about the American Holiday.  We have one Anziano DeLiberto from Milan serving in Catania right now and Halloween Poetry particularly entertained him. I did a choral reading and Reader’s Theater that required students to be dramatic, especially in their voice.  They worked in groups then presented the whole piece together.  It was hilarious to watch them enjoy this activity.  Anziano DeLiberto told me after class, “Americans really are crazy.”  But he did want a copy of each poem for himself!

How about this group of my favorite Trick-or-Treaters? I tried to explain how my family celebrated Halloween!

Yet another year minus Kaci with this bunch! This was the year Ashley proudly announced she wanted to dress up to be a bum!  Garrett got a concerned look on his face and said he would like to be a vampire. He didn't want anything to do with the bum idea! Mike was again a pilot with the green bag and helmet to make it authentic. I have to admit it is difficult to explain to Italians why we do this???

We introduced the missionaries to a family at Sigonella a few weeks ago.  Diana, the Mom is from Peru, she has been a member for many years but has not attended church for at least 20 of the most recent.  The Sorelle is currently teaching her oldest daughter Caylee and her second daughter Ellory. 

Caylee the beautiful gypsy!

Jacob The Joker!

Ellory, the masquerade princess

Halloween on the housing areas of Sigonella was celebrated on Friday, October 26.  Mainly because they always invite the Italian Nationals who are employed at Sigonella to join in this holiday since they don’t celebrate it in their own neighborhood.  We took both the Anzaini and the Sorelle out to the Mariani for the festivities.  Now Anziano DiLiberto is convinced “Americans really are crazy.” The other three missionaries are Americans and they were delighted to see this piece of Americana in action. The streets were crowded with kids in costumes: dinosaurs, Spider man, Batman, Princesses, mermaids, Sherlock Holmes, witches everything you can imagine was wandering the streets in Mariani with a trick-or-treat bag in hand.  The security gate was clogged with Italian Nationals trying to get clearance to join the fun.  Over all it was just short of chaos!

Oh look four people joined the fun dressed like Missionaries!! Anziano DiLiberto, Anzainio Hunstman, Sorelle Catani, Dad, Mom, Sorelle Moshier, Caylee, Jacob and Ellory round out this Halloween crowd!

Missionary Work on Crete

In late August we received a missionary referral from the Military Affairs Office in the Church Office building in SLC.  Someone was deployed to Souda Bay, Greece and was searching for a congregation and/or missionaries.  Turns out after the Military Affairs searched their database Sigonella was the closest congregation. We made contact with Dustin and offered what we could from this distance.  The Sigonella Optical Clinic provides service to Souda Bay on a three times a year rotation.  They announced their fall rotation to be the week of October 14-20.  We began immediately to piece together both an optical rotation and the opportunity to touch base with our referral on Souda Bay. 

We discussed this situation with our Mission President and he requested permission of the Area Authority Elder De Feo.  Those pieces were fairly easy to put in place, the Military Space A flight to Souda Bay was another story.  We volunteer at the Sigonella terminal with the USO every Tuesday so we began following the "Space A" flight service to Souda Bay to try to figure out how to make this whole piece come together.  We learned there is no rhyme or reason to the Souda Bay service; it appears to be on a needs basis.  The optical clinic told us to sign up and prepare for October 20 departure.  We did that but the earliest flight we could get a show time for was 6:00 AM October 16.  When we arrived we were told the Flight was a C-40 with 26 seats but they were transporting Hazardous material so only active duty passengers were allowed on board.  There would be no Space A! We chatted a short while, then the announcement came that the hazardous materials could not be loaded so there were Space A seats; just like that we were on our way to Souda Bay.

Crete was absolutely breathtaking, the island and the bay reflected the Byzantine, Arab and Venetian influence from the promenade around the bay right up to the lighthouse.  The buildings are white with lots of arches and domes, exactly like you would expect.

The light house in the center of the bay is surrounded by cobblestone streets and old world retail!

The old shipping yard buildings still stand behind the glitzy new boats.

The Mosque is surrounded by horse and carriage rides that can be taken through the city.

Three minaret towers used to call for prayers five times each day stand around the city.

White buildings on the shore go all the way up the mountainside.

The Greek Orthodox Church stands in the center of town.

Brass chandelier hangs in front of the alter piece/

The art work on the walls and ceiling create interesting examples of the Greek Orthodox Church!

Interestingly enough, Dustin, deployed for two weeks beginning on Monday, October 15, one day before we arrived!  We were able to find another couple who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints also at Souda Bay.  He is a military contractor, he and his wife living off base.  We organized a Branch dinner and both members of the branch attended.  We had a great experience learning about them and their stay on Crete.  They actually hold church at their home and when TDY or deployed church members arrive the attendance increases from two to however many happened to be in Souda Bay.  Pretty amazing no matter how remote you are, there is a way to stay involved with the Church!

The Souda Bay Branch and the Sigonella Missionaries; we had a branch dinner following this photo! Amazing Greek dishes were served and enjoyed by all.

I am confident that we must return again to find Dustin!

The Art of the Italian Sandwich

In Italy the lunch is the “thing,” reposo is the other thing.  Lunch begins at about12:30 with reposo lasting until 4:30-5:00.  During reposo everything is closed including schools, Italians try to get home for lunch or pranzo so they can follow up with a nap or rest. Then the second part of the day begins after reposo Usually 4:30 or 5:00 ish! An Italian sandwich shop in Siracusa has perfected the art of making a sandwich.  It has been featured on the late Anthony Bourdain show and highlighted by trip advisor.  Follow the script of sandwich making and you will understand why! 

Caseifico Borderi

International awards and recognitions

Slicing the hard cheese!

Chopping three kinds of lettuce!

In my best Italian I asked what the herb was he was adding.  With a huge smile he looked me right in the eye and said in his best English "mary wanna."  Killer sandwiches and a sense of humor!

Last step is wrap the soft cheese inside the sliced meat.

The perfect sandwich is ready to wrap and eat!The problem is trying to get this sandwich stacked 6 inches high into your mouth! YUMMMM!