Saturday night they sent out thousands of floating luminaries into the sea

We made it to Spotorno on Thursday afternoon. I must say, it is quite beautiful here. Sometimes I don’t even know what to think. The beach itself is a very narrow strip of sand along the water’s edge (at least compared to the South Carolina beaches I’m used to) with mountains close in directly behind us. For this reason, the entire Ligurian coastline links small village to small village…one right after another. Real estate is out of control here because literally all of Italy vacations at the beach in the summertime. The cities empty (except for tourists) and the coasts overflow. But somehow, I managed to be living in one of the few houses that sits right on the beach. It was built in the 1930’s and just recently renovated to keep the same feel. I live on the top level, of three, with a rooftop terrace that overlooks the coast in all directions.

Just off the coast sits little Bergeggi Island, a preserved natural habitat for wildlife that is completely isolated from human contact. You'll be able to see it in some of my pictures. It is truly beautiful up close as you can always see birds soaring all around…almost like you’re approaching Jurassic Park. J Makes me want to get closer! Right now, though, the birds have come to me as I’m sitting on the terrace writing this. And they are very loud.

Since I am now in a different region, the food is quite different as well. Their specialties in Liguria are mainly pesto and seafood. I have both and they are both delicious!! I think I’ve probably had at least 7-10 different kinds of fish, both raw and cooked, since Thursday. For the housewarming party last night, Luca’s seven Dutch friends came into town and cooked for the entire evening. They prepared eleven courses…some at home in the Netherlands, and the rest beginning at 10am on Saturday and finishing after midnight. Ridiculous.

I can already see that God has blessed me in so many ways by shoving me into this experience. It has been eye opening and already life changing. But there are still so many things to learn. He has taught me about humility and patience in very deep ways. And of course, loving others. This has to be done mostly through my actions here because it’s hard for me to communicate with words. But God is good and He is with me, even here.