amoRoma

I'm here in Rome, enjoying every second of every day. Today I made a super simple pasta with mozzarella and tomatoes, but I was freaking out because it was SO GOOD! Even if I made the same pasta somewhere else, it wouldn't be the same just because there's something special about the ingredients here. Especially the tomatoes. I can't get over how much I love the tomatoes. I eat them straight like an apple.
I'm staying with my friend Maria Teresa. She's in the middle of house hunting. This morning I went with her to look at some houses, and she found one that's perfect. Now she's evaluating her finances to see how soon she'd be able to move in.
Her little daughter Greta is 5 years old. When I was here as a missionary Greta hated my guts and would always kick me, glare at me, or else ignore me. But now she's completely in love with me. Every time she sees me she says "Ciao bello" with a little flirty smile. It's so cute! She always climbs all over me and always wants me to carry her on my back, even if we're just going out to throw out the trash. She also says that she likes my cooking better than her mom's cooking. That was the best compliment I've ever received! To hear from a picky little child that I cook better than an Italian woman! Haha.
Yesterday was the Quinzeañera of Maria Sol, the youngest daughter of the Garcia family. I went with them to decorate and prepare food all afternoon yesterday, and then in the evening we had the party. Maria Sol was in a light blue dress and everyone was dressed up very formally. There was AWESOME Italo-Argentine food, the best of both worlds! I never thought that I'd be holding a plate that has sambuches de miga, empanadas, AND real Italian pizza at the same time. It was so great to see a lot of the members of Rome 3 and Rome 2 that I haven't seen since the mission. We danced cumbia, reggaeton, bachata, salsa, and tango, and had a great time.
Also, yesterday morning and the day before I went out with the missionaries. I took them to the houses of a lot of my old investigators that had lost contact with the missionaries and reestablished contact. We taught an amazing spiritual lesson to one of my old investigators, a Chilean Evangelical lady who's AWESOME, named Pamela. I really hope that I was able to contribute some help that will help strengthen the work here. The missionaries received a BUTTLOAD of referrals from me this week! Tonight I'm going out again with the missionaries to teach a lesson to an inactive sister, and then I'm going out dancing. Basically... AMOROMA!