Out and about in our neighbourhood

(Helen writes...)

This week, Kev and I have been getting more involved with the ESM, and getting into more of a routine. We have been interviewing students for next year, and participating with the planning for the next few weeks leading up to Easter.

I was so pleasantly surprised to have a visitor on Saturday. I was at the School and was given a message that someone from the Vatican was here to see me. I went downstairs to find one of my very dearest friends Tiziana standing there. For those of you who don't know, Tiz is Italian and was on the Team at the school when I was a student seven years ago. We haven't seen her since she came to Australia for our wedding five years ago. We only got to chat for about half an hour, but it was so good to see her.

We have been getting aquainted with our neighbourhood. Within a five minute walk from our place, we have a park, many bars and restaurants, churches, supermarkets, clothes shops (yes, Oviesse), and a local theatre. On Saturday night, we went to a Classical Guitar Recital at the local theatre next to the Church. We didn't know what to expect. The audience consisted of 20 people, six of whom were with us (our friend Mark and three ESM students). It was fantastic! They were so talented and we all really enjoyed it. Then we went out for supper. The walk home was about 2 minutes. We no longer have questions about designated driver!

On Sunday, the four French students at the ESM hosted a French Cultural evening. We were treated to fine dining and a presentation on the history, art and culture of France. The other students dressed up. The guy from England dressed up as The Hunchback of Notre Dame, the Chinese student dressed up as St Bernadette or Lourdes, and Rita from Australia (originally Indonesian) dressed up as a French Kiss!!


Rita - French Kiss

Today we had Jackie, Conor and Finn join us at the ESM for lunch. It is such a blessing to have them living in Rome, even though we don't live very close to eachother. They are such a great couple, and Finn was a real 'hit' with the ESM students. And just like our days at the Catholic Bookshop, Jackie was a constant source of laughter. (we did lots of work too, Mary)


Wags and the Sweeneys - Kev looks a bit goofey because I insisted that he stop making faces and try and smile properly.

We just got back from dinner at the Anderson's. They have finally found an appartment to rent. It is absolutely huge, and only a short bus ride away. It was so nice to spend time with them in a relaxed setting, and Kev noted that it was appropriate that Kate cooked a roast, because he used to get my mum to cook a roast for us on Mondays back in Australia - he used to call it 'family night'.

We also got to have our first Skype call with my brother Alex and his little boy Michael, who is our godson. He has changed so much in six weeks (Michael, not Alex. Alex is much the same), but he still thinks that we are hilarious!!