We were buying backpacks because we haven’t been able to buy sleeping bags. This is the first time we have planned ahead for sleeping bags and the first time we haven’t been able to buy any. Several months ago, Albert contacted Tim (the missionary here) and he contacted the sleeping bag people, and they said sure we can sell you those. So yesterday, Tim called them again and they said meet us at 3:30. So Albert and Tim went to meet them, and then the woman said we don’t have any sleeping bags. Well, OK, then. So no sleeping bags.
So instead, we bought backpacks with the money we intended to use for sleeping bags. This afternoon, people put stuff in the backpacks – clothes, shoes, long underwear, packs of tissues and other stuff – and we gave some out at the train station tonight.
We’re going to give more out in the park tomorrow. (The park is on Colle Oppio, if you want to look it up. It’s near the Colosseum.)
Rudy (our youth minister) showed a DVD with testimonies of Muslims who have become Christians to a group at the train station tonight. He said they seemed really interested and watched the whole thing.
And now we are in the guys’ apartment watching a bad, bad, bad Ben Stiller movie and waiting for something (I don’t know what). We had talked about playing cards until midnight or so. We’re not meeting until 11 a.m. tomorrow, so we can stay up a little later for New Year’s. Of course, having to get up earlier hasn’t meant we got to bed any earlier any other night, really. Last night, we got in a lot earlier, but we still stayed up talking until almost midnight.
There was talk of going out for gelato at some point this evening. I hope so. I like gelato. Chocolate with hazelnut. Mmmmm, gelato. (ETA: I actually had a cup of lemon gelato and strawberry gelato -- you can get two different kinds in one cup -- because I had just had some dark chocolate candy with hazelnuts. The lemon and strawberry together are also pretty good.)
A few photos:
This is a monument to people killed by fascists in World War II. I think. It was on the way from the train station to the bus No. 3 stop nearby.
Just people sitting around in headquarters after having a little birthday party:
