It was a slightly different week for me, with only two studies to prepare on lead on Monday and Wednesday; Thursday was the extra night we both have at home every two months due to the way the various programs of the church work out. But I was kept busy doing other things. On Tuesday a missionary at Milan came to visit to work on computer matters together – amongst other things, the two of us have taken over the running of the site of the Italian version of Operation World at http://www.owitalia.org/. At the same time a friend from church came to visit Pinuccia to get some sewing work done, whilst another friend was staying a few nights whilst visiting Trento looking for work. Then on Friday I went with the band to Verona for the Carnevale parade there, where there were 93 groups between floats, bands, dancers, etc. It was about 5 kilometres through the streets of Verona, getting glances at the famous monuments whilst concentrating on trying to play, march and avoid children throwing confetti at the same time, and it took almost three hours (after having started out two hours after the first group) because we had to wait for all the other groups in front of us. We ended up going through our whole repertoire more than three times!
Pinuccia on the other hand had all her commitments come up at the same time, having to prepare and lead the study for the women on Friday and the youth on Saturday. The idea was that I would come back from Verona by train (instead of with the band on the bus) so she could go to the women’s meeting without Stefania, but with the long march at Verona I couldn’t get back in time. So Pinuccia took Stefania with her, which wasn’t a problem for Stefania, but she was a distraction in the meeting. We realised later that gone are the times when she will sit calmly with someone; now that she is walking everywhere, she is too curious to stay in one place and wants to check everything out. The last time she will take her, Pinuccia promised! At least for another 15 or so years… But I am enjoying this new phase in Stefania’s life, maybe even more than before, with more independence and even the beginnings of a two way relationship.