...we were hit by this strong burning wind.

Italia not Africa

Ciao a tutti,

So, I think the worst thing ever has just happened to us, but then by the grace of God we avoided it. Sunday night this huge burning african wind blew in to Palermo. It was so bad because it just dried up everything. Moisture didn't exist. I was doing exchanges with another Anziano and we were trapped on a bus around lunch time which means that it was packed. It was already hot, then we got on a bus packed with people that also never use deodorant, and there was not A/C. When we arrived at the station we were soaked from head to toe. Walking home, which is only like a 2 minute walk from the central station, we were hit by this strong burning wind. As we reached the door of our building we noticed that we were completly dry.

Also with this wind it seemed to bring with it a lot of sand. You could feel the sand in the air. Then to make things worse our building decided to loose all power, and water around lunch time. So, that night we find ourselves in a pickel. We can't open the doors because the wind is still hot, it didn't cool down anything at all, sandy, and blew everything around. On the other hand we had no fans, and no water. It was impossible to keep cool. I fortunatly have a hammock, and think that it would be rather nice on the balconey that night. I was very wrong. I couldn't sleep because of the heat, and all of our loud neighbors. So, I go to my bed for about 10 minutes and realize that was hotter. So, I go out in the hall to find two missionaries just sleeping in the hallway with nothing but their pillows. I decide to do the same, but in the end even our tile floor was just hot. I didn't get any sleep.

The good thing was that we went to Trapani the next day for a zone bust. It was really fun, and we taught a lot of people. Although, our best referrals were for Switzerland and another city here. That night we got to sleep with 10 missionaries on 4 mattresses. Needless to say I choose the tile floor again for another wonderful nights sleep. The cool thing was the next day we went to this city that is up on this mountain near Trapani(it's called Erice(er-E-che)). The cool thing about this city is it's so high that you are walking through clouds. It was really cool, and very cold. There was a cool wind blowing constantly. I didn't want to leave. It was so nice. So, the pictures are of the castle there, then of me, and then some missionaries playing a little joke.

I hope ya'll enjoy. I love you all. Oh, and don't worry. Our power and water are all back on. So we are doing well now. Ciao.


con affetto,

Anziano Paul