Recent trip to Italy

One of my dreams since childhood has been to visit the Waldensian valley. Maybe because I trace my religious roots and ideals back to this amazing people group who despite being hunted like dogs, brutally massacred, and forced into mountain retreats maintained freedom of conscious during the dark ages.

I finally had the opportunity to visit Torre Pellice this last August with my traveling buddy Heather.

Heather is pictured here (isn't she cute)!

We tagged the trip onto our mission trip to Albania (please see www.nelsonmissiontrips.blogspot.com for my Albanian adventures). We left for Turin on Sunday, Aug 23rd (day before Eric's birthday :/) and arrived in Torino on Monday Aug 24. Getting from Torino to Torre Pellice was quite an adventure. We were both hauling two 50lb suitcases filled with supplies for Albania. I was also 6 weeks pregnant and feeling VERY nauseated. We don't speak ANY Italian and we somehow had to get from the airport, to the central Torino station and find a train to Torre Pellice. Apparently, no one in Italy speaks English so that made it all the more challenging.

Somehow we managed to get on a bus to which we were gestured (a made up word for someone speaking very loudly in Italian-people speak louder and louder when you obviously don't understand them-and waving their hands widely in the general direction of where we assumed they were telling us to go). We hoped it would take us to the town center and maybe a train station. The bus did drop us off in front of a station, and I ran in to buy tickets. By the time I stood in line for 30 minutes, figured out how to communicate where we were going, and bought tickets, we had 5 minutes to get all the way across the station to the track our train was to leave from. Easy enough except I weigh about 100 lbs and Heather weighs around 90 pounds and we were both dragging TWO 50 pound suitcases EACH! Somehow, we made it JUST before the train chugged away.

The captain came by to collect tickets about 10 min into our ride. Somehow, in our rush to get on the train, I forgot to validate the ticket. The captain gave a string of Italian expletives I blissfully didn't understand before handing the tickets back and (I guess) gesturing we could stay on the train. We had to change trains in Pinerolo and thus got off the train as soon as we arrived in this city. Thankfully, the captain saw us getting off and ran over gesturing widely. He shoved our bags back on the train, and we figured we better get back on. Unknown to us, there are two stations and we had gotten off at the wrong one. The next stop was our station, we dragged our bags up another long ramp to our waiting train. This train was direct to Torre Pellice. Ahhhh, we breathed a sigh of relief and many prayers of thankfulness that God had helped us despite ourselves.

In Torre Pellice, we were met by Danielle Seban. She is a friend of my aunt's and lives in an apartment only "5 minutes from the station." Five minutes turned into a 15 minute climb up, up, up and up to her second floor apartment. She had a nice meal waiting and after devouring it, Heather and I collapsed into bed.

The next morning Danielle offered to take us on a hike to see most of the sites of historical significance. She said the hike would be most of the day, but didn't really tell me how long it would be (turns out it was about 16-17 miles up and down steep mountain roads). Below is both a topographical map and a pictoral map of the area we were hiking in.

Our first stop was about 2 km up. The first Waldensian church building (built in the 17th century). The government had not allowed them to meet openly before this time and they often met in caves and fields (more on this later). This building was still only grudgingly permitted--and they were not allowed to build it in the valley as the government didn't want those not of the Waldensian faith to be "contaminated." It is a very simple building and eloquently represents the simple religion the Waldensian's promoted.

Our next stop brought us to a Waldensian village (see sign below):
Back in the 15th and 16th centuries, this village was repeatedly sacked, burned, and the inhabitants murdered and forced out. What was the crime: reading and following the Bible. They were not anarchist, they were freedom lovers and allowed others with different beliefs to co-inhabit their valleys. However, because they refused to worship in line with the prevailing religion, they were hunted, massacred, burned, hung, tortured, and forced to eek out an existence in the rocks and mountains of the earth. I don't have a great picture of the village, but I have a wonderful picture of the toilet I used...Another 2-3 km of almost straight up brought us to a famous Waldensian cave, where the Waldensian's used to meet and worship. Each person would use a different route to get to the cave so they could remain undetected. In this cave, they would sing praises to God and comfort one another with the hope of Heaven and life beyond the grave. Danielle is the lady in front of the cave. I don't have any good pictures of inside the cave because it was so dark and my camera isn't good at taking dark pictures.
Our next stop was a small Waldensian school. This school dates back to the 18th and 19th centuries. Education was very important to the Waldensian's, however, it wasn't until the late 19th century that they were allowed to obtain higher education in Italian schools. Before this they were banned from entering Italian schools.


This school is maintained as a museum by a wonderful Waldensian man. He had as pick some food in his garden. His garden is terraced right in the mountain. Below are some pictures of his garden and the view from his garden.


By this time in our journey, I was getting pretty tired (remember, I'm 6 weeks pregnant...) and did not think I could hike even one more step. I started praying that we would get a ride as the next stop was at least 6 km up, up, up and up to the Pra Del Tor. Thankfully, God heard my pleas for help and sent an angel (actually a Waldensian woman on her way up to the Pra Del Tor). She gave us a ride up and all the way back for free.

The Pra Del Tor is way up a steep ascent. You cannot appreciate how steep it is from these pictures. This church is built right next to a steep gorge that drops almost straight down for hundreds of feet.


After a quick picnic, we hiked another steep clamber up the mountain (no road) to the College of the Barbs where the Waldensian men would be trained as pastors. They had only one textbook, the Bible, and would spend three years studying it. They were required to memorize 3 books in order to graduate. The rooms were unheated and bare (a fire could be seen and would detect attention of the authorities). They often slept with animals in order to keep warm at night.


The kind lady who gave us a ride up offered to show us inside a Waldensian church before we left. Again, I was impressed with the simple beauty.


Thus ended our day of adventure. We hiked around 6 of the 16 miles (all up hill might I add). By the time we got back to the apartment, I was so sick I couldn't eat supper and went straight to bed. It was worth it, however!

The next day was a lot more laid back, we wondered around the town, slept, and toured the local Waldensian museum. Here's a picture of me relaxing on a local bench.


The first picture from the museum is purgatory, a doctrine the Waldensian's strongly abhored but that was taught by the prevailing religious system at that time. Just looking at the picture makes me depressed. The next picture is a mock up of a barb studying. The last picture is a new friend Heather made (a women in the traditional Waldensian dress).


Thus ended our two day stent in Torre Pellice. I could have stayed a month, there were so many other things we could have seen!!

Thursday morning we took the train from Torre Pellice to Munich, Germany. It wasn't one direct train, unfortunately, so we had to drag our bags across three different train stations. One of the stations was a bit humerus.

Thursday morning we dragged all our suitcases about half a mile down to the train station at 6 am. We were trying to catch a train to Torino where we would change trains to get to Munich.
The lady we stayed with (Danielle) helped by carrying one of them. Before we left, she told us that the train station we were arriving at in Torino was 5 miles from the station our train to Munich would leave from. I didn't really want to walk 5 miles carrying those suitcases. Some helpful soul told us that there was a subway in front of the station that would take us to the next train station. So we got to the first station in Torino and started looking for the subway station. This meant we had to drag our stuicases DOWN a flight of stairs and then UP another flight of stairs to reach the front of the station. At the front, I did not see ANY signs for a subway station so I showed a guy the name of the station we were trying to get to. He gestured widely and pointed up to a schedule screen all the while speaking very loudly in Italian (people speak loudly when they know you don't understand, maybe they think volume helps comprehension?) I looked up at the computer schedule and realized that a train was coming on track 4 (where our train had come from) that was going to the next station So we went BACK down the stairs and back UP the stairs on the other side, yeah.... these were LONG stairs. Just as we got to the top they made an announcement in Italian that the train had moved tracks. Of course, we didn't understand the announcement so we stood waiting for the train and a train finally arrived. As we were about to get on, I showed the name of the station to a lady standing by (just double checking). She shook her head and rattled off in Italian. Since we didn't understand and were planning to board anyway, she actually grabbed my hand and pushed us off. So, we didn't get on the wrong train but we didn't know where the right train was! At this point, I was really praying. I went back inside the station and finally found someone who spoke English. She helped my buy tickets all the way to Munich (so I didn't have to do it at the next station like I thought) and also pointed out the right track. I got outside back to track 4 just as the train for track 1 started coming in. These trains stay for only 30 seconds and track 1 was a stair down and a stairway up away! Heather and I booked it and we made it down and up just before the train left. I was thankful that God helped us because it turns out that there is not a subway station and that if we had gone looking for the subway station we would have been looking a long time... language barriers are painful. The rest of the trip happened without too much mishap, except for a few more stairs...

Here's a picture of a train (not ours) and me waiting for the train with all of our stuff...
After a night in Munich, we headed for Albania. See my other blog for details. A couple of interesting stories however are included below.
Mr. Spider
Sabbath morning I got up to take a shower. I went into the bathroom and started my shower. The shower had no sides but a hand held handle so that you could keep the water from going everywhere. I was just getting ready to wash my hair when from the drain a HUGE spider emerged (probably 4 inches by 4 inches at least without exageration). I started spraying it with the water, and it proceded to run at my toes. I jumped out of the tub and continued to spray it and it tried crawling out of the tub (sides only 3 inch high) after me. I still had the water in my hand and it started spraying all over the room. I was scared to turn it off because I would have to step into the shower next to Mr. Spider. Since the spider kept trying to chase me I started to scream!!! I didn't want to step on it because I was wearing flip flops and the spider was 4 inches at least, maybe more. It was the biggest spider I have ever seen Heather heard me screaming and came to the bathroom door. She had not seen the spider and was laughing at me from outside the door yelling at me to step on it. When she came in she almost screamed too and said "Do not step on it, it is too big!" Hah, I could have told her that... She went out and got a big box and somehow trapped the spider in the box and took it outside. Eric still asks me why I didn't get pictures of the spider. However, you have to realize this was an emergency, I still had the water, was naked, and the bathroom was completely soaked by the time Mr. Spider was dealt with appropriately.

The Bible:
Sabbath morning we attended the local SDA Albanian church. There a woman showed us her mother's Bible. This Bible survived 50 years of communism without being discovered! Her mother read it over 60 times, and actually translated almost the entire Bible into Albanian to share with her friends! Quite an amazing Bible. Below is a picture of this Bible.


Thus concludes my tail of adventure. Hope you enjoyed it!
Rachel

Just in case you are wondering what life is like after residency. Here's a video our program director took of me at work!



Below is a picture of the incoming class. I'm in the green shirt. Behind me is my co-chief, Ryan. Sorry about the goofy glasses I'm wearing. It was really hot and bright outside.



-Rachel

I'm FINISHED and am now a "pediatrician!"

Yeah for the graduate, Hurrah, hurray! Thanks to my families for their support, prayers, sweat, and tears! Yes, I'm FINISHED with residency!!!!!!!!

Love,
Rachel

Backpacking Adventure

Some of you may know that I have been away "playing" for the last few weeks while Eric slaves away at work. I do miss him terribly, however.

I spent the first week attending a Chief Conference to help me be a good chief next year. That weekend I spent at Advent HOPE with Aunt Dena, Uncle George, and new house. I was so happy/glad/excited to see med school friends the Vegas and the Shives. I also enjoyed a quick visit with Grandpa and Grandma Nelson (pictured below).

Aunt Dena took me to Epcot center on Sunday. Very interesting and lots of fun. I enjoyed the various exhibits of the different countries the best.

The next week I spent with my mom/grandparents Sherrard/and sister Ruthie. We got Ruthie all packed up to go to Ukraine. She left that Thursday. I was thankful I could be there to comfort my mom...

That weekend I went on an epic backpacking trip with Kristy (sister-in-law) and Mom and Dad Nelson. We hiked 25-26 miles of beautiful trail. Please see pics below for a shot vignette of each day.

Kristina Nelson, FNP was our fearless leader for this trip. At 6' she fit the part very well. Not only is she tall, but she is in GREAT shape having just finished a backpacking trip in Virginia where she hiked 15-20 miles/day. She did try and remember that we (mom/dad/myself) were definitely not in the shape she was in. She literally hiked circles around all of us the entire time (run up the trail, wait 20-30 minutes, run back down the trail and make sure we were OK, run back up the trail with mom Nelson's pack, wait some more, etc).

By the way, Kristy, I was so impressed with you that I've started running to try and get in shape too!

Sidekick to Kristy was the dog, Lewa--some sort of German Shephard mutt. She's actually Dorinda's dog (Kristy's roommate). The dog carried her own food/dish in a little pack that fit very nicely on her back.

The the rest of the crew consisted of me, mom, and dad Nelson. Three beautiful but completely out of shape/breath/energy musketeers.

Below is a great picture of mom and dad (this is on the last day of the trip, don't they look great!)

The picture below is me midway into the second day. By the way, that is a VERY pasted smile!

Our first day consisted of about 4 miles and 7 river crossings (the kind you take your shoes off and wade) to the top Panther Creek Falls. It really should have been named "Panter" Creek falls because to get to the falls you have to hike straight up the mountain side of a cliff. It was beautiful, but I was so hypoxic I didn't really appreciate it until looking at pictures later...

There was a nice campground just above the falls where we camped the first night. A funny story at that campground. I woke up Sabbath morning and wanted to take a quick bath. I didn't have my contacts in because I thought I'd wash my face and didn't want to get them dirty. I went to a spot in the river where I couldn't be seen by our camp. I took a quick back (in the nude) and scurried back to camp to put in my contacts/brush my hair (I'm not sure why I bothered doing that...). Imagine my horror to notice AFTER I put my contacts in that I had chosen to bathe right next to another campsite with a group of 5-6 campers! OOPS. Thankfully, I think they were all sleeping and didn't see me.

Below is an attempt to show the steepness of the trail by a top shot of the Panther Creek water fall.

Our "Sabbath day's journey" was an 8 mile hike that started steeply up. I thought our hike yesterday would surely put us well above the top of the mountain but apparently North Georgia Mts are higher than I thought. Kristy bounced ahead with the dog, occasionally running back to carry mom's pack/make sure we were all right/etc. I plodded along, trying to figure out how fast my breathing would have to become before I became hypocarbic and passed out. We finally crested the mountains and started back down. It was then I discovered back-packing rule # 1: what goes up MUST come down. Screaming in defiance, my rectus femoris, vastas lateralis and vastis medialis let me know in no uncertain terms that going up doesn't hurt as much as going down... Four more downhill miles later and a major river crossing later, we finally limped into the Jacks river basin. Not satisfied with the campgrounds, however, we hiked another 3/4 mile along the river to a more secluded spot. Along the way, we passed the beautiful Jack River Falls. I actually paused to adequately appreciate them, but don't have a great picture. On camp arrival, we all took a quick bath in the river (this time I had a swimsuit) before supper and Sabbath church/worship.

Below is a picture in contrasts: I'm all bundled up trying to get warm after my swim. Still hot and panting, dad is only in his swimsuit trying to get cool.

Sunday morning came all too quickly. After a scuffle about who would carry food (Kristy was determined to carry it all and I wanted to be strong and carry the share I'd carried yesterday) we were off. River crossings were in abundance on Sunday's hike. We had our deepest about 1-2 miles into our hike. The water came nearly to my waist, and the current nearly swept me off my feet several times. If I wasn't so mad that Kristy was in so much better shape, I might have asked her to carry my pack across... but I decided to risk a baptism than give in and ask for help.

The day was pretty much up and down and up and down and up and up and up and down. Eight miles later with still 2 miles to go, I was exhausted and afraid I'd not be able to do even one more step. Something had to be done. That's when I came up with the ingenious idea of a reward system. Every 15 minutes, I'd do something to congratulate myself for still hiking. Since I was pretty much hiking alone (I was a little faster than mom/dad Nelson and a LOT slower than Kristy) I figured no one would mind. My first reward consisted of screaming and hollering "well done RACHEL, I KNEW you could do it, GOOD job, KEEP IT UP!!" Unfortunately, Dad Nelson heard me carrying on and thought I was in serious danger and yelling for help. After clearing that little misconception up, I decided on a more tamer reward. My next reward was stopping to straighten my back. I bet you didn't know what a great reward just standing up straight can be. Trying carrying 30-40 pounds on your back up and down a couple of Georgia mountains and you'll understand. My third reward came a little earlier than 15 minutes. I wasn't watching the trail very well and managed to step into a mud wallow. My shoes sank down completely and I had mud all the way up to my shins. Gross. So, the third reward consisted of finding a stream and standing in it until the mud was cleared off of my shoes. Hiking the rest of the way in wet shoes wasn't comfortable, but getting that gross mud off was totally worth it. Amazingly the reward system really helped me pick up the pace and I cleared the remaining 2 miles in only three reward sessions! The 4th reward was getting to camp and setting up (after taking another dip in the river).

Mom taking a wash in the river:

Kristy's and my little tent:

Just hanging out cooking breakfast Monday morning. Well, to be more accurate, I was hanging out and KRISTY was making breakfast...

Our last day was the easiest. We were doing a loop and thanks to Sunday's 10 mile day, we had only 2 miles left on Monday morning. Of course, that's not enough for one day, so Kristy and I figured out a few extra excursions off the trail to make sure we got sufficient exercise. Even with that, we still finished the day's hike in about 2 1/2 hours, which is pretty good considering it was ALL up hill and our excursion took over an hour and we stopped several times for pictures (see below).

Kristy and me

Mom, Dad, and Kristy

Cute picture of Kristy at trails end.

Below is a map of the Cohutta Wilderness where we did our backpacking loop.

All in all, I had a grand time despite the aches and pains. The seclusion, lack of cell phones, sunshine, daily cold baths in the river, cool air, and exercise made me feel great. In fact, I cannot remember feeling this healthy in a long, long time. Thanks Kristy for all you did to make this a wonderful trip. Thanks for planning the route, food, gear, and everything else. I had a grand time!

We drove back to my mom's house for a post-hike dinner that afternoon. My grandfather (grandparent's live with my mom) remarked that all of us were "barely creeping around" except for Kristy, who was "bouncing everywhere" (I hope no one can tell that I'm jealous).

Monday night I drove to Greeneville with Mom and Dad Nelson. I've been hanging out here ever since and plan to drive up to Ohio to visit Grandma Mills and Aunt Linda this afternoon.

Maybe I'm becoming a masochist, but I'm already looking forward to another backpacking trip!

Heather's visit!

I don't know how many of you are still best friends with your 4th grade best friend but I am. Heather and I have been friends for 20 years. We first met over the phone when I was about 7 years old. We talked on the phone for over 3 years before we actually met each other. It was friends at first site. We are basically two peas in a pod (and people who see us together always ask if we are sisters). Anyhow, Heather is visiting this weekend and I'm so excited!

Well I'm talking about sisters, I just have to say I really like my little sister Ruthie. She is wonderful and we've become best friends over the last few years. I was so excited when she called me this last weekend (after not having talked with me in, ahem, several long, lonely weeks). I love you Ruthie and am really thankful for you!

Rachel

Long time, no updates... Sorry...

We've been busy. Here's a few highlights:

President's day in San Francisco with friends saw Arlen/Andrea (Rachel's cousins) and Uncle Ron and Aunt Debbie (Eric's side)

Scared my mom this weekend (funny story)

Eric and I decided to surprise my mom. We drove up Friday evening and arrived at my folks home around 7 pm (my dad knew we were coming). Rather than just ringing the doorbell, I talked Eric into boosting me up on the roof so I could knock on their second story window. Unknown to me, my mother was sitting in that very room talking to my little sister, Ruthie, on her cell phone. When she heard the knocking she literally "freaked out" and yelled for my dad to come as their was an intruder. She immediately hung the phone up (after telling my sister to pray for them). My dad knew it was me so he told my mom to run downstairs and see if she could see anyone out of the window. He thought maybe she'd see Eric. Unfortunately my mom looked out the window but didn't see anyone. She came racing up the stairs back into the room where my dad was opening the window to let me in. When she saw the open window she thought for sure the intruder had threatened my dad with a gun to force him to let him in. At that point she grabbed the phone and dialed 911 meanwhile planning how she would help my dad "fight to the end." Audibly (so the intruder would hear), she assured my dad that the police were being notified and would come shortly.  Just about then, my dad finally got the window open enough so I could pop my head in. My mom was so overcome she actually fell to the floor. After she semi recovered, we called my sister. Ruthie was hysterical when she answered the phone. She had gathered all the girls in her dorm to pray for my parents safety! I guess we gave her a quick answer to her prayers!

I guess I won't be trying to break into my parent's home when my dad isn't around...I might not survive the attempt!

Dear Friends,

Been a while since updating, but here is an update worth sharing. Three years after finishing medical school, Eric at last has a clear career path... Very thankful to God for opening up a categorical general surgery position at UC Davis. This allows Rachel to complete a chief year after residency. This is ideal from a variety of angles. From Rachel's perspective, she can complete research in the area of childhood obesity for which she has already successfully competed for a grant. From Eric's perspective, he gets to stay with a program he really likes which is one of the top surgery programs in the country. From both of their perspectives, they like Sacramento and have many friends here and nearby. So all in all we're very thankful, etc.

God bless,

Eric and Rachel