As the work goes forward from time to time it is necessary to close one apartment and open another. The missionaries assigned to work in the Ostia area, a sea-coast city some 35km south or Rome, were living in an apartment near the Vatican. They were traveling to and from their work area by train and bus which used up over 2 hours per day.
In Italy, when you rent a place you have a choice of ammobiliato (fully furnished - which we normally do not do), or non-ammobiliato (completely empty) – possibly no kitchen cabinets, sink, appliances, etc.
An apartment was found in a more convenient location, only a 10 minute ride to their work area. This new apartment had been just restored (cleaned, painted, etc.) but had no light fixtures - just live wires dangling from the ceiling in each room. The kitchen was an empty room with pipe stub-outs for gas, water and a vent pipe for an exhaust fan.
We acquired the necessary fixtures, appliances, kitchen sink and cabinets and went to work. The results are shown below.
It was an enjoyable process and the Anziani learned much about what it takes to set up a new apartment. Hopefully they can draw upon their newly acquired skills when they have homes of their own someday. A more immediate benefit might be the enhancing of their respect for their present living quarters.
