Meredith Gramley spent the summer before her high school senior year living in Vasto, Italy where she worked as an English teacher at a day camp.

Meredith shared her summer experience in Vasto, Italy with the Brundidge Rotarians at their Wednesday meeting. She told them that a street in Vasto was named in memory of Paul Harris, the founder of Rotary, and that a Rotary display was prominent in the town.

Meredith didn’t have the opportunity to attend a meeting of the Vasto Rotary Club but plans to do so the next time she’s in Vasto. And there will be a next time.

The 2015 summer experience was not Meredith’s first time in Italy. She had traveled to Italy for four previous summers spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through song and word with One Voice at mission group of First Baptist Church of Troy.

But this summer was different; Meredith was in Vasto living in a room that was part of the school where she taught English to Italian children.

The opportunity for the “teaching” job was made available through a friendship she had developed while on mission trips to Italy with One Voice.

“I lived with a friend in the town square and, because we were in town, we made a lot of friends and were able to build relationships with the Italian people,” Meredith said. “I didn’t speak Italian and the children didn’t speak English so teaching them was not easy.

My friend, Kaylee and I used pictures, body language and a lot of facial expressions in teaching them English. It was hard to communicate, but we got better during the summer.”

Meredith, laughingly, said she taught the children to say, “y’all,” and cooked them pancakes and fried chicken.

There is now a group of Italian children that speak English with a Southern accent.

Being a long way from home and among non-English speaking people was an adjustment Meredith made rather easily. However, she was happy and excited to travel to Venice in mid-summer to meet with One Voice friends from home.

Seeing those familiar faces was like being back home – almost.

“I spent time with them in Venice, and then they came back to Vasto for a short time,” Meredith said. “It was good to see them. I was very happy in Vasto, but many things were different. One thing I missed was drive-thru restaurants. We spent a lot of time in the grocery store.”

Meredith said she and her friend spent a lot of time shopping and got to know the shopkeepers rather well. By summer’s end, they could carry on a conversation with the storekeepers “in English.”

For Meredith, the summer in Vasto was very rewarding, and she looks forward to going back next summer. Until then, she will enjoy her senior year at Charles Henderson High School and begin making plans to attend Troy University in the fall. She plans to major in business while maintaining the friendships she has made in Vasto.