scenes from an italian restaurant : Parli Inglese?

Now that classes have started, I'm beginning to feel like I actually live in Italy. Claudio does not meet with us every day anymore, and we are left to find our own way around Verona as well as feed ourselves.

Yesterday started with Italian 101. I am in a class with eleven other U of I students, and none of us have ever taken Italian before. Our insegnante, Elena, does not speak English, which makes for an interesting combination of hand gestures and drawings when trying to explain things. However, I think that this is actually a great way to learn the language, as I am forced to leave English behind and become fully immersed in Italian.

Italian class is from 9:00-1:15 every morning (or 9:00-13.15 because this whole town is on military time), and after just two days of that I am already feeling more confident about communicating with people throughout the city (see below for my interaction with my landlord).

After Italian yesterday I did not have any other classes, so I ran some errands around the city - which included stopping for gelato. The fact that I am already able to "run errands" already is so exciting, because I think that means I feel comfortable here.

My roommates and I all made dinner together, which was so much fun! Pesto cavatappi with cherry tomatoes, bread dipped in oil and parmesan (which is not an Italian dish at all, but rather just served at American Italian restaurants) and red wine. So much fun!

Later that night Kristin and Chelsea invited everyone to their apartment and a big group of us all met up there. Cecille, Lisa (two of my roommates) and I got so lost trying to get to the apartment. Later on the whole group of us tried to go out to a bar and again got terribly lost. This is something that would normally frustrate and scare me, but this place is teaching me to go with the flow and not worry so much. ( I never actually made it to the bar because we walked so much in the search for it that a few of us got tired and decided to go back home. Again, look at me just going with the flow here).

Today after Italian class our university threw us a small welcome party at a restaurant near the school. We had snacks and a drink called a Spritz, which is very common in northern Italy. The drink has white wine, orange liqueur, sparkling water and is served with an orange slice - and is delicious! It was so nice to feel welcomed by the staff here!

Three hours of photography followed and was a simple introductory lesson today, but I am excited for the days when we will get to venture out into Verona with our teacher and take some pictures (who thankfully speaks English).

After class my roommates and I braved the grocery store for the first time. It was a bit overwhelming (especially with trying to remember that prices are euros, not dollars!) but we didn't run into much of a problem until we got to the deli counter. I'm used to buying meat in pounds, not grams, and had no idea how much to get. I am getting very good at asking parli inglese? More often than not people say no, but the lady at the deli counter was so nice and didn't mind helping us as we pointed to what we wanted and she slowly sliced our meat until we gave her a thumbs up.

Tonight my roommate Cecille and I realized the light in our room was out, so I googled how to say "a light broke" and went and knocked on our landlord's door. She is this tiny little Italian woman who is old enough to be my grandmother. She brought her husband over, and one shattered light bulb and two blown fuses later we now have a bare bulb hanging from our ceiling.

As she left our apartment I said "Buona sera" which I thought meant goodnight. However, she turned around and shook her head saying, "Buona notte!" telling me that what I said should be used in the afternoon and buona notte is for going to sleep. It amazes me how even though we don't speak Italian and they don't speak English we were still able to communicate effectively.

There is a lot more connecting all of us than we think.

I am so exhausted from the non-stop days that we have been having and am really looking forward to staying in and relaxing with my roommates tonight.

Here are some pictures of our apartment!