No Italiano

I have this problem where I always make eye contact with people in the street. In LA I accidentally made a lot of homeless friends. Here I've accidentally made friends with the Indian man near my post office, he sells cigarettes, umbrellas, etc to the people in the cars stopped at his traffic light. Also my neighbors, the guards at the gate to the Iraqi embassy. Robert, the Italian security guard at the US embassy. He said I only need to come there if I have emergencies or legal problems but I should feel free to come visit him anytime. And lastly, a waiter at a restaurant near the Pantheon. I was walking by last night and he stopped me to ask if my name was Jenny. He took my pause as an opportunity to greet me with the traditional kisses. Sly guy. It's just not in my nature to stare at the ground looking angry (as I was once advised to do in order to avoid making all my friends) so I guess I'll just make friends and claim "No Italiano" when it gets too awkward.

Speaking of, "No Italiano" are probably the Italian words I've learned best so far. I made it to a church this past Sunday. Finally! To my pleasant surprise there was a lady, Tonia, who speaks English very well and sat next to me to translate. Come to find out, she and her husband, Vittorio, have a daughter at Harding and they spent the spring 2011 semester there. (I even attended some meeting they held about participating in Avanti Italia. To be honest I heard there was going to be authentic tiramisu. There was and it was fantastic. So needless to say, I didn't exactly remember Tonia but luckily she didn't remember me either. But that tiramisu...) 

So since Tonia knows English so well she volunteered to give me Italian lessons! I had my first one Monday. It's going to be slow since we're only meeting on Mondays and I'll be out of town for the next two. Not to mention she's not a real teacher so she doesn't have a curriculum or anything. Our first lesson was mostly the alphabet and me asking her words or phrases I've heard frequently. I think I'm going to start bringing some of the kids books and maybe we'll work with those as our textbooks :) In addition, I might have to enroll in an Italian course at one of the local colleges for visa purposes. So in a way I'll be eating my words from all those times I said, "I will never have to go to class again!" Dad, you called it.

I spent one afternoon wandering (lost) and stumbled upon a kebab place. Similar to a Greek gyro, wonderful and delicious and CHEAP and our HUF group loved them when we came to Rome three years ago. But I forgot how difficult they are to eat. It's in kind of a pita pocket but they fill it past its capacity so...difficult. I'm glad I was by myself while simultaneously feeling sorry for the other people in the shop. 12 (I counted) tiny, non-absorbent napkins later, I finished. It was so good I didn't even care how disgusting I probably looked eating it. You're welcome for the mental picture.

And the snow. Last Friday Rome got a few inches of snow. The kids didn't have school Friday, Monday or Tuesday. Tons of places were closed, everybody put chains on their tires, buses and trains didn't run, our internet went out for a little bit, TONS of tree limbs fell. On my street one tree even tipped over, roots and all, it just tipped over. Our street kind  of looks like a war-zone from all the broken glass, crumbling walls, smashed cars and downed limbs. I have never seen any place so unprepared for snowy weather. Even the trees were unprepared! I mean the US south doesn't really know what to do either but at least they still function. This was crazy. Every time I went out I just laughed. Literally. I would walk down the street in shock and disbelief, laughing.

Which also reminds me that I got my first gelato this time around. I made a special trip to Giolitti's (famous) near the Pantheon. I got a small cup for 2.50 euros with a scoop of cannella, niccola, and cioccolata (my go-to choices of hazelnut and chocolate with a special treat of cinnamon because Giolitti's has the best) with whipped cream on top. I told Jenny that everyone I passed on the street probably thought I was making love eyes at them because I couldn't stop smiling and it's possible I was giggling a little. I can't help it. I love ice cream.