10 Posts

When I make it to 10 posts, I can join this community of expat blogs that might boost my readership. The problem is I can't even complete one post (read the previous blog).

Anyways. Anyways isn't actually a word, but I use it all the time with full knowledge that it doesn't really "exist." Funny way of thinking about it.

Anyways. Last night my friend Jordan returned from his trip to Florida with his girlfriend. I had never met her before, and it was interesting. She didn't speak much English, so I was forced to speak in Italian. I complain a lot that my Italian isn't improving as fast as I'd like it to, but this is really my problem because I never speak it except to order food or to tell the people at the front desk of where ever I'm teaching who I'm there to see. With my roommates I speak English, but will say certain things in Italian, which sorta restricts me to just what I already know. At first, with Jordan's girlfriend (whose name I have shamefully forgotten) I was extremely timid. After we all ate dinner and went out for a crepe, though, I started babbling in Italian to her. Babbling. What an unappreciated art that is! To be able to babble, one must first have demonstrated some profficiency. I was drunk on my own words. I kept speaking and speaking about everything that came to mind. Granted, some of it I had a lot of difficulty with, but for the most part I got my point across.

The night before that, as I was walking down the street, past the park, I heard a couple of Americans conversing at the bar. Americans? In Marino? I thought me and Jordan were the only Americans here. Furthermore, they weren't just speaking English, they were speaking it with a thick southern accent. Che cos'è questo? So I sat down with them and started talking to them. One was from Knoxville, Tennessee, the other from Florida, I think Miami. They were on their Peace Corps mission in an African country I'd never even heard of, near Burkina Faso on the west coast. Ian, the guy from Tennessee, was visiting his step-father's sister, who lives in Grotta Ferrata, and Jesse was just looking for a nice vacation. I took them out and showed them around Marino, finding several places I never even knew existed, since I restrict myself a good deal to my living room. Last night I introduced them to Jordan and his girlfriend. Jordan took us up to the top of his house (which used to be the Pope's library) and we drank a beer while watching the lights of Rome twinkle in the distance. The night was a lot of fun. I don't meet many Americans where I live, so it was different, and for a moment I felt like I had myself a community here, even though Ian and Jesse leave tomorrow morning and are spending the night at the airport.

Today I made phone calls to several companies to try to find more work for August. I will be meeting up with one of the guys on Wednesday to see about becoming a dreaded tour guide. I have mixed feelings about it, but my lessons in August are scarce.

I think I need about 3 more posts before I reach the minimum 10 requirement for this network. I think i can pull something out.