Classmates and Other* Stuff

EDIT:  Two more students joined the class this morning. We now have Collette from Australia and Angela from Portland, Oregon! A class of women!
Last week, Robbie from Australia was here. She is traveling around Italy and spent two weeks in class.  I miss her since she and hit it off well and went to lunch together almost every day.  She is in her middle forties but looks much younger.

There are three German girls in our class. Well, two, Janna and Barbara are college-age girls. Ingrid is in her late 30’s. Janna is a student physical therapist and was interested in knowing why I need a stick and what physical therapy I had done. Barbara is working as an au pair to a German family in Italy and is horrified that that the children she looks after don’t go to bed until ten or eleven at night. Ingrid is a mother, an artist and a photographer. Her Italian vocabulary is more extensive than mine.

Nels is Norwegian and is seventy. He has a hearing problem but doesn’t let it stop him doing anything he wants to. Today I found out that he skis in the winter and climbs mountains in the summer. {He was my partner at discussion time} He also takes great photographs.

Last week we also had Chuck and his wife Susan. They live in North Carolina and said they were both Americans–except Susan, like me, was born in England and lives in America. However, unlike me, she sounded American.

Then there is Clare who is from Ireland.  She, her three children and her husband all live in Lucca. They haven’t been here long. Her husband travels a lot and I think he is English from what she has said. I like her a lot.

And, then, of course, there is me… but you know all about me, right?

Our instructor is Daniela. She is in her middle 30’s, married with two sons. She speaks English quite well although we sedom hear it since all conversation in class has to be in Italian. She lives in Lucca with her family and quite close to her mother.

Next week, Nels and Ingrid will be gone leaving Janna, Barbara, Clare and me.

Total change of subject here…  A few days ago  in class when we were learning words to use when shopping, Daniela summed it up by saying there were four steps in shopping in Italy. First, the greeting–buongiorno, or buona sera etc. Then the customer asked for what was wanted using words like Vorrai,{I want…}  or Mi dica…I ask you… Next, the customer asks the price and pays, and finally, another exchange of greetings like Ciao or Arriverderci. The theory we students discussed before class {it had to be before class because we can only speak Italian in class and none of us except perhaps Ingrid have enough vocabulary to say all this!} is that perhaps most Americans and English are regarded as rude by Italians because they go straight to step two and omit the last step also! But what I have found is that if you try to speak their language, no matter how bad you are, Italians are delighted to help you.

Up until two days ago, the weather has been delightful–sunny and cool. But for the last few days it has been rainy and chilly. Still, I came prepared with clothes for two seasons. I am now wearing my sweaters and the rain-resistant windbreaker when I go out and, like the Italians I see in the streets, my umbrella is always with me. Yesterday in the rain I saw several bike riders with open umbrellas.

I am enjoying finding my way around the center of Lucca. I have my favorite places to eat and also a couple of places where I won’t go back! Yesterday I ate pesce e patate fritta {fish and chips}. The French fries were lovely — hot, crisp and salty {and probably very bad for me} but the fish part was a little odd. The actual fried  fish was good but there were also other things I didn’t expect. The shrimp were good but there was calamari {shudder} and some unidentifiable other thing that I nibbled at but didn’t like. But I will certainly go back for the patate fritta.

Another of my favorite places has a lovely selection of HUGE salads. I particularly like the Greek salad which has big chunks of feta cheese and big black olives. I have also become a fan of olive oil and balsamic vinegar with all sorts of different bread to dip into it. I tried wine with lunch once but even a half bottle which was about two glasses was a bit too much for me for the middle of the day.

I have no one to eat lunch with since Robbie from Australia left. The two German girls are nice but {to me anyway} very young. I would ask Clare but although two of her three children are in school all day, her kindergarten one is out at lunch time and she always leaves about ten minutes early to pick him up. But I don’t really mind eating alone. As usual. I always have a book with me. Oh, and did I mention I have found a bookstore that has a section of books in English? I bought some easy Italian books with me too–some that have the Italian on one page and the translation on the other. I also brought a couple of books in English to read because if I don’t read before sleeping, I don’t sleep. I have a science fiction trilogy I am reading now and I am finding it very engrossing. The books are by Lynn Flewelling and the first one is The Bone Doll’s Twin. I had never heard of Flewelling before but Amazon kept suggesting her based on the other books I had ordered from them. When I have finished these three, I will order the other trilogy she has written.

Ok, I am now off to explore Lucca some more and, if it doesn’t rain, to take more photographs.

More later…

QUOTATIONS:

"Step by step. I can’t think of any other way of accomplishing anything."

Michael Jordan

If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.

— David Viscott