I've been busy telling you all (and maybe boring you) with all the various things we've been doing every day so I thought I would change it up a bit. One of the things that helps me get most out of my experience here it to really try and interact with the local people. However being a little bit of an introvert this doesn't come easy. So to follow Rick Steves advice, you need to become more of an extrovert. In a foreign country. Using a foreign language. Gee thanks Rick!

When Beth and I brought the kids on our own European Vacation in 2011 I came away with a thought. Perhaps if I knew some of the local language I could better interact with the local folks, you know... order food ...... order drinks........ maybe one more round. Also being able to ask for information or whatever would be good too. So when we got back I decided to sign up for a beginner Italian night class at UVIC. How hard can it be to learn a new language anyways? Being a complete Anglophile, who only took maybe the most basic French in high school (Grade 9) I clearly had no idea what I was getting into. What do you mean that a word must have a gender? A chair is feminine and a table is masculine? What's with that? I recall learning some basic grammar early on, the teacher said that we were going to cover "definite articles" in Italian. OK ......... so what is a definite article in English first? Oh, its' "the". Well how hard can that be? Turns out there's 6 ways to say "the" in Italian. I plodded through and was a little surprised when I found that I was actually starting to enjoy it. The teacher made it fun and low stress, played funny YouTube videos, and on the last class we had a little party with Italian food and snacks (and yes, some wine too). So I signed up for the next one. Before you knew it I had memorized all the "the's" and other stuff too (like conjugating nouns, personal pronouns, past tense) and was boring Beth with all my new words.

I have a whole new respect for immigrants who move to Canada and must learn a new language. I was speaking with a prinicipal at one of the schools about the new Syrian kids who recently came to Victoria, in particular about what their experience is like learning a new language. It turns out the kids pick it up pretty quick. They immerse themselves with the other kids, are open minded, and I think most importantly don't worry if they make a mistake. They pick up English way faster than their parents. So that's it! I have to think of myself as a kid learning a knew language, and not always try to get it right every time. It's impossible to sit and home and read Italian Language for Dummies and then step outside and be perfectly bi-lingual. Ain't gonna happen. So I stepped out of my comfort zone even further and since then have had Skype lessons with Fabiana in San Diego, attended classes at the Italian Cultural Centre in Victoria, and now have found a fabulous tutor in Novella, a bright young woman from Sicily whom is attending UVIC. It's a process that's for sure.

So now here I am back in Italy, but this time with some basic knowledge of the language. A lot of the people in the service industries figure out pretty quickly that you're not Italian and they switch to English right away. But I've noticed they appreciate it when you answer back with a little Italian. Some of the folks who know absolutely no English (which is what I prefer) seem even more appreciative and a little relieved, It's fun when you catch them looking back at you and thinking ...what? This guys knows some Italian? Breaks down the barriers.

Today we had a fun experience for lunch. We were starving and grabbed an outside table for 4. An older heavy-set Italian woman charged over, flopped one menu down on the table, started jabbering to us in Italian (which I caught part of), seemed to suggest that a large salad and 2 pastas (one with meat and one without is what I at least managed to determine) is what we should be eating and then charged back into the kitchen with the menu in hand. We hadn't even perused it. We sat there in shock and then thought, what the heck let's see what happens. Well, shortly after a large salad showed up the fresh tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, etc. Next came 2 plates of steaming pasta, sure enough one with a meat sauce and one just pomodoro. And to top it off a big plate of garlic toast. I think in Italy momma knows best. She was a cranky character but warmed up when we reported the lunch was molto buono!

So we have popped into small shops and spoke with local artisans, bakers, shopkeepers, you name it and have come away with a much more enriching and fun experience being able to chat and find out more about them, the product the proudly make, and the country they all seem to love - Italy!