By Janel Koval
As our bus pulled up to the city of Cagli, I had no idea what to expect. I was aware that language was going to be a barrier, but I had taken a bit of Italian in my undergrad classes and was hoping that being immersed in the language would bring some of my old knowledge back. Walking around the town, I made sure to always have a smile on my face and would attempt a "ciao" or "boungiorno" if it felt right. Unfortunately, those were the only two words I was confident I could pull off. Most interactions like this would elicit a similar response from those I encountered, and sometimes I would receive a wide smile or nothing at all in return.
As the days went by, and we sat through more lessons in Italian, I started to remember more and more. Slowly but surely, I would try and incorporate more in my greetings as an attempt to get to know the locals in Cagli. One day, I was walking to the grocery store and walked by a man and woman talking on the street. I smiled at them, but said nothing. The woman did not respond, but the man met my smile with one of his own. On the way back from the store, they were still there talking, and this time I said "Ciao." Again, the woman did not really respond, but the man, still with a giant smile on his face, gave me a slight nod. I walked up through the piazza with the other students, grabbed my key from my roommate and headed back down towards my apartment.
As I walked by the same spot where the man and woman had once occupied, I found it empty. I turned the corner towards my apartment and ran into the man. He was still beaming and offered me a "buonasera." I again greeted him with "ciao" but also added "Come stai?" This is where I made my mistake. He responded with "bene" and then asked the same to me. I was able to get out "va bene" but then he continued to speak quickly in Italian and I had to stop him with one of the only phrases I remembered from my Italian classes: "Mi dispiace, ma io parlo solo in englese, io non parlo in italiano."
Now, the man and I found ourselves at a crossroads, we had reached our limit of verbal communication with one another. The man then grabbed my hand, said something in Italian, which I was not able to understand and then with a giant smile, said "ciao." I see that same man almost every day in Cagli, and he still greets me with that welcoming smile every time he sees me!
As our bus pulled up to the city of Cagli, I had no idea what to expect. I was aware that language was going to be a barrier, but I had taken a bit of Italian in my undergrad classes and was hoping that being immersed in the language would bring some of my old knowledge back. Walking around the town, I made sure to always have a smile on my face and would attempt a "ciao" or "boungiorno" if it felt right. Unfortunately, those were the only two words I was confident I could pull off. Most interactions like this would elicit a similar response from those I encountered, and sometimes I would receive a wide smile or nothing at all in return.
As the days went by, and we sat through more lessons in Italian, I started to remember more and more. Slowly but surely, I would try and incorporate more in my greetings as an attempt to get to know the locals in Cagli. One day, I was walking to the grocery store and walked by a man and woman talking on the street. I smiled at them, but said nothing. The woman did not respond, but the man met my smile with one of his own. On the way back from the store, they were still there talking, and this time I said "Ciao." Again, the woman did not really respond, but the man, still with a giant smile on his face, gave me a slight nod. I walked up through the piazza with the other students, grabbed my key from my roommate and headed back down towards my apartment.
As I walked by the same spot where the man and woman had once occupied, I found it empty. I turned the corner towards my apartment and ran into the man. He was still beaming and offered me a "buonasera." I again greeted him with "ciao" but also added "Come stai?" This is where I made my mistake. He responded with "bene" and then asked the same to me. I was able to get out "va bene" but then he continued to speak quickly in Italian and I had to stop him with one of the only phrases I remembered from my Italian classes: "Mi dispiace, ma io parlo solo in englese, io non parlo in italiano."
Now, the man and I found ourselves at a crossroads, we had reached our limit of verbal communication with one another. The man then grabbed my hand, said something in Italian, which I was not able to understand and then with a giant smile, said "ciao." I see that same man almost every day in Cagli, and he still greets me with that welcoming smile every time he sees me!
No comments:
Post a Comment