La Mia Scuola
It’s true that I’m learning a little Italian in my beginner’s class, but what’s been most fun has been hanging with all the other students in the school, who are old and young and come from all over. My best new buddy is Wim, a tall, open-faced 50-something man from the Netherlands. He’s an interesting guy and we just love to laugh together. I’m also friendly with classmates Philip, a young engineer from Germany, Peter, a 40-ish hotel manager from Sweden, and Kathy, an age-alike teacher from Portland, Oregon. Mrs. W. and I are also friendly with two teenage girls from her class: Nil from Turkey and Carmen from Romania. Nil has a great spirit and is very attached to Mrs. W. (Go figure?) Nil, by the way, is named after that river that runs by Cairo (and I don’t mean the river town in Illinois).
For good or bad, English is the common language for this motley collection. I guess it is good. I nearly have the hang of, um — how we say in the country where I abide — the language of the people of the island nation of England. At 11 each morning, nearly the whole school, teachers and students, meets during la pausa (break) at the bar near the school for caffe. The conversation is lively. Also, we’ve had some school outings during the afternoons when we’ve had a chance to get to know each other.
Maybe it’s not so surprising that a bunch of people whose idea of a good time is studying a foreign language while on vacation might get along, but, again, I’ve been pleasantly surprised how much fun it has been to hang out with school mates. I’ve got to remember to bring my camera to school tomorrow or Friday (our last day in class!) and take pictures.
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