Allora oggi . . . well the second day of class was just as confusing and complicated as the first.  Navigating the streets of Siena seems like a walk in the park compared to learning Italian.  While I am on the topic of streets and navigation, on my first day of class my host family accompanied me to school so that I didn’t get lost and that I knew the shortcut from their home to the old city.  I was five years old again walking to school with an adult escort and my command of the Italian language is about that level, that of a five year old.

It dawned on me today while I was struggling to grasp what was being taught that it took me years to learn and become proficient in English.  Learning a new language is also teaching me appreciation, humility, and patience . . . okay maybe not patience.   Is it wrong to be envious of the Italian children who already know how to construct sentences in Italian?  It may be time for me to scale back my expectations of what I thought I could accomplish during my five-week immersion program.  At this point, a complete compound sentence with proper verb conjugation and appropriate articles would make me happy.  Restate sintonizzati . . .