Salve! Should I be worried that I have never taken a single course in Italian, let alone ever traveled to the country that I will be spending the next four months in? I must admit, that I envy my friends who are studying in the country they already have some formal language training in. Nevertheless, it will be an adventure in its own trying to communicate in a completely foreign tongue (at least, if I chose Spain instead of Italy I would have had some previous conversation experience!)...not to mention, everyone in Europe speaks English anyway. Funny how that is.

When traveling or just visiting a new place do you ever feel annoyed with yourself that you are quite obviously a tourist? It even bothers me when I am in Manhattan and I need to consult a map. Sometimes, I just desperately want to be considered a 'local' - like, ''I know what I'm doing and where I want to be!'' This is the only thing that will trouble me when I am getting aquainted with Milan. I so badly want to 'fit in' with the cool, savvy Milanese people.

Some words learned due to the help of a BEGINNER ITALIAN cd my sister's Italian teacher lent me:
good- buono (a)
morning- il mattino
day- il giorno
afternoon- il pomeriggio
evening- la sera
night- la notte
much/a lot- molto
until- a
domani- tomorrow
later- piu tarde
sir/ma'am- signore/signora
fine/well- bene
bad-male
please- per favore
thank you- grazie


A domani! Ciao!