Today was our fourth day of language class at the I Like IT language school here in Olbia. The IT stands for Italia.....we have a fabulous teacher! Dominica is patient and has a great sense of humor. She pushes us along but also stops to explain whenever we have a question. We are lucky to have her all to ourselves. Here she is in our classroom.
We have been studying each night and trying to use our newly learned phrases and verbs,as well as the correct articles, either masculine or feminine, as we walk around the city. Yesterday, Dominica and her husband Marcello took us on a little class trip to a small town called Luras, up in the mountains. It is in the center of the northeast region in Sardenia, called Gallura. We were going to visit an interesting museum. It was a house dating back to the 1400s. In the house were many articles, tools, implements and clothing that would be typical of that time and in this little town. Our guide explained everything to us in Italian. John and I tried hard to pay attention and we were able to understand much of his explanation. What we didn't understand, Marcello and Dominica patiently explained to us. Here we are after the tour, standing with our guide at the entrance.
It was a lovely tour and the implements and stories told by our kind guide were very interesting. After the tour we decided to walk around the village. We headed toward the piazza....always the place to start in an Italian village, town or city. A very petite but smart looking lady suddenly appeared along side of us. She was very friendly and was walking ..ie..dragging her little dog with her. She greeted us politely and told us that since we looked like strangers in town, she would be happy to give us a personal tour of the town....libero! (for free). She was a delight; charming and knowledgeable. She took us through the piazza and up the central watchtower, chatting all the while. Here we are about to climb the tower.
Here is a view from the top.
Climbing nimbly down, she told us that she was 84 years old. Her mother came from Milan and her father from this little town. Imagine the stories she could tell. She lived through World War 11, when most Italian towns were occupied by the Gemans. Imagine her life and those people who lived in this little town.
It was a wonderful class trip, thanks to Dominca and Marcello!
Later that evening we ate dinner with our host family. Rosella made homemade ravioli with ricotta for primo and for secondo, ciinghiale, which is wild boar. It was absolutely delicious...the best. She also made a typical Sardenian dessert, basically a sweet ravioli, stuffed with fresh soft cheese, fried in butter and covered with honey. We couldn't move at the end of that delicious meal. Keep in mind that Rosella and her husband do not speak very much English at all. And you are probably wondering about the title of this blog.....John hit the wall????? Yesterday was a lovely day, a great class in the morning, an interesting adventure in the afternoon and a wonderful meal in the evening......but all in Italian. Learning a new language is exhausting, fun but extremely tiring because you must be attentive and "on" at all times.
Today, in class, we learned more new words, new verb conjugations and how to use the correct masculine or feminine article. We rarely think about these things when we speak our own language. At the end of the morning John's brain went blank....he just couldn't make any sense of the words, phrase etc. he told me later that he couldn't even think of the English words. Oh my....It was time to go to the beach.
It was just what the doctor ordered.....some swimming, a cold drink, total rest.......
Just to let you know, I hit the wall yesterday. My brain was totally fried but I recovered....I think.
Next week, we take this overnight ferry to Genoa.
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