Post 2

In some ways a lot has happened since my last post, but in other ways nothing has really happened. I am going to be taking Spanish and I now have the textbook for the class but it isn't actually going to start until mid February so, right now, I don't have anything that I have to do. I usually go to school with Jeannie in the morning and apply for jobs in the DC area or read. Then I come home in the afternoon and practice playing the fiddle because, if I'm going to go play on the streets in the spring to try to make an extra buck, I figure practicing is really just like increasing my job skills. So that has been the more boring/routine part of my life.

Jeannie babysits here and she and I had dinner with her babysitting family last Thursday, which was one of the more interesting things. It was actually very enjoyable and, although the couple's English isn't perfect, there were no real problems in communication. Both Nicola (husband) and Federica (wife) have very good senses of humor. Federica had already given Jeannie an Italian name (apparently Italians have a hard time with the 'j' part of the name) and she also wasted no time in giving my own Italian name, Gaspare, so I felt like the evening was off to a good start. Also, when they were asking why I chose to study Chinese, I paused before answering and so Jeannie stepped in and said "Jasper enjoys challenging things." This was a perfect set up so after a moment I pointed out shrewdly "That's why I'm dating Jeannie!", which Nicola and Federica had both been thinking, so I knew they had good senses of humor.

From talking with Jeannie I knew that their child (Matilda) wasn't entirely planned and that, although he loves her very much, sometimes Nicola doesn't recognize that he can no longer do all of the things that he wants to. This was illustrated clearly at dinner because he was, apparently, staging a major offensive, the goal of which was moving the family to the UK or the USA for a period. Although it was clearly doomed to failure, I felt out of a sense of fidelity, that I should support him. So when he started jovially using me as an example of someone who travels frequently, I did my best to go along. Federica, on the other hand, continually rejected all his attempts even though some of them, being able to make more money in other countries for instance, didn't seem entirely unreasonable.

Hearing Nici and Fede (as they refer to each other) tell the story of how they met, turned out to be another high point of the evening. Apparently they were both going to a summer retreat at a school in Sicily. Nicola and a friend didn't get to the campus until very late and there were no rooms left. The desk clerk asked if they would mind sharing a room with two girls. (At this point in the story Nicola opend his arms wide, shrugged his shoulders, and smiled in the worldwide gesture of "Of course we wouldn't!") So the clerk gave them the key and they went up to the room. Federica and her roommate were out on the town at the time, so Nicola and his friend had time to scout it out. Nicola began looking around the room, trying to find out what he could about his soon to be roommates. He noted that one of the girls had huge shoes ("A tall girl," he thought). The same girl also had skinny clothes ("A thin girl," he thought). But the thing that caught his eye most was a book by the German philosopher/scholar Goethe ("A smart girl?!?!?!" he thought). At this point, Federica and her friend returned from their night on the town. They had been warned at the front desk that two men would be sharing a room with them, so they, rightfully so, stormed off in a fluster to reclaim their room. As Federica said, "We were girls! We couldn't stay with boys!" Federica decided she would do all the talking (because her friend was shy and Federica is a better talker). When she got to the room she threw open the door and found Nicola. To her chagrin she accidentally blurted out "Che buono!" (so beautiful) after which she quickly slammed the door. And the rest was history.

Another fun point of the weekend was a birthday party Jeannie and I went to on Saturday night for one of her classmates. The most interesting thing was that he lives with two Italians, which opened up the possibility of a real cultural experience. This revealed itself later when it came time for cake. I saw one of the Italians put what looked like a piece of bread (presumably cake) in a bag and pour white stuff on it (presumably sugar) and start to shake it. "This is great Jasper, you're getting a cultural experience." I asked Jeannie what was actually happening. "It's a traditional Italian birthday cake where they put bread and sugar in a bag and shake it. DUH!"