"Dancing, AFTAH DINNAH."

Oh the people you will meet… I had a very unexpected wonderful day.

So, my Italian suffers because I’m scared poopless of my Italian professor Fulvio. Fulvio is a well-pressed tan Italian man who speaks like Yul Brynner VERY LOUDLY. I can just imagine him saying “ET CETERA… DANCING, AFTA DINNAAHH.”

He asks everyone very personal questions. For example, my friend Cristoffano from Poland, I found out today that he’s a POLISH CATHOLIC PRIEST.  I found this out because he was telling my friend Judy and I that he's late for everything except church. And I was good for you, Cristoff! He said "Well, priests can't be late for Mass." You should have seen my face. Whaaaaat. Anyway, Fulvio was asking him if his life was easier than that of a lay person and if he was a “normal” man (aka asked him in front of the class if he was straight. Very offensive and Italian to many people in the class. Forehead slapper…) who regretted not having a wife…and then Fulvio asked a bunch of guys if they wanted to become priests. It was all very funny but just so inappropriate at the same time. Oh Fulvio... you would be fired back home SO FAST. 

One of my classmates told him yesterday that she was scared of him. He turned to me and said, "Louisa, are you scared of me?" My answer: "SI." He was surprised hahaha. But now that I've told him he scares me, I'm less scared of him. This is an excellent realization because it will make me talk more. 

So last night I was supposed to get an aperitivo with Dore, Judy and their friend Harold from Idaho. 

Oh, sorry, you don't know what an aperitivo is? Man, are you missing out. You go to a bar or restaurant in their casual bar area and order a drink or two. As you sip, you are supplied with free snacks, usually mini sandwiches. I'm a recent convert. Effie, Corrina, Hani, Suzanne and I met up for one the other night. Umbra students get a discount (score) at the restaurant we went to because the main waiter has some sort of working relationship with Umbra. So we all had two drinks and 3 full plates of mini sandwiches. It was delicious, filling and cheaaapppp. Everyone is like why don't we have this in America? I think the answer is obvious: Americans are shameless and would eat all the food for free without ordering more than one drink. But hey, it's a pretty unbeatable meal option.  

Back to last night... I was supposed to meet up with Dore, Judy and Harold in front of Stranieri's main building for an aperitivo. It's my new favorite meet up place because it's right below my window so it's very easy to pop over there. I showed up and they said "I hope you don't mind, but we decided to get dinner instead!" Then I had a very hysterical fit... not. We went to this great restaurant that Harold's been to before and had some great food, wine and conversation. Harold is 52 year old man from Idaho. He teaches Indian and Middle Eastern languages. He's in Italy to study Italian and he cycles everywhere during the weekend. I love Harold especially because he can quote Room with a View. Hahha. Judy is originally from New York but lives in Los Angeles with her husband and is retired. She's a really pleasant and sensible person, I'm a big fan. She laughs when I make fun of Dore so she's great fun hahah. We were such a random group! But we talked about some interesting things. Unfortunately, there was some complaining about some of our professors (well founded complaints too). 

One interesting topic of conversation was religion. Cristoff the priest came up in conversation and Dore started to rant about Catholics and how they are all brainwashed. I just looked over at him with a smile and said that I was Catholic and I don't consider myself brainwashed. His main compliant was how could religious people have such conviction and no doubts whatsoever. I kind of laughed and looked at him. I told him doubt is very much a part of religious person's life but it may manifest itself differently. I personally am convinced of my Catholic faith but I'd be a liar if I said I have never felt doubt. Mother Teresa had her dark night of the soul. I didn't want to embarrass Dore so I kept my tone light and playful: "Tell me how I truly feel, Dore, haha." The funniest part was he said "But you aren't very religious yourself, right? You don't go to church every Sunday." I laughed and said, "Yes, I'm very religious. I go to church once a week and I should go more often. Look, I'm wearing a medal. I got my degree in philosophy AND theology. I can talk about anything you want." He was so surprised. I teased him, "Oh, Dore, am I blowing your mind right now? Haha." He laughed. Judy was great. Without even providing her own religious standpoint, she calmly commented on how when someone has no religious affiliation (Dore's self-description) that it's hard to imagine a religious person experiencing doubt.  Fortunately, the conversation ended on a good note. I wasn't offended by his comments but I at the same time wanted to make my opinion and experience known.  It was a relief that my religion wasn't a deal breaker. I like talking to different kinds of people who believe different things. What's the point of talking to a clone of yourself 24/7? 

But it made me think about the image of a person of faith. I cannot tell you how many times people are surprised I'm an observant Catholic. "Oh you're Catholic? But you're not like a real Catholic, like you don't go to church every Sunday right? You do? Oh... weird." Haha. Or my other favorite: "Wow, usually I dislike religious people a lot." 

I don't mind talking about religion or "outting" myself as Catholic. In fact, I LOVE discussing religion. I've had some GREAT conversations with Hani and Suzanne about religion because we are all so chill and curious about what the other thinks. I'm sad though how people tell me about the religious Catholics they've met that they couldn't stand. Argh. 

Maybe that's why I'm here. My Italian sucks, so it might not be for the acquiring of language...