07.27.07
The Language Switch
Even before we left the US, I was a little concerned about whether or not the Italian was going to come back after six months of little use. Some friends of ours who moved from Italy invited us over for dinner just before we came back to Italy. They speak a crazy mix of Italian, Spanish, and English at home, so we settled on Italian as the common language. And it was tough. It sort of reminded me that I really did lose some of that ability.
But somehow a switch has been flipped. It started at customs at the airport, when I had to explain to the agent why I was bringing 12 pieces of luggage, plus carry-ons, into Ancona. But I pulled it off!
Then today I noticed that the kids started calling me papà instead of dad. Later, Trey told me a story, and after realizing there were Italians around, he switched to Italian. All of these are little things that make me think that we will be able to switch back into our second language.
But keep reading the blog to read about all of our language goofs!