10.24.05
A normal day in Italy
Today Trey and I went on some errands after he got done with school. In Italy, the post office is also a bank, and is also the place where you pay bills. I needed to pay for some kind of insurance for the kids during school (even though they already have insurance) and for a “discretionary fund” for the kids’ teachers (I have no clue what this means). And naturally there was a huge line - out the door huge. And one employee working the bill-paying line. And two working the post-office line, which had no one standing in it. Just a normal day in Italy!
As we waited, an elderly man struck up a conversation with Trey. It’s fun for me to watch what the kids do when someone speaks to them in Italian. Usually it’s something like a deer-in-the-headlights look - a look I remember well from our first days in Italy. The man asked Trey if he would pay his bills for him. What did he say, Daddy? He asked him where he gets his blond hair. Daddy, what did he say?! He asked him if he was a good boy in school today. Dad! What’s that man saying to me?! The people in line chuckled a bit and the old man asked me if he understood. I told him that we just moved here and he is learning. The kind old man looked down at Trey and said, “Penso che tu sia un bambino bravo.” I think that you are a good boy.
And Trey looked back up at him and smiled. And I think he understood. Sometimes a smile speaks volumes.