Boots and English.

To many, what I am about to say may seem so pointless. However, I do not care. Today I got my first pair of Italian leather boots. I am writing about this for 2 reasons. One, because I want to tell my mom about them, but our phones are down.. she is the only one who will probably be as excited as me, if not more. And secondly, because clearly boots are a part of the culture here. I will go as far as saying, a necessity. Upon coming here, I decided to volenteer in some way, since I would be here for three months. I am teaching English to native Italians every Tuesday night. It is so eye opening. Being in this city, has humbled me SO much. For anyone who has never left the US, you have no idea how hard it is to walk down a street, looking for a grocery store, bank, or better yet, a specific restaurant in downtown Rome, and not be able to ask for help or when you do ask, actually understanding the directions. It gets frustrating after a while.. no matter how many phrases I look up, until I am concrete in my Italian skills.. I will not be able to communicate. Anyone that knows me.. knows that I love to talk to strangers. I thrive off of it. It is starting to hit me, the fact that I am a stranger, an alien, a foreigner to this town. Being the minority is HARD. Hearing the level of  English that these Italians could speak tonight was shocking. They were learning the body parts.. hearing someone try to say "teeth" amazed me. English is the hardest language to learn, (argue with me if you'd like). We have more slang and informal phrases than any other language. It was a breathe of fresh air, to hear the words of my language. I love the level of "help" that a language class can bring.. a sense of bonding between two different cultures. When I am in my Italian class, my professor wants nothing more than to help and teach me to the best of her ability. I love being able to give back, to pass the gift of English on to those that need my help. It is amazing that here I am, abroad in Italy, and each week, I get to be a term of reference for residents of this country. I always thought it would be vice versa.