Learning Italian

Now the party’s over,
feel so tired…

Avalon, by Roxy Music

This song perfectly describes my mood. I am on a slower pace right now.

We still have those long summer evenings here in Belgium, where it’s ideal to stay outdoors and read. I just started The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Good to enhance my English a bit.

I also need to work on my Italian.  The past year I didn’t practice enough Italian, blame on me.   But from my niece Anouk, I received an Italian book for my birthday: Io non ho paura, by Niccolò Ammaniti. I was able to translate the title: “I am not afraid.” My abilities ended by the first page, I am afraid …

Anouk put a beautiful quote on the first page:

Il segreto per rimanere giovani sta nell’avere una sregolata passione per il piacere
A passion for pleasure is the secret of remaining young, by Oscar Wilde

I do prefer the Italian version!

Going to Puglia several times helped my Italian a little, of course. I also watched an Italian series on politics and the mafia, mingled with a lot of intrigue. It is called 1992. Set in Rome, Milan and different Italian cities, the TV series follows six people whose lives are intertwined with the rapidly changing political landscape in the early 1990s, during which Italy was gripped by the Clean Hands “Mani Pulite” investigation into political corruption. It is being shown on Belgian TV again this summer.

One Friday night I was watching it, a glass of white wine accompanying me, when Oldest came home with a friend. They were at a barbecue and it was getting cold by now, and Oldest hurried upstairs to pick up a vest.

His friend came into the living room to say hi, smack in the middle of a very explicit sex scene. It was too late to zap it away and I could feel my cheeks getting red.

“Hi, Sophie, you ok?”
“Sure, I …” while secretly watching the screen again, hoping it was over now, but no, still full action, doggy-style.
“Watching a bit of porn, are you?” Big smile.
“No! I am learning Italian, this is about politics in the early nineties and …”
“Yeah, right.”

The moment was too funny not to share with friends, but now whenever I say I am learning Italian, I get a wink in return.