Ciao America, Ciao Italia!!

Well, I am off for a ten-day trip to Italy…to gorge on pasta, prosciutto and gelato, visit friends and family, inhale aria fiorentina and romana… and to repeat one million times “I am in Italy!!” in sheer ecstasy. Last time I was there, my friends threatened that if I said it one more time, it would be my last, as well as swore to engrave it on my heart before dumping my body in the Arno. I suspect they got the idea from fellow Italophine Robert Browning:
“Open my heart, and you will see
Graved inside of it ‘Italy.’”.

People often wonder how I came to learn Italian. The plan was to go to Italy and learn the history of Italian art…in English I presumed. Well, I presumed wrong. I guess I didn’t read the fine print. What can I say - it was the 70s. We didn’t read the fine print then. When I got to the Eurocentro School in Florence, I was given a form in Italian to be filled out. 

I caught the gentleman’s eye. Excuse me, I said politely, explaining that I needed the English form for the Art History course.


It seemed there was no forma in inglese, because the corso was in italiano.


Non c’é problema, signorina, the teacher Signor Piancastelli continued, as I stared at him, borderline hysterical.


Helllooo…it was going to be a problem. A big problem. How the hell was I going to learn the Arte d’Italia using only the words signorina, buona sera, and amore (all courtesy of paesano Dean Martin). And oh, spaghetti and pizza, but I guess you can’t count those.


Long story short, I took Italian in the mornings and learned about the great Masters in the afternoons. Six months later, with another language tucked under my belt and a lot of Chianti inside my self, I was equipped with what I consider the best language in the world.


Now my husband will seriously beg to defer, saying it is Urdu. And not that it is necessary, but he has composed a shairi in its defense:


Khilaa Ho Jis par, Khoobsurat GhulaabTo Kaanton se Bhari,
Daali bhi Achhi Lagti Hai
Urdu Zubaan ki, Baat hi Kuchh Aur Hai
Urdu mein Dee Huyee, Gaali bhi Acchi Lagti Hai


I will offer a translation, but be warned, it does get lost in translation!


Even if a rose bush has a lot of thorns, it still looks beautiful.
In much the same way, the Urdu language is so special that
even a curse sounds like music to the ears.