Cugini

Yesterday marked the very first time - EVER - that Bella and Sofia met their Italian cousins. Being kids and all clearly none of them had any idea of what that means, so they all said their "Hi" in the way kids do: Casually, quickly, completely uninterested, and ready to get it over and move on.  But us, adults, knew that this day was way overdue and were happy to finally have them together.

They did interact later in the night, and have interacted today thoughout the day, but there is no doubt that the lack of a common language poses some unusual challenges. Not only for the kids, but also for the adults as we are trying to help them. The kids are trying, but some of their comments or questions are being met with a blank stare by the one who is expected to help or answer them.

As the only adult in the house other than their parents that speaks a bit of Italian, I am trying to translate for them as much as I can. But given that both my French and my Italian are rather rusty - and that might be quite the understatement - I am also finding myself mixing languages. Every time I am about to say something that I was initially quite sure was Italian, I realize it may actually be French. There are certainly advantages to Spanish, French, and Italian being similar, but in some cases that may actually cause quite a mess.