Today, I woke up from my phone, a personal communication device. My roommate and I grab our laptops (which need to explanation) and got caught up on what was happening during last night's prime time hours (in America).
We met up with people from our studying abroad program at the train station and grabbed our whisperers, which is a device that is essentially a one way walkie talkie so we can all hear our tour guide. Our destination was Orvieto.
As we listened to our tour guides through our whispers, we saw St. Patrick's Well, the Cathedral of Orvieto aka S. Maria Assunta and an underground city.
On the side of St. Patrick's well there is a sign that is written in Latin that our tour guide translated into english: Nature could not provide us with this, so we built it ourselves. That doesn't come off so humble now does it.
After we returned our whisperers, a friend and I went our for lunch where we had a few miscommunications while ordering, then we were off in search to discover what that sign that said "Free Wine Tasting" was all about. Great discovery!
We walked in, and this little older man stood with a smile. "Ehhhh the sign out front?" I blurted, embarrassed with the fact that I didn't know how to say that in Italian as this man stared curiously.
"Ahh si si"
As he poured and spoke, I translated and responded (slowly), and we drank and drank. He explained how grappa was made from gathering the vapors of cooked wine. He described how Italians drink red wine in the cold months and white in the warm months. He said that Italians dip biscotti in dessert wine like Americans do with coffee.
Then I tried asking him if it was a family business and how long his shop, named Non Solo Vino, was open. Between my broken Italian and his expression which made me laugh, he put up a finger. After joking around about how I need to pay attention more in my Italian class, he pulled up Google Language Tools to translate so we could communicate more clear.
He spoke how this is his wife's shop, but she is out for siesta so he was left to man the shop. He really works at a shooting range/country club type place.
After we thanked him for his free wine and knowledge, he said other than us, no one would have come in, so we entertained him.
On a shelf, he had an assortment of cookies. I asked which was his favorite, and he hands me a bag saying that they are perfect for wine. I ask him for a cookie that you can drink without wine, "niente" he replies, then hands me biscotti with nuts. They were delicious. "Quando mango questi biscotti..." "you will think of me?" he answers for me in Italian. "Don't do that or you will choke," he joked. We all laughed, took a picture with him to capture the moment, and were on our way eating biscotti.
Every connection we have with another person may not have the potential to become your best friend. You may never see them ever again, but sometimes they can affect you just as an old friend could. Making someone else laugh or even smile, even a stranger, is just a little way to spread some positive communication in the world. (It also creates a more memorable experience. I will always say that meeting locals is the best way to travel.)
This has gone way off course from the title communication. Oops.
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