Reba Lives: Dinner With Friends.

Last night I fell in love with an Italian boy. I had dinner and drinks at his parents house and he picked me fresh flowers and showed me where the good berries grow on his property in the country. It was magical. His name is Gabriele. He speaks no English but I know he loves fire trucks and helicopters, he loves walking the land without pants on, and splashing in puddles... Oh, also he's five years old.

Yesterday was so unexpectedly beautiful. I met some really amazing people that reminded me of home. Silvia and I took the kids to the pool in the afternoon to get some sun and to release some of their pent up energy. Laura brought along two friends, Maddelena and Angelica, two of the most well mannered and beautiful sisters in all of Italy, just like Laura. We had fun swimming, they had fun trying their English on me, and I had fun being hero worshiped. Very refreshing to be adored by a gaggle of Italian bambini as it turns out...

When we got home we all got dressed for dinner. We had been invited to Maddalena and Angelica's house. I had met their mother the day before when we had gone to pick up the kid's report cards at school, and then gathered at a cafe across the square for afternoon coffee. Honestly, the meeting had been a little intimidating. There I sat in the midst of four or five Italian mothers sipping espresso and not understanding a word of what was going on. Thankfully I have Silvia with me at all times to try to keep me in the loop, but it was an interesting and, at times, uncomfortable situation. I hate feeling like a burden but I hate even more feeling stupid. Not quite at home at the table of mothers, definitely not at home at the table of ten and eleven year old young ladies...understanding one out of every ten words spoken...awkward... So, I didn't quite know what to expect at dinner that evening. I was worried I might not be included, or worse, that I just might not fit in. As it turns out, the exact opposite happened. I was put at ease from the moment we drove through the front gates of the elegant country home.

As we pulled up Catia was outside to greet us with Gabriele, her youngest, and the boy of the family. Catia is a strikingly beautiful woman, but set against the background of her garden and home she's a real show stopper. The girls, and a pant-less Gabriele, took me around the house proudly showing off their beautiful rooms. Then, Catia took Silvia and I to the garden to gather ingredients for that night's salad. Catia's garden makes me want to be her when I grow up...I was in awe. It was a vegetarian's dream.

The men arrived a little before dinner. Gianluca and Gianbatiste, fresh in from a long day's work. Gianbatiste, our host, owns a company that bakes bread. I wish you could have tasted the grissini (breadsticks) that he shared with us. They were from his private stock that's reserved for the family, he doesn't sell them in his store. The meal was amazing. Catia had prepared a curried rice and shrimp dish with a fresh salad, straight from the garden. The wine was flowing freely and Gianbatiste kept heading to the kitchen to fix us more and more food. Several desserts were served with after dinner drinks composed of homemade cherry wine...it was heavenly. The best part for me though, was that I never once felt left out of the loop. We were all speaking the universal language of a shared meal. There is nothing finer to me on this Earth. It was a meal full of creativity and sharing and laughter and wonderfully caring people. The tiny boy with the fists full of flowers pulled freshly from his mother's garden didn't hurt either. It was beautiful.

As we left, close to midnight, Gianbatiste handed me a picture that he had taken while visiting New York eighteen years ago. It's a photograph of the skyline before 2001. I think it will be one of my most treasured possessions. I also gave his girls each a friendship bracelet from my wrist. Their family is headed to the sea on holiday tomorrow for two weeks and I don't know if I'll ever see any of them again, but I'm thankful for the time we shared last night. I'm as different here as different can be, but I still meet people like me.

Peace, Love and Travel,
Reba