This past week

was really great for me. Going to Como was an enormous treat, and I've been staying really busy in and out of school. My lessons with Suora Ada are getting so much easier to do. I really feel like I've accomplished a lot with my Italian and now I am beginning to study and perfect my past and future tenses. When I got here, I didn't bother with trying to learn anything but the present. When I needed to explain something about the past or future I just announced it. I would say "In the past" and then continue on with present tense. It was ridiculous to try to memorize anything else at that point. I picked up on passato prossimo quickly enough and I use that any chance I get. But now I feel very comfortable studying futuro, imperfetto, etc. and it feels so much easier to process. In school, during my free period, Jody and I studied different tenses of "dire", "potere", and "fare" which are the verbs "to tell", "to be able to", and "to make, do". We spent probably less than an hour drilling, but when I went to my lesson this evening with Suora Ada I was able to use what I learned so easily! Living here does tend to invite opportunities for ongoing practice. I am also trying to make what I say not just understandable- but correct. My grammar isn't the best yet. BUT I AM FEELING SO GOOD. It's not yet been 2 months for me, and I already feel like I have come so far. So you have caught me at a moment of great satisfaction. I know this is manageable- I just have to tackle all of my challenges one by one and have patience with myself. This is one of those things that doesn't happen overnight. But maybe it can happen over 10 months! :)

Ciao,
Grace