Tutti Italia: A Novel (5 page)

When she got a chance to get outside, she could see how
close the mountains really were to the base, and she could see slight tendrils
of mist curling over the grass.  It had an enchanting feel to it, like the
marshes in a mystery novel.  She made her way to the sidewalk, and checked both
directions for traffic before she crossed the street.  There really weren’t
very many cars moving.  She found it odd since this was the center of the
biggest piece of the base.  When she pulled the door open to the building, she
saw a reception desk and an older woman sitting behind the counter, hammering
away at her computer.  She noticed Rachel and looked up with a smile.

“Good morning!  Can I help you with something?”  The woman
had a deep, jovial voice.  It made Rachel smile back at her easily.

“Yes, I’m new here and I’m trying to get to the Right Start
class.  I was told it was in this building, but I’m afraid that I’m not quite
sure where I’m supposed to go.”  The woman nodded understanding. 

“If you go down this hallway here,” she pointed to Rachel’s
left, “and follow it all the way around, you’ll come to a big briefing room. 
Go ahead and sign in on the table and find a seat.  That class really helps you
out, and it is fun, too.  Enjoy!”  Rachel thanked the woman and followed her
directions to the big briefing room.  She hurriedly signed her name on the sheet
outside the room and chose a seat that was near the middle of the classroom,
but right in front of the projector.  She didn’t want to miss anything. 
Pulling out her notebook, she opened it to the first page, took out both a pen
and a pencil, and put them on top of the notebook.  She was ready to go.  She
chanced looking around her.  She was the only person in the room.  She frowned
and checked her watch.  It was only seven fifteen.  Usually people should
already be there.  She had been taught to always be fifteen minutes early,
otherwise she was late.  Apparently, that courtesy didn’t extend to the rest of
the people that would be in the class with her.  Rachel spent her time looking
out the window towards the parking lot in front of the little mini mall.  She
saw cars starting to arrive, and watched as people in uniforms and dress
clothes alike walked in.  She was so busy staring, that she didn’t realize that
there was some commotion behind her.  The room was starting to fill up.  She
could feel a little thrill of excitement squirm up her back.  She resettled
herself and got comfortable.  She was ready for class to start.

“Good morning, everyone!  I hope everyone has gotten a
chance to get used to the time difference.”  A portly older man with glasses walked
in from the back of the room.  He had on a tweed vest with khakis, and sensible
shoes.  He looked like someone’s kindly old grandpa.  Rachel smiled at him.  He
opened his briefcase and started to gather his materials for the class.  As he
did so, he handed a stack of papers to the young man that was sitting closest
to him and asked him to pass them out.  He warned them that today was going to
be the worst day of the week, and that was why they were doing it first.  Today
was all the forms and paperwork needed to be filled out for their paychecks and
a map so they could get around, to include some local area things that might be
necessary; i.e. schools, car rental places, restaurants, etc.  Rachel was doing
her best to keep listening to him while she was browsing her own copy of the
list.  It didn’t sound like these places hated Americans.  It even mentioned at
the top that these places all spoke English as well.  The day was indeed
tedious, but at least now the boring part was finished, and the next day would
begin with the culture learning.  Rachel packed up her pens and pencils, tucked
her notebook back under her arm, and walked across the street again to her
room.

She didn’t really know what else to do, and she was still a
little too shy to try to mix with people that happened to be passing by.  She
determined to stay in her room and read.  She pushed her pillows up against the
headboard and got comfortable.  She had a few hours to kill before she went to
bed.  She still wasn’t quite accustomed to the time difference, so she was
still going to bed early, and waking up early to get herself on time.  The food
court closed at nine, so around eight thirty she went over and got herself
something from the Taco Bell.  She sat down in the food court instead of going
back to her room right away.  If there was something that Rachel enjoyed, it
was people watching.  You could tell so much about a person just by the way
they spoke or acted.  She finished her taco salad and took her tray over to the
trash cans.  As she did, she passed a group of young army guys that were
laughing and joking.  They were getting up, leaving their trays and mess on the
table behind them.  A busboy came over and started to clean up after them. 
Rachel could tell that they weren’t supposed to leave their trays on the table,
and she could see how embarrassed this young man was to have to clean up after
grown men.  She felt bad for him.  She vowed that she would always make sure to
leave her table as clean as possible.  The working class didn’t deserve snubs
from the military class.  It wasn’t right.  She put her tray away and turned to
go.  She caught the young boy’s eye as he watched her leave and smiled at him. 
He smiled back and went back to cleaning the table. 

When she was back in her room, she put on her pajama pants
and t-shirt, and got herself comfortable again.  She set an alarm to make her
go to bed.  She usually had to, because she loved to read, and she would get so
buried in those stories that she would be wide awake for hours reading, if she
didn’t make herself go to bed. 

Tuesday morning dawned cold but clear as she put on a
thicker pair of pants and a knit sweater for her class.  The wind whipped her
loose hair around until it resembled a bird’s nest, and tears ran from her eyes
as the sharp wind cut across her cheeks.  She made it into the door, but had to
fight to get it closed after she stepped in.  The woman behind the counter
smiled at her disheveled state, and let her walk back to the classroom.  Rachel
was, again, one of the very first to arrive, so she took the time to try to
arrange herself in the most presentable way possible without a hairbrush,
makeup or a lint roller.  Today’s briefer was a woman with long hair pulled
back into a ponytail, and Rachel could tell that her hair was all over the
place, too.  She sat back and listened to the lectures and took notes.  Today
was really about an intro to the culture and the language.  Rachel was amazed
at how much more family oriented the Italians were than Americans.  The men
didn’t even move out of their parents’ house until they were married.  In some
cases, they were more than forty years old before that happened!  Rachel vowed
that that would never happen to her son.  He could stay as long as he went to
school, had a job, and paid rent.  Then he was gone after college.  Forty years
old was just ridiculous.

The afternoon portion was spent trying to learn short
phrases in Italian that would help them out in the most basic of situations. 
She made sure she paid extra close attention to it because she wanted to learn
as much as possible.  She’d been sitting in her seat, practicing her Italian,
when she got the feeling that someone was watching her.  She looked
surreptitiously around the classroom, and saw that a young soldier was looking
at her shyly.  When their eyes met, he looked away quickly and blushed.  Rachel
blushed herself.  He was pretty cute.  She put the boy out of her mind and went
back to work on one of the simpler phrases.  She couldn’t help but think about
that boy when she was safe at home in her room.  He was cute, and he didn’t
seem to be a complete and total jerk like the ones she’d seen at the food
court.  She was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she realized
quickly that it didn’t matter.  She wouldn’t see him again after this week,
anyway.  She built her tower of pillows and cuddled into it with her kindle. 
Reading for a couple hours actually made her tired, so she turned off the light
early and fell asleep.

Thursday was the day for the Italian restaurant trip.  The
class was supposed to take a charter bus to a local restaurant, the students
would get to test their Italian, and they would be submitted to an Italian
feast like the locals enjoyed every day.  Rachel had stayed up a little later
the night before, practicing her pronunciations.  She yawned as she got in line
for the bus.  When she chose her seat near the back, there were plenty of empty
seats left, but a few minutes after she sat down, the cute boy that had been
looking at her in class, stood by her wondering if the seat was taken.  She
smiled shyly at him.

“No, it’s not taken.  Let me just grab my purse.”  Rachel’s
face was burning in embarrassment.  She never knew what to say to boys.  It was
part of her curse for being so shy.

“I’m really looking forward to this trip.  I’ve been told
that they serve us seven courses at the restaurant.”  Rachel’s eyes bulged.

“Really?  Oh, wow.  I don’t think I could make it through
half as many courses.  I usually don’t eat much.”  She clamped her mouth shut. 
She sounded stupid.  Why would he care how much she ate?  Was she trying to
prove to him that she was desirable by pointing out that she wasn’t
overweight?  Her subconscious was really going to get her into trouble one of
these days.

“I’m with you on that one, but I’ll at least try
everything.  Can’t say it wasn’t good if you don’t try it,” he joked. 

Chapter 7

Rachel felt flattered that his young soldier was making
an effort to talk to her.  Back home, she really kept to herself because she
was shy, and she didn’t really consider herself attractive.  It made her live
the lone wolf lifestyle, but she was used to it by now.  The soldier sat next
to her, and at first there was a shy silence between them.

“My name is Jason.  I have to admit, I was having a
terrible time trying to learn the language yesterday.  I plan on keeping my
mouth shut the whole trip.”  Rachel laughed good-naturedly at him.

“If you don’t try you’ll never know if you could do it or
not.  And I think that they will really appreciate the effort, instead of
perfect pronunciation.”  They continued to make small talk as the bus twisted
and turned down the road, showing them quaint little towns, sparkling lakes,
and of course, the snowcapped mountains that spanned the vast expanse behind
the base.  They took the time to appreciate it all, but a good portion of the
trip was also spent stealing glances at one another, when they thought the
other one wasn’t looking.  An outsider to the situation would say that there
was some puppy love going on between the two.  As their chaperone got to her
feet, everyone’s eyes swiveled over to her. 

“Listen up, everybody!  We’ve arrived, and in a minute
we’ll be getting of the bus.  If you would find a partner that you will stick
close to for the rest of the day, we can make everything easier when it comes
to accountability.”  Jason looked over at Rachel shyly.

“Do you…want to be my partner?”  Rachel blushed.  That was
exactly
what she wanted, but she didn’t want to sound too eager.

“Sure.  I know you a little better now than I know anyone
else on the bus, so why not?”  She smiled at him.  It was hard for her not to
smile when she looked at him.  It was almost magnetic.  Everyone got to their
feet and made their way off of the bus.  In front of them was a quaint little
restaurant that looked more like a cottage than a place to eat.  Rachel
couldn’t help but feel her heart soar.  This might turn out a little like a
fairy tale after all.  She loved the moss growing on the roof, the garden of
flowers surrounding the building, and the stone pathway that led up to the
front door.  Rachel was a self-proclaimed, hopeless romantic.  She couldn’t
wait to see the inside.  Jason came up behind her.

“Don’t tell me you’re trying to leave me already,” he
joked.  Rachel was mortified.  She turned to Jason with her mouth hanging open
and her eyes bulging.

“I’m so sorry!  Sometimes I get carried away when it comes
to going new places.  I didn’t mean to leave you behind at all!”  He just
shrugged it off.

“Don’t worry about it, I was only joking anyway.  I can’t
wait to get in there and see what kind of food they have.  I’m starving.” 
Rachel felt a little better, but she was still embarrassed.  Even if it had
been a joke, he’d still called her out on it.  She made a mental note not to
leave his side again.  She started to keep him in front of her so he was always
in her sight.  The group went in, and an older woman came forward, chattering
on in Italian.  Their chaperone kept a rapid banter going with her for a few
minutes, before the older woman switched to English.

“Welcome!  We have a room ready for you and we have the
menus waiting.  There are two choices for each course, and you can practice
your Italian when you order.  Follow me please!”  She breezed through a hallway
to what had to be the banquet room.  There was a long table in the shape of a
horse shoe, and the chairs were ringing the outside.  The waiters were in the
middle of the horseshoe, little pads of paper ready with pens poised above them. 
Rachel felt like a princess.  There was an entire wait staff here for their
small group of maybe twelve people.  There was definitely something to be said
for Italian hospitality.  Jason sat next to her, and the two perused their
menus. 

“What if we each order a different meal for each course? 
That way we can try everything.”  Rachel brightened.  That was an excellent
idea.  She had to give Jason some credit for his bright idea.  She was just
thinking that she was going to be missing out on half of the food and was sad
about it.

“That is the best idea ever!  Ok, so we’ll order, eat half,
and switch plates.  Sound good?”  Jason thought about it for a second and
grinned, giving Rachel a thumbs up.  That was all she needed to dive into the
menu.  Like Jason, she was very hungry, and she wanted to know what was coming
to her.  The menu was in both English and Italian so she could read it.  The
courses were laid out in a lot of detail and they quickly decided that Rachel
would order all the first choices, and Jason would order all the second
options.  They gave their order to the waiter, and true to his word, Jason
didn’t even bother trying to order in Italian, he just pointed.  Rachel could
see that the waiter was a little miffed with him because of it.  She wracked
her brains for all the Italian she’d taught herself out of the Italian/English
dictionary that her parents had given her as a going away present, and
apologized for him before putting her order in.  The waiter smiled at her and
struck up a conversation…in English.  When the waiter left to put their orders
in to the kitchen, Jason stared at her until she looked back at him.