Well, we did it. We applied for Frank's PASSPORT. Last time he was in Europe, they sure weren't asking for them. (World War II) To get his passport, I had to contact the state of Illinois and request an "archived" birth certificate. That was an easy process, and they arrived within one week. One hurdle down.
We did have a bit of a 'setback' the first day we went to apply for his Passport, but after making an APPOINTMENT and showing up on time for that, all went smoothly.
So the next step to get Frank to Italy was ... buying our airline tickets. Once I got that crossed off the list, my cousin Kathy became much relieved :-), AND we all decided to sign up for a class thru the local adult education program:
ITALIAN FOR TRAVELERS
this is me (far right), with Bill (who is married to my cousin Linn, in the white shirt), then our cousin Kathy, and then, at the far left, Kathy's daughter Laurie - our first night of class (Frank was in the men's room when we took these!). Class One was held on the day we had record-breaking heat - it was 100 in most of the county that day and STILL stifling when we went to class at 5 pm.our instructor for ITALIAN FOR TRAVELERS, Ms. Brenda Landini
I've taken several French for Travelers classes thru the years, and I have to say - much as I am dying to learn French ... Ms. Landini is by far the best LANGUAGE teacher I've met yet. :-) She makes it fun, approachable, and we're just working from handouts. No text.
To take the "learning a foreign language" pressure off, I've told everyone that I am taking this class so that when we get to Italy, everything doesn't sound so, well, "foreign". I just want it to sound a bit familiar and comfortable.
So this is Frank ... taking a look at a "cheat sheet" I picked up at Barnes & Noble -- Italian words one might need when traveling to Italy.
Frank, me, my husband Mark; Kathy and Laurie, Linn and Bill.
Ciao for now, all.
-- Davielle
I love it!! Frank must be SOOOO excited. :)
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