Mima from Menaggio

It was my first night in Mennagio, just settling in with my new environment. The mountains, water, fresh air, and trees were awe-inspiring as I aimlessly walked through the quaint town. Within moments I found a trattorria with a bustling crowd down a dimly lit alley. Walking in everyone stares at the girl eating alone, but hey I'm used to it by now! The homemade menu had my attention until the smallest little Italian woman with the loudest voice disrupted the dining room. She seemed to know the owners, maybe family, maybe just friends, maybe an every-night patron... who knows. But I soon realized that I took the last un-reserved table and she wanted a seat. This is how one of the best nights on my trip started.

Having eaten almost every meal alone I obviously welcomed the company. She ordered her meal without a flinch and the owner instinctually headed to the yellow wallpapered wall to turn on her favorite game show. The show was similar to older game shows in the US where one person receives a word and their partners guess. As we watched together, she started guessing the words, prompting me to join, commencing my first real Italian language lesson.

A little woman, so full of spunk, was teaching me Italian with her hands, pointing to things in the room, guessing answers on the show, mouthing out the sounds as her dentures plopped in and out of her cheek-to-cheek smile. As our dinner and lesson neared its end we sat and simply smiled at one another. She carefully raised herself, shouted something to the owner about paying, grabbed my hand, and said goodbye. I sat a few more moments before doing the same, soaking in the experience and the beauty of my first evening in Menaggio. The evening where I ate pizza, drank Peroni, and learned Italian from Mima.