Learning Italian

I'm starting to get comfortable in Rome. I've gotten over the first week, star struck tourist mentality, and with that comes the realization that this is real life. I'm going to be in this city, more or less till December, and I'm starting to reach the point where I'm ready to get control back. For the past week I've been the confused American, who is unable to speak Italian and is just bouncing, pinball style, from one place to another, asking directions and hoping to stumble upon enlightenment. I'm going to work past that, and get to a point where I can manage myself in this place, and take better control of the things around me. Professor Hernandez, when he dropped me off at the ferry from Albania to Corfu looked at me and said "Tom, learn Italian." There was no wishy-washyness, no "it would be good to," he simply combined the vocative (o Tom) with the imperative (learn Italian now!). That's probably the biggest struggle right now. I can figure out subways and buses, I can learn transportation, but the big thing holding me back, from visiting the local delis and pastries shops, to hopping on the buses, is my lack of Italian, and my fear of looking foolish or getting myself in trouble. Professor Hernandez suggested I learn one phrase a day. Forget grammar, don't bother learning tenses, just learn phrases that come up in everyday life. One a day, and by the time December comes, I will have it figured out. I'm going to do this, and I'll try to post my results. Today I caught the grocery girl off guard. I've been stopping in the same little grocery store everyday, and I've always been the confused American, who doesn't speak the language and holds up the line. Today instead of just mumbling the appropriate buonasera, I threw in a come stai. She gave a start, laughed and then responded with a bene. I'm going to pick this up, for myself, for my visitors coming in and because there really is no better time. Leggo.