In case you've forgotten, Pietro and I have been moving right along with our English lessons. I still kick the soccer ball around. He still kicks it back at the mirror/picture frames/fragile centerpiece.
But I guess I didn't realize just how attached he was getting. Over Christmas break, Kyle came to eat dinner with me at the Longo's (Pietro's family). Everyone was really excited to meet him. Except for Pietro. He spent most of the night under the dinner table and ended it with a screaming tantrum that carried him into his room. Apparently, he was a little bit jealous. Their only interaction occurred during a foosball game, which I told Kyle to lose on purpose. My next lesson with Pietro, I asked him what he thought of Kyle.
"I'm way better than him at foosball. He lost 10 to 2."
Yup, he was a little jealous.
I now have this photo posted on my wall right next to the family photo from a camping trip.
This past week, I brought my friend Chloe to the lessons. Little did she know, I'd be blatantly using her for physical labor during her visit from Berlin. We spent most of the the time playing games that got pretty competitive. One such game, a favorite of ours, is meant to help practice the verb "to like". I made my own food flashcards, all perfectly clear and realistic (Pietro said my picture of chocolate looked like poop). I then place the cards in the living and come back to sit on his bed. Then the game proceeds like so:
Pietro: D-d-d-o yoou like milk?
Me: No, I don't like milk?
Pietro: Do you like like apples?
Me: Only, one like Pietro.
Pietro: Do youuu like apples?
Me: No, I don't like apples.
Pietro: Do you like cake?
Me: Yes! I like cake!
He then races to the next room, grabs the flashcard with cake on it, races it back and watches as I happily "devour" my cake. Sometimes we switch off and he sits on the bed while I run back and forth (not my favorite).
But when it was time for Chloe and I to guess and race each other to the food images, I got a pleasant surprise. I let Chloe grab the flashcard the first time only to turn around and find Pietro standing there grinning. He grabbed the card of of Chloe's hand and shoved it into mine, racing back to his spot on the bed so I could bring him his food.
He wanted me to win.
I never thought the day would come when a kid would actually like me. Let alone that I would feel good about it. He won't be getting English anytime soon, but there are moments when we really get each other: marveling over the fact that "ph" makes the sound "f", teaching each other how to say "burp" in our respective languages, quietly coloring elephant pictures florescent pink because none of the grey markers work.
It's still hard to get myself motivated to go every week but, every time I leave now, I feel like we got something done.
And then I get this warm fuzzy feeling around my heart...
Haha gotcha! There is, at the least, a warm fuzzy picture on my wall. Who knows how much closer he can get.
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