♪ ♪ >> DOMINIC: BY PROFESSION AND AVOCATION, I AM A WRITER.

AND SO OVER THE YEARS, I’VE BECOME PRETTY GOOD AT MAKING WORDS DO MY BIDDING: FUNNY, THOUGHTFUL, POIGNANT, ETC.

IT’S A GIFT I CHERISH• EXCEPT WHEN I’M IN A PLACE WHERE ENGLISH ISN’T SPOKEN.

IN A FOREIGN ENVIRONMENT, IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE I’M NAVIGATING THE WORLD WITHOUT ONE OF MY SENSES.

I TRIED TO FORESTALL THAT FEELING WHEN WE WENT TO ITALY A FEW WEEKS AGO.

I SPENT A COUPLE HOURS A DAY FOR A COUPLE MONTHS, TRYING TO CRAM A WORKABLE AMOUNT OF ITALIAN INTO MY BRAIN.

AND OF COURSE, YOU KNOW HOW IT TURNED OUT: UNLESS I WAS ASKING HOW MUCH SOMETHING COST OR WHERE THE BATHROOM WAS, I WAS PRETTY MUCH LOST.

BUT A FUNNY THING HAPPENED AROUND THE EASTER TABLE WITH A FAMILY OF CALABRIAN PAPATOLAS•ONLY ONE OF WHOM — EDOUARDO — SPOKE ENGLISH.

I’D LOVE TO SAY THAT I HAD A PROFOUND CULTURAL REVELATION, BUT THAT DIDN’T REALLY HAPPEN.

WHAT DID HAPPEN WAS THAT, IN MEETING EDUARDO’S PARENTS, I GOT A LITTLE VISITATION FROM MY OWN FOLKS, WHO HAVE BEEN GONE FOR SOME YEARS NOW.

MEETING HIS DAUGHTERS, I DISCOVERED THAT TEENAGE GIRLS ARE TEENAGE GIRLS, AND THAT EYE-ROLLING AND PHONE SCROLLING ARE A UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE.

AND I LEARNED ANEW THAT WHEN YOU CAN’T SPEAK, YOU CAN COMPENSATE QUITE A BIT BY WATCHING AND LISTENING• FOR TONE, FOR BODY LANGUAGE.

AND COMPANIONABLE SILENCE IS NOT THE WORST THING IN THE WORLD.

EDUARDO AND I ALSO BONDED OVER SOCCER, AND HE GAVE ME THIS SCARF FROM HIS HOME CLUB OO-NEE-OHN-AY SPORTIVA CATANZARO.

IT SAYS “NOI SIAMO CATANZARO” “WE ARE CATANZARO.” AND•INDEED WE ARE.