August 21, 2009

Friday

Aug. 21, 2009

Today was a pretty average day as well. One day pretty much runs into the next after a while. I don’t know what’s harder to believe – that it’s already been 2 weeks, or that it’s only been two weeks. Personalities and dynamics between people are shifting every day, though a lot of it was easy to see last week. Some of the trenches are really close (usually the smaller ones), while trenches like ours are still adjusting sometimes. A lot also depends on the language situation in the trench. In our trench, we have a large number of people, most of whom speak only Italian.

Our trench leaders are Rosanna and Andrea, who are a couple and neither of whom speak English. Rosanna seems pretty quiet but observant and quick-witted, and she works really hard. Andrea is the kind of guy who knows what he’s doing and gets it done, but he has a good sense of humor and gives compliments when they’ve been earned. A “bene” or a “bello” from him feels really good. Neither of them gives orders often, expecting that people find things to do to help out. They rely on self-motivation, which usually works.

Sara and Jeremy are the other two Americans in our trench (the fourth is in another trench), and they both work like crazy. They’re also the translators for me on the rare occasion that I need to be told something other than “dig here” or “clean this” or some other short command.

Gabriele is an Italian, but is pretty fluent in English, so if Sara and Jeremy aren’t around, he helps with translations as well. He’s best known for his long hair (down to his waist) and his frequently offensive sense of humor. I think it’s funny, but I don’t take much of what he says seriously, so that’s probably why. His humor often borders on the misogynistic and insulting, if you give it any weight. He’s dating Antonella, whom I’ve mentioned earlier.

More on the rest of the group later. I’m beat.