We made our big move to Rome. Learning Italian has been exhausting and magical.

This is the third comic in a series on moving to Italy. Read the first and second.

We stepped off the plane in Rome and into a new world of words. Although the city is full of tourists and many people speak English, it often doesn’t help at our local market or cafe.

To learn Italian, we’re attending Kappa Language School. Outside of class, I’m learning on the fly. Italians are happy to teach me a new word and are mostly responsive to my pleas of “Parlare più lentamente, per favore!” (“Please speak slower!”). As a professional storyteller, being at a loss for words is one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever experienced. I have to keep reminding myself that the important thing when learning a language is to just try.