Nearly every day after our Elementary Italian course, my classmates and I go to the cafe nearby our classroom called Enzo’s Bar for breakfast and some much needed caffeine. Visiting Enzo’s is often an opportunity for us to get real world practice and experience in speaking Italian. From time to time, Professor Delfini will come along and inform the baristo Bruno about what we had learned that day and how to incorporate it into our speaking with him. 

Every time we visit, Bruno has been exceptionally patient and helpful when speaking with us even through our at times broken, confused, and hesitant Italian. He politely corrects grammar and pronunciation and helps us with our orders in understanding common Italian breakfast foods and drinks. 

One day, I came into Enzo’s wearing my Boston Red Sox hat as I am a huge fan from growing up in southeastern Massachusetts. Upon seeing me Bruno said “Ah! Boston!” gave me a big thumbs up, and went away behind the bar to show me his Red Sox and Celtics hats. This sparked a conversation about the teams and our shared interest in them. We both had great big smiles on our faces when talking about the teams, and at one point Bruno’s mother who is often at the bar watching over Bruno’s infant also joined in. 

I was doing my best to keep up in the conversation as much as I could in Italian, and it certainly was difficult at times to understand the spoken language. But it was so rewarding to build the conversation and my understanding of these people I see nearly every day. Our body language and hand gestures helped communicate what we wanted to say which was truly spectacular. The shared interest in the sports teams and city of Boston really created the greatest possible connection between Bruno and I. It’s so great to have a shared interest even when 4,000 miles away from Fenway Park.

When reflecting on this, it does not matter the distance between two people’s hometowns or even home nations. Looking for these small shared interests such as sports teams is one of the best ways to build connections between people who seem vastly different. I am glad I wore the hat and was able to talk with Bruno. Let’s hope for many more connections like this…and for the Red Sox to turn their season around!