I'm sure I'm not the only one who had out -of -town guests this summer but I may be the only one who had 11 cousins from Italy!  Six of them stayed at my house, five at my aunt's house close by.  As you would expect, plans had been percolating for months to lodge, feed, transport and entertain them.  Fortunately, I have a large family in Portland and we worked out a schedule so that the responsibilities would be shared.  A dinner was hosted every night, for 12 days, by a different relative.  In attendance were anywhere from 26-68 people.  Nobody wanted to miss any of the fun!  Did I mention that only one of them speaks English?
 
  Things went well, despite the fact that the weather was freakish and one cousin was lost on a neighborhood walk the first day.  Don't worry, she was taken in by a kindly neighbor, whose step-son just happened to speak a little Italian.  Whew!  Anyway, the whole visit was full of great life lessons - some that I'd like to share:
 
1.      Communication can include much more than language skills and hand gestures.  A certain look or a hand squeeze means the same thing in any language.
2.      Plan for every contingency and don't expect anything to go as planned.
3.      When it's raining and there's nothing to do, eat.  When it's warm & sunny, pick a sightseeing destination that includes a great place to eat.  When you're too tired to do one more thing, eat.
4.      An afternoon espresso, with the right amount of "crema" is good for your digestion.
5.      Your experience will be as good as the attitude you brought to it.
6.       Everything is easier (and more fun!) when you have helping hands.
 
I hope that all of you were able to enjoy at least part of your summer with people you care about.  I look forward to seeing each of you soon!
 
Sincerely,

Judi Jones