Foreign Language

     I'm such an optimist. Always have been and probably always will be. So, naturally, when we were first talking about moving to Italy I thought I would just work really hard at learning Italian and be able to communicate and understand a little while we are here.  
     The first morning we were here, while at breakfast, one of the servers asked me something in English and I responded to her in German. German?(it's been A LONG time since I spoke German-ugh) I had no idea where the string of words that came out of my mouth came from.  In fact, I didn't even know I knew all the words that I said.  The server looked at me confused, and walked away. haha...(To add insult to injury, while we were in Belgium, where I could have benefitted from my high school German lessons, I couldn't recall anything..go figure, right?)
     I totally expect myself to be getting more proficient with Italian- 1-2hrs a day of Rosetta Stone, 10 min a day Italian exercises, listening to Italian TV and radio, and random brief encounters with locals.  Oh, but no...I'm not getting better..ugh.  A few minutes ago I saw our landlandy.  When we first met(2 wks ago) we told her we were learning Italian and she was so excited and encouraging.  So, when she said "Ciao" just now, my mind went completely blank...void of all the Italian I've been working so hard on. Arrrghhh!  I think I responded to her in Spanish or French. I'm not sure but I don't think it was Italian.   She was sweet to me but I was 'kicking myself' for being so lame :(
        The other thing I'm noticing is that I'm also struggling more coming up with English words when I'm speaking.  What is up with that?  I thought learning a foreign language was supposed to increase your brain power not decrease it!?! 
     I get a little discouraged, too, when I talk to many people who live here but Italian is not their first language and even after a few years they still don't speak much Italian.  Oh well, I'm here and true to the LeClair way, I feel it necessary to persevere and conquer!  ( I may not conquer but I plan to persevere.. :)