As someone who has traveled abroad before, I was anticipating that there would be a language gap. However, I had not considered the possibility that I would find myself in a situation where I would need to actively respond to instructions given in Italian. This exact situation presented itself this morning, when Tabitha and I had the opportunity to work with the pasta chef, Ileana. Before leaving, Chef Marcello had warned us that Ileana did not speak English, but that we would be able to understand her despite this fact. Slightly nervous but anxious to learn, we began by watching her make the pasta, and then she showed us how to do it ourselves. Part way through, she was trying to communicate the word “eggs” to us, but we were unable to understand. Rather than becoming frustrated with us, she pulled out her phone a pulled up a picture of eggs. Later on, when Brenna posed a more extensive question, Ileana resolved the language gap by calling her husband and having him translate. She indicated that she had called her husband by pointing to her ring finger on her left hand. Overall, she was just exceptionally understanding about the language gap between all of us and in no way seemed to be upset that we had not extensively learned Italian before coming on this trip. While this enhanced my cooking experience, it has also expanded my views on language barriers. When we return to the States, I know that I will be more patient and kind to those who are fluent in languages other than English and try my best to come up with creative solutions to close that gap.