the little things

Little things are a big deal when you are in a foreign country. I'm doing a lot of little things here that take a good deal of courage on my part, 1. trying to find things then 2. trying to be understood.
I took 2 semesters of Italian at Temple University last year and have completely forgotten every bit of it. Language is one of those things that if you don't use it, you loose it, and so I am often lost now. I can muster a few words in Italian with my Philly accent but the main problem is not being able to understand Italians when they speak to me. For instance I can ask a question but can't understand the answer. So, like I said, accomplishing simple day to day tasks can be a bit of a challenge.
I do feel confident ordering food and drinks but asking directions doesn't always go that well. I really want to go shopping for boots (till the end of the month there are big sales, and supposedly they only have sales here 2x a year so I don't wanna miss out), I really want another pair of boots as I noticed my crappy ankle feels better when I wear the one pair I brought with me here. Anyway..... I worked up the courage to go into a shoe store ( PS the set up is nothing like ours at home, the shoes are outside in a glass case and you need to go inside where there are no shoes and tell them what you want, UGH!) so I go in and attempt with my very poor Italian to explain I want boots, with a wide calf........ and got shot down with a strange look and a simple but firm "No". I'm not sure if it was my poor language skills or that she just didn't feel like waiting on me. I really can't blame her, I know I never liked waiting on foreigners who had trouble expressing what they wanted. More often than not though the people of Rome have been very helpful, and patient with me and I am so very grateful for that.
Small accomplishments: going to the grocery store, getting my nails done, finding my way to various historic sites, buying hair products in a really too fancy for me hair store. Making friends/ acquaintances with the flower and outside shoe vendor guys. Doing laundry at the laundromat. Buying an ankle brace at the pharmacy and ordering custom made food, like pizza with extra garlic and black olives, hahahaha yummy! All these things may seem like no big deal but trust me it's really challenging to accomplish even the smallest task when you don't speak the language .Thank God the people are for the most part very kind, very different than Americans but much more helpful.