"But I'm still hungry"

I live in a hostel-like set-up with Anna, an Italian woman in her 60's. I also have a roommate who's my age, Torre, from Long Island. Darlene, who is post-retirement trying to get MA in art, is also here for four months in a different bedroom. I believe there are 9 beds between four bedrooms, and last night I saw that Anna was sleeping on the sofa to open up another bed. People come and go that are trying to learn Italian. Last week there were four girls from Trentino, an Italian region with heavy German influence. They were around 17 years old, and when they forgot or tire of being courteous to Anna or me, they'd speak German. They were touring Italy with their school that I believe was a hospitality school, they said that they wanted to work in hotels in their area. They said they wanted to visit New York or Las Vegas one day, so they were more excited to talk to Torre about her home than mine. I've come across very few people that know of North Carolina. I specify it as between New York and Florida.

Currently, there's a Japanese couple in their 50's, a Swiss woman approaching 70, a Swedish woman in I believe her 60's, and three Australians in high school at dinner.

The first night I came late to dinner with the full crowd Doris, the Swiss woman, leaned over the table with an eating utensil upright in her fist and asked curtly "Who are you?" She's overweight and missing a tooth, which she explained was the dentist's mistake, but I couldn't hear the whole story across the table. Last night she told Anna, after saying her name about 6 times to get her attention, "Anna, but I'm still hungry. Ho, ho-ho fame." (Everyone stutters a little with Italian, but Dori is especially bad.) Anna brought her a tiramisu the Australian boys had made at school that day, which she ate by herself, and the rest of us shared the other tiramisu. When Anna asked Doris if she ate it all by herself, shamelessly Doris said well yes, it was a gift, not caring that she ate the equivalent of what 6 others shared. Twice Anna has taken wine from Doris. I've never met anyone so upfront or audacious, it's impossible to capture her in writing. Quoting the Swedish woman, "The world is full of boring people. Doris, she's not one of them, and it's a wonderful thing."

The Japanese couple (I don't remember most names, none of us do) have been here for an extra week. They smile and awkwardly laugh a lot when they don't know what's going on an punctuate their epiphanies with "Aaaaaaahh" in an expected Japanese way. When I gave the man my email address we had to practice the letter "r" a few times.

Two of the three Aussie boys have Italian parents and therefore are much better at speaking the language than anyone, though they spend most of the time speaking English with Doris. The Swedish woman speaks to Darlene or Anna most of dinner, practicing Italian. Torre and I straddle the middle. I'm torn between wanting to learn more Italian or to tap into the once-in-a-lifetime chance of watching Doris entertainment. Doris and the Swedish woman are leaving this week, so hopefully short two cultures dinner won't get boring.