Non mi va.

Vocabulary word, or phrase in this case, of the day: Non mi va.

Yesterday evening Bambina G & Bambino M came over for some play time with Miss Maddy. This put Mr. Duncan outside of his comfort zone because Tuesday is the day Dorina pays us a visit – his favorite day of the week – the one day that for at least a 30 minutes after we all arrive home, the house is Just Perfect.

I savor the opportunity to hear Maddy speak in Italian. She will generally speak Italian only with Italians (Go figure) and these 2 children don’t speak English.

Bambina G was still with us as we prepared to have dinner (at the early hour of 6:30 pm), so we invited her to join us. She eagerly accepted and told me she likes everything and isn’t a picky eater. Though Mr. Duncan would rather prepare pasta each and every evening (and lunchtime), I encourage (beg) him to vary it up a little. (Although, I must tell you, his pastas are always delicious, even though he is an Americano.) He does so, somewhat unwillingly.

Last night we had the varied menu: Red beans (Louisiana style) & rice, roasted pork, and sweet potatoes. The beans were of a fresh batch made last week that we just pulled from the freezer.

Bambina G came to the table, ready to eat. She immediately requested that the 3 little chunks of sweet potato be taken off of her plate. Once her plate was returned to her, she took a good look and politely removed herself from the table. By this time Maddy is at least five bites into her beans & rice – her favorite food. I ask Bambina G to come back and eat with us, and she responds, simply:

“Non mi va.”

Or

I’m not in the mood.

Translation: This is strange, foreign food. There is no way that you are going to convince me to eat beans and rice prepared this way. And what is this meat? Cooked like this? I’ve never seen anything like this in my 6 years of life. No way, no how. Besides, I’m not really hungry anyway. It is, afterall, only 18:30 and not near time for dinner.

Mr. Duncan to me: See, I told you so. If we were having pasta she would have gobbled it up.

On a side note: We were recently invited to lunch over at a friend’s house. She prepared the kid’s menu separately (Why do people do this?), which among other things, included Kraft Mac and Cheese. Maddy, like Bambina G last night, absolutely refused to touch it.