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Nobody says when they're arriving
The exchange in this lesson — one person finishing, another waiting, a third mid-letter, everyone converging later — is closer to how Italian plans actually work than a fixed time would be. Arrangements tend to firm up as the evening approaches rather than beforehand, and ci sentiamo, we'll speak, is a complete and sincere plan rather than a brush-off. The follow-up happens by WhatsApp an hour or two before, which is when the where and the when finally settle. Two phrases carry most of the weight. Ci sentiamo is the standard sign-off for anything unscheduled; ci vediamo is the same with a meeting implied. And arrivo, literally I arrive, means I'm on my way, with a well-understood elasticity: an Italian who says arrivo may be putting their shoes on. None of this applies to work, trains or appointments. It is specifically the social layer, and the useful adjustment for a newcomer is to stop reading a vague answer as evasion — a firm time for a Saturday evening is often the less natural thing to ask for.