My little students often ask me: "Miss, how is it possible that you speak Italian and also English?" It's very cute when they do, but others ask equally often - how come you live here? Well, some people have their "American dream", I've got my Italian one. That's it.I've always loved Italy. I've liked the sound of the language, Italian food's always been one of my absolute favourites, and one day as I was travelling in Italy I had a thought - why not try to live and work here? There are some many teachers like me, who work in this country, I could do it too! I like doing things my way instead of following the same path as others. Life's short and what's the point wasting it repeating the things other people have already done?
And so, a day before the end of the year we landed in Brindisi, Puglia where our Italian life began. I'll always have a soft spot for Puglia. Maybe I'm exaggerating, but I feel that it was the time of immense growth for me as a person. I learnt so many things in that time! Puglia is beautiful, interesting, the weather's great, the people are so warm, open and friendly, plus the food's delicious... but that could be said about all of Italy, though!
After the fantastic 2 years in Puglia, we moved to Sardinia for a year. Again, it was a period of learning a completely different culture, full of traditions dating back a long time ago, their traditional costumes, the masks... Having spent a year there I'd say I can understand the argument that the Sardinians see themselves as a separate country from Italy. For me, Sardinia means the sun, stupendous beaches with white sand and clear water, palm trees, ports full of boats and yachts, beautiful sunsets, and traditions. Miss it all, really.
To make our experience complete, we have also made a short attempt at Sicily, but we were rather unlucky there. That year, we had torrential rains, practically unheard of there! - for weeks on end. Well, sometimes I still think that we've got an unfinished business in Sicily, and who knows, we may try our luck there again on e day. One thing can't be disputed about Sicily - it's an incredibly photogenic place, and their desserts are simply to die for! The best - and just in Italy.
Now, we've been living in Veneto for almost 2 years. It was a pretty big change, as teh region is so different fro the places we'd lived in before. It's amazing how diverse the Italian regions are. The north is quite surprising for us, foreigners. It's not as you'd imagine Italy - full of noise, a bit chaotic, people waving their hands etc. Here you get peace and order, the people are very nice, but perhaps a bit less expressive and quieter. Then there's the scary thing - fog! Oh yeah! It gets really cold in autumns and winter, sometimes it even snows... The view of the snow-clad mountains is nothing short of breath-taking, but I'm beginning to miss the sea... and I guess after the two years in beautiful Veneto it's time to move again soon. What can you do if you've got itchy feet? Where to this time? Who knows... Maybe the central part of Italy? Time will tell!
Flicking through the photos to pick a few for this post I realised how lucky I am to have had a chance to live in some really magnificent places. I feel really grateful and happy!
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