Why I Moved to Italy
Here’s the rundown of how it came to be that I lived in Italy. It started with a spin of a table globe. I spent 3 years in college thinking that there was no point in studying abroad and that there was no world beyond Boston, New York, and Barbados. I don’t remember the exact moment that it came to me that I should study abroad, but I remember reading a quote that said, “it’s better to regret doing something than to regret not doing something. “ With that in mind, I spun the globe in my college’s library, closed my eyes, and decided I would study wherever my finger landed. It sounds unreal, but all of this is true. Anyhow, my finger landed on Italy. After researching English language study abroad programs in Italy, I found John Cabot University, and so, to Rome I’d go. It wasn’t an easy road to get there, I had to write 3 petitions before getting an approval because my GPA was low, my school was not affiliated with John Cabot, and because I would be studying abroad the Fall semester of my senior year.
Since I only studied abroad for Fall semester, I was only there for 3 months, but in those months I met and fell in love with one of the locals. Yes, honey, I found me an Italian man! Well, it's more like we found each other. Anyhow, I knew that I wanted to be with him once I had graduated, and the word was that the easiest way for an American to live and work in Italy was by either getting a job as an English teacher, working as a tour guide, or getting lucky enough to work at FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization). Working as a tour guide seemed intimidating because I didn't really know a whole lot about Rome at the time; and though I was lucky to have found my Italian man, I wasn't feeling lucky enough to land a job at FAO, so I didn't even try. With those options out of the picture, I decided to teach English.
I didn't know a word of Italian before moving to Rome. Heck, I didn't even know that Ciao meant both, "Hi!" and "Bye!". However, after saying the same phrases every day when asking for things like directions, bus schedules, and even ordering a coffee, I came to slowly learn Italian. Not to mention, living with my Italian boyfriend and his non-bilingual mamma and brother definitely helped to speed up the process. I spent a total of 5 years of life abroad (read about why I left). Since then my trials, tribulations, and overall experiences are still with me, but sometimes I feel like people don’t want to hear a whole lot about “that time I was in Italy”. So, I started this this “ Life in Italy” section of my blog to have a space to get it all out, to share it what I can’t forget, and have it be received by whoever cares.