Moving to Italy was a really big decision and I can't tell you how many times I am asked why Italy? Well, for starters, I hate this question. I think this question is just a way of creating small talk and to be honest the answer to this question is much larger than what is considered appropriate for small talk so I usually just answer with a simple I like the culture or for the experience. This question is also generic, I am asked this over and over and I don't think it's a great question to really get to know me, because like I mentioned before its a way of creating small talk. Anyways here is my full, honest tale about why I chose Italy and how eventually ended up here in Milan.
My great grandfather, Victor Teglia, was an Italian who lived in Reno, Nevada who was married to a lovely Irish woman, Nelly Teglia. My papa (Victor) did not come to America from Italy, however his parents came from a small town called Luca. Which is in the Tuscan region of Italy(where all the good wine is). I spent many days at my papa's house playing with my cousins, eating incredible food and begging to go for a ride on my papa's tractor. However, as much time as I spent at my Nana and Papa's house I never heard Papa speak in Italian other than a few important words like mangia, which means eat, or vieni qui, which means come here. As I got older I just assumed my papa couldn't speak Italian because he never spoke it and he never taught anyone in our family(which if you ask my grandmother she is still upset about). One day when I was about 13 years old one of my cousins brought home an Italian boy she met while she was studying abroad. She brought him over during a Sunday dinner, which means everyone in my family, cousins, aunts, uncles and even friends were in attendance, to meet our great grandfather. I remember this day so clearly. My great grandfather was sitting in the recliner chair in the corner while we all sat in a clump facing him. My cousin and her boyfriend were sitting the closest to him on the floor kind of kneeling into him. I could not imagine how that Italian man felt because that had to be the most intimidating site of people you have never met. Anyways, they sat next to my great grandfather and for the first time ever my papa spoke Italian.
As my papa spoke, we just sat there in silence. I believe there were even tears involved. The more my papa and this man spoke the more determined I became. I was going to learn Italian. It sounded beautiful and even though it was a little hidden secret from our family for a very long time it ran deep, I mean this man spoke Italian for the first time in years and he didn't falter once. Incredible. Any who, that is my extremely lengthy, too great for small talk explanation on why I chose Italy. All in all I wanted to learn about a piece of my family and why not go to the source, the motherland, Italy.
Now how did I end up in Milan, you ask? That is a little different tale and one much easier to tell than the previous one. As many of you know I spent a semester in Viterbo, Italy. It is a tiny town near Rome where I made some of the best friends of my life and had an amazing time. I chose Viterbo to study in because there were only two options to choose from and I picked the smaller town thinking I would learn more Italian there. Don't know how much that is true considering I mostly hung out with Americans. Moving on. It was after that semester that I told myself I would return to Italy no matter what it takes. Fast forward three years, one bachelors degree later and I returned to Italy. I became an au pair, which is basically a foreign live in nanny. I thought what the heck its a new experience and I love kids so I searched the internet and found an amazing host family. I picked to have this experience in Milan because although I traveled during my semester abroad I never visited Milan and I thought its still Italy and it somewhere new so minus well. My six months here as an au pair were great and its really hard for me to put into words. These amazing people took me in and made me feel a part of their family for a while which can be hard and I know that many other au pairs were not as lucky to experience that so once again I thank my lucky stars that I found such amazing people. As that experience was finishing, I found myself wanting to stay longer so I started a job hunt. Let me tell you this was stressful. Many places do not want to hire Americans because of the visa process. Places tell you they will hire you if you have a work visa but to get a work visa you have to have a job so it can be hard and a lot of work. And then all of a sudden I got extremely lucky and found a company willing to help me out with the visa process. Although it was messy and didn't work out how I planned I did return and now I am now teaching English, which is still very new to me and trust me I learn something new each day. So now that I have explained why I chose to come here and what I am doing here, I will share more of experiences and funny stories. So stayed tune! Until next time my friends.