Italy inspires me in many ways. The landscape, the food, the way of living. When we visited Italy last year (Toscana area) we used to go out for pizzas (of course) during the warm evenings in August and it was a pleasure to see Italians sitting outside talking. By outside I mean not only restaurants, but park and street benches. It seems they really like to get together and talk. This is common among Brazilians as well. Not so much among Norwegians, though.
Some people wonder why I want to move to Italy, being from Brazil (Rio) and presently living in Norway. Well, we have been in Norway for two years because after having lived in Brazil for 9 years, my Norwegian husband, our daughter and I came to Norway in search of better work opportunities for him. We have succeeded in that. However, Norway lacks good weather, sun and the social proximity one can find in Brazil and in Italy. Everything works fine here, no problem with slow internet connections, telephone lines or digital TV. You can have your passport renewed in one week and get it mailed to you. I call this efficiency. But, what are we looking for in a place to live? In Rio I resented having to live with fear. One is constantly afraid there. There is too much crime. In Norway I have only felt fear for the winter and how cold the wind will blow when I have to go out.
Italy seems to me to be in the middle of the two extreme situations described above. It seems to be safer than in Brazil and the weather is milder (in the winter) than in Norway. Not to mention that I would probably have many more visits from my relatives in Brazil, that seem to be convinced Norway is too far away (and too much out of the way) to come and visit me here.
4 comments:
I enjoyed your story and blog. Nice pictures too.
Ha!
It looks like that you consider criminality a climatic feature! Where is warmth there is criminality, if it's chilly it's more safe!!!
;-)
I don't believe it's like that, but anyway.
Upon some statistics i believe to (made by the Left... looks like since a couple of months everything is politicized!!!) it seems that Italy is one of the safer countries in Europe, although the "perceived criminality" is much higher.
I think that this is in part an effect of the sneaky politics of the rights. They presented in the last elections as one of the main point of their programs the fight to criminality, and they increased by the media the feeling of un-sicureness of common people.
Anyway, that's a fact against strangers in Italy, but don't warry too much... it looks that this kind of xenophoby is all towards poor people immigrating in Italy with the hope to find better luck than their countries (eastern Europe or Africa). It's obvious that there is more criminality among poor people, isn't it?
ciao
dario
This following is the comment i wanted to post after your previous post:
---
Oh!
I have seen "Under the Tuscan sun" me too, in its translation in Italian, and all of the sudden i sow myself be wanting to move to Italy me too!
Uhm... What?
Oh! how stupid i am, i already live in Italy!!!
If you want to move to Italy and find the taste of Under the Tuscan sun i bet you will be very deluded.
Men are not all like Raul Bova, so handsome, so cool and so ready to put theirselves in the role of who court the American rich girl. Old women are not so all faschioned to give away for two pennies the farmhouse of their families just because of a shit of a pidgeon. And Cortona.... if you come to Italy and go to Cortona and appreciate it because you believe it's a part of Italian culture, well, i guess you didn't understand a big lot of Italian culture.
Italy is a place to live (fortunately or unfortunately?). It's not a vacation rental for rich expats bored of their life in the world. Italy is a part of the world. It's a country with its contraddictions, as any other place of the world.
If you want to appreciate Italy in my opinion, the path is different. Move to Italy, try to learn its language, its culture, try to live as an Italian live in Italy. A plate of casseula, for example (it's a traditional Italian plate from Lombardy, where i am from), is not just a stewed pork meat with cabbage. It is a part of culture of one real person like me, interlaced with a millenarian history. I wonder if some expat in italy could ever taste this culture (and not only the pork and cabbage). For sure he/she can try.
What is this?
One possible answer is "a photo". Another is "the coliseum". This last is my favorite.
Visualising and waiting
hi Rosaly,
when will you be in Italy again? If you make it to the Rome area I would love to get together! We live about 90 minutes to the SE of Rome, but could meet you there or here (if you want to see the countryside). I'm diane on expats and now I have my blog up and working: www.diane-underanolivetree.blogspot.com Come visit if you haven't already and leave me a comment (they make my day!) Ciao, Diane
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