Straniera

Some mornings I wake up and find myself here, somewhat to my surprise. Often times I am happily surprised, thinking upon all of the blessings in my life. Then there are other times where I ask the question "What am I doing Here?" with a slight tinge of hysteria. I think this is natural, a normal occurrence to anyone who is a straniera a foreigner, in a new land. I am trying to give a balanced description of my life here, being honest about the things that are wonderful and the things that aren’t so wonderful. I think it is also normal for a straniera to notice and highlight the differences between their new life and their old life, even if there are probably more similarities than differences. But in the spirit of honesty, sometimes living here has been challenging. Our house is like a little American island in the big sea of Italy... a comfortable place for the boys and I. Even if we know better, we usually speak English here, not always from laziness, but also for comfort. There are real differences, too numerous to count between life here, and life back in the U.S.A. But we are happy. There are so many things to love about living here; the food, the culture, the art, the new friends and family, and the great opportunity to try something new, just to name a few. Yet in the same spirit of honesty, I must confess that there have been moments of frustration, anger, and a lot of head shaking by me... and muttering under my breath about how strange this or that is! Even if I do seem to complain a lot about the differences, or at least to mention them doesn’t mean that I don’t love this beautiful country. I am sure that if we returned to Oregon tomorrow, there would be things about Italy that I would truly miss. The moments of feeling out of synch with this life here, are thankfully few and far between. 

And just look at this next photo my friends! Where in Oregon could we find a view like this?