I lived in Italy for three years. Initially, it was very challenging, nobody spoke English, and I didn’t speak Italian. I felt very stuck with my mom – who I didn’t get along with, and my brother. As time went on, I started to learn Italian, things were still bad at home, but I felt a sense of independence and satisfaction from speaking the language. The city was so beautiful and unique. I got a lot out of the experience, and I felt like quite a young adult for a long time.
I like that my development changed in terms of the way I present myself, the way I perceive the world. They taught us a lot about philosophy. We did lots of poetry readings and philosophy books in school. There’s one book you re-read four times in your school career called Promessi Sposi, which means the Betrothed. Italians look into emotions and people’s way of living. I feel like they are very emotional beings, very dramatic in a way, loving poetically, which I enjoy. What we would call the drama, for them, it’s the passion and love.
The women there are strong and seen so in the culture, which is different from many other countries where women are marginalized. Women have admiration, and men are hopelessly chasing them. I like that. The playing field is different, there is no desperation for male affirmation. That was important to me, in a way I didn’t realize because I hadn’t had that affirmation from my dad. Having males interact with you in that way, from quite a young age, felt healthy.
