As part of my Interviews with Expats in Italy series
Cherrye Moore
is sharing her expat life in Italy and the USA
I met Cherrye Moore on line via her newsletter and web site for
My Bella Vita. Southern Italy does not often receive the same attention as other tourist dense parts of Italy and I found her descriptions of the towns, villages and seaside of Calabria engaging.
From online posts about life in Calabria, renovating a home to a BnB Il Cedro Bed and Breakfast, travel tips and Calabrian destinations an entire travel service company has emerged. More personal updates, recipes and facts about life in Calabria are posted on the subscription site, Questo Mese in Italia, a complementary newsletter, be sure to subscribe.
My Bella Vita Travel offers culinary experiences, yoga retreats and heritage
tours in Calabria. This year travel events are September small group heritage tour, Calabria Yoga Retreat and Calabrian Table Tour. Details and dates are on her web page. Cherrye describes
My Bella Vita Travel as " Our company, My Bella Vita Travel, specializes in custom vacations and heritage travel to Calabria and southern Italy."
Contact information:
http://mybellavita.com
cherrye@mybellavita.com
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| Photos courtesy of Franco Muia |
Our online interview:
How
long have you been an Expat in Italy?
I lived full-time
in Calabria for nine years and recently relocated (at least) part-time back to
Texas.
I loved living in Calabria. My husband is from there and my son was born
there and it very much feels like home to me.
Our long-term "family
plan" always included us splitting our time between southern Italy and
southeast Texas so this recent "move" was part of the bigger plan.
Prior to becoming an expat did you live in Italy for any length of time?
No! I had spent time as an expat just outside of Paris, which
is where I met my husband, and I thought I knew what being an expat was all
about. :-)
Talk about culture shock!
What
made you decide to no longer be a visitor but to be a resident in Italy?
My husband and I met while we were both working for
Disneyland Paris and living in France.
We had "the talk" a few months
into our long-distance relationship and we knew that someone would have to make
the move.
I have always loved adventure and liked the idea of living in
southern Italy but always knew that one day I'd want to go home (to Texas).
I
grew up in a big Catholic family - I'm one of 26 first cousins - and I wouldn't
trade that crazy family dynamic for anything.
So, I knew one day I'd want to
move back to Texas. Now, we are in a position that I never dreamed would be
possible.
We kept our home in Calabria and recently bought a home in southeast
Texas. I'm so very blessed!
Any
reason you wish to share, for selecting the city/town you live in?
It's funny how sometimes life chooses you. I moved to Italy
"for a boy." :-)
And that boy happened to live in Catanzaro, the
capital city of Calabria.
But, I gotta be honest. The first several months were
tough. Unlike more tourist-friendly towns, there is little English spoken in
Catanzaro. Everything still closes in the middle of the day. We hang out our
clothes to dry... .
It's a very different way of life than I was accustomed to
in Texas.
But slowly things started to change for me. I started making
connections, learning the language, adapting to the differences and I wouldn't
change it for anything.
There is nowhere else in Italy I'd want to live.
Did
you speak Italian before you moved to Italy?
Very, very
little. Ok. Let's say no.
I remember though when I started feeling comfortable
in Italian.
I had gone to a shop down the road from our house and I felt ...
light. Confident.
I couldn't really place the feeling until I realized that I
was feeling relief. Peace.
I knew I'd be able to communicate with someone if
they approached me without getting flustered or embarrassed.
I held my
chin a little higher and smiled as I walked.
Then, I remembered I'd gone to the
store to buy Q-Tips. And I didn't know how to say that in Italian... .
What
is or was the most difficult part(s) of expat life? Be free to list
anything from on dishwasher to the amount of time errands take….etc
Difficult?? Hmmm..., bureaucracy.
Everything taking
longer than you think it should.
Not being able to make a dr. appointment on
the phone but having to go in person to make the appointment, then going in
person to pay (in advance), then going again for the appointment.
Then, again
to pick up the results. It was so tedious.
Also, I found it much harder to make
friends with non-expats in Calabria.
Many of the Italians I know have had their
same friends since childhood so there isn't a lot of "room" for new
friends.
Then, people get busy - have jobs, have kids and family and it's
harder to make a connection with people who are new.
The
most rewarding parts of expat life?
I love being able
to fully experience a new culture. You can read about it, learn about it and
get insight while you are on vacation but living in a country exposes you to so
much more. You see the good, the bad and the ugly and at least for me, I love
it anyway. I have always said there are different kinds of expats. Those who
know their expat life is short-term, those who make permanent moves and have
their families as an expat, those who are students, moms, dads, short-term
employees, etc. All of these personal elements affect our experience and each
of those is rewarding and unique in different ways.
My first expat experience
was 15 years ago when I lived outside of Paris. I was young and never expected
to have a family or live in France any longer than I did.
That experience was
fabulous but it was much different from my next expat experience, which was
southern Italy.
In Italy, I got married, had in-laws, gave birth to my son,
built a home - all normal real-life experiences but it wasn't
like being on vacation every day. (in comparison to my experience in Paris, for
example)
Do
you have dual citizenship with Italy?
Not yet, but I'm
eligible. It's on my list. :-)
To
stay long term in Italy, what documentation is needed?
I'm not sure, I think it varies depending
on what you are planning to do in the country.
I was married to an Italian so
this process was different from expats who are seeking citizenship based on
their heritage, people who are there for work, etc.
Do you plan
to remain in Italy long term?
That's a harder question
than it initially seems. As I mentioned, we have bought a home in
Texas and are planning to split our time but we also kept our house in Italy.
We have strong ties there and I don't ever see us breaking those or not wanting
to spend a considerable amount of time in Italy.
We want our son to feel
Calabrese, to know his family and the culture and the language so yes, I think
a part of us will be there forever.
I love Italy and I miss it every day that
I'm not there but I also love being an American.
I love being close to my
family in Texas and having our son in close contact with his family in the
states.
Maybe that's the best part of being an expat. Being able to have it all
- to have the best of both worlds.
At least that's what I'm hoping.
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| Photos courtesy of Franco Muia |
My Bella Vita Travel, LLC was created by Cherrye Moore, an American travel writer who has lived in southern Italy since 2006.
The company specializes in custom vacations and ancestry tours to Calabria and regions throughout southern Italy.
My Bella Vita Travel is registered as an LLC in the state of Texas and all business, banking and legal processing is conducted in the US.
You can join Cherrye for the Calabrian Table Tour, an 8-day cooking, food, wine and culture tour of Calabria held 2-3 times a year
