image: Ragusan streets
We moved to Italy in March 2022. We ended up in Ragusa, Sicily. It was a hard adaptation to a life in Sicily, without any prior knowledge of Italian language and never even having been there. It is amazing how your skills grow and mind expands to accommodate everything. Bureaucracy was no joke, and we needed lawyers for everything. Plus I think I gained about 18 kilos due to stress and pasta (and 🍷).
However in the end, I can only be proud of myself. Honestly, I did well.
Now, looking back at pictures of Ragusa and the map of Sicily, I find myself wanting to go back. We still would have so much more to experience. We didn’t have money to travel and with the exceptionally difficult move there, I think we soon became depressed and phlegmatic. Nothing went the way it was supposed to go.
Every day was a grind. Every day, week by week. At one point I thought I would completely lose it. My blood pressure was sky high.
It has been deeply hurtful to hear comments from others like, “Oh, I wish I could travel like you,” or “So you’re enjoying the sun and waves.” Let me be clear: we were not traveling. And no, we were certainly not living some idyllic beach life. This was not a vacation. It was a struggle, and one that only very few were let in on.
It almost makes me sick to miss Italy, and wanting to go back. Weird how life changes you, eh? Or maybe this is what they call trauma bonding.