Make New Friends, But Keep the Old

Moving to Liguria, Italy by myself meant I would be da sola, alone, without backup, without friends or family close by. It has now officially been one year in my little apartamento vicino al mare, my apartment by the sea. I have no regrets. I love my home and am signing a 5 year, fixed price, lease.

The sea, the sunsets and the moon are my constant companions and my solace on days when I feel like a fish out of water, a stranger in a strange land.

My family and friends back in the States keep in contact and when we talk or Skype it is almost like being together. But I want and need friends here in Italy.

When I chose Chiavari, I did so fully understanding that most people would not be American, would not speak English and that it could be a challenge to meet people with my feeble grasp of la lingua italiana, the Italian language. Yet, I made a friend here in town. We bonded over medical mishaps. She spoke English too. It was a good start. But it has not worked out well. I am very thankful for her friendship while it lasted. Perhaps she is not one of the people of my personal tribe.

Yes, I said TRIBE. I am a single, over 50 years old woman who moved to Italy alone. I am a dual citizen who loves this country and wants to learn all I can about the people, the culture and everything Italy has to offer. I want people like me in my tribe. And I am meeting them.

My first two local, Italian friends are Daniela

and her friend Marcela.

They are two very fun, very sweet local women. Unfortunately, they are very busy people. I hope we see each other again soon.

Believe it or not, Facebook has helped me to find people of my tribe. Tom lives in Genoa. He and I share music, love of Italy,

dual citizenship and living a solo life here in Italy. I met him through another Facebook friend, Sandra from Campobasso.

Sandra is another woman who left it all behind her and moved to Italy da sola.  She is a dual citizen and a great, fun person—definitely part of my tribe! She will be visiting again in May. I wish she lived closer. But we are good friends nonetheless.

A client couple of our business, www.takemehomeitaly.com, has also become friends on Facebook and now, we are friends in real life too. Nancy and Michael currently live in Parma, are Americans and Michael already has his dual citizenship. Their daughter is visiting Italy soon and I created their travel plan with her. We became friends on Facebook and discussed our living arrangements. Although they enjoy Parma and love their apartment, they do not feel it is the right fit for them. The more I talked about living in Liguria, the more interested they became. Michael wants to golf and live by the sea. Rapallo fits the bill for them. Last week we met in Rapallo for the first time.

We shared a meal and walked all over the beautiful seaside town, Rapallo.

In fact, we walked around 10,000 steps during the course of the day while we shared stories, laughs and plans for the future.

The town has a golf course for Michael. He has been told he can walk there in 15 minutes. We laughed because 15 minutes in Italy is probably 20 or 30 minutes. But that is close enough for Michael. They really loved exploring the city. It looks very appealing to them.

And they loved the sea.

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I am so excited to have these two people close to me. It is only an 8-minute train ride from Chiavari on a Regionale train, the slowest of trains.

It will be very easy for us to get together once they find their place in the sun by the sea.

The tribe continues to grow. While it does, I will not forget my family here in Italy.

I need to make more of an effort to gather with them.

They are a gift to me and I hope to see more of them this year.

Beyond all of these wonderful people and the other family members not shown here, all these people living all over Italy, I have made friends though my business of Take Me Home Italy. They live from Friuli to Calabria. I hope to travel to see you ALL this year.

To all the writers and bloggers I have been fortunate enough to meet through my work, You are all part of my TRIBE.

Anyone else want to join the tribe? I am searching.