Snails

If I have learned only one thing from au pairing, it is that I am a snail. Not in the sense that I’m slow (although admittedly, I am) but through the fact that I carry my home on my back.

When I left England almost three weeks ago now, I rather naively thought that I could say goodbye to my family and friends, hop on a plane and forget about them for two months. However, I have since discovered that it is not so easy. Home is a part of us and to separate ourselves from it is near impossible. From morning to nigh I think about England and all of the things I miss there: my mum, my sisters, my brother, my dad, nieces, nephews, fish and chips and rain (I know…how crazy is that?) Although I’m trying my best to dig my feet into Italy and embrace life here, there are always those roots in England which are pulling me in the direction of home.

Despite the occasional stings of homesickness however, I really am enjoying myself here in Italy. With each day I am making more friends, eating more glorious food and acquiring slightly more of a tan. Also, as a result of being in Italy for so long I now view England with dramatically enlivened fervour. When in Naples for example, I managed to get my hands on a special international copy of the Independent (and I paid for the priviledge, three bloody euros!) and on seeing a photo of David Cameron I felt a completely unjustifiable surge of emotion – the kind of teary eyed patriotism you feel when listening to Jerusalem at The Last Night of the Proms. In fact, I’ve already set aside the day of my return on the 2nd September as the ‘celebration-of-all-things-english’ day, which will obviously involve fish and chips, a chilly walk in Southwold and will most definitely exclude pasta of any sort.

So there you have it, I am an English Woman through and through. I’ve finally admitted it. I love Italy and I love travelling but I will always keep my home as close to my heart as a snail keeps his shell.