‘I am an incredibly lucky
bastard!’ I tell my friends at our Casa dei Tigli when we are
celebrating life. My life. And my life is about them: the beautiful people who
are with me on this journey. We share the same sentiment. ‘A good neighbour is
worth more than a distant friend ’ a Dutch saying goes. And I, this lucky
bastard being on an expat journey, have both! My journey of life is about all
of you, apparently. And about me, of course.
Talking about my actual
neighbour: she is this beautiful, petite, brown-eyed woman and our landlady.
Her eyes always sparkle. For the two years we have been living here, she has
been talking and writing to me in Italian, with patience and trust. Whenever
something happens in la casa, she is there. Taking immediate action as
we speak or WhatsApp. On this festive day she sends me her words ‘Lo sai, tu
ti fai voler bene da tutti se luminosa come il sole’ (You know, everybody
loves you, because you shine like the sun) straight from her heart, with a
special ‘Tanti auguri’ by an Italian choir. And I realise that although
after all this time of knowing her I finally do understand each and every word
she says and writes, the real thing is: we have always understood each other
without words.
This lucky bird is surrounded by
friends who care about me and my family. My Spanish friend, and dedicated
mother of two belle, with whom I practice Italian, to get more confused now and
then. She makes me a birthday pie which says: ‘Gefeliciteerd!’ (meaning
Congratulations!). Another passionate Spanish lady says she likes my pappa
al pomodoro della Casa dei Tigli and asks me to share the recipe. With
pleasure, dear: Pappa al pomodoro della Casa dei Tigli! I like having you at my Casa. My Dutch
friend who is giving me a helping hand in cleaning the dishes and changes the
diapers from il piccolino, because she understands I am busy celebrating
life. Among all the other things she already did for me since we started here
being literally neighbours for one week. The Venezuelan friend who thoughtfully
dressed up her little boy with clothing which used to belong to my three schatjes
(tesorini). This beautiful Italian friend who gives me an Italian
cooking book about the science of pasticceria. I am not a brilliant
scientist nor casa linga, but I like bringing science into practice in
that part of the casa where I adore to be. My English friend brings me a
panettone filled with ice-cream to share. My Dutch friend who writes me
in the Varese travelling guide ‘Altijd als ik bij jullie over de vloer kom,
bekruipt mij een vakantiegevoel’ (meaning that he feels like being on a
holiday whenever he is at our home). And that is exactly how I wish him to be:
relaxed, sunny and feeling at ease alla Casa. And that sometimes he does
not need to say more (although he thinks he always has to). All these lovely
ladies who show up, who take the effort of finding their way to our Casa dei
Tigli (which is really an efffort, considering is not present in any navigation system we know of).
My Portugese friend and
mother-in-law to be from il piccolino, who will celebrate life with me
when she gets back from Portugal. Definitely with a good pranzo. Luckily we
have one year together ahead of us in Italy. My Greek friend who passes by with
his wife at the end of my birthday celebration. Eating my apple pie eagerly.
Enjoying life to the maximum, while looking at our kids. And thinking about his
own who is hopefully coming home soon.
When 2016 has just started my
friend in Dongen far away but always close to my heart wishes me to 'Shine bright like a diamond' (Rihanna). He is always encouraging me to be the best version of myself,
straight from his heart to mine. And I keep singing the song out loud, every
day since. Another sweet friend is with me in my thoughts and laughter. O, I am
sorry, I am not supposed to call him sweet, because he pretends to be really
cool and he wants me to play that act with him. Which I do, of course, because
I love theatre and drama. And besides that, I am a happy woman - also referred
to as a ‘blij ei’, but in English happy egg does not have as much
potential as it has in rhythm in Dutch - being connected to him not only in my
thoughts and heart, but also in an honest, funny, real, emotionally colourful
skype-call after a period of silence. I realize I have to stop missing people I
love and start catching up with them if I feel like that. And while I do
realise that a couple of days after my birthday, a funny all-in-one Christmas,
New Years and belated birthday card arrives from friends in Soest. They already
anticipated on the fact that the PosteItaliane is not to be trusted on
speed.
My friend in Wageningen is
sitting on the couch with his lovely lady and their combined family of four
kids as we try to skype. The internet connection with our dear Wageningen is
bad. On those moments it is frustrating to only see each other but not properly
hear and feel each other and be together. Luckily, despite of my frustration,
he is understandable and knows: this is the way it is for now. Being together at
a distance I am back at ease then. And then I remember again that I started the
day with colourful drawings, loom bracelets and cards of two of his special girls.
And I smile.
My two beloved party animals fly
from Wageningen to Milano to share a long party-weekend with me.
Meaning: we play table games, we cook, taste and eat lovely Italian food, we
cuddle, we sing and dance, I shop and let them be my personal shoppers, we hug,
the kids play while we chat, we laugh, we cry, we laugh about our crying and we
cry out of happiness, we cuddle, we inspire each other and let our worries fly
away on butterflies, we run, we enjoy beautiful sunny Italian lake views, we
smell the air of pine trees and jasmine already and we truly adore the sun. O,
and we hug and cuddle. I leave a tear when we sing out loud in the car 'I need a friend, o I need a friend, who makes me happy, not stand here on my own' (Mathilde Santing).
Meanwhile 1000 km away my parents
and my brother and his - let’s already call it that - new family are having a
great dinner and celebrating my father’s and my birthday as a side dish. We
skype a laugh and a toast together. I unpack Brené Browns Rising Strong (Sterker
dan ooit in Dutch) while facing my parents-in-law at skype who have sent me
this with a cooperative PosteItaliane. Yes, perfectly in time! Life is
incredibly unexpected sometimes. My so-called Guatemalan mother has send me a
package of colourful clothing for the children. I know she is with me in her
thoughts. And all together, we have skype-visitors all day and friends and
family showering their birthday wishes via WhatsApp, Facebook and e-mail.
La Bella dresses up as beautifully
as possible to show her festive feelings for and with me. She is having a great
time preparing birthday breakfast with my real age in toast covered with
gorgeous chocolate spread.
My big little jumper invents a
game to play with me for all celebration days, in which the prize is always
hugging and kissing me. I don’t know if this is his prize or mine. I think we
are both winners.
Ever since Christmas il
piccolino is doing ‘Cheers’ with everything he drinks, and eats, to show
his celebrating mood with us. And on my party our little man is dancing among
the legs of the adults showing his big happy skills.
Back on our own I say to my managementteampartner-in-love:
‘Sometimes I can be overwhelmed by the love surrounding me. And I hope I am
doing the right thing with these presents coming from beautiful hearts in real
life.’ Feeling tiny by big love alla Casa dei Tigli.
His answer is: ‘This is real
life, honey.’
2016 tastes good already.
Completely ready to drink. At a distance of 1000 km, and close to Casa dei
Tigli. Enjoy it with love and little sparkles of happiness.
Cheers!
*All characters appearing in this
blog are real, alive and kicking. Any resemblance to the actual person is
purely intentional!
