Moving to Italy

In my first post I said I was waiting the pandemic out before I made plans, but the longer it goes on the more I realise that was an unrealistic idea. So, I decided to be open to anything, and see where life took me… and that just happened to be Italy. My mother’s homeland and the place where I spent every summer growing up. When Chelsea, my best friend from school, told me she had been offered a place to do a Master’s at the University of Padova I thought “Why not go with her?” After all, I had nothing else lined up.

Padova (Padua in English but I prefer the Italian name) is a beautiful, old university city that lies in Venice’s shadow (it’s only a half an hour train ride away). I’ve been here many times before as we have family friends here and it’s so close to our home in Venice. Being the Italian version of Oxford, last year they became twinned cities. The drama group I’m part of were actually the first cultural product of the twinning, when they travelled to Padova last April to perform West Side Story. I flew in from Paris (where I was living at the time) to see the shows and do the cast’s makeup.

So I knew I was moving but I didn’t want to arrive here with nothing lined up. I started looking for jobs and internships but there were few vacancies and the few that were popping up online were nothing I was even remotely interested in. When I called our family friend to tell her I was coming and to see if she knew anyone that was hiring, she said a media relations company she works closely with were looking for an intern and asked whether I was interested. That was the moment I realised things really could work out for the best. I went onto the company Facebook page and saw the advert and sent them my CV and a cover letter and, after a lengthy Zoom interview, I got the internship!

So here I am, sitting on our balcony in Padova, Veneto, on a warm, sunny afternoon writing this with a belly full of pasta. Classic.

I left packing to the very last minute as per usual so the evening before our flight was very stressful. I also overpacked because I like options, and I knew it was going to be hot when we arrived but that in winter it would get really cold. Packing for different seasons is no easy feat.

The flight over was my first time on public transport since lockdown so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was shocked that the flight was fully booked, with no social distancing whatsoever and many people not wearing their masks properly – under their noses – despite the instructions in the welcome announcement of the air stewardess.

Once we arrived it became immediately visible that Italy has been deeply scarred by the virus’ sudden arrival in February. Unlike in Heathrow where one in every four or five seats was barred to maintain social distancing, in Venice Marco Polo every other chair was barred off and everyone was in masks, even outside in the open air where they were no longer required to wear them.

Masks are much more ingrained into society here, unlike in the UK where they are still very much viewed as optional. They’re almost an accessory, if people aren’t wearing them they’re bunched up under their chins so they can quickly pull them over their mouths if need be. It’s also more enforced, unlike in the UK where everyone is too scared to tell anyone to respect the rules. I pulled my mask down to drink a sip of water in the bus to Padova from the airport and the bus driver saw and immediately told me to put it on.

We have now been here a week and I have successfully managed to shift Chelsea’s body clock from a British to an Italian lifestyle: from a 6:30pm dinner girl she is now an early evening aperitive of spritz all’Aperol and snacks, followed by a late dinner kind of girl. This is only one of my victories so far. I have also been teaching her Italian and she is really getting the hang of conjugations which is quite impressive.

Tomorrow I start work. I’m supposed to get a corona test at some point because it’s company policy, but I don’t know when. I will do a follow up post soon on our Aperol escapades and upcoming social activities as we begin to meet new people!