Coming to America

Found some of those Ravello-to-Amalfi Hike photos

Now that we've had a few months of American living, I feel like I have a little more perspective on our time in Italy. And some recovery from the move process! I find often that my memories are filled with our time Italy. As I sit in our living room, playing with a toddler, a moment will flash across my brain, a memory of sitting on our roof terrace watching the setting sun setting fire to the windows of villas far off on Capri. Or as I cook dinner, a memory of sitting in a pub in Ireland will come to the forefront. The memories are so vast and vivid and exciting. No matter that we were excited to move "home," that we felt our time in Naples had come to an end, I would not trade our time there for anything in the world. Many times I was frustrated or depleted, but many more times, I was in awe at the life we lived. When I dress Nora, I remember shopping at my favorite, weekly market in Posillipo, and my favorite two booths for children's clothing. When we walk into our town here, I have flashbacks to pushing her stroller along the lanes of Capri. (I find that I think of Capri most often of all.). When I go to our local coffee shop here, the daily life reality is an overlay of my memory of spending time in my Lucrino coffee shop with friends. Most of my memories are bittersweet. Happiness to be here, where we are now, but also missing our Italian life. When I drink orange juice, I remember the fresh squeezed orange juice available in every, Italian coffee bar. Here, we bought salami and cheese for a relaxing, post Christmas dinner, and reminisced walking down to Gennaro in our Lucrino salumeria for the most delicious of cheeses and salamis. I am Facebook friends with the woman now living in the villa that was once our home, and when she posts her pictures and her own blog posts, I feel like I'm living a double life - one back in Italy ongoing in my head, and my real life here in America. I think just for a moment, maybe I'll run up to the roof terrace today and take a look at the castle, before remembering that such a roof terrace is no longer part of my life. I love now being in a place where I can communicate freely and where I know the expected modes of behavior. I love our town and being able to walk around easily with Nora.  I love being to drive around easily! And I love the sheer volume of possibilities I have to fill my days spent with a toddler. But yes, I do miss Italy. Very much.

Traffic outside our Lucrino coffee car

Beach near Amalfi

Capri Views

Walking in Capri