I am writing this this blog because I have the luxury of time for the first time in my life. My other motivations are: to encourage people who feel that they have no chance of changing their lives and to promote a place that has given me a new life.
Working in Abruzzo
I have been asked about the job opportunities near our village. Sadly, there is not much work available, even for Italians.
I have been fortunate in that I can teach and Italian parents are very keen for their children to learn English. I would recommend doing a quick “Teaching English as a foreign language” course before embarking on an adventure such as this.
While I was thinking about work, my mind wandered to my own experiences and how I came to be writing this blog. I have been amazed at how many little seeds of ideas from my past, have now begun to develop into something more. I believe that this is happening because I am in the right place for me at this moment. Serendipity is possible. Please allow me to explain.
A couple of months ago, I was taking my dog, Alice, for a walk on a Sunday afternoon. Near the end of the road, I saw two women sitting on a bench having a smoke. I nodded and said “Buonasera” assuming they were visitors from Bologna or somewhere up north. Imagine my surprise and delight when I heard them reply in English and with a South African accent (nogal!)
That was the start of a new friendship and a new career for me!
One of the women had bought a house in the nearby village of Salcito and was staying in our village while renovations were being done. She told me that she did freelance writing online and introduced me to the site.
Since then I have been writing articles, ghostwriting stories and I started this blog. I have even started to earn money! The incredible part for me, is that I was accepted to study journalism at Rhodes University, Grahamstown in 1976, but I was a silly little girl from Saldanha Bay, on the west coast of South Africa. I did not have the confidence to travel to a strange place and I did not believe I could succeed. So, I compromised on my dream and became a teacher.
Twenty-five years later, after the nightmare of being a square peg in a round hole – I never got the hang of staff room politics, could never stand the restrictions and observations and was called “a maverick”, which I took as a compliment, by the way- I felt my physical and mental health deteriorating. I had to get out, so I bought this dilapidated stone house in Italy and resigned. One of the best days of my life!
Happy New Year
Well, Christmas was filled with many of the usual traditions and the seasonal influx of people. What was noticeable, was the absence of commercialism, stress and angst. This is “ My kind of town”!
San Giovanni Lipioni sparkled magically when the Christmas street lights were switched on, and the display leading up to the church, was particularly lovely.
There was soft music playing in the background of the beautiful Nativity scene. Most noticeable, was the empty manger. The reason became clear on Christmas Eve.
I am not Catholic, so I don’t attend church regularly. However, my elderly aunt was keen to go to mass on Christmas Eve. So, after enjoying a scrumptious meal in a friend’s home, we walked along the cobblestone streets to the church.
To my surprise, it was packed to the rafters! Although the service was in Italian, I enjoyed listening to the readings and the warm feeling of being part of this wonderful community.
At the end of the service, we joined a procession down to the piazza and the priest presented Baby Jesus. There was a long queue, waiting to kiss his knee, before he was placed in the manger.
And then, it was time for refreshments and revelry in the “other church, namely, The Bar!
I loved the simplicity and the chance to reflect before the eating and drinking of Christmas Day began. For me, it’s not about religion, but about the happiness of celebrating together. Celebrating the return of friends and family from across the globe and the sense of community. When loneliness is a terrible burden for many at this time, it’s impossible to feel anything, but surrounded by love, in this place that has become our home.
Homemade happiness
When we moved to this beautiful mountain village, I pictured a merry band of handsome Italian workmen arriving every morning a la “Under a Tuscan Sky”. I was very mistaken!
Apparently, in order to sustain this idyllic lifestyle, we were going to have to do almost every thing ourselves. That includes building work, growing food, cooking from scratch and wait for it … mending!
Very little is thrown away and very little is bought. When we were working full time and earning a salary, hardly a week went by without me buying a new item of clothing or shoes- many of which still have labels on because they were impulse buys. Having lost twelve kilograms due to all the physical labour, I can now fit into many items that were previously a little tight. Win win!
Autumn 2019
Autumn takes its time to arrive in San Giovanni Lipioni. It continues to be very warm during the day and you have to get up very early to experience the first chill of the morning.
It’s well into November before the leaves start turning and occasionally you can see the mist swirling around in the valley before it’s burnt off by the warm sunshine.
Olive pickers arrive from all over Italy to help their families harvest the olives. The sound of tractors chugging up and down the hills and the rattling of olives being shaken onto nets, fills the air. It’s hard work, but done with great cheer and high spirits. I love to see people of all ages working the land and then relaxing with a panini and a bottle of red wine under an old, gnarled olive tree. Tradition at its best!
Christmas 2017
Why choose to move into a house on Christmas Eve?
Why choose to move into said house when it has neither electricity nor running water?
We were just so excited about our new abode and we couldn’t wait to explore the house and the land surrounding it.
Not being able to speak any Italian whatsoever, we did not expect to interact with the neighbours just yet, but that was to be another surprise for us.
So, armed with some camping gear, a few Christmas decorations, food, bottled water and a battery operated record player, oh and a large bag of coal, we prepared to celebrate Christmas 2017.
The weather was bright, sunny and whopping 24 degrees, so we had a picnic outside. Boiled turkey, which was surprisingly delicious, with boiled vegetables and cranberry sauce.
We were just relaxing in the sunshine when we heard footsteps approaching. Our neighbour’s son had been sent to check out the mad English people and he brought us a plate full of fried fish. He spoke excellent English and invited us for lunch the following day. News had spread about our arrival and so began a social whirl, the like of which we had never experienced before. We had achieved celebrity status just by being there!
How it all began
It was a cold, wet afternoon in February when we started looking for an old property to restore.
The obvious place to start was Spain because we had relatives there, and we had visited there several times. However, we quickly discovered that Spain was way to expensive for us. It didn’t take long for us to find out that almost everywhere was too expensive for us!
Abruzzo. Where’s Abruzzo?
I got bored and discouraged after a while, but Owen kept searching on a well known property website. After a while, he shouted out excitedly,
“Hey, I’ve found some amazing places in Abruzzo!”
“Where’s Abruzzo?” I replied, not feeling the excitement.
We quickly looked on a map and found Abruzzo about half way down Italy, on the Adriatic coast.
There has to be a catch!
We could not believe that the property prices started at below £5 000!
Okay, some of them were just a pile of stones, but the land looked beautiful. For just a little more money, it was possible to buy something habitable. We had a gut feeling that we were onto something.
Prima Majo
Today is the start of a wonderful two-day festival in our village. When we first arrived here, everyone kept talking about it, but we had never experienced a traditional Italian festa, so we had no idea what to expect.
It all kicked off in the piazza (quite early by our standards) and peak caps were handed out to everybody. Then a convoy was formed and we drove into the nearby countryside. We just tagged along- waiting for all to be revealed because there were no instructions or explanations.
Suddenly, we noticed movement in the thick foliage on the hillside. Blue and orange peak caps were bobbing around as people picked the wild , pink cyclamen and collected them in baskets. We were told that they were going to be used to make a floral cross.
All of this hard work was rewarded with a delicious, communal lunch back in our village. Of course, there was music and dancing too. There was a precious moment when one of the old accordion players handed the instrument to his young grandson who, pierced and tattooed, picked up the ancient tune and continued playing with gusto. Tradition being passed down the generations before our eyes.
April in Abruzzo
It is Spring in our mountain village and although there is the same rhythm to daily life, there is also a noticeable lift in demeanour of the people and in Nature’s reawakening. Perhaps it’s because I have time to stop and look, to take leisurely walks and see the vivid green leaves unfolding and actually listen to the multitude of different bird calls, that this Spring feels like it’s the first time I have ever experienced this season.
Happiness is homemade in Abruzzo 