INTERVIEW
†: Definitely. Moving back, where in the States were you from? B: I was born in San Fran and then moved to the bay area. †: West Coast. So this could apply to Italy as well as you spent so much time there, but what do you miss the most about home whether it's something dumb like Target or something more? B: From back home (West Coast), I miss the weather and the convenience of everything as well as the diversity of people. Back home I was friends with lots of different kinds of people from different social classes, walks of lives, and ethnicities. I find that here people stick to their circle a lot more. From Italy I miss the food, the lifestyle, the beauty, the regard for art and history and being able to talk to anybody about the history or agriculture of the place. †: On the flip side what do you find the best about Dublin? B: [Immediate] Oh, I love Dublin. I think it is such a fun city, I don’t think I’ve ever been bored here. Even if you don’t have a lot of money, you can still have a good time in Dublin just having a couple
drinks or going to the theater or - there is live music everywhere you go. You’re never short of entertainment here. I think it is a very fun, dynamic city. It is just big enough to not be so big - you can still explore a lot of it on foot. It is becoming a lot more diverse, and I’m not sure how I would deal if I had to live in a different part of Ireland. I don’t think I could live somewhere very rural and isolated. Dublin is a great city, and even as hard as it is to find housing - and it definitely has problems - if you can make it work here and you can work and have a nice place to live - and not even nice, just decent [laughs]. It’s just great, I love this town. †: That’s awesome. Do you see your foreseeable future in Dublin? B: I don’t think I would go back to Italy to work, that is a tough place to work. I would go back to the U.S. if I knew I had a job with all of the benefits lined up. But to be honest my husband and I will probably stay in Dublin for the foreseeable future. We know we don’t want to retire here, we want to retire somewhere sunny when we don’t need to work. †: You mention home as more about people than places. How would you define "home"? And because of how many places you’ve lived in would you argue that you can have more than one home? B: Yeah, I think that the word "home" is very complicated, especially for an expat. You never have just one home anymore, you’re always going to have more than one. For me, I feel like I have three homes. Italy will also be a home for me even if I don’t go back
"I love Dublin. I think it is such a fun city, I don’t think I’ve ever been bored here…I think it is a very fun, dynam ic city."
past or more of personal past experiences they’ve had? B: Like simpler times I would say. There is probably some very nice… like even Dublin used to be very poor. I think that people have very nice memories of those days. And I’m glad they do, but it is hard when you are around people who speak of it and you weren’t there you can’t help but feel really left out.
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