Is it true love?

Within one day of being in Italy Jacob announced that he could spend the rest of his life here.

While I don’t doubt that he loves it, I wonder if it could partially be the change of scene from Ghana, human development: low to…

Rome.

From raw poverty

to polished sophistication 

From aggressive sales pitches to anonymity

From piles of trash and crowds of people selling their wares

to cobblestone streets and crowds of tourists at the Trevi Fountain

From outdoor fruits and vegetable stalls and maggots in my couscous

to refrigeration and a kitchen and Carrefour

 

From all sorts of species of animals

 
to nothing but well-groomed pets on leashes (except for the odd pigeon or two)

From massive traffic jams to high speed metro

From sweaty tropical heat to borderline cold and rainy, but just right if you bundle up weather.

From a dangerous and precariously attached ceiling fan with only one setting and cold showers to a heater, warm blankets, and hot showers

 

From getting my nails done in a parking lot

to listening to Nessun Dorma in front of the Pantheon

From a hippie bedroom with dirty floors and styrofoam-stuffed pillows to a classy soft-bedded spacious apartment

 

 

From casual security and open doors to quadruple locks in a pickpocket-heavy city…

 

 

From a view of our laundry fluttering in the breeze after opening our bedroom door to a view of ancient Roman ruins…

 

 

The distance from Ghana to Rome feels like more than only an 8 hour flight. Remembering Ghana puts a smile on our faces though…

So is Jacob really enamored with Italy or is it just that it feels more like home? Does it even matter? As for me, I’m loving cooking again, eating green olives and feta cheese to my heart’s content, NOT eating pizza and gelato to my heart’s content because then I would put on 10 pounds, but allowing myself the odd bite or two, and breathing in beauty.

I can’t believe I’d forgotten how beautiful Europe is. Rome is wonderful.