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Aotearoa has been my home for quite four years. I wasn’t even 25 years old when I reached this land far away from the rest of the world and from the trouble and pain of the busier countries. I was still working in Naples when I received the letter of the University of Waikato in which I was notified I was selected as PhD candidate and I was entitled of 3 years scholarship to get the title. The Italian economic situation was very precarious and without any hesitation I accepted the offer. At the very beginning I accepted out of necessity, but I didn’t realize how lucky I was in receiving this opportunity that changed totally my life. New Zealand was like a punch in the face that forced me to become more flexible, forced me reviewing my perspectives, took me the value of the humility. It was not only a physical trip but a travel for my soul as well. I can definitely say living in New Zealand was the most difficult challenge I overcame, and without any doubt the biggest blessing I could received. I reached New Zealand as a girl, I came back as a woman. Living abroad in such a hidden place isn’t always easy since you can really feel you are on an island and you experiment what isolation and loneliness mean. I had to overcome, the cultural barrier, the language barrier, the different time zone. I got in touch with so many different cultures and I learned so much about new places and countries I didn’t even know the existence. I overcame so many limits and after New Zealand every challenge appeared small, even the covid pandemic. During my stay in New Zealand I was welcomed by the Maori and Kiwi communities, I was adopted by so many loving friends and their families, I found not simple friends but 2 sisters who supported me in the most challenging moments in my life. In my sleep, sometimes I still dream about my life in New Zealand: I remember my lovely cottage number 4 and my beloved Luiso, a turtle I adopted during my time in New Zealand. A part of my heart is buried in the black sand of Kawhia and it will forever belong to the land of the long white cloud.
