{"id":8,"date":"2011-11-14T07:50:37","date_gmt":"2011-11-14T07:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.sandralangston.com\/?page_id=8"},"modified":"2011-11-14T07:50:37","modified_gmt":"2011-11-14T07:50:37","slug":"about-me","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.sandralangston.com\/?page_id=8","title":{"rendered":"About me"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I never intended to stay here, but my less-traveled road led me\u00a0\r\nto divide my time between two countries on different sides of\u00a0\r\nthe Atlantic.  \u00a0It is a path that many with ambition plan to\u00a0\r\nfollow, eventually\u00a0coming\u00a0to a\u00a0new home where they will live\r\nout a life filled with\u00a0beautiful scenery, art and excellent\u00a0\r\ncuisine,\u00a0leaving behind  others with more\u00a0mundane aspirations. \u00a0\r\nItaly has often been the imaginary view\u00a0from a\u00a0corner office, \u00a0\r\na measure of\u00a0personal success.  It has also been relentlessly\u00a0\r\nstereotyped in books\u00a0and film,\u00a0and I would like to offer another,\r\nand possibly truer, perspective.\r\n\r\nI have lived in Italy for over thirty years, coming here on\u00a0\r\na whim and staying\u00a0year after year,  marrying\u00a0and raising a\u00a0\r\nfamily, creating a world here near a\u00a0small southern town which\r\nhas never failed to interest\u00a0me.   But if you are\u00a0thinking of\r\nthe many stereotypical accounts by ex-patriots who have made\u00a0\r\na new life here and enthuse romantically about all things Italian,\r\nI assure you the real\u00a0story--my story--is\u00a0different.  Of course\r\nit is rich with olive trees, blue\u00a0sea and stone towns, but there\u00a0\r\nhas been so much more that is wondrously strange, terrifying,\u00a0\r\nindecipherable, and marvelously funny.  \u00a0\r\nMy life here hasn't been what you might imagine at all.\r\n\r\npainting:  \"Il Vinello\"  oil on canvas, 11 x 30 inches, 2010<\/pre>\n
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