Shelley moved from the USA to live in Rome, Italy, several years ago. There are many reasons why she fell in love with this historical city, not the least of which was that she met her fiancé there. Rome may have its faults, but they don’t take away from her enthusiasm for it--as you will see in how she answers questions about various aspects of expat living in the Eternal City.	Shelley Ruelle

January 26 2007

-Where were you born?
I was born at the Navy Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia, USA.

-In which country and city are you living now?
I live in the Trastevere neighborhood of Rome, Italy.

-Are you living alone or with your family?
I’ve lived for several years with my fiancé, Alessandro, a Roman.

-How long have you been living in Italy?
I’ve lived in Rome for just over five years.

-What is your age?
I’ll be 30 in May.

-When did you come up with the idea of living in Italy?
I never really planned to actually live here. After I graduated college, I started studying Italian after work at a community college, as a hobby. I became interested in Italian culture and had an online “pen-pal” who I kept in touch with for two years, at which point I decided I wasn’t in the right job and had no real ties (car payment, house payment, family of my own, etc.) so I could quit my job and spend a month learning Italian in Italy. I met the man who would become my husband on my first day in the city (it was my pen-pal’s cousin!) and fell in love with Rome, and wanted to see where that could lead. So, after spending 5 months back in the States (I worked part-time as a graphic designer and also cashiered and bagged groceries at a supermarket—anything to get money to get back to Italy!), I had saved up enough money to spend 6 months in Italy without a job, and see where it would lead. That was in December of 2001 and I’ve lived here ever since. 

-Was it hard to get a visa or a working permit?
Great question! In Italy it’s next to impossible unless you have a way to apply for an EU passport through relatives like grandparents. I had none. It is true that often in Italy, expats have to come over as tourists first in order to find work, and often the work is a gray area between legal and illegal, in terms of working papers. I got my CELTA certificate to teach English as a second language, and taught at a school for nearly a year with just a tax code (codice fiscale), which is the “gray” area and which, “strangely enough,” they will give you without actually having a work permit.

After my year of English teaching, with no hope of acquiring a permit in sight, the government unexpectedly offered a worker amnesty, which I won’t go into the details of unless we can meet over a cold beer or glass of wine here in Rome! I took advantage of this three-month window to apply and after about a year I had my work permit in hand, which then allowed me to apply for jobs more along the lines of my professional background.

Lots of employers won’t even interview you if you don’t already have a work permit in hand, so it’s a difficult catch-22, because you can’t technically get a work permit unless you already have a job offer. Even that isn’t really true, because even before I had my permit, I had a job offer from Prada and when I went to the labor ministry to ask how the company could sponsor me for a work permit, they literally laughed in my face. That was when the amnesty was about to take place, and they said that was my only hope. I know of many expats who were dating someone that they were planning to marry, who got married sooner than they would have ordinarily, just in order to facilitate having a permit. Here in Italy it’s a real problem unless you were sent over by your US employer.

-Was it difficult for you to get medical insurance before you went there or when you first arrived?
Truth be told, I never had medical insurance here before I got my work permit and therefore came under the national health care system. I was frequently sick with bad colds my first year here, and the one time when I had a sore throat for 5 weeks and it wouldn’t go away, I went to the emergency room (even though it wasn’t technically an emergency). In Italy health care is a constitutional right, and foreigners are treated free of charge just with their passports. I was pleasantly shocked by this and felt grateful. I had to pay for the prescriptions which you don’t pay for if you are covered by the national health care system, but the emergency room visit was free. I’m not recommending taking advantage of the system, and luckily I only used it once, but thankfully it was an option when I needed it. There are also English-speaking doctors here but they are private doctors and you’d have to pay for a visit.

-How do you make your living in Italy? Do you have any type of income generated?
Lots of good questions. I have had three jobs here. My first job was teaching English as a second language. I started out just putting up flyers and tutoring privately. Then I took a 3-month semi-intensive course to get my CELTA certificate, which most schools require. I taught business people and it was enjoyable enough, but the pay is quite low (anywhere from €10-€15/hour for an average of 10-20 hrs. a week) and the work is sporadic. Once I got my work permit, I was able to apply for a full-time job with a study abroad center that was just opening. I started out in their front office, assisting students, and then after 2 years when the center director left, I interviewed internally and was hired over eight outside candidates as the youngest director in the history of my company, which has five centers in other large European cities.

After a year and a half in this position, the opportunity came up to manage two apartments here in the Trastevere neighborhood, renting to travelers (my website is www.reallyrome.com). I have been doing this full-time since September and I am enjoying making my guests feel like they have a real home away from home when they visit Rome, and they love the neighborhood and the authentic experience of living Rome like a Roman. I rent the apartments for stays as short as 3 nights.

The best tool for finding jobs in Rome in my experience is Wanted in Rome, a print and online magazine for the English-speaking community here. It is online at www.wantedinrome.com. It has a great classifieds section. Italians usually find jobs through word of mouth, which is very hard for a foreigner with few contacts. Wanted in Rome serves the expat community.

-Do you speak Italian and do you think it's important to speak the local language?
I am fluent in Italian. It took me about 6 months to get to a point where I felt comfortable conversing in many different situations, but you have to remember that I had also studied for about 2 years before I came. Personally I think it’s absolutely FUNDAMENTAL to speak the language if you want to get to know the real culture at all. I have known many expats who spoke little to no Italian after living here for years. The question isn’t whether it’s possible to get by without Italian: without question it is possible, since Rome is a big, touristy city and most people speak a bit of English. The question is: what kind of experience are you looking for? Do you want to live in an English-speaking cocoon your whole life here, or do you want to expand your opportunities for getting to know the culture in-depth?

This was always my primary goal and is the main reason I came to Italy alone. I wanted to force myself. It wasn’t easy. For many months in the beginning I felt like a 3-year old trapped in an adult’s body, which was uncomfortable and humbling for me, because I am a real chatterbox as you can see by my long answers, and outgoing. But it was a great learning experience and I have a real sense of accomplishment for the effort I put in to speak Italian properly. The biggest compliment I receive every once in a while is when someone asks me where I’m from…they can’t hear an American accent!

-Do you miss home and family sometimes?
I definitely miss my family, but the truth of it is that I come from a military family where my dad’s comings and goings were frequent and we moved every so often, so even though my family is close-knit, they are very supportive and accepting of separation. It’s in our blood, I guess. There are cheap phone cards that allow me to call home once a week, and I use email constantly. I have been fortunate enough to get back once or twice every year to visit, which I think is important, not only for visiting family but also for maintaining ties with your home culture.

My favorite recreational activity is taking weekend trips around Italy; my fiancée and I are frequent travelers and love discovering Italy’s food and wine. Can eating be considered a recreational activity? If so, I definitely partake frequently.

-Do you have other plans for the future?
Getting married in March, so travel definitely, with our honeymoon coming up. Other than that, I am looking forward to raising a family here in Rome, and bringing my children back to the States every summer so they can get to know their American relatives. I am also looking forward to growing my business and meeting lots of wonderful guests who will hopefully spread the word about my apartments.

-What about housing, have you bought, or are you renting a home? How much do you pay for it?
The first neighborhood I lived in was San Lorenzo, in 2001. I paid the equivalent of 300 EUR for a shared room in a terribly cramped student apartment with almost no water pressure whatsoever. Second was a room in the house of a friend of Ale’s family in Trastevere, but in south Trastevere near the station (not the historic part), paying around 400 EUR a month, everything included. Third was a room in Garbatella, sharing with another Italian girl who had her own bedroom, paying about 500 EUR a month plus utilities.

Now I am blessed because Ale’s family goes back a long time in my neighborhood; his grandfather used to own a famous fish restaurant here and back in the 50s Trastevere was a rough and rather dangerous neighborhood where no one wanted to live, so from what I’ve been told, housing was being sold dirt cheap. At that time Ale’s grandfather purchased the three apartments above his restaurant, simply so he could be sure that no low-life tenants would move in and create trouble for his restaurant, and the apartments have since stayed in the family. Recently the contracts expired on tenants who lived the apartments for about 30 years, and we inherited the property, so that’s where we live and where I now have my business.

-What is the cost of living in Italy?
Rome is a pretty expensive city, which has become so mainly since the Euro was introduced in 2002. With the weak dollar, American tourists are finding it harder to have an affordable vacation here. I think most people spend an average of 1,000 to 1,500 EUR a month on rent, but a decent average monthly salary is about that as well, so you find two-earner households almost obligatory, with one salary going almost entirely to rent. Taxes are exorbitant as well, nearly 50% in many cases, so that’s where you get a lot of the micro-corruption you hear about, a lot of the under the table work or small bribes.

-What do you think about the Italians?
I love Romans. Let’s say in part I have grown to love them. They can be harsh, loud, outspoken, argumentative and sometimes vulgar, but they also have a very quick-witted and lighthearted sense of humor, a relaxed way of looking at life, and hold friendship and family bonds as sacred. I have always felt very welcomed by Romans, who are often thoughtful and curious when it comes to meeting Americans, and although it isn’t that easy to meet locals if you don’t have an “in” like an Italian partner, still, even by joining classes or the gym you can easily strike up a conversation. Romans love giving their opinions, loudly, on almost anything, so I wouldn’t say they are “closed” like I hear about some other Italian cities.

-What are the positive and negative aspects of living in Italy?
Positive: Less consumeristic culture than the States and less product choice and offerings=less pressure to buy, less consumer stress, less debt (Italians are in general very good about savings and very suspicious of paying on credit); fantastic food and wine culture, appreciation of the art of eating well; strong family ties and friendship bonds; wealth of culture and history that you could spend a lifetime discovering.

Negative: Big city=rude people; petty crime like pickpocketing is a real problem for tourists; the bureaucracy is legendary for being impossible to navigate, complicated, intimidating and unapproachable, and it’s true…but it sure makes for great survivor stories!

-Do you have any tips for our readers about living in Italy?
Don’t let anything stop you if your dream is to live here. Just six years ago I only knew one person in Italy, and even that was through the Internet, and all I heard was how impossible it was for an American to live here. You just take things one step, one day, one minute at a time and keep focused on what you really want. I believe that with determined intention, you can create the result you want, and eat a lot of good pasta along the way!

-Do you have any favorite Web sites or blogs about Italy?
Really Rome Holiday Apartments: This is the home page for the tourist apartments I rent in Trastevere.

At Home in Rome: This is my blog, where I post frequently about day-to-day life in my neighborhood, and I especially like chatting about curiosities of Italian and Roman life and culture.

Wanted in Rome: I refer to this as the Rome expat’s “bible” and I’ve gotten all my jobs through here.

Expats in Italy: Great resource if you’re planning a move to Italy, lots of fellow expats to give you tips, advice and encouragement.