Suoceri down South

A Guest post from Cherrye Moore in Calabria:

People move to Italy for all kinds of reasons … some come for work, others for adventure, and still others, like me, come for love.

No, I’m not talking about love of the bel paese, which in the last three and half years has imbedded itself in my soul and taken a hold on my heart. I’m talking about love of man. Or in my case, the love of one.

As is the case with married women around the world, you don’t just marry the man-you marry the family. This is perhaps amplified when you are an expat and you live in close proximity to your in-laws, or if you are like me, to your father-in-law.

Those of you who are familiar with My Bella Vita may remember stories of my Calabrian suocero,  whose goal it is to fatten me up, spoil me with Nutella-covered treats  and teach me new-and often amusing-Calabrese expressions.

In fact, as I was writing this guest post that Scintilla has so graciously offered to publish on her site, he walked into our bed and breakfast, told me something about eating more “because it is Friday” and asked if we needed more milk.

I know …

Life could be worse …

One of the most difficult things about my father-in-law, though, is that he absolutely refuses to be caught on camera and won’t-for the life of him-consent to being featured on my blog.

So … I cheated.

For those of you, like Scintilla, who love hearing about my grumpy old suocero and are anxious to catch a glimpse of him, just check out the video below. I promise you won’t find a better rendition of him anywhere on the net.

 

Cherrye Moore is a southern Italy travel consultant and freelance writer living in Calabria, Italy. She is currently hosting Blogging from the Boots: The Best of 2009  - the first annual expats in Italy blogging awards.

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