Each month we introduce you to someone who has made the dream of picking up and moving to the Bel Paese a reality. In their own words they share the good parts, the bad parts and the just plain absurd moments of day-to-day life in Italy.
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ID Card:
American photographer Nancy Robinson has been exploring and documenting Italy?s enchanting Campania region for the past three years. She came to Sorrento for a visit, found she literally could not stay away, and decided she was never going to leave again. Grace Gallery, which contains a substantial catalog of photos with online ordering, (www.gracegallery.it ) is the result.

Currently living in:
Sorrento.

By way of:
Born and raised in the New York City area, Nancy went to the High
School of Performing Arts in Manhattan, and the State University of New York at Buffalo.

What role did language skills play in your experience?
Well, I think clearly it?s crucial. I bought every book I could find and studied during the time I was preparing to come here, but I feel I didn?t really begin to improve until after I arrived. It was truly an adventure in the beginning as I was confronting different and unique situations every day during the long process of getting the gallery open. Each day there were new words to learn depending on the situation (police, carpenter, licenses,etc.) and sometimes it was pretty comical. In the first few months there were times I had to get assistance with some things but day by day I?ve improved. I?ll feel I?m done when I can speak Italian as I speak English, so there?s plenty of work left to do. Most importantly, there is so much more available to me experience-wise the more I can communicate with people.

Your biggest challenge:
The biggest challenge was getting the gallery open. That?s a very short sentence to describe such an incredible experience. There were two years of preparation in the U.S. before I came. I?ve been here for a year and a half now, and the gallery?s been open a little more than a year, and it?s just recently that I?ve felt like I could relax and breathe a little and really begin working. Up until now all my energy was devoted to getting through the process of getting it open and then to getting it functioning. Now my focus is on growth and establishment, and on enjoying every minute I have here.

What did you do to feel at home or adapt here?
I felt at home here before I even saw it; I had wanted to see Italy for quite a while before I was actually able to ? there was just some kind of unnameable connection there. When I actually saw it (particularly Marina Grande), I was stuck; there was just no question that I had to be here. The only question was how to pull it off.

What do you still have to get used to/learn?
I still haven?t become accustomed to all the visual beauty ? it?s a constant daily treat. And the people here have made me feel so welcome. I think these two things are the biggest contrast for me to my experiences in the US, and two of the things that I appreciate the most. I also love the relaxed pace, another stark contrast to New York City.

Compare an aspect of your home town (or other place you’ve lived) to current town.
But, the flip side of that was the one thing that took me a quite a while to get used to, meaning it?s hard to get things accomplished
because everyone is busy relaxing (ie waiting months for a telephone). It?s taken me this much time to become used to that ? something that would take a day in New York could literally take months here, and I don?t believe that urgent is part of the vocabulary. I think I can finally say that I don?t get too crazy about that anymore.

Latest pursuits:
Working on the website was a several month-long project, and I?m happy to say that it?s completed and I?m free to move on to some other ideas. I guess
you could say my latest pursuit is my life. Every day is an adventure to me, and I?m fortunate in that I am doing exactly what I want to do, in the place where I want to be. My problem is that my days aren?t long enough for all the things I want to do, and sometimes I think I just have too many ideas ?
they keep coming. My biggest pleasure is photographing and discovering new places with my photos; I have a long list of places yet to explore. The gallery?s growth remains a focus. And I recently had this idea that if I could find a way to bring really good music to Sorrento, I could make this place literally perfect for me (I?m still thinking about that one). Classes for kids in photography, drawing and painting are also on the drawing board
right now. I could go on but I won?t.

How would you sum up your Italian experience in a word (and why)?
Cherish? Relish? I?m not sure I can find words, never mind one word. I love it. Everything ? the total experience – the gallery, photography, the people, the place, the difficulties, the challenges, the beauty. It was a gift from God and a lot of hard work and a long time in the making. It?s a wonderful way of life in a wonderful place. A while back I was sitting in the piazza one evening with a friend and a scene from “Cinema Paradiso” popped into my mind ? when everyone leaves the piazza at night and that sort-of crazy guy starts running around yelling, “La piazza ? mia!”. I feel like that ? like everything is mine.