New lifestyle, new website

Big news!

We will no longer be using http://web.me.com/marieclaudehebert. From now on, this is our only website. I have copied and pasted all of the old blog's entries, but only the text. I will eventually make a small photo album that highlights the overland trip we took from Australia to Luxembourg.

We hope to update you often about our new life in Italy.

We have been living full-time in our spiced up Lancruiser, the Wombat, since October 14th 2008. It didn't feel like we were living in a truck because we were moving aorund so much. After over a splendid year on the road, we felt like staying put for a little while. It's time to get jobs and earn a little living because, despite looking all over the world, we still haven't found a money tree.

We chose Europe because it's warmer than Canada, closer to our family than Australia and more familiar than Asia. Jonny lived in Luxembourg for a while, so knows people here and there. What also attracted us to Europe was the fact that it is close enough to what we're used to, but can give us the opportunity to learn a new language! (Well MC anyway...Jonny can just practice the languages he knows).

Now, we weren't exactly sure where to settle. Neither of us are exactly sure of what we want to do in life, so we won't pick a country over a job. We thought of Italy, then Spain, then Gibraltar, then Spain again and finally (without any specific reason) picked Italy. Jonny studied Italian in school, and has always dreamed of being a pizzaiolo...

So we made our way across France, and picked up our puppy, then came into Italy. We were very happy right away. I had to go back to Canada to pick up my visa, but Jonny stayed back with Nomade, the puppy. He found a town he quite liked called Pistoia. After the holidays in Luxembourg, we returned to Pistoia to get settled.

After a few weeks, we realized it wouldn't be as easy as we thought. It was very difficult to rent an apartment for under 1 year, and without a work contract. Staying in the Wombat was getting to be a little annoying because it was snowing and raining all the time. So, we decided to go back to what was our first idea: Sicily.

We headed south with a lovely stop in Rome (Nomade loved the hippodrome, there were lots of other nice dogs she

could play with).We decided we would head East before taking the ferry to Sicily. We wanted to visit Jonathan's family friends in Putignano (in the province of Puglia, the heel of Italy's boot)...

We have now been in Putignano for almost 3 weeks, and have decided to rent a trullo right next door to their home in the country.

Here's wikipedia's definition of a trullo:

A trullo (plural, trulli) is a traditional Apulian stone dwelling with a conical roof. Trulli were generally constructed as dwellings or storehouses. Traditionally they were built without any cement or mortar, thus avoiding taxation.

The one on the left is not the one we'll be living in, but one I photographed a few weeks ago.

Though we have changed our mind, yet again, I am so happy to have decided to stay here. Starting saturday, we are going to be living in a typically Italian country hut, in the country side, with a yard, and a garden surrounded by little stone walls. We don't have to worry about little Nomade being couped up in a city apartment all day, we don't have to worry about the Wombat getting robbed or vandalized, we don't have to worry about being lonely: we've got great friends next door.

There are a few little things that may cause problems, but I'm sure we'll find a way to make everything work out. We don't have heating, but we have a fireplace, electricity, blankets, and cuddles to keep us warm. We stayed in the Wombat in the Swiss Alps in December, I think we can handle sleeping without central heating. The other little hiccup is that there is a little barky dog that sleeps in front of the house. The house owners (who spend the winter in the city 3 km away) come feed her everyday and we don't have to watch her, but she's a chronic barker. Jonny sees it as a challenge, and is sure to train her by the end of the month. Maybe she's not as bad as I think, I shouldn't complain until I've actually spent more time with her.

So, that's our life for the moment. I intend to write about lots of things we've experienced lately: cheese making, burning large fires in the city centre to celebrate a saint, eating lots of good italian things, visiting lots of trulli, learning italian, learning to play italian card games, ridiculous italian tv shows, the ponies and bunnies on the farm, Nomade growing up, learning italian songs, painting the italian landscape and the upcoming Putignano carnival.

I will make photo albums soon too!

MC