My Inner Muse

2022 has been a year of re-evaluating my identities across multiple domains: as a wife, mom, faculty, supervisor, immigrant, American, etc. Living through the pandemic and the news cycle + political and social upheaval of the past few years, I have grown more jaded about life in the US with each passing year. With Isabella  studying in Konstanz, Germany and wanting to have a home base in Europe, I am more drawn to living abroad than ever. Ironically, after marrying a German in the late 90s, I always envisioned that we would live in Germany or elsewhere in Europe, and yet Kay has nested so deeply and comfortably in San Diego that he can't imagine being based anywhere else (except for his brief dream of having a farm in Maui, complete with miniature cow, chickens, and of course, several greenhouses worth of orchids). 😁 This week, I registered at the Burgeramt in Wangen im Allgau to be recognized as a resident of Neu Ravensburg, where Kay's mom lives in a beautiful home (last one

We are entering our third week of travels in Europe and I am reminded of how different life is here, compared to California. We are in a walking and biking culture that supports a healthy lifestyle, being outdoors and in nature, one that really cares about the environment in both small and big ways. I have walked about 3-4x more every day here compared to my best day in San Diego.  We spent the first 10 days touring the Marche region of Italy from our home base of Porto Recanati. There, we were reunited with our German side of the family after 3 years of the pandemic.  We loved the blue Adriatic beaches of Porto Nuovo, Neumana, Due Sorella, Sant'Elpidio, and many others. We ate wonderful Italian pastas, pizzas and seafood, including sushi from a Japanese chef who is living the ex-pat life in Le Marche. Did I mention getting fresh bread from the bakeries every morning? This is one of the things we can't access in San Diego, unless we get in the car and drive to the 1-2 good bake