November 1, 2020
Back in November, -an embarrassingly long time ago from the time of writing this- I called up Aurora Cominetti, who lives in Italy and is an absolute delight to talk to. I last saw Aurora in December of 2019, when we did a trip to LA with a group of friends. Remember when you used to do that? Feels like an eternity and a half ago.
Anyway, meet Aurora.
Agnadello, Lombardy
“My name in Italian is quite different – it’s AU- Ro-Ra.”
Oops, this is the moment I learn that I’ve been saying her name wrong this entire time.
“Now I’m in Italy, which is where I’m from. I live in Lombardy. It’s a region in the north of Italy. I live close to Milan, but I come from a town called Agnadello. It’s very small, so I don’t expect people to know this place, but I kind of take pride, because it’s a nice place.”
I know we all had grand plans for 2020 before the state of the world took a turn. Mine included traveling to Europe for the wedding of two of my good friends. And as part of that trip, I was looking forward to visiting Aurora in Italy. As that plan had to be put on hold, I ask Aurora to describe her town for me.
“Again, the town is very small, like 3,500 people, more or less. There’s lots of fields and trees, and pigs. Countryside pigs! It’s very rural. There’s some stores and the usual town, with the church, which is a big thing in Italian small towns. The baker, obviously. That is fundamental. And the cafes, which are important too.
There’s a sense of tranquility about [Agnadello]. So whenever I come back here, it’s like being completely relaxed and knowing that you’re at home. The cliché!”
Aurora wasn’t living in Italy at the time the country was first hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak back in March of 2020. But since returning home in June, she saw the region go through various stages of restrictions and lockdown measures. Through these stressful times, Aurora tries not to focus on the negativity, and instead tries to do more of the things that brings her joy.
Guelph, Ontario
Prior to returning to Italy in June of 2020, Aurora had been living in Guelph, Ontario. I ask Aurora what propelled her to go to Guelph.
“So, the first time I went to Canada was three and a half years ago, in 2017. I was there as part of a Master’s program. When I first got there, it was -15 degrees!
I was on the train from Toronto Pearson to Guelph. I remember that I was on the train standing because all the seats were taken, and I was so tired that I would almost fall asleep while I was standing. But there were some stops between the Pearson Airport and Guelph. Whenever the doors opened, the freezing air would come in and I was like, is it really this cold? I had never experienced temperatures as cold. And then when I got to Guelph, there was a snowstorm. I remember just walking from the station to the car of my future roommate. I was like, no, I’m not gonna put gloves on. And then I felt like my fingers were going to fall off! So the arrival was pretty traumatic.
But that was the first day, and I really liked Guelph, and the University of Guelph, which is the place where I was studying and working. I feel very blessed to have met the people I met there. So despite the cold, it turned out to be one of the best, if not the best, experience in my life.”
Moving back to Italy during a global pandemic
Moving from one place to another is often not easy, let alone moving across the Atlantic during pandemic times. Aurora says when the pandemic broke out, she and her friends immediately became concerned.
“A lot of us thought that we wouldn’t be able to go home for a long time. Quite a few us of freaked out, and some people went back right away. But I still had to work, and it wasn’t very safe to travel. So I decided to stick to the safer option. I checked with the embassy and the consulate. I had no idea [what would happen] if I had to go back home and the borders were closed. So then I asked the embassy, and they explained that if I needed to go home, there were ways to do that. That there’s repatriation.”
When Aurora was finally getting ready to move back to Italy in June, there was still a lot of uncertainty. As her date of departure approached, she watched international flights get cancelled. Aurora’s flight fortunately did take off, but wearing a mask through long-distance flights and having to be extra cautious certainly did not make for a relaxing journey.
“It was a bit weird that I couldn’t hug my family when I got home. I really wanted to obviously, and I was still wearing a mask. But at the same time, my parents are not super young, and you don’t want to put them at any type of risk.”
Bianca not so bianca
Aurora’s got a puppy recently, and she is happy to tell you ALL about her. I regularly stalk Aurora on Instagram for some puppy love.
“Bianca is my favourite topic! My parents got her for me at the end of June. We’ve always had dogs when I was growing up. My dog passed away seven years ago. And after that, we didn’t get another dog, because we had gotten very attached. It becomes a part of your family. But for a while I’ve been telling my parents that we should get a dog again. I did intense lobbying! And they surprised me with Bianca.
We have a swimming pool in our backyard. That day, I was there swimming, and I could see my mom loitering around in kind of a suspicious way. And at some point, my dad arrived with his car. My sister was there too. I couldn’t see the ground, because I was in the swimming pool. When I stood up, I saw the dog, and I started crying!”
Aurora isn’t sure what mix of breeds Bianca is, and she has ordered a DNA test to find out. “We think she is part German Shorthaired Pointer, which is a hunting breed. She’s a smallish, medium-sized dog, but whenever you see her running, you’ll be like, is that a dog or a horse?”
It has been a lot of fun training Bianca and spending lots of time with her, says Aurora. Asked why she named her Bianca, Aurora tells me that while she had thought about potential names for dogs before, as soon as she saw the puppy, she thought that none of these names suited her.
“Then, after a while, I was petting her. And I was like, we should call her Bianca! Bianca means white in Italian, but it’s also the title of a movie that I really like by an Italian director, and a song I really like by an Italian band. And it’s also the name of my first stuffed animal. I find it funny because she’s named Bianca but she’s like black and white, sort of mixed. She’s not really like bianca at all, but I like that.
She also has a lot of nicknames, and they change every day. So some days I like to call her “Chicken.” In Italian, it doesn’t have the demeaning meaning of, being like a scaredy person. Chicken is just chicken. Pollo.”
Teaching Italian
From Italy, Aurora has been teaching Italian remotely with the University of Guelph. “I’m working as a sessional lecturer, and I teach beginner Italian. It’s a pretty big class of about 120 students. I teach my classes online synchronously, but I also record them so that students that cannot attend classes can still watch the lectures. I also have office hours so students can come meet with me. Obviously it’s not the same as teaching in person, but I’m very happy that I still get to do what I love doing despite the circumstances. It’s a lot of fun to work with the students.
Aurora explains to me that some of her students come from second or third generation Italian families, wanting to reconnect with their heritage. And others study Italian because they’re interested in languages, or to learn more about the culture.
“Hopefully this is what I’ll keep on doing for the longest time possible. I don’t know what the future holds, life is a surprise, and you never know. But it is really what I like to do. I find it very rewarding and fun. I realized that you’ve got to do what you feel like you’re good at, but at the same time what you like.”
And for Aurora, teaching Italian and working with students and languages check all the boxes.
Quanto costa il caffè?
While I have an Italian teacher on the line, I ask her to teach me a useful Italian phrase. And here we go – I now know how to ask how much a coffee costs in Italian. Quanto costa il caffè?
When I lived in the UK, I spent some time traveling around Europe, including a few days in Rome. Upon arriving in Rome, I watched, with curiosity, people at the train station chugging an espresso and going about their busy day. By day 2, I found myself ordering an espresso and gulping it down at the coffee bar before starting the day, too. As they say, when in Rome, right?
“Yes, that’s very Italian!” says Aurora. “If I were to go to my local cafe, order a coffee and sit there with my laptop, they will be like, what is she doing? In North America, it’s the opposite, and I loved going to cafes and having an Americano or a big latte to sip on. While here, it’s completely different, at least at the very typical places or in train stations. You chug the espresso. I like espresso, but I find it pretty strong, so I think it’s a bit of an acquired taste. I guess it’s also because we have a different concept of personal space. Often, when you drink from the counter, you’re almost elbowing other people. Obviously pre-covid.”
A bigger heart and an enriched soul
“Being home a lot lately has got me thinking about the places I went to, and how grateful I was, to have had these experiences in Canada, England, France, and Portugal,” says Aurora reflectively.
“Moving in and out of places is not easy, and sometimes it is really heartbreaking because you get to a place and you call it home.
So you feel like your heart breaks in a way, cause you’re leaving a place that has become home to you. But at the same time, it becomes filled with the people that you met, the experiences that you had that you couldn’t have had back home. You know, back home, for example, I could have never gone dog sledding! And all the people I met were very inspiring, and they pushed me to pursue my dreams.
So it’s heartbreaking to leave places that you’ve called home and the people you’ve met, but they fill your heart, and your heart becomes bigger. And you feel like you’re more enriched.”
I can also recall the times when I would move away from a place that had become home to me, and feel a mix of sadness, joy, and gratitude. While the heartbreak is often long and intense, there is no doubt that these experiences have helped shape me as a person. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Update: For those wondering, we’ve found out that Bianca is 60% Beagle, 10-25% Collie, and 10-25% German Shepherd.
