In the end, I visited about ten apartments before settling on a comfortable place within my budget in a good neighborhood.
When I think about my integration process, I can certainly identify my difficulties, but mostly, I reflect on how much I have working in my favor to settle in safely and comfortably. I speak Italian well enough to get around, and Italians have been welcoming, helpful and kind. I had sufficient resources to stay in a hotel while I looked for an apartment and then was able to choose a convenient and comfortable place. I have been able to stay connected with family and friends easily, and I anticipate that many folks will be able to come to visit me during my ten-month stay.
While I’m here, I will be doing research on migration in collaboration with a team at the Political Science department at the University of Catania. I will be studying what factors contribute to migrants having a sense of safety, community, and well-being when they move to a new country. Most of the migrants come to Italy from various countries across Africa, South Asia and the Middle East. When I think of what it looks like for them to settle into a new place, their journeys often look very different from mine.
Migrants leave their homes for many reasons. Some are forced to leave their homes quickly due to political upheaval or environmental factors (like natural disasters), while others plan their departure for years due to social persecution or to seek economic opportunities. Migrants often spend much of their savings to travel from their home countries to Libya or Tunisia by flight or overland, and then eventually set off on a harrowing journey across the Mediterranean toward Italy on small boats.
