Escaping the Rat Race

I'm working as an English teacher. Ok so it's not a career move in the forward direction, but I'm in Italy and jobs are not easy to come by here. To be honest, I actually really like this job. I've always loved teaching. My classes usually consist of one or two people so I get a chance to talk to and learn about people from all walks of life. Everyone has a different story.

Yesterday, my students were from Ecuador and Moldova. I'm always curious what brings people here, so they began to talk about their experiences as immigrants in Rome. The woman from Ecuador came here illegally in the 90's to escape the political situation there. She lived for three years without papers, going from job to job, working under the table. She had to move around a lot because she often couldn't afford the rent. The Moldavian woman moved here to pursue academics, she completed her University degree in her early 30's while working at a pizzeria. Years later, here they are, learning their third language, in the hopes that by knowing English, they will increase their chances for finding better jobs.

And then there's me. The Moldavian woman remarked that normally people immigrate to a new country to improve their economic situation, not the opposite. Here in Italy most people with degrees can't find work; the unemployment rate was at 6.7% in 2009. It's an epidemic. People with a Master's or PHD typically move abroad, and often to the U.S. So why did I leave my comfortable job to move here and make a third of what I used to earn? This wasn't a career move, that's for sure. It was an escape.

There is a universal quest by all people not born into rich families, to somehow find a way to win or make a substantial amount of money so that they don't have to work. Not working allows them the time to do what they want to do. That might include traveling, pursuing hobbies, turning hobbies into a profession without having to worry about money, or spending more time with family. If you don't win this substantial amount of money, then you are left to try and earn it. And by working to earn enough money to both live day to day and take the occasional trip, you have to find a job where you work many hours for a good rate of pay. When you work many hours, you have less time for the things you enjoy. You save up enough for a trip and your job only allows you two weeks vacation. So instead of going on vacation you decide it's better to spend the saved money on a new car to get you to work and back. Now you spend an hour in the car, you spend eight hours at work and you spend one hour each evening with your newborn son, giving him a bath before he goes to bed.

That was Lorenzo's life. For my life, replace the car drive with a plane ride, then insert 'spend the summer away from home' and 'never turn off your phone'. At some point in your adult life, you have to admit to yourself that this abundance of money will most likely not be won, and since no one in your family is rich, it will not be inherited. Which leaves you with one option, to get inside the wheel and run as fast as you can because it won't stop turning to let you off. And it's not really a race because if you run faster than the other little rodents, there's no prize to be won. You're only left with high blood pressure, insomnia and very little time for much else.

For us, Italy (and Lorenzo's mom) has provided us with the opportunity to live as if we had a lot of money because we can live without spending a lot of money. We are lucky to have the opportunity. We are lucky that Lorenzo was able to keep his American job. We are lucky that I'm American (Romans are ridiculously racist and anti-immigrant, but they accept Americans and offer them jobs). We are lucky that we have a house, family and friends. We are extremely lucky. And I'm not bragging, I'm appreciating. When I hear my student's stories, I commend them and their strength. It's not easy to start a new life in a new country. But they wanted something better and they weren't about to let their home country stop them from getting what they knew they deserved.

Well, America, I've stepped away from your race. The race to keep people from receiving free health care, the race to keep the military fighting, the race to keep everything private so that the rich can stay rich, the race to keep your borders closed to people from third world countries, the race to keep people who love each other but happen to share a gender, from getting married, the race to keep our kids ignorant by increasing classroom sizes without hiring new teachers or raising pay.

I've decided to see what happens if the wheel spins without me. I've stopped running; for now.