A life time of Memories - introducing the locals at Malpertus

INSPIRATION

‘I have more memories than if I were a thousand years old’

Kindness comes in many forms, often unexpected.

Anita was born here at Malpertus, she knows it’s many secrets, heartbreaks and joys. A sparkling eye and an easy laugh, thick brown stockings under worn out shoes she wanders the borgata. Always busy and most often with a machete hanging from her apron, she is in her mid eighties.

She tells us stories of the partisans during the war killing a German soldier and the resulting hardships for Borgata Malpertus. The Germans returned burning the stores gathered for winter as retribution.

The furthest she has been is the local town of Bobbio Pellice two kilometers away, oh and once to Pinerolo her son tells us so that takes the total to thirty kilometers.

She has offered to show me her collection of photographs and mementos, treasures she has kept for a lifetime .

From day one we have been adopted by our neighbors here at Malpertus big hearts and weathered hands they have taken us under their wing. Earthy, practical, and generous they work the borgata keeping goats, sheep, chickens, and rabbits.

One is a bit of a joker and told Sam he walks the sheep to pasture down near the town and it takes him three hours. His wife let us in on the fact that he puts them in the car a few at a time and drives them down.

With five families here in Malpertus including ours I am often overwhelmed by the sense of living history. The goats are taken out to pasture and back in at lunch time. I know where they are by the tinkling of the heavy bells worn by the goats.

Carina and Luca are not to be seen until lunch time when all the children automatically return for lunch. It’s like time stood still here, we are often to be found out chatting as a group soon forms and stories are shared.

Our children have transformed and run back and forth to tell me of the baby rabbits, the two goats just born, the kitten just spotted, a new puppy being trained to watch the goats, our house rings with the sound of laughter, the boys tell Sam all about the stables on the ground floor and how best to use them.

Our house is the biggest in the borgata, originally owned by the ‘Bonjour’ family with multiple levels and huge areas for animals, wine and provisions.

Our gates open directly onto the old main road of the borgata which is busy with tractors, the local postman in a tiny car, goats going to pasture and soon we are told the cows will be bought out…from where I am yet to discover but I know at least five are in here somewhere.

It’s all mind boggling, I spend every day amazed and more and more in love with this wild part of Italy. Malpertus is now our home.

Postscript

It is with a heavy heart that I tell you that Anita passed away here at home in the Borgata on Tuesday 15th March 2016. We are just now heading out to attend her funeral.

I will miss her so much, she was my favorite here in the Borgata, such a sense of humor and towards the end she would stand waiting for her long lost husband to come home, I hope she gets to see him wherever she may be.

Her spirit will always live on here in the Borgata.

Save

and the gang x

30 replies

Carolyn @ Holidays to Europe says:
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Lisa, it sounds like you are settling in to your new life. It’s fantastic that you have been so well accepted by the neighbours and I am sure they are enjoying hearing your stories as much as you are enjoying hearing theirs.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  they are certainly getting many laughs (and a bit of help with the English homework). I wonder if the teacher will be suspicious when the language skills improve? Sam is a great joker so the ladies of the borgata are constantly rolling the eyes and pretending to hit him xx
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jann says:
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Lisa, I love these glimpses into your new life and your great neighbors. (I also love the hiking boots that Anita wears–she’s a doll!)
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  It’s all the details that create such wonderful character, each time I notice something new. We sat side by side today both somehow able to understand the other. She had been cutting the brambles and had scratches all over her hands. Your photos are just incredible Jann and I especially love the one with the fountain, magical! ciao xxx
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Susan says:
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Love your stories Lisa, please keep them coming 🙂
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  thanks for that Susan I have so many I get overwhelmed with where to begin xx
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Catherine says:
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It sounds so authentic, so true. I’d love to hear some of those stories. Write them down! My mother-in-law still tells me amazing stories, and the way the wars have ravaged these people is so difficult for us to imagine.

I’d love to hear what the dialect sounds like! Xcat
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  I feel as if I am in another country, not the Italy of movies or books. This lady is just one of so many we are meeting with incredible stories and keen to have someone to talk with about the past. I have bought a recorder and we are starting to record the stories along with photographs. Sam is especially keen as his grandmothers died before he had a chance to record them. Odd to think we are walking the same roads that troops walked, that people lived and died and life could be taken in an instant. The dialect here is very thick and french, Sam can’t understand a word if they speak in dialect lol x
  Ps keep an eye out for dangerous bags lol x
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Jilly Bennett says:
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You show us so wonderfully, in photos and words, what really matters in life. Bravo!
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  thank you Jilly, I am constantly struck by the richness of life here, it is so close up and personal. I love you wisteria images and would love to grow one here, I think it might be a bit cold as I don’t see any this high up x
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  - Jilly Bennett says:
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    My village is around 700 metres above sea level. I imagine you are higher? Certainly in Gorbio, wisteria grows. I live below the village and tried growing it with no success but on the other hand, I see it growing all around me so my fingers weren’t green enough when I planted it! I do know it takes time to get going and then, when it does, wham … off it goes.
    
    I love the remoteness and wildness of your village. I remember villages like that when I lived in Pyrenees. Here, on the Cote d’Azur, I adore my medieval village but it’s not as remote as yours, of course. I’m loving your life, Lisa. xxx
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    - Lisa Chiodo says:
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      We’re about 850 metres above sea level at Malpertus. Just down in the town and on the drive in wisteria is stunning and also lilac and magnolia’s. The tiny shops are overflowing with pansys, tulips, and every kind of annual flower. Everyone is celebrating Spring with pots of flowers on every conceivable nook or cranny. One house is painted a bright orange which perfectly patches the riot of tulips.
      I’m thinking it might grow under our trellis but we get lots of snow in winter and we have been told we get hardly any sunlight for about two months. My Mum has one just outside her back door and it is glorious. It seems totally remote once we are in the village yet life continues to go past on the road above, sending love xxx
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Lisa Wood says:
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How incredible how you all have fit into life in Italy so well! And have so many great friends for your kids to play with – like the way children should be.
Love reading about your neighbors taking you in, and looking after you all. That Lady is incredible – her age and yet she is so active….if only my older relatives stayed as active!
The saying “use it or lose it” comes to mind when seeing her…I reckon if we use our bodies wisely then we will be more active in our later years.
Love the idea of kids living so free!
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Luckily Sam is just so ruddy friendly and chats to everyone. We have amazing friends from last time we lived here that we kept in touch with. New friends who I feel I’ve known forever, and old friends in Australia that i miss terribly. Today we didn’t see the kids most of the day, so much freedom and fun. Carina did get a bit emotional today as she found a card from one of her school friends in a book she was reading. It is a lot to ask of her yet she is adapting to these massive changes with grace and heaven help us when she hits the hormones!
  The lady “Anita” and all the elderly folk here are like mountain goats, they are out everyday rain or shine and working. although you can see she hasn’t lived a life of luxury (far from it) she doesn’t complain, clearly adores her children and grandchildren and cracks us up with her joking (even I can tell roughly what she is saying). Thinking of my own Mum now struggling to walk I am determined to get fit and stay outdoors xxx
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head in the sun says:
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What an amazing adventure you are on!
Hard to imagine in this day and age – the furthest someone may have been in their life is the next village over.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  I’m fairly sure my Nana never left Victoria and my Mum did travel but not until late in life, I set off backpacking in my 20’s and now our daughter started when she was just three. This lady’s grand daughter had never seen a digital camera, the children in the borgata are astonished by the computer. All the things we take for granted. Seems you are heading for Qld and we have just left, I read your post and again realize that you never know what people are dealing with. Impossible to imagine but sending love x
  lisa
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  - head in the sun says:
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    Thanks Lisa – things are all good now – we are both well and happy but it’s been a long road.
    Yeah, you are right – when I think about it – my Mother-in-law who is in her late 60’s didn’t travel out of Melbourne for most of her life – well, she did come out on a boat from Italy when she was 8 – but once she got to Melb. she stayed put.
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    - Lisa Chiodo says:
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      Funny my mother in law came out to Melbourne when she was 8 as well, from the island of Salina (Sicily) and didn’t return until 2006 to visit with us. I’m glad to hear you are both well, sometimes you just need to get it all out and pause for a moment to see how far you have come. xxxx
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Francesca Muir says:
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Such an exciting time and how wonderful for Luca and Carina – bless you Lisa for making this happen. It takes courage and wit and you have them in bucket loads my dear dear friend. Bacci Fxxxx
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  My hubby read this and said ‘what about me?’ big sook! Each day I look about and wonder what will happen next. x
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Michael Bonato says:
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So good to see children growing up with the local “gang” as I did, nothing like sharing adventures with mates. And the old lady, the photo of you both sitting at the shed, she seems to still have a youthfulness about her, I bet she has some stories to tell.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  I grew up this way in the suburbs of Melbourne, we were out all day and home for dinner. I have always been afraid to let the kids out of my sight so this is such a big life change. Luca comes in dirty and often wet from playing with the water, Carina slipped and grazed herself chasing a ball, I’m happy to see them growing and experiencing so many new things. The old lady Anita is a gem, a very rough diamond and one I am glad I have a chance to get to know better. Just today she was telling us about her life and her parents were born here as well. x
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  - Michael Bonato says:
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    Yeah I also grew up in west Brunswick, lived at the Moonee Ponds creek end of Park st,
    we( all 7 of us ) the gang of Park st would spend all day playing and traveling the creek area for new adventures, I remember one time we saw an Aboriginal family following the creek towards Melbourne, a woman and a man carrying 2 boomerangs, from what I have learnt they were hunting boomerangs, and also 2 children. Well now needles to say progress has totally filled in the creek area and put it under the Tullamarine Freeway.
    So after traveling in our 1953 Ansair bus converted to motorhome and home schooling our kids for 7 years bought a property in the forest up here in Northern NSW and built a house and grew our children up in nature with other like minded families. So I totally understand where your coming from Lisa, good on you. x
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    - Lisa Chiodo says:
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      Hi Michael, my husband lived in Woodstock and my first boyfriend in Moonee Ponds. In East Burwood where I grew up it was apple orchards and we were always outside playing. I still have my best friend in my life and many wonderful memories.
      Our children can’t start school here until September and I am at a bit of a loss with home schooling. If you have any thoughts I’d love to hear them. I have a great friend Lisa from New Life on the Road who is currently traveling around Australia with four of her five sons and her hubby David. Our children don’t seem to miss all the mod cons and are loving the extra time together. x
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      - Michael Bonato says:
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        Hi Lisa,
        With home schooling we covered basic Maths and English and advanced as their years needed, we got our info from the newsagents as we traveled, they were the Golden Books of education at home. Most important was to realize that 1 to 2 hours on English and Maths was sufficient, other activities follow, about 3 to 4 hours in total then finish…play time. Here is a link with free info links, check it out and use whats good for your children. Hope you can see it or go to
        
        http://www.homeschooling-ideas.com
        
        http://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.homeschooling-ideas.com%2F&ei=VrmJUdu-NKe9iAfa-IGACQ&usg=AFQjCNGGPSa-qpqNPbItcXYMszcTqwMlgQ&sig2=ZWkhtPUXdEFlsx-3qV1ruw&bvm=bv.46226182,d.aGc
        
        Ciao for now Mike.
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        Lisa Chiodo says:
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        Mike you are a treasure x
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Jackie Stenhouse says:
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Living here on the coast of Queensland, it is so hard to imagine the life you are leading but you are certainly helping us live it through your blog. Your kids must think they are in heaven. Such a free lifestyle and to have other kids their age to roam with must be magical for them. Can’t wait to hear some more stories from the old lady in the picture.
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  Jackie she is amazing and so are the other old people here, such hard lives yet they still get about like mountain goats. Our children are loving the freedom and instead of seeing animals in a petting zoo they are getting the up close and personal side of farm life. We are writing and recording some of the stories and working on a new website as well as the reno…lot’s on as always. hope all is well with you xxx
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Kaye Bonato says:
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I love your stories!
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- Lisa Chiodo says:
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  thanks Kaye, I love to share the things we are learning x
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