Two girls with Italy in their heart and who are very active in photography and on social media. This is the perfect profile for the Town Ambassador project to promote the small villages of the Aniene Valley, strongly desired by the Metropolitan Area of Rome.
Emily and Nicole Bardelloni were born in Amsterdam and lived there until their parents moved to Belgium, but always in the Flemish area. Emily is passionate about photography and is studying it professionally while Nicole is a speech therapist.
So despite their young age they are the second generation but their dynamics are totally different from those normally heard in the stories of emigrants. They grew up in a multicultural environment already speaking many languages and having known many cultures and savored many perfumes.
Yet both feel deeply Italian and despite their parents coming from beautiful Roman towns, Marino's father in the Castelli Romani and Marano Equo's mother, they feel very close to the village in the Aniene Valley.
“Perhaps the small size, or perhaps the memories of our grandfather who took us to collect wild asparagus or made us garden with him, we have associated the image of Italy with that of Marano Equo”.
The meaning of Italian life is to meet up with a group of friends in the bar in the square of Marano Equo and to feel life flowing together: those who have graduated, those who are engaged and those who have found a job. But always sharing emotions with others and having the pleasure of laughing together.
Nicole is doing everything to return to live in Italy, in contrast to all her Italian peers, her desire is to work in Rome and for this she did an internship at the Bambin Gesù hospital in Rome.
When I heard that she had chosen to leave Holland and Belgium to come to Italy, I think many young people should listen to her words and understand that if you look at your country with different eyes you can see how much beauty we are surrounded by.
And Nicole's story reminded me of Francisco Navarrete Sitja and Andrés Gallardo, the two Town Ambassadors of Licenza who chose to live in the hamlet of Civitella and populated it with artists from all over the world. Thanks to their contamination, today in Civitella there is a house on Airbnb that is always full of foreigners and the young 22-year-old Simone has opened a home-restaurant with his Peruvian partner.
Mayor Franco Tozzi's proposal to appoint them Town Ambassadors of Marano Equo in the Rome Metropolitan Area project made them proud and I am very curious to see how their young age will also influence others.
This difference of generations could result in an interesting intercultural contamination.
Good job girls and see you on social media!
Follow us