I had written a couple of pages about Anab and her asking to stay with me in via Fiesolana but these pages were "lost" in a mysterious way for some mysterious "political " reason .... like wise my writing about Mario Mariotti were not published in my book "A Time For Dreamers" [i had sent them to the publishers] who was an artist i met while he had his studio off Borgo San Jacopo in Florence [he died in 1997}.
Anab was a traditionally dressed girl from Somalia. She would come to visit my studio Atelier in via Fiesoana every once in a while . She was a very pretty girl in her late 20´s and worked like many other women from her country as "help" and nurse in Italian houses. She would tell me about her experiences as a stay at home help, because she seemed to find work easily with families who neede some one to stay with their elderly. In her practical minded attitude she asked me what i was selling in my shop . She would suggest that i could sell bus tickets [as well as watercolours and art work }.
Anab earned enough to send money back home to her brothers and sisters .... she had a big family. I thought it was awsome how she even managed to bring some of her brothers to europe and place them in jobs. She said that since Somalia had been an Italian colony , the people there could get visas to come to Italy. Now in the year 2000 she hoped to go and get her drivers licence and that was what she was working on. She lived in the houses of the families she worked for and therefore she could save on rent, but when she came to my shop she needed a place to stay for a few days before she found a new job. She had found me sitting in the Atelier and had started a conversation. She said that the Somalian family living down the street some meters away from my shop front were her relatives.
These neighbours were a young couple with a little girl. My theatrical friend Steve who was an english teacher at university knew them well because he used to go out with the husband who was called Rasheed. This couple didnt survive long because the wife , who was also called Anab had her own ideas about how they should be living as a family. She would say hello and stop by as well. I loved the way she would talk to her daughter as if the little girl were a grown up and her special best friend! Anab{A] was from a wealthier family who were living in Canada and she had her middle class standards, she was a stay at home wife because her husband had an agency of some kind and seemed to be doing well. Later on they seperated and Rasheed married another woman from his country ....
The "working" Anab who was my guest for a week was simple in comparison, she had to accept situations which were uncomfortable as well. She would tell me about the old person she had been looking after who had Alzheimer who she would look after while sleeping in the same room as her at night . Another family who had an elderly who was a schizo, allowed her to have a room of her own but the person would be agitated at night and the noise would keep her awake. There was always things which she had to accept and situations she had to adapt to.
When she asked me if she could stay with me for a few days .:.. i told her that i didnt have a bathroom and had a camping WC.
Insisting that she needed a place. i said Ok , lets try it out. I was living in a space on top of the shop which was a sort of long corridor- and had a window on a lovely the courtyard at the back were Roberta lived .... and a window at the other side where the shop was and which gave onto the road ie via Fiesolana. I had an extra matress and had put her on the other side of the corridor closer to the shop front.
The first night, was the funniest memory i have of her ..... she came to wake me up from a heavy sleep in the early morning saying that the bathroom was over flowing with water ! I couldnt understand what had happened, and when i went to see , the tiles were covered with water nearly dropping down the old metal staircase. I started to clean up, and couldnt believe i had to do this just because i had done her the favour of letting her stay ..... if it had been me in her place , the least i could do was to clean up the water. I guessed she had put water in because she needed to do a wash and she thought the toilet could take it. As always i reminded myself of the saying which goes "patience is a virtue".
The other days we managed quite well and i was happy to have helped her through her week . I had never imagined to be able to have some one stay the night.
I admired Anab more than the wealthy Anab [A] and wished i could find work like her .... infact later on when i was in France [2013/2018] i was trying to find work as an art therapist in Paris, but they required a degree and experience. Anab seemed to be able to do things because she was in a network of workers. Once she found me and a group of women sitting in the atelier and painting and she said to us :"One day you will all, be working for me !" That smacked of something ! probably of her discontent with her own life and perhaps she thought she would always be in the same situation!
Meanwhile all the street knew what was going on in the wealthy Anab´s house hold because the husband and wife would be arguing a lot. On peaceful days I loved to watch the Young husband and wife passing my shop. They would walk down the street during the day both very well dressed and lovely to look at: Both tall and slim and athletic, both "cool" and trendy looking. They could have been good together, but then the wife told me that the other night her husband had brought in a friend and they had both been a bit typsy. She had told her husband off because she said that since they had a child . he shouldnt bring in people late at night, or be drunk at all. He wasnt a student any more .... but he didnt realize he was a father ! I guess that was one of the reasons which contributed to their issues.
The next wife was an accountant or some thing of that kind and you could tell that he didnt have any issues with her, and Anab was going to go back to her family in Canada.
Anab was a traditionally dressed girl from Somalia. She would come to visit my studio Atelier in via Fiesoana every once in a while . She was a very pretty girl in her late 20´s and worked like many other women from her country as "help" and nurse in Italian houses. She would tell me about her experiences as a stay at home help, because she seemed to find work easily with families who neede some one to stay with their elderly. In her practical minded attitude she asked me what i was selling in my shop . She would suggest that i could sell bus tickets [as well as watercolours and art work }.
Anab earned enough to send money back home to her brothers and sisters .... she had a big family. I thought it was awsome how she even managed to bring some of her brothers to europe and place them in jobs. She said that since Somalia had been an Italian colony , the people there could get visas to come to Italy. Now in the year 2000 she hoped to go and get her drivers licence and that was what she was working on. She lived in the houses of the families she worked for and therefore she could save on rent, but when she came to my shop she needed a place to stay for a few days before she found a new job. She had found me sitting in the Atelier and had started a conversation. She said that the Somalian family living down the street some meters away from my shop front were her relatives.
These neighbours were a young couple with a little girl. My theatrical friend Steve who was an english teacher at university knew them well because he used to go out with the husband who was called Rasheed. This couple didnt survive long because the wife , who was also called Anab had her own ideas about how they should be living as a family. She would say hello and stop by as well. I loved the way she would talk to her daughter as if the little girl were a grown up and her special best friend! Anab{A] was from a wealthier family who were living in Canada and she had her middle class standards, she was a stay at home wife because her husband had an agency of some kind and seemed to be doing well. Later on they seperated and Rasheed married another woman from his country ....
The "working" Anab who was my guest for a week was simple in comparison, she had to accept situations which were uncomfortable as well. She would tell me about the old person she had been looking after who had Alzheimer who she would look after while sleeping in the same room as her at night . Another family who had an elderly who was a schizo, allowed her to have a room of her own but the person would be agitated at night and the noise would keep her awake. There was always things which she had to accept and situations she had to adapt to.
When she asked me if she could stay with me for a few days .:.. i told her that i didnt have a bathroom and had a camping WC.
Insisting that she needed a place. i said Ok , lets try it out. I was living in a space on top of the shop which was a sort of long corridor- and had a window on a lovely the courtyard at the back were Roberta lived .... and a window at the other side where the shop was and which gave onto the road ie via Fiesolana. I had an extra matress and had put her on the other side of the corridor closer to the shop front.
The first night, was the funniest memory i have of her ..... she came to wake me up from a heavy sleep in the early morning saying that the bathroom was over flowing with water ! I couldnt understand what had happened, and when i went to see , the tiles were covered with water nearly dropping down the old metal staircase. I started to clean up, and couldnt believe i had to do this just because i had done her the favour of letting her stay ..... if it had been me in her place , the least i could do was to clean up the water. I guessed she had put water in because she needed to do a wash and she thought the toilet could take it. As always i reminded myself of the saying which goes "patience is a virtue".
The other days we managed quite well and i was happy to have helped her through her week . I had never imagined to be able to have some one stay the night.
I admired Anab more than the wealthy Anab [A] and wished i could find work like her .... infact later on when i was in France [2013/2018] i was trying to find work as an art therapist in Paris, but they required a degree and experience. Anab seemed to be able to do things because she was in a network of workers. Once she found me and a group of women sitting in the atelier and painting and she said to us :"One day you will all, be working for me !" That smacked of something ! probably of her discontent with her own life and perhaps she thought she would always be in the same situation!
Meanwhile all the street knew what was going on in the wealthy Anab´s house hold because the husband and wife would be arguing a lot. On peaceful days I loved to watch the Young husband and wife passing my shop. They would walk down the street during the day both very well dressed and lovely to look at: Both tall and slim and athletic, both "cool" and trendy looking. They could have been good together, but then the wife told me that the other night her husband had brought in a friend and they had both been a bit typsy. She had told her husband off because she said that since they had a child . he shouldnt bring in people late at night, or be drunk at all. He wasnt a student any more .... but he didnt realize he was a father ! I guess that was one of the reasons which contributed to their issues.
The next wife was an accountant or some thing of that kind and you could tell that he didnt have any issues with her, and Anab was going to go back to her family in Canada.
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