di Ela Skhirtladze
I am neither Gregor Samsa, the main protagonist of Kafka’s famous novel – The Metamorphosis, nor have I transformed into a large insect, however 242 days have passed since my arrival and there is no better word to describe the process of my adaptation than “metamorphosis”.
It all started long before I arrived in Italy. “L’ambasciata d’Italia Tbilisi…” the first moment of calling to The Embassy of Italy to apply for a visa, having no idea that it would turn out to be a nightmare.
When it comes to preparing documents, facing bureaucracy comes as no surprise. However, “Italian bureaucracy” is a whole another story and then imagine adding COVID-19 regulations to it – let’s say, it did not go as planned. As you can guess by reading this article, after almost living in front of the embassy, I had received the small piece of paper that allowed me to embark on my journey.
Little did I know that the worst was yet to come. As I am from a Non-EU country, not only do I need to have a visa, but also a residence permit. So, another war was launched. Not to bore you with details, months of fierce fighting with the Immigration Office along with my coordinator and mentor, my co-workers and friends, luckily, I got another happy ending – this time a plastic card.
Throughout these months, I have spent most of my time in The Center for Migrants, which is one of the activities that Muovimente Cooperativa Sociale offers to us. As a migrant myself, working with them has been a fascinating experience.
The people I’ve met and the stories I’ve heard opened my eyes to how lucky I was.
So my mindset shifted – instead of looking at my issue as a problem, I started looking at it as an opportunity.
That’s how my stress and frustration transformed into valuable life lessons.
Honestly, to attempt to name all the changes that have happened during these few months is impossible and the list would be endless.
With that being said, I believe I’ve truly experienced the importance of self-reflection – what Kafka shows us by Gregor Samsa’s story.
At the end of the day all that matters is to see what it is that makes your life worth living and think twice before you decide what is a problem and what is an opportunity.
