Sonia’s experience
I would like to share with you my experience as a long-standing member of the club. I'm Egyptian ofLebanese origin. I was born and grew up in the cosmopolitan country of Alexandria which had an international outlook. I am married to an Italian and have two grown up children; a girl and a boy. We lived for 14 years abroad in a number of different countries which was a great experience.

Time came to settle down and we choose a small town in my husband’s home region of Lombardy. Twenty years ago, Italian mentality in this area was very provincial and people were not used to foreigners. People thought that since I came from Egypt, I was used to riding on a camel and wearing a burka, something that never existed at the time I lived there. All in all, I have to admit that I missed my cosmopolitan world in those days.

One day when I was bring my children for lessons at the Ice Skating school of Varese, I heard a lady talking in English. I jumped out of my seat and ran to meet her. She was a member of the Benvenuto Club. I immediately decided to join and my life changed and the smile came back on my face. It's nice to share same experiences with others and talk the same language. In the meantime, today I am very happy to say that I now many good Italian friends too with which I get along with very well. Life changed, people changed.