Small Town Girl

It's a funny thing to realize where you end up (for now). Having being born in the sprawling megalopolis that is Lagos, Nigeria, with a population of around 17,553,924, I moved at the tender age of 7 to another, albeit less dense megalopolis: London, England, population 8,278,251. Now, I find myself in a small, provincial town in northern Italy: Modena, population 181,807. Before this I was in Genoa, which feels like a BIG city in respect to where I am now (population 611,71). With these stats my aim's not to befuddle you with the numbers but for me to really see how much I've down sized. I always saw myself as the consummate city chick, after all, those formative years living in a big city undeniably shape you; the minute I land in some hectic, chaotic city, I feel that I've returned to my natural habitat. I feel myself mentally and physically surrendering to those familiar sensations: the pace, the smells and sounds, the people everywhere, the plethora of choice, the variety in ethnic/social diversity. But for some reason, life seems to be pushing me towards smaller and smaller cities. What will my next abode be like? A house in village with 150 inhabitants, a bar and a post office? People I've known have always been surprised that I settled for so long in Genoa; in the provincial, small town context  that it was. And here I am, relatively happy somewhere even smaller. My take on it, at least as far as Italy is concerned, is that it's ALL provincial, be it a city the size of Genoa or that of Modena. Basically, living in Italy I'm never going to reach the level of sophisticated, urban living that I had in London. Once I accepted this reality (and this took me about my 5 years!) the small town-ness of it all becomes tolerable and dare I say pleasurable. I probably had a much more proactive role in my small town reality than I like to accept...I think deep down I always wanted a simple life and instinctively privileged the quality of life idea over the glitz of a big city. It's great knowing that there are a multitude of gigs, exhibitions, loads of work options etc. available to you but the idea now of being stuck in public transport for hours trying traverse the city for work or leisure makes my chest feel tight. I want to be able to bike where I need to go or get a taxi for less than 10 Euro. My small town existence really hit home on Saturday, when I went to a local carnival party. Now, the last carnival I went to was the Notting Hill Carnival in London. This is a huge event. I love that carnival but the thing is you've got to think ahead, which isn't easy when you've had 4 cans of Red Stripe or a few Bacardi Breezers. You've got to plan to start making your way out when you've piqued because by the time you've actually managed to extricate yourself from the crowd an hour and a half will have passed: you'll be hot, impatient and starting to feel irascible. By the time you descend into Notting Hill Gate tube, you'll be cursing yourself for not having planned your escape sooner. At least, this was the case with me, but maybe I'm just particularly neurotic. Instead, my little town carnival was so small and manageable. I could see my son at all times, I could move in the crowds and when it was time to go I meandered slowly, with no throngs of people impeding my path. I arrived at my house fresh and sprightly..... but this could also have been down to the lack of Bacardi Breezers!