Day 10...Childhood

In some ways, it feels as though I had two childhoods: my "Washington" one and my "Sicily" one. When you move halfway across the world at 11 years old, it sort of chops your life into halves.

Washington State

My Washington childhood was quiet overall. Quiet and, in certain ways, small. I was living in (I think it's called...) a ranch house with my two parents, three siblings and many mixtures of pets. We had cats, a dog, and I think there was a bunny at some point. I shared a room with my sister from as long as I can remember until we moved to Italy. I didn't fight my siblings for the computer, opting to make friends with the neighborhood kids and spend as much time as I could outside. I do think that I must've annoyed my siblings as I was always crashing their parties and trying to befriend their friends. Cute little sisters are quiet the distraction ;). School and church were pretty big parts of my life when I was little in Washington. Those and crafts. That habit has definitely stayed a habit.

Sicily, the ball that Italy is kicking.
Bread basket of the Med

Sicily was pretty much the opposite. My brothers had both graduated high school and were off at college so my sister and I each got our own rooms in the apartment my family moved into. My mom made sure that we traveled as much as possible while we were in Europe--so much cheaper to travel within Europe than it is to get to Europe from the states. School was getting harder (though I tried as hard as ever) and I had to adjust to living in a different country. I spent more time bonding with kids at school that trying to be in my siblings' good graces. I met some amazing people and got really into writing. My family spent all but one summer flying back to the states to see family and friends, which hindered my getting a job during high school. Though maybe high school doesn't super count as "childhood". Sicily was a huge adventure, and I still find myself missing it.
My childhood was a lot of things but the things I remember most about the 18 years of my life that I spent under my parent's roof is that my family always loved and encouraged me (even when I was being a S-P-O-I-L-E-D brat). Home was always a safe and good place to be. Creativity and the ability to entertain/sustain myself were qualities that got cultivated in me. I'm so glad to report that I have quite the happy childhood; it's just weird because I had it in different hemispheres.