I met my new guest Emiliane twice before truly meeting her on the third occasion: and this, already predicts a lot about our conversation.

Emiliane is from Paris. She came to Rome for love, and — maybe even more powerfully — she stayed for love. Not just romantic love, but a love of the city, of the life she built here, of the version of herself she found in Rome.

In this episode, you’ll hear about what it means to choose a city without always being able to explain why, about feeling home (again!), about the culture and the daily life in Rome, and what it’s like to feel more Roman than Parisian — and yet still, somehow, foreign.

You’ll also hear about Emiliane’s inspiring path through philosophy at La Sapienza, how she learned Italian by thinking in it, and how she’s now helping reshape the way we teach and learn through transformative pedagogies.

This is a story of trying, creating, staying. Of not knowing, and doing it anyway. And maybe that’s the most beautiful part of Emiliane’s journey — she doesn’t know exactly why she loves Rome. She just does.

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For this new season, I wanted to start with the story that’s closest to me — the one of my neighbor, Nicoletta.

Nicoletta is Italian, but she still doesn’t quite know how to answer the question, “Where are you from?” She lives in San Lorenzo and is actively involved in several local communities. She loves doing, meeting, discovering, and most of all, living alongside others.

In this episode, you’ll get a glimpse into what it means to find — or build — your community, and how sometimes, it takes a second chance to truly connect. Because for Nicoletta, Rome wasn’t love at first sight. And maybe that’s the most powerful part of her story: sometimes you have to try again, and that new beginning can lead you somewhere entirely unexpected.

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We’re back! To kick off the new season of Why Are U in Rome, we’re doing something a little different: I’m on the other side of the mic.

It’s a challenge I accepted from Tania, one of the guests I interviewed last year. Truth is, I never really wanted to tell my story — partly because I wasn’t sure how to answer. But it felt like the right moment, and the right way to begin again. And honestly, I owed it to all the amazing guests who’ve taken on the tough task of opening up.

So here it is. It’s not easy to put it out there, but I hope you’ll enjoy it — and maybe understand a bit more about the energy and meaning I put into this podcast.

With love 💛

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