Interivew: MK
Photography: Erin McKinney
We love a good story and Myriam’s is a great one. Moving from Lebanon to Paris at an early age, landing a great job at an insurance company, falling in love and moving to Trieste’s outskirts to be a full time mom to her 5 wonderful children takes courage and endless trust in life.
Where are you from?
I was born in Beirut, Lebanon where I lived for 18 years before moving to Paris to study at the university. Paris was everything I dreamed of- a big city, full of life, events, and culture. I was offered a great job at an insurance company where I met my husband Benoist. A few years into our marriage, he was offered a position in Generali first in Paris and later in Trieste. It was not an easy decision – moving to a different country with our then three kids – but we decided to take the risk and it definitely paid off. We eventually bought a house in Carso, had other two kids here in Trieste and started living the life we’ve always dreamed of – in a big house immersed in nature. We couldn’t have dreamed of it back in Paris.
From happening Paris to the countryside of Trieste is quite a change. Was it difficult to make this change?
It is exponentially easier to raise a family in the countryside of Trieste than it could have ever been in Paris. Here our kids are immersed in the nature and it is beneficial to their growth. I have always lived in big cities and never had the opportunity like this, and I am eternally grateful to be able to give this life to my 5 kids.
You are a mom of 5 kids (wow)! How do you manage? What does a typical day of a full time mom look like?
There’s no such thing as a typical day (laughs-ed.) as there are so many things you just can’t plan. We wake up, make breakfast, I take them to school, I pick them up, we do homework. There’s never a dull moment (or a quite one, for that matter), days fly by but I try to enjoy them as much as possible. Although with an 18 month old baby, being far from our respective families and the various complicated Italian administrative issues we encounter, I do not really manage to have time for myself.
Why do you like Trieste and have you ever thought of moving somewhere else?
There’s everything I like here: nature, different cultures as well as cultural venues, like the theaters and museums. Sometimes I think about moving but then can’t imagine a place that has it all like Trieste does. We are really happy to be here.
