Interview: MK
Photography: Erin McKinney
Every Saturday we’re spotlighting remarkable local females who could change the way we look at the world. This Saturday is Hannah Pugel’s turn, a young female expat from the U.S. making Trieste her home.
There’s no place like home, especially if you now call Trieste your home. As many expats who have moved to the city in recent years, Hannah loves almost everything about living here.
Where are you from?
I was born and raised in the Southeastern United States, but I always felt out of place there. I used to feel homesick even in my small town or at school as a child. I knew that I wasn’t in the right culture or country from a very young age.
How did you find your way to Trieste?
I moved to many other places before Trieste. I guess I was searching for what truly felt like home. I decided that I wanted to au pair as a way of seeing Europe for the summer of 2017. Finding the right family and the right feel with them was really important to me, and I found a wonderful family in Santa Croce. (I didn’t know much about this area other than it being near Slovenia, which piqued my interest because my great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S. from Slovenia in 1902. When I au paired for that summer, they showed me the beauty and uniqueness of the region. I fell in love with Trieste immediately and said, “I want to live there some day!”
So, how did you make that happen?
It took me 4 years. I visited pretty much as often as I could on a tourist visa in 2018 and in 2019 I au paired again in Rome. I knew that a student visa would be the easiest way to stay in Italy for longer, so I au paired in Rome to see how I would like living there as a student. I loved au pairing there, so I applied for an MBA program and was accepted! I moved to Rome that autumn and was living there when the pandemic happened. Of course, all of our classes went online, so after the lockdown ended I was really tired of the chaos and big city life and I thought, “This is my chance to move to Trieste!” My partner and I finally moved to Gretta neighborhood in March 2021 and we were in total bliss when we arrived that night.
What do you like about the city?
I’m the happiest in nature, so I love going hiking all around and even the less strenuous walks throughout the city parks and Carso. It’s the first time I’ve ever lived by the sea, so that’s amazing. I like that I meet people from many different countries here, thanks to the various science programs and tourism that we have. And I love that Trieste doesn’t feel 100% Italian.
Is there anything you don’t like about living here?
I like change a lot, so sometimes I wish that there were more events and new things happening in the city. It’s always exciting when there’s a new exhibition or restaurant opening, and having more things to see and do would be awesome. We went to a live music jazz club in Rome fairly often, and we would love to see one here!
What’s it like being an expat here? Is it easy to meet people and make friends?
I feel that I’ve been very fortunate to meet wonderful people here. Being inclusive is a really important value of mine, and I don’t feel like it’s very valued in Italian (or American) culture. That’s made it difficult to make friends with Italians. However, the expats group and getting involved locally has helped a lot.
Do you see yourself staying here?
I don’t know how long I’ll stay here, but I’m happy here and there’s nowhere else I would call home than Trieste!
