Home Sweet Home

With our residency secured, we can now concentrate on house-hunting.

Of course, we've been actively looking for our 'kiwi4everhome', it's just now we can put more time into it.
That's time, not effort. There's been plenty of that in these last few eventful months.

There are plenty of doer-uppers...!

Luckily, with upwards of 15 real estate agencies in Modica, there's no lack of properties.

And budget's f'sure not the problem here. The average house price in those areas we're looking at being around €845 per m².
So that 80 m² home we want, would be around €68,000. Which has proven to be the case.
So, budget's not the problem: Location is.
Y'see, now we know the area, we've established there are 'no-go' areas. Not because of crime or anything, as that’s very low.
Nope. It's because required services, such as shops and public transport, are missing (Modica Alta). Or there are accessibility problems, like too-steep streets (Santa Margherita district).
Else it's 'too modern', being full of apartments and similar soulless properties (Modica Sorda). And yes, because there are poorer areas here, where the housing reflects that status (Sant'Andrea district).
Bottom line? We find ourselves restricted to those areas around the two main thoroughfares, and the lower hills around them.
Now we did find a good property a few weeks back, but the owner proved to be 'stronzo' (an arsehole). Shame, but we didn't need the stress, so walked.
Still, we have time, and we're taking that.
It’s a life-changing decision, after all!

Friendly Faces

One thing that has surprised us is how friendly the locals have proven to be.
Okay, obviously we both like Italians, otherwise why be here? What we weren't prepared for though, was how much they've taken to us!
I mean, our current landlords have bent over backwards to (literally) accommodate us. To such an extent they took up our case with the local police, and the Comune (local council).
Talking of the Comune? We had to visit to present (yet another) form, and the women 'guarding' the front door greeted us like old friends.
And that initially gruff woman who looked after our residency application, even greeted my wife with a: "Ciao, Alice!"

Alice ready for her next lesson

Then there's the local fruit-and-vege shop owner, trying to teach Alice some Sicilian dialect!
And our builder, who's gone out of his way to assess homes for us. For free! We even had dinner at his place the other day.
Of course, many of those in our favourite cafes and bars are friendly. We're now on a first name basis with most.
Although they do keep telling us how a relation or friend has this house for sale!
Alright, we still get stared at on the street. Is it those NZ masks? Or is it more: Why are those foreigners still here?
They warm up when they realise we're not here looking for a holiday home. That we've decided to make their city ... their community ... our home.
There's nothing quite like being wanted!

City of Contrasts

Modica is a city full of contradictions.
One of the real estate agents we dealt with stating: "Sometimes it's too small, and sometimes too big."
We get what he meant: This city of only 55,000 may not have all you want, but can have what you need.

A (now) local showing me the sights

Even just walking about the place, and we've done a lot of that, you get that feeling.
The feeling that it's f'sure big enough for us, as even after all these months we haven't finished exploring it yet. But that it's also small, and can be somewhat insular.
Witness the way (some) of the locals stare at us as we pass them on their balconies. Not something that happened in NZ or UK towns and cities of similar size.
So, they can be both very welcoming and uber-suspicious at the same time! Some will return your cherry "Buongiorno" ("Good morning"), while others will simply stare at you.
It's both a city full of older people, and one with teens on scooters racing about, and hanging about in groups on the church steps.
And, as unemployment is very high, 15.6% in the second quarter of 2020, it's not unusual to see middle aged people milling about during the day.
In fairness though, I think much of this could be said of the rest of Sicily too. Whatever, this little corner of the Mediterranean's largest island is now home to us, and we do love it.
And that's 'warts' ('contradictions') and all!

Buon Natale (Merry Christmas) and  More Soon...