International Friendship Day

**Picture Overload!**

In 2011 the United Nations declared July 30th as International Day of Friendship. They declared that there are many issues in the world and that a starting place to address them is, "promoting and defending a shared spirit of human solidarity that takes many forms - the simplest of which is friendship." The declaration talks about camaraderie, trust, passion, and lasting stability.

Friends should remind you to get gas before you nearly
run out. BUT they also help you stay calm as you roll in on empty!

A little spray paint among friends

Get yourself a career and friends who
understand the assignment!

When we first arrived in Italy I was really reluctant to call any of our new acquaintances "friends." Not in an insulting cliquish kind of way, but can people we just met really offer the lasting stability of friendship? It also felt like a weird unintentional insult to the people who have hid in the bathroom from security with me, who have been my first disclosure of big life events, who have rescued my sanity and saved my job with their simple presence, who have know the toughest times of my life and who know when to make me laugh and when to leave me the heck alone...usually:) Six months into this five year journey and I'm ready to expand my circle of friends to include those at home and those with whom we are sharing Italy. "The shared spirit of human solidarity comes in many forms:" sometimes it's knowing the perfect thing to say in a staff meeting to distract me from saying the quiet part out loud and other times it's being a va bene text message away about domani.

Our first non family Italian visitor!

Friends teach you that it's ok to have fun and be competitive!

Not a one of them is just a colleague 🥰

Friends celebrate each others' successes!

No one tells you how hard it is to make friends as an adult! To my adult friends who find this part of the social condition easy, many kudos! There has been some comfort that most people I've talked to here, express a similar sentiment. The fact that we are all in the same boat - friends thousands of miles away, a language barrier daily, and Naples unique frustrations - means friendships form around solidarity. What a unique challenge to navigate every few years for our military friends. I've always been amazed at how military affiliated students handle new towns, new schools, and new friends with general ease, humour, and resilience. I have found myself looking back on their experiences for strength and inspiration the last seven months.

Old school!

Get yourself friends that you welcome their photo bombing!

Normal is boring...

I'm so grateful for my core group of friends that have texted, called, mailed boxes, sent cards, and in general just checked in on my sanity. Their kindness has grounded me in a way that I can't describe. I think regularly about my parents moving to Alaska without the luxury of texts, FaceTime, and social media and how much more challenging that must have been! I hope that at this point most of of our friends have silenced their notifications from me because when I'm texting them it is usually the middle of the Alaskan night! I'm so lucky to have people in my life who share humour when I need it, lend an ear when I'm ranting, offer advice when I'm lost, extend solutions when I'm struggling, and share in the uniqueness of our opportunity. That's a lot and they do it effortlessly and genuinely.

Always up for smelling the flowers 😉

Trying out new things like acquatrekking in a new place like Italy!

25+ years in the making 🤗

Never too old for Prom even if your role is to watch kids dance awkwardly

On Wednesdays we wear pink! (or all weekend of International!)

The contrast couldn't be more stark. In Fairbanks, even doing the weekly grocery shopping was a guaranteed social outing. A former student saying, "Ms Snider" and running into a curler regardless of the time of year were always guarantees. Napoli has 3.1 million people and I can recognize the faces of, maybe, 10 and remember the names of even less! The other day I was leaving our apartment for a quick walk to the grocery store. I heard "Kelly?!" and I just kept walking. It didn't even occur to me that someone would be talking to me. Turns out it was someone I had met in a recent cooking class and in this metropolitan place we now call home, we happened to occupy the same place at the same time.

Friends get lost in new places together!

Can't tell if we are proud of a win or amused at a loss. Either way 🤷‍♀️

Decades in and going strong!

A fake nemesis and a real friend

Distance does make the heart grow fonder and it is really only in my current situation that I fully realize how rich my friendships are. It is also the same situation that has forced me to relearn friend making skills. I've joined a hiking group, attended cooking classes, met for aperitivo, found other bulldog parents, accepted social invitations, and in general just embraced the friendmaking challenge. These new people are also friends and not just acquaintances like they felt like in the beginning. Obviously I'm not out to replace the Lizes, Jessicas, Jons, Brendys, Jenns, and Tommys of my life but I'm definitely ok adding to the group of people that make my life more warm and satisfying. From those that simply “like” a post or say happy birthday to those who travel 8000 miles for adventure: thank you.

You know you're friendships are solid when the blanket
ghost is willing to be in the picture!

We tried to remake this years later to much less success!

This night has been the source of many laughs over the years

Friends are the family you choose

School of Ed two decades in!

That's a lot of babble to say Happy International Day of Friendship to my friends across the world.

New friends with old friends in new places

Many curling dance floor memories!

Get yourself friends that push you! (six years to the day on this one!)

I wish I could go for Thai food on the opening week of school with my teacher friends. I wish I could sit at the kitchen counter at the curling club, eating popsicles at weird hours of the night, with others who close the place down. I'm also looking forward to wandering the fish market with new friends and mastering the art of aperitivo with them.

Adventures overseas...to be continued we hope!

On the ice or off the ice!

Always a bright smile!

Not the first, and I'm guessing not the last, curling club bathroom photo!

Friends have drinks after games!

From summer colleagues to school professionals make for rich friendships!

Many wineries make for ample opportunities for new friends!

Crossing boarders!

So cheers to all the incredible people that surround my life! Thank you for your love, your support, your reality checks, your jokes/memes/reels, for the shared meals, contagious laughs, and for being YOU and accepting ME. Thank you for giving me lasting stability and being a part of our shared experience in human solidarity!