"On my first day at work, I was told with a big smile: 'Here's another Sardinian!'".
Yes, because when Monica Porcu , 54, born in Carbonia but living in Decimomannu, moved to Istanbul after winning the competition to teach abroad, she would never have imagined that in the team of 25 Italian teachers of middle schools and Italian high school of one of the largest cities in Turkey, a third (eight in total) would have been made up of Sardinians.
"A circumstance absolutely linked to the case", explains to L'Unione Sarda Porcu, former teacher at the Deledda linguistic high school in Cagliari : "Cagliari and Sassari are worthily represented, but there are also colleagues from Isili, Selargius and San Gavino Monreale. All proud to represent Italy and Sardinia and to spread our culture and traditions in this incredible city, a crossroads between West and East and with a history of millennial charm ".
How long have you lived in Istanbul?
"I arrived on January 1st of this year, the last of the large group of Sardinians including Luciano Meloni, Claudia Muscu, Giangiacomo Orrù, Franca Badas, Elia Casu. I would never have believed I would find so many fellow countrymen. One really curious thing: of the hundreds of Italian teachers abroad, most of the Sardinians are in Istanbul ”.
Why did you decide to apply to teach abroad?
“Distance has never scared me. All my life I have dreamed of being able to work outside Italy : a desire pursued with so much effort after graduating in literature and various linguistic certifications. Seniority counts, so it was difficult to do it before ”.
How many Italian students study in your school?
"Although an Italian school, they are not the majority , the predominant component is Turkish. The lessons are held in Italian. As for the topics, there is a sort of compromise between the Italian and Turkish curriculum in subjects such as literature, history and religion".
