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Meet the Brussels expat: Ilaria Maselli from Italy mixes city living with the peace of the countryside

09:31 27/07/2019

I arrived in Brussels in 2006, as Erasmus student. I was doing my master’s in European affairs and my not-so-secret plan was to find a way to stay in the European capital. I now work as a senior economist for a think tank and membership organisation. If I go to the office, I take my electrical bicycle and pedal from Uccle to Boisfort, crossing the Bois de la Cambre. The office is a bit isolated but surrounded by green; it’s an inspiring setting. I spend most of my time analysing data and preparing presentations for briefings and meetings where I present our work. But the office has a very open teleworking policy, so twice a week I can work from home. I often do that in the house my partner and I share in Boussu en Fagne, a small village in Namur province. When I work from home I mostly read and write, it’s my thinking time.

There are many things I like about this country, but top of everything is the sense of fairness. I have the feeling that many of the opportunities I have here, I would never have where I come from. And I love the energy of Brussels: it’s not like Paris or Berlin, where you will always be a guest. Brussels is different, it belongs to everyone who wants to build something here.

I spend my free time on politics. With a bunch of other Europeans and a few Belgians, a couple of years ago I set up a campaign called I Vote Where I Live, to encourage other Europeans to register for the last local elections. Too few people do so, and I believe voting is an important part of integrating. I am also chair of the Italian Partito Democratico in Brussels, a lively community with 250 members who live in Brussels, with one eye here, one on Italy and one on Europe.

Two years ago, my partner and I bought a house near Couvin. The idea was to have it all by living in the city from Monday to Thursday and closer to nature from Friday to Sunday. We fell in love with the building, which was once the house of the village priest. We’ve been spending the past two years discovering this amazing, laid-back side of the country, where hills are green, people live a quieter life and time doesn’t fly.

This article was first published in the Wab magazine

Written by Sally Tipper