A time to relax…

Enjoy it and relax:

Kuroshio Sea – 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world

Song: Please don’t go by Barcelona

Who I am

Stefano Monellini is a spiritual seeker and practices different forms of meditation and prayer, both inspired by traditional and contemporary mysticism. He works as a psycho-social counseler and vocational trainer, as well as social entrepreneur commited to nonprofit activities.

Born in 1966 in Italy, he currently lives and works in Mexico. Stefano has a catholic background, but is a strong supporter of ecumenism, dialogue between different cultures and religions, science and faith.

At the age of 18, he achieves his bachelor in classical and humanistic studies. He loves travelling and different cultures: as a result of this, in 1991, Stefano graduates in tourism (cum laude, thesis entitled “The phenomenology of Christian religious tourism. An interdisciplinary approach) and learns 3 foreign languages (English, French and Spanish).In 1991, after painful personal and family experiences, he begins a personal research that leads him to meet different spiritual experiences.

In 1992 he starts his professional activity as a helping professionist, focusing primarily on social work aimed to children, teen-agers and their families. Meanwhile, he continues his academic studies, achieving, in 1996, a second university degree in human sciences and helping professions (cum laude, thesis entitled “The choice of the profession of social worker. Research on students of the university of Perugia).

In 1996, he moves to France, near Lyon, where he works as a volunteer at the “Communauté de Taizé”, an ecumenical Christian monastic community. He shares the monastic life, praying 3 times a day and working in the welcome activities. In Taizé Stefano knows Martha, his mexican wife, married in 1998. They have 2 children, Esteban (8 years) and David (2 years).

In the same period he starts studying the works of Ken Wilber, the American most translated philosopher and mystic. Through his work Stefano begins to deepen the Integral Thought and Theory. He is interested in the dialogue among human sciences and spirituality: ILP (”Integral Life Practices”)  methodologies become his main counselling activity tools.

Besides his counselling and training activities, from 1997 to 2008, he works in a big Italian nonprofit company, as fund-raiser, project manager, trainer and researcher, as well as writer and congressist.

In June 2009, he moves with his family to Mexico (Ensenada, Baja California Norte), where he works as psycho-social counseler and vocational trainer with different kinds of target.

He is commited to his family and children, to meditation and prayer, and to ILP practice. Stefano practices tennis, swimming, running and weightlifting. Plays keyboards and guitar. He continues travelling in his free time.

July 6, 2009: Our life in Ensenada

Ciao!Hi! Hola!

I am finally back to my beloved blog after almost 1 month.  And we live in Mexico, now! Our provisional house is my parents-in-law apartment, in Ensenada, Baja California, located 110 km south of the border with the United States (San Diego, California). We (I mean me, Stefano, my wife Martha, and my sons Esteban and David) left Italy june 11 and spent 2 days in Los Angeles (California), before reaching Ensenada by car. We had 11 suitcases, 4 hand travel bags and my laptop! Not easy, but…we got it!

June 14 was my 43rd birthday, so, we went to the hills around Ensenada for a “carne asada” (barbecue) celebrating it. The welcome was warm and very kind not just by my “new” family, but by everybody here (parents and friends).

So, we started what it can really be defined a “new life”. But, despite this “perspective” seems to be very “strong”, our life is very simple. We are on vacation, at the moment: our house (if I can say that!) is always full of people. Right at the end of june my sister-in-law, Cindy, came from Leòn (Guanajuato), with her 4 children (Julieta, Eduardo, Juan Pablo and Carolina): so, you can imagine how crowded of children is our life! It is fantastic and… a little bit tiring.

Esteban is a sort of “commander in chief” of the “gang” (“the little rascals”, which, for an extraordinary coincidence, is the english translation of our surname, Monellini), and David seems to “double” his already big energies! They are so so happy to be here and everybody is completely falled in love with them!

At the beginning of the last week all “mothers and children” moved to “the house on the seaside”: it is a beautiful house in a place called “Baja Beach” (Punta Estero) at about 30 km. away from Ensenada. So I joined them everyday  by car at lunch time and came back at night…except the last week-end, I spent there the whole nights and days since friday to sunday. The place is incredible, as you can see: the house is only 70 mts. from the Pacific Ocean, and, once you opens the doors you are alrerady on the seaside! Sometimes in the morning the weather is a bit cloudy and foggy (as it happens, more or less, in the bay areas), but at 10-11 a.m. the sun is high in the sky and it is wonderful to spend time there or going for a walk or even running on the coast.

Today we are again in the Ensenada’s house, because we had a meeting with the responsible of Esteban and David’s new  school “Avante”: it seems a very nice place and I am very happy that the children in the primary school have 2 hours of english teaching per day. Everybody here, of course, speaks spanish: so, Martha and I took the decision that we will both speak to Esteban and David in italian!

Since tomorrow (probably for this and the next week) my family will move back to the house on the beach and I will spend half-a-day every day until the next weekend.

Last week I had my first job-interview with the director of the faculty of “Marketing” in the Xochicalco University (Ensenada): it was a good experience, the director told me that they are available since september to offer me one (or maybe more) subjects to teach: meanwhile, he gave me other e-mail addresses of the directors of two faculties in the same University, Psychology and Communication, so I sent them my CV and I am waiting for other enterviews. I also sent my CV to other 2 universities, one in Ensenada and the other one in Tijuana, waiting for their answers.

But teaching at the university is not my only project, here, there are so many others, and soon I will talk to you about them. Just stay tuned!

The rest of my time, apart from spending time with my children and with Martha’s family is actually “on the web”: through skype I am quite frequently in touch with my italian family and with my friends all over the world. Through “Facebook” I can send messages and photos and I can see everyday the italian news on the italian web channel Sky TG24. I also started “learning” to “drive” here in Mexico (I drive not so bad!) and almost everyday I cook different kinds of pasta for the mexican people.

That’s all for now. I will keep you informed constantly about…our life in Ensenada! Adiòs!

8 days to departure…

June 3, 2009: Eight days to our departure.

Things are getting well. In this week we will sign the contract for renting our house. Our friends, Angela and Sandro, decided that they are going to live here since july 1. We also made a gentlemen agreement that they will commit, in the next 12 months,  while renting our house, to sign the contract for selling ours to them.

Our house is almost empty, we sold everything that we could, gave many things to friends and to charity organizations. We are starting to collect all our stuff and preparing our luggage for the air flight to Los Angeles.

We will arrive to L.A. on june 11, 7:pm (West Coast time), then we will spend 2 days there in the house of our friend Patricia. On june 13 we will drive to Ensenada.

You will receive more informations about our life in Ensenada once we reach it. Ciao and thanks for now.

Good News

April 22, 2009: Two close friends, Angela and Sandro, gave us their availability to buy our house. We are so happy and grateful about that.  They are going to sell their house and want to move to ours, since july 1. This means that from now on we’ll have to synchronize our agendas in order to make this possible. They love our house and they are very very happy to come here. It is a big gifts, for us, to share this business with them.

We are starting to sell our furniture and technology to different people (basicly friends!), we really hope we can sell almost everything we have before we leave. The remaining stuff will be transported to my mum’s house.

Road to Ensenada: LATEST!

This is the date of our departure

Source: Aviator

Road to Ensenada: LATEST!

January 21, 2008: It is almost sure the date of our departure. It should be june 19, 2009.

We are also planning a “selling-party” and we want to invite all relatives and friends interested in buying our house stuff.  We are planning it for the month of march. We have already a list of that “stuff” and the remaining will go with us to Ensenada. We are also in touch with an italian removal company that will estimate the costs of the move by sea. My two little cars are also “on sale”.

I gave all my religious books to a priest working on our territory parish (around 50 books) and other 50 professional texts to my company. We are already packing the remaining books (a lot!): they will reach us in Ensenada by sea. I am also planning to buy the “essential italian literature” books before leaving, so that my children will go on learning italian and its culture. I will easily find them in a “second-hand bookshop” near our house (the same place in which I sold part of my books some weeks ago).

That’s all for now. Stay tuned!

NEW: I have a second blog!!!

Dear friends, I have a second blog. It is dedicated to my professional interests. It is basicly in italian. Just click below if you want to visit it.

Cari amici, vi informo che ho un nuovo blog dedicato al mio “mondo” professionale.  E’ pressochè interamente in italiano. Clickate sotto se desiderate visitarlo.

Queriods amigos, ya tengo un nuevo blog en donde se concentran todos mis intereses profesionales. Es en lengua italiana. Abajo encuentran la direcciòn.

Economie Sociali e della Felicità

“Road” to Ensenada LATEST

December 5, 2008: A new employment contract signed yesterday! I will work as  free-lance  for an italian social enterprise located in my hometown, Perugia, as fund raiser and project designer. One of the interesting things of this job is the availability of the company to extend the contract  after my move to Mexico, working basicly as a teleworker.  A good investment for the future and a “stronger bridge” among Perugia and Ensenada. One step “further” in our path…

“Road” to Ensenada

December 2, 2008: Today I sold about 30% of the books  that I will not bring with me in Ensenada. I am not that satisfied of the money that I earned but, well, better than anything. The woman that bought them said that the “spiritual books” are very difficult to “place”, so their market value is insignificant. And I told her: “Well, I had to leave those books, because I lost my faith”… I am not sure she understood that I was joking!

Regarding the other 70% of the books, I think that I will give the religious ones as a gift to local parishes and I will do the same with the social service books to the social cooperative I am collaborating with. No more news for now!