17 woman this month | December 2011 | and our team to ensure that Bushido is living up to the international precedent.” One of the things that Alessandra is most passionately committed to is the increasingly famous Pink Fridays at Bushido Lounge. She jokes: “We all know that the world is run by women”, and goes on, “so we want to offer a proper environment for ladies to enjoy a nice evening out. This is why we offer such a luxurious prize each week — girls deserve to be pampered! Also, I have come to realise that if you want change to happen, your best place to start is with the women. If women like something, the men are sure to follow.” Also, for the health conscious women out there, it is worth mentioning that Bushido have introduced a new, light Bento Box on their lunch menu — we all know that Japanese food is the skinny girl’s secret! At the moment, Alessandra’s lust for the open road is somewhat sated by the friends, culture and fun that Bahrain has to offer. So while we have her here, pouring her energy into Bushido, we’d better take full advantage, because you never know how long it’s going to last. At fourteen, Alessandra’s chances of being happy to settle into predictability slimmed dramatically. Disillusioned with the way life was going she took a daunting, but ultimately brilliant chance to move to Sri Lanka to live with her father. “I saw a good opportunity to broaden my mind and to learn more about the sorts of cultures I had never been exposed to before”, Alessandra explains of the transition. “I was slightly out of my depth. I spoke no English at all when I arrived and I found myself in South Asia during a civil war,” she continues, “but, unquestionably, it changed my life for the better”. The move to Sri Lanka opened up a door to the world that Alessandra found impossible to close. Whilst at school she travelled far and wide with her sports teams — “I went twice to Bangladesh by the time I was sixteen, which is bizarre for someone from where I born. I also went on trips to New Delhi and Nepal to play basketball.” Post school she moved to Switzerland to complete a degree in hospitality, which saw her taking up internships in Monaco and New York, not to mention embarking on some epic road trips with her friends. From Switzerland to St. Sebastian or from Munich to Greece and beyond — the location seems to have been only partially important; the thrill of being on the move and seeing new places was the real motivation. Alessandra, like many before her and many since, has caught what we like to call the “travelling bug”. It is an infection that grips tightly and can never be fully cured, for you rarely find someone who feels they’ve really seen enough of the world. I asked Alessandra what she thought it was about travelling that inspired such compulsion. “You end up with this huge package on your shoulders,” she says, “your worth, the depth of your conversation, your ability to relate to people just increases endlessly when you go out into the world and see new places and meet new people. For example, if I meet someone from Albania tomorrow, I will immediately have something to talk about with them, because I can say that I have passed through their country and know what it is like”. It is a popular suggestion that travelling goes some way to reduce prejudice and stereotyping — this is something that Alessandra firmly believes. “So many problems between people are created because we are scared of the unknown and what is not familiar to us. Only sticking to what you know is so restrictive. What happens, for example, if you suddenly get the opportunity to sit down with the Japanese ambassador in your home country and you have never even tried sushi before? Travelling is the best way to challenge fears, stereotypes and misconceptions. It acts as such an eye opener and I think this is why it is so addictive.” There are a few downsides, of course, but Alessandra seems convinced that these are more than made up for by the positive aspects. “You can get really close to people really quickly and establish a connection and then you can lose them again just as fast when you leave.” Once you’ve enjoyed the nomadic life, the ability to settle anywhere permanently seems like a far off prospect: “I sometimes think maybe I should just stay in Italy or somewhere, but as soon as I go back for a month I feel I need to leave again. Now that I have seen the world, I could never be satisfied to go back to such a sheltered existence. Home, for me, is wherever I am at the moment. Italy, Sri Lanka, Bahrain, they have all given the word ‘home’ a different meaning.” Now, here she is in the Middle East, bringing her cultural knowledge and hospitality skills to none other than one of our favourite restaurantlounges. “I Love Bushido and I think that many people are beginning to appreciate what it stands for; the fact that it is a concept venue, so it is about more than just delicious food and drink. It is about the whole environment, the atmosphere and the experience.” And Bushido is certainly the richer for her presence: “I have been lucky enough to experience great club and lounge venues all over the world — I did an internship at the Bar Americain in Monaco and I have been out in the Côte D’Azur, Cannes, St Tropez, Paris, New York, London, so this all helps me PINK FRIDAYS
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