Italian American Youth

Comment

Comment by Christopher J. F. Mannerino on March 21, 2009 at 8:03pm

I would very much like information regarding the Commisione Giovani! It sounds like an excellent idea. Thank you for your feedback and all your encouragement, too.

Also, I am patiently waiting for Gomorrah to be released on video in the US, but I cannot find when that will be. Haha.

We've traced my family back quite a few generations. These are the surnames we were able to track, many of which come from around the village of Amantea: Mannerino Mannarino Mavero Colella Fusco Ferrucci Berlingieri Flocari Massa Sconza-Testa Turco Veltri Bossio Rizzo Bazzarelli Roso Esposita Porco Muto Guido Garritano

Comment by Maria Fruci on March 21, 2009 at 1:50am

Ps. Gomorrah was very good and the movie was also very interesting...check it out if you can. I don't know your language situation, but I think they do have it with english subtitles if you need it. I speak fluently both my mother's dialect and Italian and could not understand much of the Napoletano dialect haha.

Comment by Maria Fruci on March 21, 2009 at 1:49am

Christopher,

I have to agree with pretty much everything you said. The only difference for me is that my parents were born and raised in Italy...Calabria to be exact! It is so refreshing to have someone not in mine and my friend's generation that has this outlook on Italy and the modern country it has become. You may be interested in becoming a member of the Commissione Giovani of whatever area you are from. The group is an international organization that is the youth commission for the Commission of Italians Living Abroad that is under the Italian government. If you would like more info, let me know and I can get it to you. And don't lose too much faith in finding other "full blooded" Italians...there are many more of us than you would think. Join our group and you will see what I'm talking about!!

Comment by Christopher J. F. Mannerino on March 20, 2009 at 4:54pm

I will be straightforward: all eight of my great-grandparents came from Southern Italy (Calabria/Sicily/Naples). I feel like this is a rare thing in the United States, especially since my family has been here for so long. I will be the first to say that the ideas of "full-bloods" and "half-bloods" doesn't matter to me; if you identify with the Italian/American culture, that's what you are. I just wanted to know peoples' thoughts. I have felt an incredible draw to the modern country of Italy, especially the regions of my ancestors. I have recently taken two trips during which I visited areas of the South (Calabria and Sicily), and then (while on a college-run trip this past summer) a short sojourn in Naples on my way to a day in Capri. Does anyone else feel the same curiosity concerning Italy? I feel as if my great-grandparents all came here to be American, my grandparents did their best to raise their own children to be the same, my parents took for granted that the traditions of their parents and grandparents would not always be there, and now I am seeking out our country of origin? Ironic? Haha. Sorry great-grandparents.

Also, if I could make a book suggestion: Gomorrah by Roberto Saviano. Look into it.