“Interpreters were really important for Italians who, of course, did not know English. Actually most of them didn’t even know Italian perfectly! I mean, having lived all their lives in small villages they were used to speaking in dialect, so they didn’t even know the equivalent in Italian of some of the words which were part of their personal vocabulary! That’s why it was so important that interpreters knew several dialects! Their task was to accompany the immigrants when they were called for th…
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Added by Marina on April 10, 2008 at 9:25pm —
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So, they arrived at Ellis Island. And as soon as the ship docked in Manhattan, steerage passengers could see cabin passengers - who had already enjoyed a nicer journey than the one they had had -leaving the ship, having been released to the freedom of New York. Those people’s new life was beginning, but their own… adventure (?), it was not over yet. While the upper classes were enjoying that very happy moment, they were told something like “Now, form a line and wait for your turn to be visited!”…
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Added by Marina on April 7, 2008 at 9:14am —
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So, Grandpa, where did they finally have their visit? How long did they have to wait?
“Well, the steerage passengers usually had to wait ‘till the ship left for the Upper New York Bay, which was almost always the day after their arriving in America. They slept on the ship and when they woke up they could see the tip of Manhattan! Oh boy! That really meant the journey was over…
And then… they met the most beautiful woman they had ever seen… she was waiting for them in the middle of the sea… she w…
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Added by Marina on April 1, 2008 at 2:38pm —
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As an italian-american family we try our best to follow both our traditions especially when it comes to important holidays as Easter is!
And what is the most important thing Italians and Americans have in common?? the answer is obvious...THEY JUST LOVE GOOD FOOD!!!
So... that's the same for my family:)
Here there are some delicious foods we prepared/baked today!
First of all, king of the kitchen...here it comes THE CASATIELLO!
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Added by Marina on March 23, 2008 at 12:00am —
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There was no way you could touch US soil for the first time if you didn’t pass the inspection.
Fearful and stressed, from the deck of the ship the immigrants saw the land that incarnated their greatest dream but quite possibly might never become “their own” nation.
I remember that my father used to talk about those moments as the scariest of the whole trip.
Yes, doubts concerning your future can even be worse than the ugliest present moment you might be living. You know the present because you’r…
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Added by Marina on March 17, 2008 at 12:00pm —
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My dear readers,
Now imagine this beautiful scene…
A living room, a lit fireplace, lots of wood giving forth a warm spicy scent… the stereo playing softly some classic music…maybe an arch quartet… a gentle vibrating sound…
Both the armchairs have been moved towards the popping bright niche and are both occupied… one by my grandfather, the other by me…
The two of us are sipping a mug full of dense hot chocolate with a delightful cinnamon aftertaste… we are really getting busy trying to catch the…
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Added by Marina on March 16, 2008 at 8:52am —
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Once upon a time, in the sunny Italian region of Sicily, there was a little town called Floridia.
It occupied a territory that had already witnessed famous and important historical events: it was there that Athenians sought shelter from Syracusans in 413 BC and were further crushingly defeated near the Assinaros River!
In 1628, when it was founded, it began life as a hamlet in the feudal dominion of the Duke Floridia Lucio Bonanno Colonna, from whom it took its name. Only in 1815, when it became…
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Added by Marina on March 16, 2008 at 8:51am —
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“Once they passed all the inspections there, the real journey began…
For many it was the journey of their lives. From the deck of the ship they waved for the last time to the land that had seen them come into life, grow, start to work, fall in love, get married and have children.
Every man on that ship knew he would probably never see that landscape anymore. And his children? His wife? Will they ever remember him? Will they go to the USA? Will he someday have the money to buy his family a ticket…
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Added by Marina on March 3, 2008 at 12:18pm —
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My father left Floridia and traveled through Sicily, and then on to France. He boarded the ship “Adriatic” that left from the port of Cherbourg. I might have a picture of the ship some place. Let me have a look….
….
“Sorry I took so long… here it is…”
“Oh my goodness! This doesn’t seem a proper ship for such a long trip!…
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Added by Marina on February 27, 2008 at 12:30pm —
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….”and so grandpa? After convincing his father, did he really attend the school?”
“Well, child, he did…but not for so long.
…
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Added by Marina on January 29, 2008 at 10:53am —
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My dear readers,
Here I am writing to all of you the first of a long sequel of “diary pages”…
…
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Added by Marina on October 31, 2007 at 11:34pm —
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He's the new Italian CG in New York.
Here is what he said when he arrived in USA:
Orgoglio e senso di responsabilità. Ha ancora senso esprimersi in questi termini senza apparire retorici o banali? Spero di sì, perché questi sono stati i sentimenti che ho provato all'alba del 3 agosto quando ho avvistato la Statua della Libertà arrivando a New York con la Queen
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Added by Marina on October 8, 2007 at 7:37pm —
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A Turin woman in the White House
Another Italian-American woman at the top of the American political tree. After Nancy Pelosi, appointed President of the House of Representatives last January, now it's Dana Perino's turn. The thirty-fiveyear old from Colorado, was appointed as the new spokesperson for the White House on 31 August, replacing Tony Snow who had resigned. As hinted at, she has Italian, or more precisely, Piedmont roots as her great-grandparents left Turin for Mo…
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Added by Marina on October 8, 2007 at 10:06am —
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