San Marino

Today I added pictures from my trip to San Marino in 2008. There have been a few changes to my Flikr account, so you will now have a direct link to the city you wish to view. I plan to also add as many pictures as possible to the Urbino and Verona sets, but as there is a limit on how many I can upload in a month, only a few will be added. Most viewings will have to be done on this site until the pictures can be transferred over to the Flikr account.

To access the ‘San Marino’ set, click on the link or go to the ‘Photos’ page.

Happy viewings!

Here in the States it was Thanksgiving’s Day last week. For the past couple of weeks, especially last week, it has been quite hectic hence my absence. By the way, Happy late Thanksgiving’s Day everyone. My Thanksgiving celebration consisted of three dinners – one with aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents, the second at home on Thanksgiving’s Day with my immediate family, and then a third one at my sister’s house. She cooked an absolutely magnificent dinner with a pork dish with a port wine reduction with figs, mashed potatoes, brussel sprouts (which I had never tried before and now love), and stuffing. All this coupled with a nice Chianti made a very fine dinner indeed!

All of this cooking, not on my part, has got me into another “craving” to try cooking. My favorite magazine right now, after just reading only two of its issues, is La Cucina Italiana. You can visit their website that has over 1,000 recipes free to be viewed at LaCucinaItalianamag.com. Right now they have a picture of cream puffs with chocolate sauce featured on the cover. Not only do they have extraordinary recipes I am dying to experiment with on my family (they don’t mind being guinea pigs if the food is good!), but they also have information about wines. So now I am getting into learning about the different types of wines. Before my trip to Italy, I never liked red wine, but that’s probably just because I never tasted a good Italian wine. I preferred white wine. After Italy, I fell in love with red wine, and now prefer it over white. I’m sure there will be plenty of blogging in the future about my attempts at cooking.

Wish you all well, and hope you had a joyous, yet safe, Thanksgiving!

Today I called the Bronx County Clerk’s office. The employee I spoke to was extremely helpful. For those looking for information from the New York City area, it will be easy to search for petitions and/or naturalization records. The gentleman said all records have been entered onto an online database. You can access this site by visiting Italian Genealogical Group . General information about Vital Records, as well as a comune database are also accessible.

My search once again came up empty. There was no information on my great great grandfather. The only person from my family that did appear in the search was my great great great grandfather. He had naturalized in Manhattan in 1899. However, census records dated 1920 say that he was still an alien. This leads to the conclusion that census records can not be entirely trusted.

In order to request a ‘No Records’ a form must be submit along with $8 (probably a cashier’s check).

Italy vs. America: The Differences Observed

Observation #2: Social Views

In 2007, during our class ‘Advanced Conversation and Civilization’, our professor gave us a presentation to do in pairs. We had already done a multitude of presentations, except this one entailed interviewing some of the Italians in town. We were given a variety of topics to choose from. My partner and I decided to focus on the touchy subjects of marriage (in general), same sex marriage, and abortion. Here’s what we discovered.

According to an article written in 2006 in the Corriere della Sera, the percentage of marriages in the past thirty years has fallen by 32.4%. The exception being in the region of Lazio, which had opposite results, with an increment from 4.7% in 1995 to 5.1%. The newspaper also stated that the increase was also partly due to what they call “tourism marriages” – couples coming from around the world to Rome to marry. The individuals we chose to interview had mixed responses on the subject, reflecting the survey. One male stated that he indeed did want to marry, given that the right woman came along. However, another male stated that he couldn’t see the point of marriage and could not imagine spending his life with the same person. This is odd considering he is from southern Italy, which is known for its more traditionally conservative ideals.

Perhaps Italians are becoming more like Americans in this perspective. In the article, Matrimonio no grazie – le americane vivono da sole (Matrimony no thank you – American women live alone) written in Italy’s newspaper, La Repubblica, a survey done in 2007 found that as many as 51% of American women are not married! The majority either live alone or are in a transitory relationship.

Hmmm… are Americans just a little too occupied with their busy work schedules and too scared to make the commitment to someone other than themselves, and/or fear becoming future divorcees?

The age at which couples married has also increased in Italy. It is no longer the trend to marry young, but to wait until one is older. The Corriere della Sera stated that the average age for the groom to marry is 33.7 years old, while your typical bride is 30.6 years old. The male we interviewed who wanted to eventually get married, said somewhere in his 30s would be an ideal time in his life to wed.

And what did the majority feel about gay marriage? Those who we interviewed stated it was the persons’ business if they wished to marry – the complete opposite of the Vatican’s views, whose main nemesis are abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage. When asked about the church’s views, many stated that the views were old-fashioned and do not reflect the views of the Italian people. In L’Espresso’s article, Coppia gay: Sposateci! (Gay couple: Marry Us!), two males who wished to register their marriage were fighting for their right to marry in Florence. Their plead, they stated, was justifiable. Their argument is that  the Costituzione (Constitution), states:

“la famiglia viene indicata senza indicazione di sesso, senza parlare di moglie e marito.”

“the family is mentioned without indicating sex, without speaking of wife and husband.”

The assessore ai servizi demografici (accessor of demographic services), Lucia De Siervo, stated that “it would be possible to register in the Registry of Civil Unions… as it is open to all, without regards to sex.” In this respect, Italy seems to be in line with the views of Americans, but appear to be more open and accepting of at least civil unions.

And abortion? All men stated that it was the woman’s decision to abort. There was no mention of any Pro-Life or Pro-abortion. Instead they have Pro-Choice views.

I am not aware of the views of Italians that are further to the North or to the South. I do not know if such views differ due to age. But judging by what was said by those interviewed and by the articles studied, their views are not much different than our own. Although I might be able to say that they are slightly more open-minded about said debates. All-in-all, it was a great learning experience.

The Pilars at Vatican City

Guess it’s about time that I begin giving a few details about myself. Here are the 10 Things about Me.

1. My name is Catherine. (With a C is the correct way to spell this name!) My close friends and family call me Katie. When I was little I never used to like my name, and hated when people called me Catherine. However, two years ago, that changed. I met my ex, and he only called me Catherine. Except, it came out Catrine, because he could never pronounce the “th” sound. I do NOT like it when others who I don’t know well call me Katie, which is something quite new. I realized this when one day a co-worker called my cellphone. On my voicemail, it says Katie. Now she calls me Katie all the time, and I cringe every time I say it. I did specifically say that only close friends and family call me that.

2. My mom calls me Caterina, which is Catherine in Italian. This began when I told my mom about my 6th grade teacher calling me this in class. At the time, I didn’t like it. I guess I thought my teacher was making fun of me, but my mom explained it was simply because he liked my name. Nowadays, I don’t mind being called that. In Italy, I realized that not many people have been given that name. Don’t know why.

3. Believe it or not, I’m 23. Anyone who meets me thinks I am much younger than my actual age. This doesn’t bother me at all to hear. It will be beneficial later in life!

4. I graduated from Rutgers University with a B.A. in Linguistics, and a minor in political science, which is odd because I don’t like to discuss politics.

5. Languages are definitely my passion. The obsession with learning them began in my junior year of high school when I met my idol, my German teacher, in my German class. He spoke 6 languages fluently. At the time, he was taking advanced Italian classes with his wife, who also spoke several languages. (A post will be added later about how they met. Such a lovely story!) He said that it was always easy for him to pick up languages, but it took his wife a long time to  grasp the language. But, since she studied much more in order to understand all the rules, etc., she wound up being the better speaker in the language.

6. Since my trip to Italy, I’ve fallen in love with photography. My father told me before I left that if I didn’t take any good pictures he would be really upset. Mind you, before I left, I couldn’t take a picture to save my life. Pictures taken by me always resulted in someone having a limb cut off or totally missing the main object of the photo. Ha ha! For some reason, something just clicked. Perhaps because everything is so picturesque in Italy. Let’s just say he was pleased!

On top of the world in San Marino

7. In case you haven’t noticed, I am a bit obsessed with all things Italian. Blogs on Italy are the only thing I will actually take the time to read. Since my first trip, I even like good Italian red wine. Before the thought of red wine was nauseating. It all changed one night at the bar (what Italians call the cafe. Bars, as we know them, are called pub in Italian) when my friends and I decided to buy 4 bottles of wine. It sounds like a lot of wine, but there were 10 of us, and then some joined us later. That night, I drank 4 glasses of wine! It was just too good! Let’s just say, at the capacity of my Italian at the time, I had never spoken Italian so well. Or at least that’s how I felt. I don’t even remember what was discussed, but whatever it was, it was in Italian!

8. Because of said love for the country, I would love to live there. Truthfully, I think I’m a wimp to live by myself there. Originally I was going to move to Italy to be with my now ex-boyfriend. Flying back and forth for two years had taken its toll on us. The first few months apart were unbareable.

9. I absolutely love music, and could never live without it. Memories of my mom playing music in the living room in our apartment when I was little are still vivid. Anytime a song she played comes on, I think of those precious moments.

10. Speaking of music, I now listen to A LOT of Italian music. The lyrics are so much more meaningful than a lot of the American music that’s listened to these days on the radio. My mom doesn’t mind me blasting Italian music in the car. She constantly asks me what they’re saying. But, if you’re ever in the car with me, and not an Italophile like me, I will spare you and put on songs with English.

Buon giorno!

Today, while reviewing the form I need to send into the Italian consulate, my ex told me it stated that I needed to send a certificato di cittadinanza storico, a certificate of historical citizenship, OR you must provide a copy of an old Italian passport (obviously for people who are not applying so far back in their family tree like I am).

So, if you are currently in the works of writing to your comune, don’t forget to add in that you would like a stamped copy of the certificato di cittadinanza storico.

Yesterday, thanks to Sognatrice from Bleeding Espresso I discovered yet another blog Roam to Rome. On there, I found a great story about students who were giving out.. FREE HUGS! They held up bilingual, English and Italian, signs that advertised. My favorite part of the video was where one of the students held up a sign to a slowly passing police car. The cops were just like, “eff you! I don’t want a hug from you!”

What would you do if someone came up to you an offered a free hug? Roam to Rome summarized the video as such:

“When offered a free hug in downtown Rome, people’s reactions fell into a bell curve consisting of 4 categories.

1) A few people were very enthusiastic and RAN with open arms for the hug with a big grin on their face.

2) Many others just smiled and gladly took a tight hug.

3) Others pretend not to notice, and simply walked away from the hug.

4) A few get upset and flat out rejected the hug.”

The video is posted below, but don’t forget to visit both Bleeding Espresso and Roam to Rome.

Italy vs. America: The Differences Observed

Welcome to the *brand new* series, of Italy vs. America: The Differences Observed. I have not yet decided whether I want to have this as a weekly or monthly writing, and if it is weekly, on which day I’ll post it. Hmmm….

Before I begin pointing out the differences between these two wonderfully unique countries, some clarification is needed. These observations are not made to make a conclusion at the end in order to say which country is better than the other. They’re merely just ways to show, well… the differences! All writings are based on what I have seen, experienced, and have heard from Italians themselves, which are based on their individual opinions.

Moving along….

Observation #1: Supermarkets vs. Shops

For those of you who have never been to the United States (I’m sure, and hoping, there are readers outside of the US), there is a common characteristic that flows with the everyday hussle and bustle of things here – size. Size does matter here and most Americans like BIG things. Happy Meals (see Home in Rome for Mickey D’s evidence!), cars, freeways, streets, houses, and…. supermarkets. Yes, supermarkets! Think Shoprite, or even Costco or BJ’s. Not only can you buy food, but toys, furniture, holiday decorations, TVs, cameras, and so much more. All to your heart’s content! Or at least what your budget or credit card allows. It’s all about convenience and the ability to buy things in just one store.

That’s not to say that these stores don’t exist in Italy, although they are less prominent… for now. Sure, there’s Conad,  and many mall-like locations that have food stores that sell many things like the above-mentioned stores. But, you can still find small compartmentalized-like businesses in Italy, that are sadly, almost entirely non-existent in the US. In Italy you can still find many marcellarie, butcher shops, and the like. Perhaps it is because of the quality-consciencious mentality of Italians, particulary with food, that keeps this tradition alive.

Food, accompanied by good wine, is an important factor in an Italian’s life, where quality definitely outweighs the “benefits” of quantity – as what many Americans see as being better (oddly). Take ShopRite for example. I love my tomatoes, so it is extremely disappointing to buy a tomato from their store, and when the tomato is cut into, it isn’t blood red. They never have their true color, but an almost orange color. Instead it’s pale and doesn’t taste at all like a tomato should.  The reason being that they are picked well in advance to survive the longer trip to the supermarket?

Compare these tomatoes to those that are grown closer to the source, locally grown produce. They’re plump, with a hint of taste of the sun. Blood red tomatoes that pour juice down your chin as you take a bite. I find that such produce is easier to find in Italy, and it is much more common for a family to have a small plot of land to grow their own vegetables and fruits. In Italy, one can still go to the daily or weekly mercato to buy from farmers in the area.

With so many obese Americans, maybe it’s time to take an example from the Europeans, and focus more on the quality of our food, and less on the discount received from buying in bulk.

I leave you also with this!

Rotolando verso sud by  Negrita!

Just a quick update!

Around 9:30 last night I decided to send an e-mail to the Italian Consulate in Newark, NJ. My previous attempts to contact them via e-mail were unsuccessful. My e-mail simply asked whether I could do my own translations or would I have to resort to having a translator do the translation. Their response arrived today!

Ok, so what? What’s the big deal?

Well, from having read about other applicants never receiving a response, like I formerly did, or having to wait quite a long time to hear back, this was indeed an improvement. A response given in less than 24 hours. And what was there response?

Applicants must use one of the translators known to the consulate. If you too are applying through the consulate in Newark, here is who you can contact:

TRADUTTORI – TRANSLATORS

Mr. Maurizio Guercini
1271 Alicia Avenue
Teaneck, NJ 07666
Tel. 201 837 4468

Mr. Raffaele Cimina
1111 Dogwood Circle
Blue Bell, PA 19422
Tel. 267 304 6226

Ms.Olga Negrini
437 Lincoln St.
Carlstadt, NJ 07072
Tel. 201 460 8034

Ms. Rosanna Giammanco Frangia
22 Windermere Rd
Staten Island, NY
Tel. 718 727 7728

This information cannot be found on the consulate’s website… At least not that I have come across it. I scoured the site many times and did not find anything. Also, appointments must now be made. A recent applicant stated that a consulate officer said the processing was going much faster due to the new addition of appointments. I still don’t know how you can make an appointment – whether you need to send in a form or call, but once I find out, I will definitely let you know.

Way to go Newark! Keep up the good work!

For more information, please visit the Italian Consulate in Newark