A Disclaimer, of Sorts (continued)

(To get the full effect of this post, it's best to read the previous one.)

Part Two -- My Perspective

The contrast of the North and South leads to this: These differences seem to blur or confuse or invalidate my musings about Italians and their habits and customs. They are all so different yet so similar. I attempt to avoid stereotypes and never intend to apply my reflections, my observations, my experiences as the only truth. That would just be silly. It would be like saying all of us Americans are the same; and well, having befriended a few folks from California in the recent past, I can assure you that there are glaring differences.
{Those people are just strange, I tell you. Just last week in a conversation with one of them, I inquired about the cuisine of a specific state. Cuisine? What do you mean? Cuisine of a state? I thought that a strange response from a man with an excellent pallet. A person from South Louisiana would understand that question immediately – no doubt. Okay, so some may stumble with the word "cuisine," but they would get the concept.}
I will make generalizations from time to time – but if you are a faithful reader (I may have about 5 now), please know that I know that not all Italians are the same. I also know that these are only my impressions as a "stranger in a strange land."

Also, I don’t necessarily consider myself a true expatriate. (Am I? Hello! We work for beloved Uncle Sam.) I do not rely solely on the local Italian community for meeting my basic needs. I’m not an Italian-American returning to the motherland -- my roots go far back in the good old USA and then to France and Germany. I don’t have an Italian husband or lover (never have) or a good Italian friend from college. I did not study abroad; I chose Spanish as my required foreign language in school. There was a time that I didn’t even have a desire to visit Italy. I’m not here fulfilling a life-long dream or on a mission of some sort. I don’t think that life is better here, just different. Certainly, I’m not escaping the big, bad United States of America; we like our country, a lot. We are proud of the results of the recent election, especially. I landed here in 2001, liked it a bit, and decided to stay awhile. Because of what I do and who I work for, I am able to do just that – quite comfortably.

We bravely (or is that stupidly?) bought a house (well, half of a duplex to be exact), so it looks as though we will stay a while and see what happens. Since we are here, we figure that we should get involved in the culture a bit and give the Young One that same chance. Foolishly, in hindsight, I didn’t even give her an Italian name. We make the choice to live our lives together here, and we are in a pretty good place in our lives at the moment. We are happy and our child is thriving. We are very fortunate in that if this was not the case we could make the choice to move on and leave Italia behind. We understand that we are guests (ahem, land owners) in this foreign land. We hope to remain in the good graces of hour hosts and consider ourselves fortunate to have befriended a few Italians. It is our current wish to remain here for as long as we are healthy, as long as we are welcomed, or as long as we are gainfully employed.

We are not the maladjusted weirdos of our families who have been banned from family functions. No black sheep. No court cases. No dodging our student loans. We are not running from or to something. Highly educated. Tax paying. Our FICA scores are excellent, as are our driving records. I can't explain the draw, the "why" we are here. It just fits us right now. It sickens us to be away from our families.

This blog – it’s dedicated to my sister and her young family who we all miss like crazy. I journal and post photos for all of our family who I hope are regular readers, and who I hope are better able to keep in touch with us, in a weird blogland way. (Also – admittedly, I like to write.)

So that’s my disclaimer, of sorts.
The End.


(Excuse the switching from singular to plural pronouns -- just couldn't help it this time.)