a change in my definition of citizenship
When I first began to think about how my definition of citizenship had changed since being Venice, nothing came to mind. I have found it slightly difficult to fully grasp what it means to be a real Italian citizen because the mass amount of tourism in Venice makes it difficult to understand true Italian citizenship. It wasn’t until I visited Renazzo, a small town with virtually no tourists, that I was offered a new perspective on Italian citizenship.
My father is Italian and has cousins that live in Renazzo, so when my parents were visiting we spent a night there. When we arrived at the train station near Renazzo, we were immediately greeted by two of my cousins that I had never met before. I quickly learned that hellos consisted of saying “ciao” and three kisses to alternate cheeks. One of the people picking us up was my own age and spoke a little English, but her mother spoke virtually no English. This was interesting to me because my experiences in Italy have been that most people can speak English. Out of the fifty plus family members that I met, only three of them spoke any English. While at first this surprised me, I later realized that there is no real need for them to learn English. Most people who are born in Renazzo stay there the rest of their lives. The concept of moving away from the town you were born in and where your family resides is a very foreign idea to many of my cousins. For example, they were shocked to learn that my family and I live in North Carolina, while the rest of my dad’s family lives in Massachusetts (where my dad and I were born). My dad explained to them that he moved because of his job, but our Italian relatives couldn’t fathom the thought of moving away from family because of work. Most of my relatives work in the factories in Renazzo because that is one of the only jobs available. This could also be another reason why most of them don’t speak English, because they never have to.
A major theme we have talked about in class is mobility. In my neighborhood in Charlotte, it is uncommon to not be mobile: families go on vacations, parents travel for business trips, and most children grow up to go to college. In addition, most people I know in Charlotte have moved there from another state. These are norms to my specific group of peers, but might not reflect the community of Charlotte as a whole. While at first I thought my visit to Renazzo altered my definition of citizenship, I realized that I could also find similarities in my own community. There are citizens of Charlotte who have been born and raised in Charlotte and will spend the rest of their lives there; they may not even have the means or desire to want to travel out of North Carolina. In this way, although Charlotte and Renazzo are different cities in different countries, I realized that you can find similarities between the two.
Although my relatives didn't speak English, they made every effort to make us feel welcome to the fullest extent. I often find that in America when you are first meeting guests, they will go to the highest extent to impress you and show off their home and their wealth. While my relatives went well above and beyond what they needed to do for my family and me, I felt as though their acts were completely genuine. It was clear how important hospitality is to the Italian culture. In addition to making myself and my parents feel completely welcome in Renazzo, my relatives’ hospitality was not limited to family members. We were told stories of how kind Giuseppe, my cousin that we stayed with, was toward strangers. One time a man knocked on his door and asked him to use his restroom. Giuseppe let this stranger into his home and allowed him to do so. I can’t imagine this happening in my neighborhood at all. In my town it is not uncommon to not even answer the door to a stranger never mind letting them into your home. In fact, it would be unwise to do so. This hospital and trusting nature of my relatives is different than that of people in America.
Another aspect citizenship that is different in Renazzo is their citizens’ expectations of their government. This can be exemplified by a situation with the main church in Renazzo; it was destroyed two years ago due to an earthquake. My relatives showed me and my parents the small room where they relocated the church to have Mass. My dad was confused as to why the church had not been rebuilt and why the community had been so passive about the reconstruction of the church, which is an integral part of their lives. My relatives replied that the government doesn’t care about little things like rebuilding a church, so it has been difficult getting the insurance money to fix the church. Since we have discussed corruption in the Italian government before, I was not surprised about this, but I was surprised how my relatives didn't seem enraged. They had an extremely passive attitude about the reconstruction of one of the most important buildings in their town. It was clear that they have lower expectations of their government officials than we do in America, and have also accepted the fact that their government is corrupt. There didn’t seem to be any big movement to petition to the government to get the church fixed. It is interesting that the citizens of this small town do not try to fight the corruption in the government as much as I have seen in other towns, such as Venice. There were no workers going on strike or no petition to rebuild the church. They would rather just passively wait for the government to rebuild their church on its own time.
I have found that in exploring many different places in Italy, it is hard to define Italian citizenship according to one group of people. My experiences with Italian culture have differed in Venice, Renazzo, and several other Italian cities I have visited. This leads me to the conclusion that it is virtually impossible to stereotype citizenship as a whole. Just as the citizens of the United States, North Carolina, and even Charlotte cannot be categorized into one group, Italian citizens cannot either. I am sure the similarities and differences found between America and Italy also hold true for other countries. During the remainder of my stay in Europe, I would like to keep these ideals in mind when thinking about citizenship.
My father is Italian and has cousins that live in Renazzo, so when my parents were visiting we spent a night there. When we arrived at the train station near Renazzo, we were immediately greeted by two of my cousins that I had never met before. I quickly learned that hellos consisted of saying “ciao” and three kisses to alternate cheeks. One of the people picking us up was my own age and spoke a little English, but her mother spoke virtually no English. This was interesting to me because my experiences in Italy have been that most people can speak English. Out of the fifty plus family members that I met, only three of them spoke any English. While at first this surprised me, I later realized that there is no real need for them to learn English. Most people who are born in Renazzo stay there the rest of their lives. The concept of moving away from the town you were born in and where your family resides is a very foreign idea to many of my cousins. For example, they were shocked to learn that my family and I live in North Carolina, while the rest of my dad’s family lives in Massachusetts (where my dad and I were born). My dad explained to them that he moved because of his job, but our Italian relatives couldn’t fathom the thought of moving away from family because of work. Most of my relatives work in the factories in Renazzo because that is one of the only jobs available. This could also be another reason why most of them don’t speak English, because they never have to.
A major theme we have talked about in class is mobility. In my neighborhood in Charlotte, it is uncommon to not be mobile: families go on vacations, parents travel for business trips, and most children grow up to go to college. In addition, most people I know in Charlotte have moved there from another state. These are norms to my specific group of peers, but might not reflect the community of Charlotte as a whole. While at first I thought my visit to Renazzo altered my definition of citizenship, I realized that I could also find similarities in my own community. There are citizens of Charlotte who have been born and raised in Charlotte and will spend the rest of their lives there; they may not even have the means or desire to want to travel out of North Carolina. In this way, although Charlotte and Renazzo are different cities in different countries, I realized that you can find similarities between the two.
Although my relatives didn't speak English, they made every effort to make us feel welcome to the fullest extent. I often find that in America when you are first meeting guests, they will go to the highest extent to impress you and show off their home and their wealth. While my relatives went well above and beyond what they needed to do for my family and me, I felt as though their acts were completely genuine. It was clear how important hospitality is to the Italian culture. In addition to making myself and my parents feel completely welcome in Renazzo, my relatives’ hospitality was not limited to family members. We were told stories of how kind Giuseppe, my cousin that we stayed with, was toward strangers. One time a man knocked on his door and asked him to use his restroom. Giuseppe let this stranger into his home and allowed him to do so. I can’t imagine this happening in my neighborhood at all. In my town it is not uncommon to not even answer the door to a stranger never mind letting them into your home. In fact, it would be unwise to do so. This hospital and trusting nature of my relatives is different than that of people in America.
Another aspect citizenship that is different in Renazzo is their citizens’ expectations of their government. This can be exemplified by a situation with the main church in Renazzo; it was destroyed two years ago due to an earthquake. My relatives showed me and my parents the small room where they relocated the church to have Mass. My dad was confused as to why the church had not been rebuilt and why the community had been so passive about the reconstruction of the church, which is an integral part of their lives. My relatives replied that the government doesn’t care about little things like rebuilding a church, so it has been difficult getting the insurance money to fix the church. Since we have discussed corruption in the Italian government before, I was not surprised about this, but I was surprised how my relatives didn't seem enraged. They had an extremely passive attitude about the reconstruction of one of the most important buildings in their town. It was clear that they have lower expectations of their government officials than we do in America, and have also accepted the fact that their government is corrupt. There didn’t seem to be any big movement to petition to the government to get the church fixed. It is interesting that the citizens of this small town do not try to fight the corruption in the government as much as I have seen in other towns, such as Venice. There were no workers going on strike or no petition to rebuild the church. They would rather just passively wait for the government to rebuild their church on its own time.
I have found that in exploring many different places in Italy, it is hard to define Italian citizenship according to one group of people. My experiences with Italian culture have differed in Venice, Renazzo, and several other Italian cities I have visited. This leads me to the conclusion that it is virtually impossible to stereotype citizenship as a whole. Just as the citizens of the United States, North Carolina, and even Charlotte cannot be categorized into one group, Italian citizens cannot either. I am sure the similarities and differences found between America and Italy also hold true for other countries. During the remainder of my stay in Europe, I would like to keep these ideals in mind when thinking about citizenship.