Saluta dalla citta' Eterna

Cara famiglia,
I am writing from an Internet point in the center of Rome (between Piazza Navona and Campo dei Fiori for those who have been here). I took the night train last night from Monasterace and arrived here this morning around 7:00 AM. Other than the fact that I didn't sleep in the train I am considerably well-rested and well-fed. I am currently waiting for two of my high school friends to get in from Paris so I thought I would write a quick letter explaining a little bit of what I have done. It looks as though you received my last letter (pardon any errors - it was written hastily) and that has a lot of what I did in Calabria. More importantly, though, than what I did was how I perceived life down there. For those of you who don't know, southern Italy (mostly Sicily and Calabria) are often considered different countries for very good reason. While the Northern provinces try to modernize and capitalize on their cultural and artistic heritage, the South has noticeably stayed away from this road. In my opinion, and I think others would agree, it is not just a lack of desire or inability to change, but rather a way of thinking that lends itself to tradition and (more importantly) distrust in anything outside of the family.
Fortunately, I am inside the family.
Living with the Chieras for a week was honestly like spending a week at Fern with all of you guys. We stayed up late and played cards and chatted for hours, the Uncles came over every night or we went to one of their houses. Not only did the things that we did remind me of Fern but also the PEOPLE. There were Uncle's that reminded me of specific people in our family back home in their mannerisms and how they looked. The southern dialect was at times difficult for me to understand but that was part of the experience. I learned a few words of dialect myself. They want us all to know that we are welcome anytime to come to Guardavalle or in Calabria and experience life the way it was meant to be: With good food and family.
With everything we did it's tough for me to remember the little things but last night two car loads of people came to see me off at the station.... the best part was that we weren't the only family to do that. There were probably 4 or 5 other families at Monasterace alone who brought the entire clan to say goodbye to someone who was leaving. They said that I was Calabresan because I had my backpack plus plastic bags full of food and stuff leftover for the trip. The scene was priceless. All throughout Calabria at different stops you could hear the families saying their "ciao"s and "arrivederci"s until at least the next August rolls around. I totally could picture all of us doing that. It was little things like that all week that let me feel at home even though it was a very foreign land. Packing a gazillion things to go picnicing in the mountains. Uncle's arguing about things they can't change just for the sake of arguing and the mothers taking care of the kids and the food. It was really tough to leave. Yesterday I was able to go to another cousin's house (Taverniti) and managed to snap a photo with several of some of your first cousins. Almost all of them live in Torino and carry the name Taverniti. When I get home I will upload the pictures and try to explain who everyone is - the names might be difficult to remember but I wrote them down so I will try. I can't explain how many times they invited us and whoever wanted to come to Calabria. They are very hospitable but they don't speak a lick of English. They mentioned a hundred times that their parents often talked about a brother who went to America and some of them remember when he came back in the 1950s. They also said they remembered that he had a son that came to Italy during WWII and was stationed in Italy (Uncle Sam or Uncle Tony?).

I hope this e-mail stirs up a memory or two. If nothing else, it is nice to know that we have FAMILY in Italy and that we are still in contact. Tanti baci ed abbracci dalla Roma.
Steve

PS - Being abroad during the Olympics really helps to increase your patriotism. To make you all a little more jealous, Michael Phelps bought me and my friends some beers last year at the Brown Jug in Ann Arbor because he wanted our table. Him and Braylon Edwards. It's crazy to think he has more medals than Mexico. Alright I hope to hear from you guys, Ciao-Ciao!