Italy

What a Pizza Can Do

By Eduard Ciocan

Pizza is not just any food, but it is the heart of Italy. First, the unity of the Italian people can also be seen in the dish. In fact, the name was dedicated to Queen Margherita of Savoy and real pizza Margherita carries the colors of the Italian flag. Second, it is a versatile, fast, and cheap dish and the Italian people are either poor or stingy. Pizza can be served at parties or as a main dish, and above all it is good at any time of the day. Hot or cold pizza it doesn’t matter, it’s always good and it keeps. Third, it is a form of communication and learning. There are different tastes for different moods, and you can communicate through art by playing with shapes and condiments. Italians communicate in all ways. Cutting it into wedges is also great for learning math and geometry and is often used as an example for school exercises. In conclusion, a pizza is enough to unite people. It could be the heart of the world, not only of Italy, because with the sociological effect that was born everyone can put a part of themselves, of their personal history and their culture.

Passion of Football

By Carlo Corso

Being from Italy, the sunflower country, with olives and oranges right of the tree. Italy is truly beautiful, but Football is what I dreamed about. I practiced and tried out for a team when I was 6 years old. It was a passion and something I worked really hard at with the hopes to one day becoming a professional football player.

Football in Europe is what Americans call Soccer. To me it makes more sense to call it Football as you use your feet not your hands. As I got older, I began to develop all the skills in Football, we had practice two times a week. Games were on the weekends, and I had 3 friends from my school playing on the team with me.

Remembering back to one of my most memorable games against an African team, we got defeated so badly, it was 01-23. We played hard at that game and gave it our best and still lost, in the end it was a loss to a good team. I kept in touch with a few of the other players online, I always find it interesting to learn new things about people and their cultures. I played for my whole life that I can remember and really enjoyed it.

Dreams are a big shoe to fill, and I had fun while it lasted, but as I got older my family needed my help. I got a job and had to put my Football dreams to the side. I still played when I had time for fun, even if that wasn’t often. Eventually as an adult at 18, I chose to move to the U.S.A. and see what opportunities it would bring me.

Now as an adult living here in Washington. I have a family: a wife, two kids (a boy 12 and a girl 6) and life is good. Even though I didn’t get to live out my dreams, I can say I have a new goal, that is helping my son succeed in Soccer. My son has been playing Soccer for 6 years and he is good and passionate, I go to every game and every practice. I really am one lucky parent. I got to play Football (Soccer) as a passion and now I get to enjoy watching my child enjoy it as well and strive in the sport.

A Wonderful Unknown

By Lucia Valentini

Everything started on January 22nd. Italy-USA, Parma-Lacey. One flight, two to be precise, one direction, traveling towards an unknown. For me, the USA was something like a movie, with Spiderman circling the city twirling from skyscraper to skyscraper. I never thought I would move!

It was me, my bunny Nino, and my husband. In the previous days, I struggled a lot with airlines to be able to travel with him. With my bunny I mean. For my husband they didn’t say anything instead! Still, my husband took up more space! That evening we ate one last pizza because we weren’t sure what to expect on the other side. At exactly midnight, like Cinderella, but on the contrary, we left the house, and outside a funny man was waiting for us. We had hired a car, including the driver, which would pick us up to take us to the Rome airport. It was our fairy carriage. We traveled by car all night, and the next morning we arrived at the airport. There too, like the last pizza, we had one last breakfast: croissant and coffee.

With the first flight we arrived in New York. It was huge! It even had the train that picked you up from one side to the other! We went outside and, while I was calling my family, I caught a glimpse of something that, with the same clumsiness of a hen, landed on a wall behind me. It was a sparrow! It was probably born as a sparrow, but then it evolved into an arancino! With the second flight we arrived in Tacoma instead, where we spent the night. It was a long day’s night of 33 hours due to the time zone. The next morning, my husband wanted to experience the new breakfast. He kept it light: hamburger, eggs, and potatoes. Soon after, his colleague picked us up to take us to Lacey, in what would be our new house! Nino immediately loved the new house, especially the carpet and the walk-in closet. I trusted his instinct.

From the first moment, people were kind and smiling to us. The kindness was huge too, not just the sparrow/arancino. They gave us different things such as the bed, the table, the chairs, the silverware, because the house had no furniture. In the following days, going shopping, I was able to ascertain that this kindness was everywhere. In fact, it was strange to me, but there was precedence! You were given precedence on the street, as well as in the supermarket with the shopping cart. Do we want to talk about the streets? They were huge! And the cars were huge too! Logical. Huge roads for huge cars! And you can dress as you want, you can dye your hair as you want. You are totally free to be yourself. This is wonderful! It is the land of great things, from objects to the heart!

Meanwhile, several times, the neighbors tried to talk to me. Unfortunately, I didn’t understand and just said: “Sorry! I don’t understand!” So, the following month, my husband and I signed up for the ESL course at SPSCC. Until that moment I could not understand anything listening, and I could not say a word. As the days went by, however, I improved a lot. My first little-big goal was to understand the supermarket checkout. It may seem like the most banal thing in the world but being able to understand something pre-recorded has motivated me a lot.

The course is not finished yet, but I am sure that, thanks to my teacher Julie, I will still be able to improve a lot. In the several months that I spent here, I have had only good experiences. I hope that I can continue to marvel at this country and can continue to appreciate it for the many things it offers. I also hope to be able to reciprocate the huge kindness and hospitality received towards me. Day by day, I’m working hard and slowly I’ll make it!