Annotations
Here is a compilation of the research I’ve done on Italy and my Italian background. I have included sources that deal with the history of the food I eat in my family as well as how Italians came to America. I have connected each source to my own life or the life of my mother, grandmother, or great-grand parents.
Mariani, John F. How Italian Food Conquered the World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. Print.
How Italian Food Conquered the World focuses on the rise of Italian food in Italy, the travel of the people and culture to the United States, and rise in popularity of Italian cuisine. Mariani begins at the conception of Italian food when he opens his book with the statement, “There can be no Italian food without an Italy.”
He discusses how there were several regional city-states that were distinct in language and culture in present day Italy. It is shocking that a people who are very proud of their cultural identity today, at first, resisted being called Italian all together. Loyalty to the nation did not exist when Italy was first unified as they were more loyal to their regions than to their country. Regional affiliations did not end in Italy until 1861 when Victor Emmanuel II took power over the land and unified the states. He joined twenty regions on the peninsula into one, giving way to a new kingdom and a new pride in its people.
As time went on the Italian people become more prideful in their nation but also more idealistic. Many Italian farmers and merchants became dissatisfied with their lives of cyclic poverty under a sharecropping system and decided to leave Italy for better opportunity. There was only one place at the time that promised a poor man could rise from poverty into wealth. America.
After arriving in the Americas, many Italian immigrants’ first jobs were opening restaurants, bakeries, and food shops. Although it is not true for all Italian immigrants, the Italian people as a whole faired better in the Americas than in Italy. Italians were able to live cheaper here spending only twenty-five percent of their income of food as opposed to the seventy-five percent under the share cropping system in Italy. This allowed them to have more money in their pockets for more luxuries than they could afford at home.
Italian influence over food spread rapidly at the turn of the century and throughout the 1900s. Italians were in every part of the country cooking and bringing their traditions into American homes of all cultures. They were in the north in Little Italy, the south in Louisiana, and the west in the olive farms in vineyards in California. However, it is important to denote that the influence of the Italian people in America was not distinctly Italian. That is, the food that the Italians in America spread were pastas with red sauce, pizza, and wines, and although these foods could be found in Italy, they did not resemble the traditional dishes from home. Pizza was thicker, pasta sauces were made from canned tomatoes, and wine came in a box. This is in part due to the change in ingredients — Italians usually grew the food they would eat themselves — as well as producing for the masses. It wasn’t possible for every Italian American to grow grapes in their backyard and distill them, so they drank boxed wines, and so on with other ingredients.
Poor immigrants developed their own unique cuisine that took the Americas by storm and in the twenty-first century would be called the most popular cuisine in America by Esquire magazine.
The sense of pride that Victor Emmanuel II instilled in the Italian people over a hundred and fifty years ago still lives on in my mother today. She is very proud of her Italian background — probably because her mother was another proud Italian as was her mother’s mother and so on — and has always enjoyed telling my siblings and me about the food we ate. We would have spaghetti and meatballs every Sunday night when I was growing up, and my mom never failed to forget to mention what her mother cooked on Sunday evenings when she was growing up.
After reading this book I have a better sense of Italian cuisine. I understand that the “authentic Italian food” my mom has cooked for me, her mother cooked for her, and so on is not really authentic Italian. The food we have been eating is Italian-American. Our recipe dates back to my grandma’s mother who came here with her husband from Italy. They ate pasta in Italy but the sauce they ate was made without canned products or store bought dried spices. Everything that was in my great-grandmother’s childhood pasta sauce was fresh from their family garden. My grandmother’s mother had to create a new recipe using the available ingredients in America when she wanted to make pasta sauce for her children. Making pasta sauce, like in my family, was done every Sunday. This is because the family was all together on Sundays after Mass and would share a meal together. It was also easy to make a lot of it at one time to feed my grandmother and her three siblings.
So, I learned that the pasta sauce I thought was handed down from my descendants dating back hundreds of years was only handed down through two generations. Our sauce was created by an Italian woman, but she was not in Italy when she made it, she was not using Italian ingredients, and she did not eat it when she was younger. It was her own creation.
Pinkowish, Mary Desmond, and Peter Epiro. Sprezzatura 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World. Unabridged. ed. New York: Anchor, 2013. Print.
D’ Epiro’s Sprezzatura: 50 Ways Italian Genius Shaped the World, dedicates many of its chapters to the genius of the men who ruled the Roman Empire, the inventors and artists who dominated the Renaissance, and the contributions of Italian philosophers in establishing modern education. However, the most striking chapter to me in D’ Epiro’s praises of the Italian people comes from his writing of satire.
“Satire is wholly ours,” was proclaimed by a Roman rhetorician in the first century A.D. Although it is true that Greek literature with satirical elements pre-dated Italian satire, the Greeks had no name for it, no perception of satire as its own distinct genre. Credit to the creation of satirical literature goes to a noble born Italian, Gaius Lucilius. Because he was a nobleman, he had the means and time to allow self-expression through writing. Between 150 and 180, he was able to write a combination of books and poems each containing sharp elements of satire. It was reported that Lucilius did not just enjoy writing in satire but often spoke satirically, ripping his enemies to shreds verbally and then physical when he was met in battle. His robustness in speech earned him the reputation of being caustic and even sloppy because his words were often offensive. Lucilius’s style of writing was copied by later Italian writers, spreading satire in Italy and then across the world.
The reason this chapter struck me as more than an informative chapter about a popular writing style is because sarcasm in speech is common among my family members and myself. The way my family speaks to each other is typically sarcastic. We do not mean harm by it, and, yes, we do understand it can be misunderstood as caustic or sloppy as in the case of Lucilius, but we also easily understand it. The way we speak to each other in my family, I believe, is meant to challenge us. It makes us think of all the possible meanings of words and not just take them at face value. This is, what I believe, Lucilius did in his satirical writings. Although he may not have intentionally meant to teach by satire, that’s what sarcasm and satire does. It teaches the observe or recipient to take another look at something and exaggerate points in politics, people, etc., to highlight flaws. Learning that satire and sarcasm is apparently an Italian tradition begs me to ask the question, “is our sarcasm genetic?” Could it be possible that Gaius Lucilius’s way of thinking has spread throughout the Italian people and been passed through the generations until now, taking root in my family?
Capatti, Alberto, and Massimo Montanari. Italian Cuisine a Cultural History. New York: Columbia UP, 2003. 47–109. Print.
Capatti’s book on Italian cuisine goes into detail about the history and development of many popular dishes in Italy. However, the dishes he describes are true Italian dishes, as opposed to the American ideas of Italian food. The majority of the book is dedicated to the different regions of Italy and the food that make them unique. For example, he describes the rich produce in the north that is used to make dishes with fresh pestoes and farm raised cheeses, he talks about the art of making wine in central Italy, and the Mediterranean inspired seafood dishes of the south.
Capatti’s most interesting chapter on Italian cuisine come from his writing on pasta. Pasta, an essential to many Italian dishes both the American and authentic Italian versions, has been attacked by its people more than once in its history. The first was in the early stages of Italian immigration to America. Pasta or “macaroni” was thought of as peasant food because it was only eaten by the poor Italian immigrants who settled in the already established region of Louisiana in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The second time Italians turned their noses up at pasta was during the 1930’s under fascist rule. Political propaganda was used to criticize the Italian people for indulging in heavy long lasting meals — they usually have a minimum of three courses and are taught to eat slowly to enjoy the food — while they should be spending more time contributing to the war efforts. The efforts to shorten and lighten Italian meals had little success as pasta and the traditional dining routines are still common practices in Italy.
I decided to use this section of Italian Cuisine because I thought it was interesting that something so essential to Italian food culture could be thought of as a poor man’s food. I would have thought that the Italians would be proud of their identity in pasta as they are proud of their cultural background. It is a sustainable food source, versatile, and widely appreciated ingredient in modern American and Italian dishes. Pasta even plays the staring role in my family’s signature dish. My family’s pasta defines our family, but if it did not exist I couldn’t begin to think of a dish that describes my family. The only meal my mother prepares for us on a regular basis is our spaghetti. We eat other Italian food, sure, but nothing compares to the frequency with which we have pasta in my home.
“Eating in Italy.” Just Landed. Just Landed, 2003. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
Eating is an art in Italy. It isn’t as simple as sitting down to a meal and then getting up right when you’ve finished. The Italian people take pleasure in eating and make it an experience rather than a basic human necessity.
Breakfast: Typically, a light meal. Coffees, pastries, and fruits are common foods at breakfast, and it is commonly a meal shared with family in the home.
Lunch: This is a five course meal to be shared with in good company. It begins with antipasta — an Italian appetizer of sorts, composed of fresh cold cuts and cheeses — followed by primo piatto — the pasta or rice dish — the second piatto — what Americans may consider the main course because it is the meat or fish portion of the meal — and finally, if the person chooses, dolce and coffee — the dessert course — which includes Italian pastries, gelatoes, ect.
Dinner: This meal is to be shared in the home among family or at a restaurant with loved ones. This meal has the most variation and can be light or heavy depending on the individual.
Lunch is the most traditional meal in Italy. My family, American as we are, does however follow this tradition in our home on holiday occasions. Not only do we have several courses, like I’m sure every family does during the holidays, but we have antipasta, and pasta, and meat, and so on. It is interesting to know the way we, Italians, eat is tradition and not just what we eat. My family eats a cold cut appetizer, and I’ve grown up knowing it was called the antipasta, we then have pasta followed by some protein, and when after the main courses have settled, we have dessert with coffee. This tradition has been a part of my holiday meals for my entire life, but we don’t do it for every meal. I wondered why my family adopted this tradition but only on holiday meals. I asked my mother, and she said when our family came over from Italy they couldn’t afford to eat several long and slow courses anymore. However, holidays were times when they didn’t have work and had saved enough money to prepare a feast, so they continued to eat like they had in Italy. This is why my family still eats the multi-course lunch on holidays but does not eat meals of that caliber everyday.
Ranalli, Lorraine. Gravy Wars: South Philly Foods, Feuds & Attytudes. Swarthmore, PA: Folger Ross Publications, 2009. Print.
Ranalli’s Gravy Wars describes the classic idea of Italian-American food culture today. She starts with telling how her book was started one evening when she was hosting a dinner party. Ranalli, in classic Italian style, had a bountiful antipasta course out when her guests arrived and could overhear her friend raving about the taste, quality, and amount of food that was open to them. “I hadn’t even brought out the main course yet! But you know, when Italians cook, they cook for an army,“ Ranallli remarks after hearing the chatter about the antipasta.
Ranalli then discusses, as the title suggests, the “gravy wars,” amongst old and new generations of Italian-Americans. The book asks is it gravy or is it sauce that is put on pasta? Why would you put brown gravy on your pasta? Ranalli laughs at the questions. She explains that the sauce that Italians put on pasta is not the brown gravy made from the fat drippings of meat. It is the many pasta sauces expected to be found on pasta: red sauce, green sauce, white sauce, ect. She recalls that it was always termed gravy amongst her large Italians family, but the tradition of calling pasta sauce gravy is fading as her own children do not recognize the term. Ranalli regrettably shares that her own children have even asked for jarred pasta sauce they had at a friends’ house, a cardinal sin in Italian-American families.
She uses her family recipes and stories to illustrate the changing Italian culture in modern America. “The tradition has been so watered down for me and for my siblings, I try with my children, but hopefully, when they’re in their forties they’ll say mom had something, grandma had something, and so on,” Ranalli comments on the traditions in her own family and how they’re changing.
I chose this source because my mom is from Philadelphia, she was raised in an Italian-American home, and it is a great platform to ask her questions about the traditions we’ve lost in our family. My mom has never used the term gravy to describe sauce, even as a child. She does know that others have used it, but her family never did.
This video is of the author talking about her book.
Briquelet, Kate. “Little Italy Is on the Brink of Extinction.” New York Post. NYP Holdings, 30 Mar. 2014. Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
“A piece of New York City history is bidding arriverderci.” New York’s Little Italy has been a historic part of the United States since the mass migration of immigrants to America in the early years of the 20th century. However, rising rents and changing demographics have reduced the 50 blocks to a mere 3 on Mulberry Street in New York. The problem with this is, “you can’t rebuild Little Italy,” Robert Ianniello, owner of a restaurant in Little Italy, comments after hearing the statistics. A full fledged Italian-American man, Ianniello is appalled by the shrinking size of Little Italy and verbally knocks the change in Italian tradition commenting, “you can’t build an Olive Garden and say it’s Little Italy.” Many of the old homes, apartments, and family shops on Mulberry Street have been converted to modern retail shops, diminishing the Italian traditions in the area.
I chose this source because it is a modern attack on tradition. Many Italian recipes were born on the streets of Mulberry during the early 1900s, but the traditions born there are now unable to stand up to the changing prices and changing times. My own family sauce was born in New York when my great-grandparents moved to the United States from Italy. The recipes born in New York by Italians are what Americas know as Italian food today. If the United States loses this historic area will they be losing history of Italian-made American cuisine.
“U.S. Relations with Italy.” U.S. Department of State. U.S. Department of State, 15 Apr. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
This article is about the past and current political relationship the United States has with Italy. The United States and Italy have friendly political relations. The relationship began when Italy unified as one country in the late 1800s and continues on today. During World War II under the leadership of Benito Mussolini, Italy declared war on the United States cutting amicable political ties between the two nations; however, good relations between the two countries were reestablished shortly after the end of the war and the fall of the Axis powers.
The United States and Italy both share several political ideals for the world and support nations who are trying to start democratic governments. Italy, like the United States, has focused on peacekeeping throughout the world and has taken on other operations to end illegal drug trafficking, human trafficking, and terrorism. In 2015, Italy hosted the expo on “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” world fair where ideas to feed the world’s growing population will be discussed. The United States had representatives attend the fair to collaborate with Italy and other nations on sustainability problems plaguing the world.
This article shows the blending of American and Italian culture from past to present to solve problem in todays world. This aspect of diplomatic relations is reflected in my family as we work with each other to solve problems. The good relations with Italy through history have allowed my family to prosper. Although there was a time the Italian people were thought to be suspect in America, they were never severely mistreated, unlike other ethnic groups.
Biasetti, Dana. “2013 Italian Export Guide.” USDA Foreign Agricultural Services. USDA, 27 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
This report is a compilation of the imports and exports of Italy and the United States during 2012 and 2013. Overall, Italy imports more than it exports. As part of the European Union Italy’s biggest trading partners are countries also in the EU; however, the United States make up a large portion of the trade done with countries not in the European Union. Italy mainly exports consumer products (worth approximately 3.5 billion dollars) and imports bulk commodities (worth 922 million dollars). These imported commodities include tree nuts ($177 million), wheat ($137 million), fish products (80 million), and hardwood lumber ($55 million). Conversely, the United States will import consumer products like wine (over 1.5 billion), olive oil (535 million), and cheeses (291 million).
Despite its small landmass, Italy is the world’s fifth largest food exporters, and most of the exported food products are still raised on family owned farms peppered throughout the country. The limited resources of Italy, however, make the country rely heavily on imports in order to export the highly demanded food products of the family farms. Although Italy imports more than it exports, the weakness of the dollar compared to the euro keep the country in good economic standing when trading with the United States.
This report reminded me a lot of the products my mom uses in our very own kitchen. My mother, who considers herself a traditionalist, does her part in contributing to the consumption of the olive oils, wines, and cheeses of Italy. She has ordered olive oil online from Italy for as long as I can remember. The first time I noticed the olive oil in my home was not from the United States was when I was learning to bake as a child. I was making a box mix of brownies that called for two table spoons of vegetable oil; however, I didn’t know the difference between my left shoe and my right shoe, let alone the difference between vegetable oil and olive oil. So, I grabbled the first bottle I saw that my mom had called oil before and used it in my brownies. After the brownies had finished baking and were cool enough to eat, there was something slightly goopy about them that I didn’t understand.
My mom later came into the kitchen to have some of the brownies and was confused by the strange texture as well. She, being the cook of the family, asked what I had had used to make them. I showed her the ingredients I had used, and she lost it. I had used an entire half cup of her expensive imported olive oil, and she was furious. She eventually forgave me and when I was older I asked why — if it was so expensive — she would buy the oil from Italy, especially when there was a cheaper alternative at our local grocery store. She responded with a phrase all too familiar with me, “you get out what you in,” and told me it applied both in and outside of her kitchen.
This is a video of Italians trying American snacks. Their reactions are priceless! You can see why Americans import so many Italian food products and why Italians do not import food from Italy.
Cannato, Vincent J. “What Sets Italian Americans Off From Other Immigrants?” What Sets Italian Americans Off From Other Immigrants? The Magazine of the National Endowment for the Humanities, 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
This article describes the general consensus of Italian-Americans immigrants from the 1800s to the late 1900s. It discusses the use of terms like “melting-pot” and salad bowl to describe the assimilation of Italians into American society in past and present. The first waves of Italian immigrants to come to America were typically young men who were trying to escape a feudal farming system at home. They, like other immigrants over the last 200 years, were looking for better opportunity for themselves and for their families in the new country. However, nearly half the families who immigrated to the United States moved back to Italy in the years following their arrival.
New Italian-Americans used two strategies to survive in their new home: work and family. Italian immigrants helped provide the labor for American factories and mines and helped build roads, dams, tunnels, and other infrastructure. Their work provided them a small economic foothold in American society and allowed them to provide for their families, which stood at the core of Italian-American life. The ideals of strong familial ties and hard work have passed through the generations and are still core values in Italian descendants today. After many years of trying to fit in with the American culture, Italians have started to look back to the past to find their identity. These individuals feel it is important to know where they come from and have spent time and money to find their roots again.
I chose to include this article because of the values of early Italian immigrants mentioned. Hard work and family are still core values in my family today. I have always been taught to work at something until I get it or try my hardest to achieve a goal even if I don’t reach it. The family ties are also still very important in my family. Admittedly, I don’t have a perfect relationship with each member of my family, but my family understands the role we each play for each other. For example, my mother and I will fight about doing laundry, but she will always be the care taker.
Elaine, Magee. “How Food Affects Your Moods.” WebMD. WebMD, 15 Dec. 2009. Web. 14 Nov. 2015.
This article is a summary of research done to determine how the food we eat affects our mood. The article clearly states that eating a particular food once will not instantly change our mood, but our diets over long periods of time do have some effect on how we can feel. This is because food is the chemical fuel for out minds and bodies. The move vitamins we take in the easier and faster our brains can function. Faster brain function leads to lower feelings of fatigue and depression. Additionally, the more natural a food source is the easier it is for our bodies to break down and use the nutrients and energy stored in the food. With an increase in energy supply it is easier for our bodies to exercise and a regulated metabolism which leads to an increase in endorphins — a chemical that promotes happiness — into our brains.
I agree with many of the points this article makes. It is clear that what we eat can affect how we feel, but it doesn’t mention anything about why we find certain foods more comforting than others. For example, the spaghetti that my mom makes is the most comforting food I can think of because it reminds me of home and my family; both of which make me feel secure. This article did, however, address that carbs are good mood enhancing food because they provide a lot of energy for only a little amount of food. This makes me wonder do you think the comfort of comfort food — in this case spaghetti — comes from the carbs in the pasta allowing my brain to function better or does it come on a more psychological level as I associate pasta with home and a sense of security.
Fustos, Kata. “Marriage and Partnership Turnover for American Families.” Marriage and Partnership Turnover for American Families. Population Reference Bureau, June 2010. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
This article discusses the increasing divorce rate in American families. Although marriage is a highly promoted institution in the United States, the United States is host to one of the highest divorce rates in the world. Over the last decade public service campaigns have worked to make the idea of marriage the preferred lifestyle of adults; however, it is the idea of marriage they promote rather than the actual relationship between two adults. American adults in the United States compared to those in western Europe have a much lower rate thinking marriage is an “outdate institution,” but still cannot see to make the relationships last. Researches have looked into this topic in order to discover why a people so interested in the idea of marriage cannot sustain it in a normal household.
They have determined that American ideals of individualism and self-importance are more important than the ideals associated with marriage. It is acceptable for one to leave a partnership if it causes them a source of unhappiness. This contradiction between the two American ideals of individualism and marriage are reportedly stemmed from the teaching of Martin Luther. Although Luther agreed that the preferred status of an adult was married, divorce was more easily obtained in his church than in the Catholic church. More than half of the US population believes that the protestant religion plays an important part in their lives today.
A final point the article mentions is the ease with which the United States grants divorce. The waiting period for no-fault divorce in the United States is relatively short compared with Italy, for example, where parties have to stay legally married for years before finalizing a divorce.
This makes me wonder if Italian institutions like the catholic church were still institutionalized today would the divorce rate be different?
Rapczynski, Joan. “99.03.06: The Italian Immigrant Experience in America (1870–1920).” 99.03.06: The Italian Immigrant Experience in America (1870–1920). Yale-New Haven Teacher’s Institute, 2015. Web. 20 Nov. 2015.
This article describes the life of Italians who arrived in America at the turn of the century. Once they were off the boat many of them faced immediate financial distress. Most of the Italian immigrants had used their entire life savings to travel here, but could not stay in New York. Some meant to travel further south or west than New York to stay with family or friends but had no means of getting there. There were tenants where the newly arrived immigrants could live until they had worked for enough money to travel to their final destination, however, most of the time it was cyclical poverty because they had to pay their landlords the money they earned and could not afford to save any to travel away.
Many newly arrived Italians found work in factories with poor working conditions. This gave rise to many sections of different big cities being called “Little Italy” because the immigrants would settle together in areas where they could be more comfortable. In the Little Italy section of big cities the immigrants could speak their own language, practice their religion, and raise their children safely.
The Italians weren’t the only ones who practiced this tradition. Many other immigrant ethnic groups settled into similar areas which created distinct ethnic communities. This made assimilation harder for all newly arrived ethnic groups, including Italians. Ideals, language, and customs of the Italians were preserved because of these neighborhoods. However, some traditions became watered down or changed all together due to new financial constraints. A new Italian-American culture was being created in the Little Italys of American.
Close-knit family organizations and religious practices, however, were two aspects of Italian culture that were not affected by the move across the oceans. If anything, those traditions became stronger amongst the immigrants as they relied on their community and the power of God to carry them through hard times. Food and dining rituals was, however, a tradition subject to change. Availability of fresh produce — a staple in Italian cuisine — was not easily obtained by the poor immigrants, and long, plentiful meals were cut short due to lack of money.
In general, the new Italians did not know much about the laws and customs of Americans except what they could observe. Unfortunately, most of the Americans the Italians came in contact with were those looking to exploit the immigrants for cheap and sometimes dangerous work. Even Italian-Americans looked to exploit the new Italian immigrants as was done in the padroni system. This system provided jobs for the new immigrants, but the operators of the system only offered little pay for long days and hard work. The Italians who ran the padroni system would recruit workers from southern Italy with promises of good pay that could be sent back home, but when they arrived in America the opposite was true. Many workers received poor pay and returned to Italy no richer than they had left but, now, with a poor opinion of the land of plenty.
The Italians who did settle and stay in America most likely came through Ellis Island in New York. After reaching the mainland, many Italians were forced to like in one of the worst sections of New York called Mulberry Bend. One reporter by the name of Jacob Riis reported on the tenements the Italian families were living in as “one room 12x12 with five families living in it, comprising twenty persons of both sexes and all ages, with only two beds, without partitions, screen, chair or table.” To be clear, this was not the only living conditions of the Italian American people of this time. There were many other variations of these living conditions, but this is an example of the worst and conditions the Italians faced. The large influx of Italians into America allowed rent rates to be astronomically high, so sometimes living in small rooms with multiple families was the only way to afford living in a home at all.
Tenements were not well kept either. Plaster would fall from the walls and ceiling, water would not be clean enough to bathe in, let alone drink, they were ridden with bed bugs and rats. Disease spread rapidly in these close and unsanitary quarters. Living in the tenements was all together oppressive at the turn of the century.
I chose this article because, fortunately, my family cannot relate. When my great-grandparents came over they had enough money to get them out of areas like Mulberry Bend. They did live in New York, but were fortunate enough to get jobs that let them leave the tenement quarters. They were no strangers to hard work like the other immigrants in America but were not exploited in such a harsh manner.
My great-grandmother did follow the rest of the immigrants’ new style of eating and recipes. She created our family sauce after she moved from Italy to America because she did not have access to the ingredients she cooked with at home. My great-grandparents also could not afford to have long family meals anymore as they needed more time for work and needed to lose less money on food and more on their children.
Familial ties were kept strong in my family even after the move. My great-grandparents could afford to make the family sauce every Sunday after mass for, not only their children, but their cousins and Italian neighbors. It was important to my great-grandmother to keep close ties with the family and community as she did in Italy. This allowed them to be well liked and helped out by their community if they ever needed work, money, a place to stay, or food to eat. Luckily, they never needed to use any favors of their family and neighbors, but they would’ve been welcome to them.
