Job Discussion Forums

[jnesta1]

Gregorio and other Italian Wanna Bes...

I have great news! I received a paper from my great grandpa's home town indicating that I am now an Italian citizen! I thought it would never happen. After starting the whole process rolling well over a year ago (around April 2004), a trip to the consul in Chicago last October, and numerous letters and emails to the Consul and elsewhere, it has finally come to a conclusion. From what I can tell, I can now either go to the local Consulate and obtain a passport, or go to Italy and get an ID paper. Given the fun I had dealing with the consulate here, I am not sure which I will do yet.... I can only say that the consulate itself was supposed to send this paper to me, but as long as it came to me from someone, i don't care. Even though it was 6 weeks or more overdue.

There is hope! For all who are undertaing the effort, keep the faith.

Buona fortuna,

Jeff

[Gregorio]

Jeff... CONGRATULATIONS!!! That is awesome news, especially because I am dealing with the same consulate. Unfortunately you had to wait longer than predicted, but I guess there is no time like the present to get used to Italian Beauracracy.

I think it's an amazing thing that this process is even possible and goes to show how proud Italians are of their heritage. We are fortunate people. I have had friends say to me that they wish they were Italian... it sounds crazy, but I think from the outside people see a sort of kinship among Italians that isn't present in a lot of other European cultures. Enough of my rambling.

Congrats again!

[jnesta1]

Hi Greg,

I agree with you on all counts. I do frequently here coments about the closeness of Italians, most of them positive, though sometimes in areas with high German heritage it can be seen as stifling. But I'm with you!

I am so GRATEFUL to be part of this culture that values heritage and family connections!

Best of luck to you in your journey, and may you have happy results.

Have a great summer!

Jeff

[Teacher in Rome]

Congratulations Jeff!

Hope to see you in Italy soon...

[jnesta1]

I'm telling you, it's VERY tempting to get on the next flight. I'm tempted to just go work for room and board on a farm somewhere for the summer....

[jvs_2003]

Congrats Jeff!! My mother and I got our citizenship last week through the Boston Consulate and went in yesterday to get passports. They should be mailed to us in 7-10 days!

Hehe, I am hoping the next plane over!! (Well not exactly, but my July 10 move to Rome and plan to find work in Italy has been greatly aided by this development).

[jnesta1]

Thanks all,

The only difficulty I see is that they still have me married to my ex wife of 11 years. In fact, at the last minute before going to teh Consul last fall, I had to get a copy of death certificate for my father, since he had died in Colorado (I'm in WI), I'm getting to teh relevance of this, I really am....the consul knew I was divorced for a long time before my meeting because I had teh official documents and had them all appropriately Appostilled long before the appointment, I even had him approve the list. So the fact that's it's messed up on my form bothers me. I'd have to have it fixed before I could ever marry there, and my guess is that the paperwork only gets harder on that side of the ocean...

JN

[jnesta1]

It occurred to me I never said....Grazie! to all who responded.

JVS...I am amzed at how quickly things happened for you. It just goes to show how different the consulates are.

TIR....I hope you have a good summer. Any good news over there?

Greg...anyone else in your family benefitting from all your work? I keep thinking my dad and grandpa would love being Italian citizens, the automatic consequence of my becoming a citizen, if they were still alive. But I am sure they are happy for me from where they are...

All, have a good week.

Jeff

[Gregorio]

Hey Jeff... My mom is interested, however, she lives in Las Vegas and would have to have her papers organized through the Consulate in LA. When I met with the Consulate in Chicago he asked me if my Mother or Grandfather wanted the Citizenship and I just said no. I want to get this thing over with on my end as soon as possible and then if she wants it later I'll help her do it. The truth is is that, although my mom might want the citizenship, she will more than likely never use it for anything.

[jnesta1]

I think you're doing teh right thing. I think dealing with one consulate is tough enough, especially if she is not all that interested. Let me know when you hear something!

Happy fourth!

Jeff

[Teacher in Rome]

Only good news here is that it's a public holiday today. I can loll around all day wearing my pjs. (Too hot to go out - temperatures are 34+) Forecasters are predicting cooler weather and rain soon, which will please the Protezione Civile who have just warned us that we only have water stocks to last until mid July. As you can see, doom and gloom is the phrase of the day!

[jnesta1]

So TIR...

Since I know from personal experience that TV only numbs and/or entertains for a brief period (especially Italian TV...at least here I have a jillion channels to choose from!)....how will you keep yourself focused on the positive? What are the positive next steps? Will you be in Italy next fall, or are you deciding that right now?

[Teacher in Rome]

Hi Jeff

Italian tv is the worst I have ever seen, anywhere in the world. 3 hour extravaganzas, featuring semi-naked women (can see how it might appeal to 50% to the population) but it is a mind-numbingly, bum-numbingly brain dead excuse for entertainment. The best thing on Italian TV right now is "One Shot"80's music show on a music channel. That is really very sad.

Having said all this, I am most definitely staying in Italy. There's so much about being here that I couldn't live without happily: good food, relatively good climate, variety of scenery, seriously nice people, wonderful architecture...

There are a number of things I might start doing soon in terms of career development, so I'm not pessimistic on that front. Maybe the weather is getting to me...

[jnesta1]

Hi TIR,

I will keep rooting for you and for things to turn around for you.

I can relate to seriously hot weather. Here in WI, we have had more 90+ days already than we normally get in a whole summer. August seems to have arrived early. I hate it because my apartment has no cross ventialtion, so I run teh AC all teh time. I suppose I should be grateful for AC, but I love fresh air. It amazes me how Italians don't have AC, and don't seem to mind the heat. I guess that's why in teh South things shut down over the early afternoon, too hot to do anything except R/R.

I read somewhere about Italian TV. Supposedly, it is better now than when they first opened the airwaves, which wasn't so long ago. Berlusconi had a lot with the making of T/A TV. He saw money to be made tehre and went for it. When I was there in teh 80s, it seemed worse than now. But I agree, it is mind numbing, going for the lowest common denominator. The 80s music show almost sounds good by comparison. What's teh VHS/DVD rental market like? Any English versions, or all Italian-dubbed American films?

It sounds like you still find plenty to appreciate about teh culture. Please enjoy your favorite meal on my behalf this weekend. What's teh specilaty of the region you are in?

Have a great one. Tonight we do huge fireworks displys here for teh first night of Summerfest--10 days of music on 11 different stages, all one admission fee, plus a main stage act every night. A pretty good excuse for a party, not that we ever needed one here. Crowds actually get too big for me unless I can manage a week day. But they wil fantastic fireworks.

Have you read Tobias Jones' Dark Heart of Italy? Very good book, came out 2 or 3 years ago.

Ciao,

Jeff