Piccoli saggi di V anno

I Dream of My Grandmother and Great Grandmother

Write an essay based on this poem that explores the losses that people suffered when theyleft the homeland they loved (in this poet's case, Italy) and settled in America.Try to imagine how your life would have been different if your family had immigrated toAmerica. What is lost, and what is gained by such a move? What does the poet say aboutthe difficulties of understanding the past when you are physically separated from the peoplewho created the past?

-

If my family had immigrated to America, I think my life would have been very different, because moving to another country would have meant a radical change in my life. We well know that America and Italy are two opposite poles, two parallel lines that never meet: the differences are abysmal. Italy is my motherland, and I would never change it for anything else; I am very patriotic. In a book I wrote last year, I wrote: "And I think: if I ever have to leave, who will I become? If I had to leave, it would mean giving up to arancini and seltz with lemon and salt. Impossible, I can not handle that". So for me, it is hard to even think about what I would leave behind. But if I had to move from Italy to America for some reasons related to work or because I found a soulmate there, I think I would feel very lost, because I would know I have no holds over there. And this could be my biggest phobia: being alone in a world I know nothing about and too big for me, where everyone runs. And this is the whole point: I am afraid of not being up to a world that is completely new to me, in which you have to keep up as not to fall behind. Undoubtedly, moving to America would mean restarting from the beginning and building a new life, that means also having a new point of view, new friends. Then I should integrate myself in the community and adapt to American traditions without forgetting mine. But one thing I'm sure of. As I wrote about Sicilians: "they are so tenacious, a little rowdy sometimes, but the most important thing to point out is that they are extremely adaptive. They are not afraid of anything". And this is my goal: to be brave in this case.