Sono Italiana! 💚🤍💓

…I am a citizen of the planet; from simple roots through high vision…

Alanis Morrissette, Citizen of the Planet

Today was the day!  Just as I did on the day of my first appointment, I saw another rainbow outside the window (albeit much fainter than the first one):

We were scheduled to meet at 5 PM at the town hall.  So this morning we hit the shops, to pick up a couple of bottles of Prosecco at the grocery store, as well as an assortment of goodies from Nerone’s - the bake shop where we like to get our bread.  I wish I had taken a picture of the three different things I chose but in my excitement, I forgot.  Basically, they were a variety of different cookies, one of which was a delicious chocolate-covered square that I was told is a regional favorite.  There was also a cherry-flavored, powdered-sugar covered oval-shaped cookie, as well as an anisette-flavored variety.  I also stopped and bought a bouquet of flowers for Nicoletta at one of the flower shops.

I had been looking for thank you cards to give to Mayor Mimmo and the two clerks, but could not find any in the stores, so I settled for plain blue cards (similar to index cards but without lines) and matching envelopes.  With the help of Google translate, I wrote brief messages expressing my gratitude to each.  I had hoped that the Phillies hats I ordered on Amazon might arrive today, but that did not work out (I discovered later that delivery was attempted while we were at the town hall).  I’ll be seeing the guys again soon enough, so no big deal.

We arrived on time and waited out front - only to eventually discover that Nicoletta and everyone else were already in the building, which we didn’t realize until she texted me to let me know.  We went upstairs, but had to wait a bit longer while they were getting ready.  

Me, with bags full of goodies

We were led into what appeared to be the main council meeting chamber - it had several long tables with chairs, plus audience seating, the town flag with its coat of arms, and so on.  I set up the Prosecco and snacks on one of the long tables.  In addition to ourselves, the mayor, the two clerks, and Nicoletta and Antonio (her maybe/maybe not boyfriend whose name I finally remembered!), there were a few municipal workers (or possibly members of the town council - it wasn’t clear to me), and two other town residents - a woman who is originally from England who has lived here for several years, whose name I unfortunately did not catch, and Francesco, an older gentleman who was born here, but lived in England for many years before returning home for good.  

They had a nice little ceremony where the mayor - wearing his official (and spiffy) green, white, and red sash - read out the attestation document reciting my lineage and confirming that according to Italian law, I have been an Italian citizen since birth.  He then signed the document.  It’s possible a few tears of happiness leaked out during this.  It really was a pretty special ceremony, if somewhat brief.  

Unfortunately, my technologically-challenged husband Paolo failed to work the iPhone correctly, so I have three very short, choppy clips instead of the complete video of the entire ceremony I’d wanted.  Sigh.   We did get some nice pictures, though:

Apparently Mayor Mimmo and Paolo are now best buds.

Afterward, Paolo and I stopped in at our usual place for a celebratory glass of wine.  Our landlord was there, and I showed him my piece of paper confirming my citizenship.  He had a friend with him who was trying to communicate with us, so the sweet girl who works in the pizza place down the street and who speaks some English kindly translated for us all.   According to her interpretation, he was asking if, when we go back to America, could he come along with us, as he wants to find himself a young American wife like Paolo's! 

So:  now my Italian citizenship is recognized.  I just have to wait for the documents to be transcribed in the town records  (all those birth, marriage, death, and divorce records for my line), then I can request my Italian ID, and after that, my passport.  We really don’t know how long the transcription will take - it may take longer than the previous processes (after all, there’s just the two clerks, it’s olive harvest time, and whatnot).  So in the meantime, we will continue living here in my new comune while exploring the region.

And also, I think Paolo owes me a trip to Rome.