Loyola University Chicago

Buongiorno Famiglia

While stepping off the train in Torino, Italy, Rome Center student Steve Borla searched a crowd of tanned Italian faces, hoping to recognize the distant relatives who would meet him there. Donning a backpack and standing bewildered in the train station of the northern town, Borla was easier to identify than Rolando and Marina, his distant Italian cousins, who noticed him from behind. The two welcomed Borla with a kiss on each cheek, a traditional Italian greeting reserved for friends and family.

Borla, from Fairfield University, was one of three Loyola Rome Center students to have the opportunity to visit relatives in Italy. Monica Balestreri, from Creighton University, stayed with distant family and friends of her mother on the small volcanic island of Elba. Lisa Giangrande, from Catholic University, spent her first week in Italy with second cousins on her father's side in San Lorenzo, a small town in the northern region.

Prior to staying with their families, the three fumbled with a variety of fears; communication was the most persistent. All knew their limited Italian would not suffice, and their relatives spoke little or no English. The three said they adapted well by turning to charades and gestures when conversation was difficult. The long conversations and spurts of laughter were "just like home when my family gets together," Borla said.

Students' reservations about whether their families would welcome and accept them were dismissed instantly. "People started grabbing at me for a kiss, or even a quick pinch, as soon as I walked in the door," said Borla.

Balestreri said her reunion was equally as sentimental. Her grandfather's childhood companion, Alberto, brought her to the places where they had spent time. Alberto showed her the fishing boat they used in their teen years, before her grandfather sailed to America. As a favor to her grandfather, Balestreri filmed Alberto with his sailing ship, catching Alberto's Italian words, "Look, look how I have fixed her up, my friend."

It was charming for Balestreri to see her family making the same pasta sauce she has grown up on in America. "I had never known my mother was carrying on such a tradition in her cooking," said Balestreri. "It was captivating to see where it originated."

Although each of the students loved the cities they visited, what they took back to Rome with them was much more than pictures of green mountains, wrinkled faces, and warm bellies full of pasta and fish. They all described a feeling of "completion" after returning from their visit.

"I feel like I know more about myself, because I know where my roots are. I saw where my grandfather worked. I visited my great grandparents' grave site. I heard the dreams of my grandfather from the people he first shared them with in his youth," said Balestreri.