Perpetual Change

The people I meet

I had a mini-amazing race of my own making 3 weeks ago.

I rented a car and picked up my parents (who decided they wanted to be my teammates for the week) from their hotel in Rome, and then drove 1700 km's searching out records or living relatives of my ancestors in southern Italy. 3 towns, 2 cities, 2 archaelogy museums, and one closed coastal highway later, we returned. I have decided to catalogue the trip through the people we met.

Guy at the EuropeCar rental desk - when I asked if I would have trouble finding something, he replied non-challantly, with a shrug, that my Italian was good enough to get me there.

Woman at the museum of Caligula's ships in Nemi - she had to run out and grab my parents as I was paying, because they were trying to go in the wrong door. She later brought them a pamphlet in English.

Flora - this very pleasant, efficient (and successful) public servant of Minori helped me find many of my relatives from that town.

Raphael and his father - our gracious hosts in Minori. They were very interested in searching out relatives and told us which shops to ask in for people with the same surname.

Nicola - the 89 year old property developer who may be one of those living relatives in Minori. I found him in his office behind a desk with no computer or phone (or anything else) on it, just whiling away the time. He was very nice to chat with. His wife came in and they invited us to lunch. Her brother lives in Vero Beach.

Vincenzo - the young front desk agent on the Ionian coast (of which it was very much not season) who was curious why we were there, and wanted to help when he found out the reason, but when he heard the surnames that I was looking for, he rolled his eyes and said the Italian equivalent of 'They are a dime a dozen'.

Lucca and Pasquale - junior and senior public service agents of Gioiosa Ionica. The first was helpful, but not very impressed with the patchy information that I had on my family. The second was more curious (as we shared a surname). He ended up helping me for two days to wade through red tape (always in his track suit); we even enlisted the help of his friend at the police station, and searched through a hundred years of birth certificates in a dusty archive, but in the end were unsuccessful.

The bar proprietor - he had a grandfather by the same name as my great grandfather, but turned out not to be a relation. He was intrigued but scornful that I had so little info. I thought I was in for a university lecture based on his demeanor.

The young woman (whose name I can't remember) from Latvia that runs a small B&B in southern Calabria (just opened). She was impressed with my Italian, as I was with hers. We found her place to stay by asking at a coffee bar if there were any hotels around, to which the waitress said, 'hold on, let me call my friend.' Although leary at first it turned out to be one of our best deals all week.

The hotel receptionist in Naples - she acted like it was no big deal to drive into the historical district (trust me, it was), and then gave me directions to the parking lot, which was not just around the corner, but still in the old town!

The helpful police chief of Naples - he didn't even let me in the front door of the Municiple building but showed me where to find the proper office (on another square) and also where my great grandfather's neighborhood was. The office he directed me to (which he had informed me) was closed, but I caught a woman leaving and she told me to come back the next day, and was the first one in the whole process that asked for any identification on my part!

Our typical young Napolitano dinner waiter- he is living life to the fullest - cool and unhurried about everything as he served tourists and locals alike.

The same EuropeCar clerk, who a week later still showed no interest in much, including if I had brought the car back in one piece or not! (amazingly we didn't have even a scratch, and automobiles in the south generally look more like bumper cards).

I would like to add that in the whole process everyone was friendly, some more helpful than others, but no one made me jump through hoops, used strange dialects that I didn't understand, or expected bribes or extraneous fees for their time or the documents. This all amazed and pleased me. I am already planning the next leg!

posted by jjs @ 9:30 AM