Seen from Italy, these associations can look folkloric, a little old-fashioned, even overly Americanized. In reality, they are a genuine expression of an identity that formed over time by blending familiar habits from “what our grandparents used to do” with community structures shaped by American life. The result is something that seems to belong completely to neither world, and at times even feels slightly outside of time, as if it existed in a parallel dimension.
This is not a criticism. It is, rather, a way to describe that space occupied by people who live between two cultures, those who feel half Italian and half American; those who have been American for generations but still feel a pull toward their Italian roots; and even those who carry an Italian last name, and with it a sense of affection for a country they may not actually know.
