Independence Day as an Expatriate

For the Fourth of July, my Pisan MIT friends and I decided to share a bit of American culture with my Italian roommate Claudia (in the photo) and her friends. We bought burgers, sausages, and watermelon. As the meat sizzled, I bit into a juicy slice of watermelon and a couple of cold beers were cracked open: I felt truly American. However, as somehow striving for perfectly authentic American cuisine while living in Italy didn’t sound like the best idea, the burger and sausage buns were sliced from loaves of thick Italian bread.

Chris, Ramòn, and I were excited to realize that Camp Darby, the largest US military base outside of the US (and only a few kilometers from the center of Pisa, on the Mediterranean), would be open to the public to enjoy fireworks and celebrate our Independence Day! Sadly, the winds were so strong that no fireworks could be released. I was heartbroken, but assuaged by the feeling of the sand between my toes. Bringing back memories of my days in track and field (I was a triple and long jumper), pretty soon I had an irresistible urge to slip off my flip flops and run freely. At the water's edge, I came to an incredible realization: the Mediterranean is very warm! I starting laughing and running through the water as the wind blew through my hair. I ran until I could hardly breathe. Then I stopped and just stood there staring out into the dark waters for a long time. (Of course, from time to time I’d get hit by a particularly large wave, burst into laughter, and have to splash around a bit.) I've never felt such wonderfully warm sea water in the cool evening air. Last night while celebrating American independence, I fell in love with my Italian life.