Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!looking!uunet!stanford.edu!agate!booboo.berkeley.edu!cnrdean
From: cnrdean@booboo.berkeley.edu
Newsgroups: trial.soc.culture.italian
Subject: Re: L'Italia vista dagli USA
Message-ID: <1991May1.202210.21418@agate.berkeley.edu>
Date: 1 May 91 20:22:10 GMT
References: <6nygpvj@rpi.edu>
Sender: Samuel G. Scalise
Organization: U.C. College of Natural Resources
Lines: 32



The article by Clyde Haberman was the first completely serious thing
I've ever read about the Italian culture/government.  This is a
reflection on me.  I don't know much about the culture of Italy, the
country.  (I know about Italian culture as it exists in the US.) I have
some questions which might be explained by a better understanding of
Italy.  I hope that someone in this group can help out.

It appears that there are all kinds of Italians, many almost unrelated
to each other.  How did this come about?  Was Italy invaded so often by
so many peoples that each of these groups of people made their own
sub-culture?

Why is Southern Italy so poor?  The only time I visited Italy, my wife
and I drove to Calabria (Castel Silano).  I was amazed at the low
standard of living, which my father told me has improved drastically
over the last 50 years.  It wasn't squallid, but there was no heat in
the house (there was snow nearby), no telephones, few light fixtures,...

My father's cousin burned a few twigs in a fireplace.  I noticed very
few trees, few timbers in the homes, ...  It seems like there should be
more trees in the mountains.

Where did the castles come from?

Would the churches there have a record of births, baptisms, etc.?  I
hope to track down my genealogy, and was thinking of trying the
churches.  Any other advice on genealogy?

Thanks much.
Sam Scalise