Interview with an Italian: Alessandra on the train

I was going through my posts and I realized I never posted the interview one. I wrote it out, but I never posted that. Realizing that might be a problem, I decided to post it.

I conducted my interview with an Italian on the train to Naples when we were going to Pompeii. Rachel and I got separated from everyone else, and they had our ticket. The train was overbooked by what we estimated to be at least 100 people, so we figured the ticket collector wouldn't be by to check them. The train was literally standing room only. Rachel and I had to stand for about 20 minutes, but we were lucky enough to score seats across the aisle from each other when these little boys got off. Anyway, the ticket collector did come around, and we were pretty freaked out, but Alessandra, who was sitting next to me, pretty much explained the situation and got into a shouting match with him.

So after that, we struck up a conversation and I decided to interview her. I didn't have my paper with me, but I remembered the gist of the questions we were supposed to ask and got through most of them when I looked at the paper again.

Alessandra is from Naples, but she goes to University in London. She was taking the train back home to visit her family. She had been in Rome visiting some friends. She said that her family seems pretty patriarchal, now that she's been in London for awhile. They go to church together every Sunday while she's at home and then they have a big lunch together. Most of Alessandra's family still lives in the same neighborhood, so they all get together for the meal, which lasts all day.

Her family does eat dinner together. Her older brother, who is 29, still lives at home and eats with the family. She said that at the dinner table it was never really a competition for who talked; they all talked pretty equally and were valued but she can now see that they would defer to their dad. But she does say that her mom is the real head of the family and if you really want anything you have to go through her; you just have to ask her dad as more of a formality, but everyone knows that mom makes the decisions.

Alessandra's whole family goes on vacation together in August, she says. Her grandparents have a villa near Capri and they all go there for a few weeks in August. All of her aunts and uncles and cousins go, in addition to her grandparents. The family has been doing this for years. The Monday after Easter, Pasquetta, is also spent together as a family, as are all holidays. Alessandra said that it was really a big deal for her grandparents when she couldn't come home for Easter the first year she was at University; her parents understood that she didn't really get a break but her grandparents didn't and were really upset.

Alessandra said that she and her brother were pretty much treated equally. They didn't really have too many chores growing up because her mother doesn't work but they would always help out whenever they were needed. She would help out with the more "girl"y tasks, like cooking, while her brother would help her father more. She said that they were never really ordered to work, it was more of an idea of helping out and spending time with each other.

Alessandra said that her whole family gets along really well and they like to joke and laugh with each other a lot. There's a lot of teasing and joking, especially with her aunts and uncles and their nieces and nephews. Alessandra says that it's never mean-spirited. She also said that they are always complimenting each other when they see each other, telling everyone how beautiful they look, which she said is different than her experience in London.

I really enjoyed interviewing Alessandra. For one, it made the train ride go a lot faster. Also, she was really nice. She didn't have to help me and Rachel out but she totally did, and then she talked with me for awhile. I told her about my family, too, so it was more like we were having a conversation rather then me quizzing her for 45 minutes. She seemed to really enjoy talking about her family, so I could tell that they were a big part of her life. They seemed to do a lot more together than my family does, and my family does a lot together, much more than some of my friends. It was interesting to see how another person's family works, especially someone from another culture. It was especially interesting since she was just a few years older than me, so I could really relate to her. The interview was really fun, and not nearly as painful as I was expecting it to be.

And she told us when to get off the train. Which was good, because we might never have seen Becca, Rose, Gina, and Allie again. And Becca may have had a nervous breakdown.