The big day (sort of)

On Thursday, June 22, we got the word we'd been waiting for: at 6 p.m. that evening we were to present ourselves at the Montagano city hall to sign citizenship documents, the climax of our two-week "citizenship vacation" in the town.

Peter, our citizenship impresario, had alerted us months before that it would be nice if we'd bring gifts for this occasion, to give to the city officials and staff who were making this all possible. Now the time had come. So that afternoon we had to figure out to whom we'd should give what and how to wrap or package it. These regalini (little presents) aren't bribes, just little mementos that let the people who are helping us with this bureaucratic process, arduous for them as well as for us, how much we appreciate their efforts.

We'd packed in some tote bags with vintage California fruit-box labels printed on them, a CD of sacred music from the California missions, and a California-poppy key ring. Lina contributed some beautiful scarves from Cambodia, packets of organic Cambodian pepper, and some other little handicraft items. Max had gotten a stars-and-stripes fidget spinner. So we showed up at the appointed time with five little gift bags, one each for Pino the mayor, Paolo the chief of police, Francesca the vice-mayor, and Anna and Lucia, the two staff responsible for transcribing and processing our applications.

At Peter's direction we also brought a tray of cookies from a bakery in Campobasso, and Laura, one of the other two citizenship aspirants in our group, had purchased five bottles of prosecco. Because this was no mere bureaucratic procedure--like so much else in Montagano, it was going to be a party.

Laura, Michael, Max, Lina, and I get ready to sign

At the town hall we all sat down in our appointed places and signed the papers that were put in front of us, while everyone else took dozens of photos. (These were snapped by Danny. I'm looking forward to seeing the ones from Peter and Paolo, who's a real shutterbug.)

Listening to Peter explain, again, what we were signing

Even though Peter repeatedly explained the whole citizenship process to us, I now discover that I'm still a bit foggy about exactly what we were signing that day. I think we'd already signed an application to be recognized as citizens a week earlier, in a much less ceremonial visit to the town hall, and that at this final signing what we were endorsing was a request that our consulates in the U.S. certify that none of us had ever renounced our Italian citizenship.

Which means that nothing all that dramatic actually happened that day. Official recognition that we're Italian citizens won't come through for a while, and the tangible evidence of citizenship--an Italian passport or identification card--is even further off. But this marked one more milestone on that road.

Anyway, next the mayor signed some more papers, and then we posed for a few more photos.

That's Pino, the mayor, in the middle

Business concluded, the wine was opened, the cookies were unveiled, and the gifts were handed out. As the oldest in the group of applicants, I took it upon myself to make a brief speech expressing our gratitude to the town for their help and our appreciation for the beauty of the place and the friendship and warmth of the people. For another hour or so we all stood around drinking wine, eating cookies, and talking in a mix of English and Italian.

I'm not sure exactly how similar kinds of bureaucratic processes are handled in the United States, but my guess is that the gifts-and-wine aspect is lacking.