Celebrating the Fourth of July in Italy

21 CommentsMonday • July 5, 2010 • by michelle

Quite a few people have asked me over the years whether Italians celebrate the Fourth of July. The simple answer is no, as Italians don’t particularly care when the United States became an independent nation.

But chances are if you find an American on July 4th, you’ll at least find some kind of cookout around. Most of the Americans in Italy I know still find a way to celebrate — and many of us also wear our American flag t-shirts as well (myself included). P.S. Those stylin’ nails in the photo are *not* mine, but those of Dreamgirl Pumpkincat210 on Flickr.

Yesterday was actually a festa in the village (Madonna della Provvidenza) so we ended up even having fireworks, which we watched from our house; every year this celebration is held the first weekend of July, so I’m always guaranteed fireworks around the 4th. Funny how things work out.

Before the fireworks, though, yesterday morning, P and I went up into the campagna (the land we just bought in the country — yes it’s final now!), and had our own little feast with grilled chicken, salad, baked beans, suppressata, and pecorino. Quite appropriately a mix of American and Italian, I suppose. Ah, and fresh figs from one of trees for dessert:

Truth be told, though, while P prepared, I spent a lot of time either reading David Farley’s An Irreverent Curiosity: In Search of the Church’s Strangest Relic in Italy’s Oddest Town on my iPod Touch (Farley will be our guest on the Eye on Italy podcast this week!) or just staring off into space while sitting here:

Last week was quite stressful for me with all the Amanda Knox-related posts, and if you haven’t noticed, I’ve now turned comments off on them. I wanted to start this week stress-free and get back to focusing on my life and the people, animals, and few objects I’ve chosen to surround myself with.

I do appreciate that there are horrible events in the world every day, but many years ago I stopped watching the news because it’s too easy for me to get emotionally involved in all the bad — there is *so* much bad — and that just isn’t good for me. I still like to think I stay well-informed by picking and choosing what to read, and I lend my support to causes I truly believe in, but I just can’t let in all that negative and still live a happy life.

Perhaps that’s selfish, but it’s the best — and only — method of self-preservation I know.

Thanks to everyone who read and commented last week; hopefully some of the newcomers will stick around, but if it’s just the “regulars” here, that’s cool too. You’re the best regulars around.

And now, gratuitous kitty photo entitled “iz reddee 4 mah closeup” just because:

Have a great week!