Black Man in Italy

Yesterday for the first time I had my first conscious
experience of being a black man in Italy. As I walked
back to my apartment from the town square, I took some
of the normal sidestreets. About two and a half blocks
from my home, I came across some Cagilese children.
Once a little girl saw me out of the corner of her
eye, she immediately grabbed the arm of her friend.
She grabbed on and was holding on for dear life. Her
friend didn't seem to see a problem, but the girl
obviously did. In that thirty to sixty seconds of us
passing each other, she glanced up at me. In those
seconds she didn't focus on my clothes, but on my
face, and on my eyes. It wasn't just that I was
American, thought that could have been a factor, but I
sincerely believe it is because I am a black man. I
have no problem with what happened, I can't hold
anything against the child. As with all of us, there
is a certain fear and a certan curiousity about the
unknown.

Note: There are three African-Americans in the project
(two are students and one is a faculty member).

Funny Story on the Same Topic:
The other African-American student Jasmin was sitting
at a cafe with one of our fellow students, a Caucasian
student. They were conversing with the cafe's owner.
She pointed to the Caucasian student and said latte,
and pointed to Jasmin and said caffe. Then she said
cappuccino. Do you get it? If not let it marinate.

It's the weekend TGIFF. You all know what the double F
means. This has been an exhausting week. We've had
Italian class every day at 8am, crash courses in
Storytelling, Photography, Videography, and
Intercultural Communication. Not to mention running
around researching story ideas, taking pictures,
eating lots of food, and enjoying the town of Cagli.

Posting will probably resume next week.

I hope all is well with those of you back in the
states.

Ciao amicos.

-CNEL

P.S.
If you have Facebook and you're a friend of mine, I
have posted photos.

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