A few weekends ago my team went to an Agape Italia staff conference, and my train experience reminded me of an important Italian value, community. When I entered the train cabin to take my reserved seat, I was surrounded by 5 other Italians who were deep in conversation. At first I thought they were all traveling on the holiday weekend together as a family as grandmother, mother, daughter & boyfriend, and a younger son. The “grandmother” was talking about the rest of the family and showing pictures of their cousins, and the mother was sharing food and water with the “grandmother” and her son. The older woman offered a candy bar to the boy, which seemed like a very grandmotherly thing to do. I believed this to be the case for some time into the trip until the “daughter” asked me if I was Italian. (Sei italiana?) As we got into conversation, I asked if they knew each other, and only the mother and son knew each other prior to the trip. Everyone else were strangers. After no time, I felt as a part of the community of our cabin, participating in the conversation (ok, well mostly listening) and even joking around with the 11-year-old boy. When I left the cabin to get off the train, I felt as if for that 3 hour train ride I had made some new friends.
This incident reminded me of an article called “Individuality vs. Community” in Insieme (Agape Italia’s monthly update.) I have really grown to value the sense of community that Italians have. In America, bonding with fellow travelers happens less frequently as we are often automatically enter our own world of reading a book or putting headphones on our ears to watch a movie or listen to music. Granted, I often am guilty of entering my own world in this sense, and I have seen Italians do the same. However, I still appreciate how Italians are more community-focused and aware of others around them, and how I can even enjoy this cultural characteristic on a train ride.
