An Italian Dream

I have the theory that one is never the extreme in anything. One is never the richest or the poorest; the smartest or the stupidest; the luckiest or the unluckiest. I find this theory (which I will develop in this blog sometime) most useful when I think I have problems. When I think "life sucks", I almost always end up realizing there are people with similar problems but with worst circumstances. When I have thought my life in Italy has been difficult or annoying for some reason, I end up thinking in the case of a friend of mine who had a way tougher experience.

I met her back in Colombia during some Italian lessons we both attended. Even if both of us had full-time jobs (a very good excuse to skip lessons or to forget a homework) she was always on time, with all homeworks done. It was pretty evident she had been a brilliant student during university, where she got a degree on management, I think.

In a country like Colombia, when you take language lessons it's because you want to leave for another country. Rarely it's something people do for the sake of knowledge. It is thus very interesting to see all kinds of different ambitions when one starts to study a language. I had the experience of French lessons, where the 95% of my fellow students wanted to go to Quebec in Canada. There was a lot of people as Canada it's an appealing choice for changing life. Instead, in the Italian lessons we were only a handful of students, no more than 5. We all wanted to come to Italy for study reasons. We all had an Italian dream.

In particular, my friend's dream was to leave her management degree behind and to obtain a degree in Biology in Italy. I don't know which was her precise motivation about Biology and Italy, but that won't ruin the story I want to tell you. (Also, you don't need a precise motivation to want to leave Colombia.) Unlike me, who had already a pretty good idea of what to do in Italy, she was still considering options about the city and the university. I managed to know her a bit better because at some point we had to give a standardized exam on Italian language, and we were the only two that needed the diploma. We did all the bureaucracy together and we did great in the exam.

I came to Italy first, and we kept on touch. Once I was in Italy she told me she had chosen Bologna to study. I described the situation as I perceived and she seemed enthusiastic about it. After graduating, she had worked for several years and saved some money. Her plan was to use such savings to come and to survive for the initial months; then, she expected to get a job and to work and study at the same time. Apart from her savings and some support from her family, she had no financial support. She arrived with her dreams in August 2007. The initial months were OK: she was happy with the courses and she managed to get a very nice residence to live. Unfortunately, the job quest wasn't offering many results and the procedures for getting the Italian stay permit for foreigners (permesso di soggiorno) were extremely slow: by arriving in August, her appointment for the permit was scheduled in April 2008(!)

At some point early this year it occurred what it had to occur: she ran out of money, and she needed to pay the enrollment fees for the university. She tried harder to get a job but without success. Situation then became critical. She looked for support in the university but either there were no possibilities or the deadlines for applying for support had already expired. She then considered the option of changing to another city, one with better work perspectives. She managed to find a job in Rome. The job was flexible enough to work and study at the same time, and all the exams she had taken in Bologna could be automatically transferred to the Rome program.

When everything was ready to change Bologna for Rome, she learned that her employer needed her stay permit. The temporary piece of paper certifying she had already applied for it is not enough to get a legal job. Her dream was officially broken. She then decided to use her family support to buy a return ticket to Colombia. She returned in March.

I contacted her recently to know how she was doing. I was a bit afraid of doing so, because perhaps all the things related to Italy (me included) could represent a trauma for her. I was afraid of bringing unpleasant memories back. Compared to her situation, I was in a great position, given that I have a scholarship and hence no worries as she had all the time. Luckily, she's got a great job in a nice place. Most importantly, she seems happy. When I think about her, I cannot but really admire her courage to pursue a dream, fight hard for it, and to accept the consequences with dignity. We know that not all dreams come true, but not everyone overcomes such a dramatic situation as she did.

In this case one could say her dream was broken by the recently implemented Italian system for handling foreigners status. The system is humiliating and inefficient. I have suffered it, and I will write about it soon. Because of this system, I am sure many similar cases occur everyday, perhaps with worst consequences. Is it fair that a system breaks people's dreams? Certainly not, but unfortunately we can't do anything about it, specially when the direct responsible of the system (the Italian society) is not willing to do anything. When I think Colombian society is seriously ill, I compare it with the Italian situation and use my "no extremes" theory. Doubts then arise immediately: when it comes to ill societies, perhaps Colombia is not the extreme case.