My grandfather, Donato Cerulli, who I never met, is why I am in Italy for 3 months. It is because of him that I, as well as my children, are eligible for Italian citizenship. Italy has a citizenship program, called “Citizenship by descent (Jure sanguinis)” that allows Italian descendants to become citizens if certain conditions are met. Because my grandfather was still an Italian citizen when my dad was born, it made me and my children eligible for citizenship (he became a naturalized U.S. citizen a month after my dad was born so we just made the cut!). My husband can apply for citizenship after I have been granted it.

It can take years to become an Italian citizen and I started the process almost 5 years ago by first trying to determine if I was even eligible. I opted to work with an organization called the Italian Citizenship Assistance Program, based near Chicago, to obtain most of my documents and to assist us while here in Bari, Italy, where we will obtain our citizenship. To obtain citizenship in Italy, one must live here for 3 months and establish residency here.

My grandfather Donato Cerulli with my mom and dad in New York City on their honeymoon. My grandmother moved to Michigan, but my grandfather stayed in New York CIty until he went back to Italy.

I pursued Italian citizenship for many reasons: I have always loved Europe and may want to live there part-time; my daughter lives in Germany and Italian citizenship allows her to stay there without a visa; and my son is a theater director and teacher who could live in Europe for extended periods while directing plays or teaching.

So now we are in Bari! It is one of the cities with which the Italian Citizenship Assistance Program partners and it is also the home of my only aunt, Maria Cerulli, formerly Maria Falcone. She was a WWII war bride who met my dad’s brother Nick when he was stationed in Italy.

Bari is a beautiful city with an ever-present sea breeze which tempers the heat. There is a beach about 2 miles from the apartment and we walk there quite often to go swimming. Our Italian language skills are poor, but we are taking Italian lessons from our citizenship attorney’s daughter twice a week. We hope to be able to improve enough to interact at shops and restaurants and not look like deer in the headlights every time someone speaks Italian to us. Most of the tourists here are Italian, other Europeans, or Russian.

While here in Italy, we plan to visit both my grandfather’s and my grandmother’s hometowns in parts of Italy off the beaten path—Monteforte Cilento and San Martino in Pensilis. I have never been to either. My grandmother (Nonna) and my grandfather (Nonno) met each other in Pennsylvania’s coal country in Pittston, where my grandfather was a coal miner and my grandmother was visiting family. She was a teacher in Italy. They married in 1923 and my Nonna didn’t return to Italy. They divorced in 1943 and my grandfather sailed back to Italy “for ever” in 1953. That is why I never met him. On the List of Outward-Bound Passengers for the “S.S. Andrea Doria,” it listed my grandfather as staying abroad “for ever.”

While I am here in Bari I will try to convey what everyday life is like in this southern town and relay our travels to other parts of Italy. I hope you enjoy the journey with me. I wish my father had been able to come with us. He is 96 years old and wanted to come. And he speaks Italian so that would be have been helpful. But he wasn’t really up for the trip so I hope he will enjoy reading this blog as well.

Castello Svevo in Bari