Vittorio Emanuele is a town in Rome that is accessible by the metro, one stop away from Termini, a major connecting station. When I first got off the metro and went to find the park the other Culture & Identity Envoy’s were meeting at, I was in awe of how pretty my surroundings were. There was an area of grass where dogs were roaming freely with each other and a bunch of pretty purple flowers with bees working hard to collect pollen.
Our tour guide, Marta greeted us warmly and took us a few meters away to our first destination, an old historic building that now sanctions cats, like the Torre Argentina Cat Sanctuary in the center of Rome. Cats, or gatti in Italiano, offer the symbol of independence and freedom for the Romans.
Next, she brought us to a Chinese herbal tea spot that has been there for decades and we stopped at the UN building, which I thought was pretty important. We stopped and chatted a bit about the immigration in Rome and some information on what Rome does to help those who have immigrated. We talked a little bit about the use of terms like illegal alien and how phrases like that have a lot of negative impact because of the perceptions and connotations attached to them.
We also walked down a street full of murals, one of them was Dante Alighieri, who developed the Italian language. What I particularly noticed in that area was a small classroom full of people ranging in all ages with a sign on the door reading “free Italian classes” and the scheduled times. I am glad to see that there are free classes and resources people can use to help them fit more into their diaspora.
Next, we visited a really diverse clothing food market split into two sections on either side of a park area. There were a lot of different seafoods, fruits, vegetables, beans, rice, and spices for sale. It was really nice to see those markets in Rome because I have seen them in other parts of Italy and Europe, but not in Rome.
That was the last stop of our tour and we got to speak to a lovely man from Egypt who moved to Italy a while back and now runs the market that we visited. He was full of spirit and was eager to help us with any questions we had. We asked a little bit about his background and how he likes running the market.
Parts of the tour were a bit lacking. I was left wanting to know more about the history behind the immigration situation currently happening in this specific area. I was also curious to why our guide referred to some areas as “the Chinese area” and the “Black area”. Ultimately, I wanted to know more about the cultural significance that brings immigrants to Vittorio Emanuele.
I learned a lot about how Romans have treated immigrants historically and how that has manifested into life still today through my Imperialism class at Temple Rome. There is still a lot of work needed in the governmental aspect, but also in the individual mindsets of those in the community needing to think outside of themselves and accept others living within the community.
Overall, I am so glad that I had gotten a tour around Vittorio Emanuele and the chance to witness a little bit of the areas of immigration to apply and observe what I have been taught in class and really experience it for myself while in Rome.
I hope everyone who wants to study abroad in Rome gets the opportunity as well! Speak to your advisor about the time that could work best with your major and for more information, you can learn more about Temple Rome here!