Am I Italian?

Am I Italian? This is actually a wrong question. As you probably know, in Italy it’s first your region (regioni) and then your country (L'Italia). So, which region do I identify with?

Since I’m living in London, I officially belong to Italiani Residenti all'Estero (AIRE) – a bunch of Italian citizens crazy enough not to live in their beautiful motherland. So, I’m an Italian expat – or never-pat, since I haven’t lived in Italy permanently yet: I “only” gave birth to two Italians 15 years ago, and that sped up my application for the Italian citizenship.

If I ever move to Italy, I’ll probably live in the North, in the region called Veneto, because that's where my mother-in-law is from (my father-in-law is from Sicily). Veneto is lovely, but it is also the strongest supporter of Lega Nord, Italy’s radical-right party. Up until 2013 they had been badmouthing Southern regions of Italy, until they realised they needed more votes, and so they underwent a rebrand. They dropped “Nord” from their name and apologized to the Southerners.

This of course did not cancel decades of jokes and insults – when you are in Northern Italy and mention “Platania”, they often ask you, “Is that from the south?”, with a twinkle in their eye. Since I’m not from the South of Italy, I’m planning to reply, probably with a Slavic accent, that "I’m from the East”. I joke, of course – as I said, I’m no longer writing about that. I’m writing about love, happiness, and sunshine, remember? Like a true Italian. Or rather, like a Southern Italian, to be precise.