Dual Citizenship

A little back story...While at work(doctors office) one afternoon in July a pharmaceutical rep came in the office and was telling us about how she just got back from Italy and how she got married and honeymooned there. As soon as she said "Italy" it sparked my interest, I was listening. My grandmother from my dad's side and my grandfather from my mom's side are both Italian, so I can't help but love all things Italian. She said that earlier in the year she got her "dual citizenship" so of course I asked her a million and one questions about Dual Citizenship how she was able to get it. She told me that her Great-grandfather was born in Italy and to get DC she had to prove through blood/records that she was from Italian decent. Wheels started turning in my mind and I thought to myself, well my great-grandparents were born in Italy, maybe I qualify. So that evening I came home from work and did a quick google search for "italian dual citizenship qualifications. I got this website: http://www.italiandualcitizenship.com. After I began reading all the "rules" I was pretty overwhelmed with the process but I figured I've got nothing to lose why not give it a try it will be a challenge and give me something to do when I had some free time and was thinking it would take about a year to collect everything I needed

A little about my family...I've got a pretty small immediate family, but I have a ton of second and third cousins, most of whom I've never met, well maybe once at a family reunion about 10 year ago! My grandfather, Angelo was one of eleven brothers and sisters and my grandfather was second to last, so he was a baby. My great-grandparents were born in 1896 & 1897 and started having children in 1903, my grandfather was born in 1916.

So after checking out the website above I went to the San Francisco Consulates website to see if the documents needed were the same, and they were. Once I found out exactly what was needed I figured I would start by trying to get the easiest accessible documents first and see where that takes me. I'm applying through my mothers side of the family: ME>MOTHER>GRANDFATHER>GREAT-GRANDFATHER, so I would need to obtain the following documents:

Birth certificates: me, mom, dad, grandfather, grandmother, great-grandfather, great-grandmother.

Marriage certificates: parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents.

Death certificates: grandfather, great-grandfather, great-grandmother. (My grandmother and parents are still living)

Naturalization: Great-grandfather.

Luckily I was born, raised, and still live in the same county and my grandparents and great-grandparents for most of their lives lived in the same county. So off I went to the San Mateo County office of Vital Statistics to see what documents I could gather up. At our local county office in Redwood City everything is in one building and I basically went from one station to the next to get the documents; I got all the documents I needed within two days. A few of the older documents needed to be pulled from the warehouse so I had to go back the next day to pick them up. I put in requests to the states that my grandmother and grandfather were born in and got those certified documents within a few weeks. Next was the Certification of Naturalization, the most confusing part I think. First I had to put a search request in with the USCIS(U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to see when and if my great-grandfather was ever naturalized. This was key because if my GGF was naturalized before my GF was born I wasn't eligible. I submitted my search request on the USCIS website on 7/16/11 and received a very quick response(visa US Mail) about 7 days later. The search was successful and my GGF was naturalized after my GF was born, so YES I qualify! Once I got the search results from the USCIS it listed the place my GGF was naturalized which was San Mateo County, so I went back there and looked through this awesome book(see photo below) and obtained that certificate(certified). During this time I had a few questions so I emailed someone from the consulate offices and clarified anything that needed to be. I inquired about the naturalization certificate I got from the county and hoped that this would suffice for the USCIS certificate, but I was told that I need the USCIS document, so I put a formal request in online on 8/9/11 for the certified naturalization certificate and I received the documents on 10/22/11.

Next step was the hardest part; find out where my great-grandparents were born, and married and get the documents sent to me from Italy and from the late 1800's! I figured I would start with the town I knew they lived in right before they came to America, San Zenone degli Ezzelini. I had gone to Italy in 2007 and met a handful of great people and I have kept in contact with her and she now lives in Italy and speaks Italian so I asked her if she would translate a letter to the comune for me. She took care of it right away, and I emailed them the next day. I didn't hear anything back for a couple weeks so I figured I could just send another email to make sure they got it and just to be sure they really got it I also mailed the same letter through the postal office. Well, about a week later I got an email(all in Italian, which I can't read or speak...yet) I saw the word successivo and I knew that meant successive. I have a family member who speaks Italian well so I had them help translate the email and the documents. Turns out my GGF and GGM were born AND married in the same town they lived in before coming to America! That was too easy. About 2 weeks later I received the original certificates in the US Mail, signed and stamped. I had ALL the documents I needed and it only took me 3 months to collect everything. I checked with the SF Consulate to see exactly which documents needed to be translated and get the proper apostille, so once I got those taken care of I made my appointment with the Consulate.

In the next posts to come I will include websites that helped me with my research, history on my ancestors, preparing for my appointment with the consulate and what I hope comes out of trying to obtain dual citizenship.

Back to Blogging

Well I have to be honest and as you can see I haven't really blogged that much in the first place. I did blog(if you want to even call it that) while I was in Italy and Greece back in 2007. Feel free to read back in my posts and get re-immersed in my experience. Almost 5 years later I just re-read all the posts and it was pretty funny. I felt like I was so short in my descriptions and it was kinda hilarious. Now, writing isn't my strong point at all! I'm the type of writer that just thinks of something and types, and the story really isn't organized. Well good thing for you I'm not here to write a novel. What I do want to do is post photos I've recently taken and give little backgrounds on the pics so family and friends can enjoy them. I also want to share my new excursions and new places I visit with you. Living in the Bay Area there is so much to explore within the City, but there is even a TON more if you travel within a 75 or 100 mile radius. Anyhow, I'll post some photos of my recent trips.

I'm Home

I got in around 7:30 last night, eventhough it's cold and foggy I'm happy to be home.

I didn't have much time to update the blog while I was on the cruise because we were often only on one island for a couple hours if that, so we had to rush. The cruise wasn't very fun unfortunatly. The ship was really old and the staff were very useless, but I did have a good time with my friends.

The morning we got off the ship (Friday the 25th) I had breakfast scrambled eggs and taters tots. Well after we all got back to the hotel one of the girls was so sick she had to go to the hospital. I was feeling ok until about noon when I got the chills and was freezing cold. My body stared aching and I had a fever. My stomach was in knots too. I was vomiting and had bad diarreah(in case you wanted to know that) I was trying to rest at the hotel but I was in so much pain. I called home of course, and my mom told me that maybe I should go to the doctors to make sure you are alright. I was thinking of going anyways. So I caught a cab for 10euro. When I got there I went to security who does the registration if you want to call it that. She told me to go to the left and wait. I had number 65, they were on number 29. I waited and waited. This nice lady came up and brought me her number which was 46. So I went in when they called my number and I just sat there and watched. This is when I got freaked out. They dropped needles then picked them up and used them. They had this big box of cotton balls just sitting there. The docotors used the same gloves on different patients. I got freaked out. I went to the bathroom again and felt a litte better then I just left. I got back to the hotel then went to the store and picked up from sprite and crackers. I felt a lot better after that.

Yesterday morning I got on the metro line and headed for the airport. I was there super early, so I had lots of time to wander around. I got on my Lufthansa flight from Athens to Franfurt which was ok. Then I had to rush to the United flight from Frankfurt to San Francisco. They were boarding when I got there, but I still had plenty of time. The plane was super nice and the flight staff were nice too. We each had a little tv screen on the backs of the seats. I watched Letters from Iwo Jina, Freedom Writers, and part of Catch and Release( I fell asleep) I went through US customs then got my luggage and met my parents and came home.

I took about 2600 pictures and I will put them up on shutterfly or snapfish and send the link to you all so you can check that out if you want.

I had a great time and I also had fun updating my blog so I could still keep in contact with home. Good thing I kept this blog because I didnn't have much time to journal. Oh well, I will try and remember each day.

It`s Still Raining

Howdy!!!!

Well it's Tuesday afternoon and I'm in Kusudasi Turkey. The cruise has been fun, but I'm used to much bigger ships and as I'm sitting here I am swaying from the left to the right, like I have been on the ship. I have been feeling really nausious since the ship left, but I'll be ok. The food is so so, and there is no entertainment or anything on board so it gets really boring. Today I had a massage for an hour and it was sooooo relaxing, I loved it.

I really hope the weather clears up over the next couple of days because we all have to stay inside and I don't like having to be inside all the time. Tonight we sail to Rhodes, then Santorini on Thursday and Friday morning we are back in Athens.

All the tourist shops have the same stuff, and I can't find much to bring back. I guess that is a good thing, right? All I have bought are shot glasses and postcards.

Alright well off to check the weather then going to shop for a little bit, maybe Turkey has something different...we'll see.

It's Raining, It's Storming...

I'm Tired!!!!

This trip is starting to wear me out. Last night I met up with Lizzy, Anythony, Twila and Sherren and went to dinner. Well I was eating sushi(I was craving and it was like 2 blocks for the hotel) and I saw them walk by so we chatted then I left and went with them to their dinner and just sat there. We all wanted to do the same things today except they also wanted to see the Acropolis but I saw it yesterday. So we all met at the breakfast room and planned our day today. First we caught the metro at the Sygmata station and went to the flea market for a couple hours. It was super busy and I also realized while I was there...I don't like flea markets but oh well it was fun. Then we all got some lunch then went back to the metro and came back to Sygmata where they went to the Acropolis and I went to the National Gardens. It was really neat in there I didn't feel like I was in the center of a huge city, but off somewhere quiet and tranquil. They had a mini zoo there with peacocks, chickens, roosters, cats all in the same cages...weird I know. There was also a pond with turtles. It is sooo cool to watch turtles swim(I've never seen them swim before) I just walked around and took a bunch of pictures then left. Thats when it started to downpour. It's really humid so the rain is warm and you are hot and sweaty too, it's hard to get used to. There wasn't much else to see. all the shops are closed on Sundays, it's like a ghost town here today.

For the past two nights I had my own room, but this morning I switched and am now rooming with someone else. I walked in there a little bit ago but she was sleeping so I didn't stay long, it was kinda akward. Tonight is our pre tour meeting thats where we meet the other tour mates and supposedly "get to know each other." At the Italy meeting I forgot everyones name that first night. We all had to ask each other the next day who everyone was again. It should be fun though, we'll see.

I'm looking forward for the next 5 days to be relaxing.

Hmmmm what to do. Oh there is a Starbucks that is close, a Toffee Nut Latte sounds good. I haven't had one for a long time. Maybe it's closed cause it's Sunday..hmmm I'll check it out.

Day 2 In Athens

I love Greece!!!!!

I mean I love Italy too, but Greece is so different. Maybe because it's much busier, and people speak english...not quite sure, but I know I will be back here and I haven't even gone on the cruise yet.

This morning I set a wake up call with reception at 6:30. I hung up the phone then went back to sleep. So reception calls me 30 min later and says you didn't get up, so I'm calling again. I have no idea how he knew that I didn't get up. Maybe because there was no electricity or water going. Anyhow I got up 30 min late.....no drama I'm on holiday(I'm used to saying that instead of vacation now) I think we(Americans) are the only ones that actaully call it a vacation, everyone else calls it a holiday. Anyhow, last night I planned my day and got out my WONDERFUL map of athens and started planning. So this morning I ended up walking to the Acropolis which is about a 15min walk most of which was uphill. The Plaka dist. where I'm staying is pretty much at the bottom of the acropolis. So I ended up going in this cool back entrace where no one else was. At first I was like where am I, but I saw a ton more stuff that the people that went in the main entrance. So I was basically on the east and south side of the acropolis at that point. Then I got to the top of the acropolis with the parthenon which was awesome (Gayle...I took tons of pics of the columns) I took a lot of pics and left which was good because it started getting super busy with tours and stuff. I then walked to the Temple of Olympian Zeus which was cool, again a ton of pics of columns, thats all that is still there. Then I looked east up to the mountain and it was black clouds and these huge white clouds above them, not good. Last night we had a pretty bad storm here with thunder and the power kept going out. Good thing I took 2 advilPMs cause I kinda slept through it. Anyhow I also wanted to go to the stadium but decided not to. I hopped on the metro to come back towards the hotel area. On the way back from the metro station to my hotel I found a cool bakery, and ended up seeing Twila who also did the Italy tour with me and she is also doing the cruise. So I got a turkey sandwhich and this round chese thing...forgot the name. Then I saw the baklava, so I got a piece for dessert. Just as we got back to the hotel it started raining, so it was good timing. I ate lunch and took a little nap. Around 3 I walked back to the main metro station Syndagmatos and got off at this cute neighborhhod Monastiraki and in just a minute I'm going to walk up to the outdoor meat and seafood maket. Apperently it's a must see while in Athens. Too bad I don't have a BBQ with me I could have bought a nice piece of fish or a steak and cook it up...I'm craving american food. Then I'm going to walk around for a little while and see what else is going on.

My nose has been stuffy the past couple days so I have been trying to take it easy a little bit. I don't want to get sick next week or after that because I do have to go back to work unfortunatly. (Hi work folks)

Ok I'm off to the market I go...

Here In Athens

Sooo I just lost all my blog...Arhhhh I'll start over.

So yesterday was fun. I took the metro into the city and walked around a bit. I had the best pizza yet. I really like water and here they don't give you tap water, when you ask for water they bring your a glass bottle and you have to pay between 2-6E for it. But...I learned how to ask for tap water...you say Acqua Del Rubinetto. Water from the tap. Pretty cool huh? Too bad I learned that a little too late. Ok back on topic. So I wanted to do some souvenir shopping, but all they really had was these ugly t-shirt that say Italia on it, and I know no one would wear it. Anyhow after that I went back to the Trevi Fountain and took yes more pictures then went to this gelati place that our tour manager Natalie recommended...and boy was it good. After that I did a little bit more shopping then it was back to the hotel to get ready for our farewell dinner. We left the hotel around 7ish and Pino our driver took us to the restaurant. The food was ok, but the wine was so bad no one drank it. It tasted like sparkling grape juice with a sour after taste...it was nasty. After dinner we got back to the hotel and sat around and talked for a little bit. I ended up going to bed around 12 because I had a 5am wake up call. The shuttle picked 6 of us (the ones that had early flights) at 6 and we got dropped off at the airport. I knew I had to go to the domestic terminal but he dropped me off at the international one(no tip for him) so I made my way back to terminal one. Here is the best story.....I got in the "domestic check-in" line and this guy comes up to me and asks me where I'm going and I said Athens he was like you have to go over two partitions and check in there...so I went over there and waited in line at the "domestic check-in" counter..this time the lady said I was in the wrong place. I was like I have been waiting here and some guy told me that I have to come here to check in...she was like nooo this isn't the place, you have to go over there(she pointed across the way to the next Alitalia check in counter.) So I went over there and got this guy....He checked me in but my luggage was overweight by 10klg. He gave me 5kg's for free....how nice. So he told me that my boarding pass has been printed but I need to go to the desk two rows back and pay, then come back and bring him my luggage then he would give me my boarding pass and take my luggage. Soooo I go over 2 rows, the lady says nooo this isn't the place to pay for that so you have to go back that way(pointed to where I just was) I finally found this really nice lady to help me, and I had to pay 60E for my bag. Yikes!!!! After that was all figured out I went to the gate and waited for the plane then landed here about 12:15pm. I was proud of myself because I took public transportation all the way here. I followed the signs that said trains and went. So I was the next one in line at the metro ticket counter and this guy comes running up and goes to the next ticket agent and get a ticket. I was like "I wasn't in line or anything." So he got his ticket then I got mine and went to wait. I had no idea what time the next train left. So I was waiting there for the train that that guy that cut in front of me comes up and apologizes because he was in a hurry. Then he tells me that he just missed the train (i see it driving away) In my head I was like HA HA that sucks for you, but I didn't say anything. Well like 5 min later another metro train comes up and we wait a bit then leave. I got the the Syndagmatos metro station then had no clue where to go. I just followed everyone else up the esclators...Then to this one street then got out my handy map of the city and the hotel is listed on the map, so it only took me 10 min to walk here, not bad. So to get from the airport to this hotel only costs me 4E. There is a dry cleaning place next door so I just took some of my things there to get cleanded, cause I haven't done any wash, and I need some clean clothes for the next week. I'm going to wait for a few of my other tour mates who did the Italy trip and are also doing the cruise, and we will probably grab some dinner or something. I also have to plan my day tomorrow. Ok well that was my day today.....exciting huh?

Until tomorrow....