I am Vicente Roberto Carolei, but they call me “el Tano” Carolei.
“Tano” is the most common colloquial word in Argentina to distinguish those who have a notoriously Italian surname. Some say it comes from the apocope of “napolitano”, others say that when immigrants arrived in the country and were asked where they came from, they answered: “di lon-tano”, and so they began to call them “los tanos”.
My Calabrian family
“You are a Calabrese born in Argentina.”
This is how my cousin Armando defined me, when we were walking together through the village of San Giacomo di Cerzeto, in the province of Cosenza, Calabria. With this simple sentence, he clarified the problem of my identity that had accompanied me since childhood.
Yes, I am a Calabrese born in Argentina, and I came into the world two years after my parents arrived in this country from Italy. I grew up in a house where they spoke Calabrese, cooked and ate Calabrese food. They followed the traditions and professed the faith of their places of origin.
The origins
From this awareness was born the desire to reconstruct the origins of my family.
I am the son of Evelina Arnone and Biagio Carolei. Both came from families with deep roots in Calabria. My mother Evelina, daughter of Pietro Arnone and Mariangela Cascardo, was born in San Giacomo, a small village of 500 inhabitants, a hamlet of the municipality of Cerzeto (Cosenza). My father Biagio, son of Vincenzo Carolei and Domenica Lanzillotta, was originally from the municipality of Torano Castello, 34 km north of Cosenza, a town of about 4.800 inhabitants located 350 meters above sea level.
My parents' childhood
Evelina and Biagio lived a few kilometers apart, separated only by winding paths, surrounded by wild chestnut trees and olive trees. Their families cultivated neighboring fields and helped each other with farm work, especially in summer for the wheat harvest and in winter for the pig slaughter.
They had known each other since they were children: they went together to fetch water from the fountain, to collect mushrooms and firewood, they met in church on Sundays and during the many village festivals.
Love and War
They lived together the horrors of the Second World War. Biagio was drafted.
After the war, in love, they decided to get married on October 24, 1948 in the Church of San Biagio in Torano Castello. Biagio was 23, Evelina 21.
Emigration
In those years, young people from Southern Italy were destined to emigrate. The reasons were many: the fear of a new war, poverty, the hard life in small towns. Biagio, at 25, took his cardboard suitcase and boarded a ship full of farmers in search of a better life.
Evelina, five months pregnant, remained in Italy awaiting the birth of their first daughter, Rosa.
Biagio, arriving in Argentina, faced poverty, discrimination and cultural isolation. But with sacrifice and a desire to learn, he found a job and soon managed to bring his wife and daughter. It was 1951 when Evelina and little Rosa landed in Buenos Aires, after a long and tiring journey.
The first Argentine house
They settled in Lomas de Zamora, in a small rented house, near the train station.
Two years later I was born, little Vincenzo Roberto, the first Argentine in the family. A year later, my father and my uncle Giuseppe (who emigrated after him) bought a plot of land and built two twin houses in Temperley, thanks to a plan supported by the government.
Calabrian culture
I grew up in a house where Calabrian traditions were strong. Even though I adapted to Argentine life, the original culture remained dominant: values, customs, language and food were those of home.
Multiculturalism:
Temperley was a true reflection of Argentine society of the time: Italians, Spanish, Germans, Poles, Portuguese, French, Russians.
But there was something that set us apart: our gardens. We grew lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, basil, eggplants. We had figs, vines, peach trees, chicken coops. The whole family participated: we shared the harvest with the neighbors.
The culture of work
My father, known in Argentina as “Don Blas,” was a mechanic, a shoemaker, a bricklayer, and he sold shoes. My mother, in addition to household chores, cultivated the garden, helped the neighbors, learned Italian to help us with our homework, and sewed our clothes.
The family bond was very strong. Everyone helped each other: brothers, cousins, villagers. They set up joint businesses, united by the culture of work, saving, solidarity.
Family Traditions
Every occasion was good to be together: baptisms, birthdays, weddings, Christmas, Easter, New Year's Eve, Epiphany.
In February, the sauce was prepared for the whole year. The women cut the tomatoes, bottled them and boiled them in pots. A real family ceremony.
In July the pig was killed. Sausages, soppressata, capocollo, cicoli, hams were prepared. Nothing was wasted.
Every year wine was made. The grapes were pressed even barefoot by children. Wine was a source of pride.
Building the roof of a house was a collective event: men worked, women cooked for everyone. At the end, there was a celebration.
On Sundays, pasta was made by hand, we played tressette or bocce, we ate all together. The women showed off their specialties: pittuli, scalidri, turdiddri, homemade bread, cannoli.
Italian emigration told in first person
This is not just my story, it is the story of all the Italian immigrants who built this country.
With their commitment and sacrifices they have allowed us, their children, to grow up integrated into a new society, without losing our roots.
After more than thirty years of commitment to the Italian community in Argentina, I feel the duty to continue spreading Italian popular culture among the new generations. Not only to keep the memory alive, but also to promote cultural, working, scientific and artistic relations between Argentina and Italy.
Aunt Belle Cose!
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