Two Romans

Last February (or was it March??? … well, it was sometime during Lent), I met Emanuele Pelliccia and Francesco Serafini -- two Roman boys who were finishing high school and looking for an experience of volunteer service for the summer. I was able to hook them up with the youth center in Boyle Heights, and they have just spent four weeks helping at the Salesian Family Youth Center near St Mary's.

Last week they participated in the youth leadership days sponsored for the youth and young adults of the province, and now they are here in Berkeley, along with four German young people who have also been doing volunteer service at the Salesian Family Youth Center.

Of course, in the aftermath of the World Cup, the German youths were not too happy to have to spend the summer with Italians. And, from what I've picked up, Emanuele and Francesco have been able to capture the hearts of the kids at the center with their Roman love for life and their "let's-try-anything" attitude. These two spontaneous Italians offered a stark contrast to the very serious, northern German (from Essen) volunteers who seem to do everything with precision and purpose. (When I was told this by those from the Youth Center, who seem so surprised at the cultural differences, I laughed so hard it took me a couple of minutes to stop. It was all so typical, and it seems the folks from Boyle Heights learned more about cultural differences than the volunteers in certain respects this summer!)

This evening after dinner I took them down to the Berkeley Pier and then to Caesar Chavez Park for a walk and talk, and to see the terrain. They'll remain here for the week, for there are some friends that they have met in Boyle Heights who are students at USF, so they can tour the city and do youth-oriented activities after four strenuous weeks at the oratory. Hopefully these two young Romans will also enjoy youthful California.