Palo Alto, October 26, 2024 – It’s just the beginning of a long journey, the first of many articles and insights. I still have so much to see, discover and learn about, but in the meantime let’s start with the pilot episode. A few days ago I set foot in the United States of America, where I will remain for a year. The dream of a lifetime that, almost by chance, came true. After more than a day of waiting between flights, stopovers and waiting at customs, I landed at the international airport of San Franciscobefore moving to the nearby one Palo Altowhere I will remain for a year. California’s Silicon Valleyfor the next 350-odd days, will be my home. And I will try to make the readers feel involved too, taking them with me on this long journey.
Trump-Harris, America at the crossroads
Before starting with the actual story, let’s start with a premise: This is not a time like any other in America. On November 5th (which is just around the corner), the most powerful country in the world and driving force of the West (despite, at least in Italy, a strong sense of anti-Americanism raging, often out of fashion) he will be asked to choose between the return of Donald Trump and the “novelty” (not too much) Kamala Harris, potentially the first female president of the United States. And you understand it as soon as you take a walk around: in the gardens of almost all the houses, there are real electoral posters praising one of the 2. I see it with my own eyes, every time I walk down the street. An unimaginable thing for us Italians and Europeans, who no longer even go to vote.
In California almost everyone will vote for Kamalahaving always been a liberal and left-wing state. But speaking to some people on the other side of the country, like Florida, the support is very high in favor of the former tycoon. And this shows you how talking about “America” is perhaps wrong: we need to talk about Americas, in the plural.
Palo Alto, the technology center
Let’s start from California and precisely from Palo Alto, where I currently live. It is a city little known to most people, yet it is the technological center of the country and therefore of the West. Here there are the headquarters of Facebook, Linkedin, Tesla, but also the Amazon search engine. And I have only mentioned the most important ones, I could make a very long list. Just to say: he lives here Marc Zuckenbergone of the richest and most influential men in the world. It is a rich, very rich area: according to the data, an average income well over 100 thousand dollarsthe year. Maybe that’s why people here are always cheerful: salaries and entrepreneurial income beyond our logic allow it.
To all this, we add the weather factor: as in almost all of California, in Palo Alto it’s spring all year round. Except for the big managers or workers in particular sectors, everyone walks around in shorts and a t-shirt. In this respect – at least for me – it is heaven on Earth.
The cultural shock is felt immediately. The roads, compared to Italian and European ones in general, are enormous. There are no alleys or narrow streets, but only narrow streets that connect one city to another. There is parking everywhere, there is no fear of never finding a place for your car (personally, it’s my favorite thing). The traffic? From fact does not exist, except in large cities such as New York or Los Angeles (still “gentle” traffic, given that almost everyone drives automatic cars, while in Italy manual ones are still in vogue). In short, forget about the fascinating hidden streets of Rome and the pedestrian areas, but also about the hours wasted looking for a hole to put the car in or in the midst of the dramatic Roman traffic.
Unfortunately, junk food is also huge. I assure you: it’s not a cliché, Americans eat terribly. But not because they actually want to do it (who would ever want to?), but because the natives don’t know any other cuisine other than their own (terrible one). If it weren’t for the many foreign communities present – including the Italian one, very numerous in California and beyond – It would be a real drama. We are not at drastic levels, also because Americans are used to doing workouts, but I still give some advice (unsolicited, but certainly useful): if you ever get here, do everything you can to maintain your good eating habits.
Speaking of previously mentioned foreign communities, the multiculturalism that persists is incredible. The Asians are especially popular: Chinese, Japanese, South Koreans, Taiwanese. Young and old who crossed the Pacific to seek their fortune in America, testifying to how the rivalry between the United States and China, it’s just a dispute between powerful people which however doesn’t find the slightest confirmation in reality (at least in the United States, I don’t know how the Chinese who live in China or in any case in Asia think about it). But here people are too busy thinking about their own well-being, rather than thinking about the arguments between Biden and Xi or whoever.
Americans love Italy (more than we do)
As soon as I tell someone I’m Italian, the person I’m talking to goes into a frenzy. They begin to ask me questions, to extol their love for Italy, to tell me about the trips they have taken to our country. They talk about Rome, Florence, Naples and their eyes become heart-shaped. Americans love Italy. In fact, I’ll go further: they think very highly of us, much more than we have ourselves. We are considered culinary geniuses (not much is needed here…), fathers of fashion, masters of the most beautiful language in the world, people capable of being appreciated by anyone. However, I think it is normal: anyone loves a country more than someone who lives that country every day and has to deal with all the problems. But I take the good of all this and reflect.
This, for now, is what I have experienced. But this is just a general smattering: the journey has just begun. And there will still be many stories to tell.
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I’m taking you with me to California
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