Giovanni Batista Ramundo Analysis

Giovanni Batista Ramundo is a father, grandfather, uncle, and brother. He was born in 1940 in Calabria, Italy. While living in Italy, he lived in a small farm home. The region was unwealthy at the time, and they were just barely getting by financially. The home was a cozy man-made barn with tiles painted by his mother as flooring. There were 4 crammed bedrooms and a small farm to raise livestock and vegetables. In the bedrooms, the beds and furniture were made out of sturdy plants and wood. Because the barn was man-made and slightly unstable, there would often be leaks in the ceiling and holes overlooking the floor below. His home sat outside the main village, with a bird’s eye view of the ocean on the mountainside. While it was a beautiful …show more content…
His uncle and siblings had already migrated to Cincinnati. Therefor, he followed. The pull factors to the United States were economic stability, closeness to family, and educational opportunities. The downside to leaving Italy was vacating the home and farm they had worked hard to build and tend. The biggest struggle of moving to Cincinnati for him was difficulty in learning the English language. It took a decent period of time for Giovanni to understand Cincinnati natives. Giovanni says he didn’t feel much discrimination, just that people would lose interest in conversing with him because he didn’t understand English extremely well. He confessed that he still counts in Italian today, and sometimes he will accidentally slip Italian words in English sentences. Aside from that, he primarily speaks the English language now, with the exception of family gatherings. However, he did have some misconceptions about America. While this new life provided economic stability, money didn’t grow on trees. He said that many people expect to make money without work when coming to the United States and given a Visa. He learned quickly that he still needed to have a job. He picked up his first occupation as a shoe shiner, and later became a barber. He claims that the work is easier and for more money than what he made in Italy. He is thankful that he could still provide for himself without a secondary …show more content…
Therefor, his move was a voluntary migration. He also moved from one country to another, making it an International migration. Most long-distance migrants are male adults traveling for economic reasons. Giovanni Ramundo fits this mold. It is also common for international migrants to move into urban centers. Cincinnati is a large-ish city in America with many business platforms. It was a perfect, non-overcrowded fit for him and his uncles to move to. Because he moved from a small farm home, it was a rural to urban relocation. While people may not think of many Italians moving from Italy to the United States, Giovanni was one of the 5.4 million people who did in the 20th