Chapters

• Leaving the Country
  The moment of decision and separation: documents, preparations, the journey and the first moments abroad.
• The Purgatory of Emigration
  Arrival in Rome, the closing of the gateway at Latina, the Di Rienzo boarding house, Caritas and the submission of the application to emigrate to the United States.
• First Attempts to Organize a New Life
  HIAS, Joint, Anca’s help, the meeting with Alessandro Panella and the Burberry trench coat — the first attempts to turn the temporary stay in Rome into a possible path forward.
• Rome in Waiting
  Santa Maria Maggiore, the Orange Garden, San Giovanni in Laterano and unexpected encounters on the streets of Rome.
• Sirio’s House
  A transitional stage in Rome in 1989, between the precariousness of emigration and the first signs of a possible life.
• Giovanni M. and the Residence Permit
  A former police commissioner, my uncertain Italian, the urgent problem of legal residence and the first discussion about a possible information-technology company.
• Academic Adventures in Italy
  Attempts to enter Italian academic life, a humiliating “Fuori, fuori!”, the meeting with Corrado Böhm and the recognition of my degree.
• The First Job
  The first courses I taught in Italy, at EUR Microcomputer and in the Rebibbia area, and my gradual return to professional activity.
• Datamat: The Phone Call That Never Came
  A promising meeting with one of Italy’s major information-technology companies and a wait that remained unanswered.
• My First Professional Steps
  An overview of my entry into Italian professional life: EUR Microcomputer, the Rebibbia project, the beginnings of EUROTRONIC, my reunion with several former students and the transition from selling computers to developing software.
• America Deferred: The Interview at the U.S. Consulate
  The interview at the United States Consulate in Rome in February 1990 closed the road to America and transformed Italy from a place of waiting into a possible place to build a life.
• The Road to Brasimone
  Work on the surveillance and alarm system at the ENEA Research Centre, a program written in Pascal under OS/2, the journeys with Nando through the Emilian Apennines and the rediscovery of my profession in a new setting.
• The Professor Companies Began to Seek Out
  From my first courses in Italian and the collaboration with Roberto Galanti to Datamat, Telespazio and the building of a network of professional collaborations.

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