The Opening of Our Lady of Hope Community
Ten years ago, on a day like today, February 17th (Feast of the 7 servants) six other
Italians from The Community and I came to the States to really begin our
first house in America. We came like the immigrants did in the early
part of the century with lots of luggage filled with cheese and pasta. The persons
that picked us up at the airport were Bishop Baker and Nancy P., and they are
still very much involved in our organization.
We did know much what to expect here in Florida, and for sure after that first night sleeping in our trailer (now our wood shop) we were pretty disappointed. The Farm was not looking very pretty in those days. It was a lot of uncleared land, three ugly classrooms, and a single-wide mobile home, used as kitchen, dining room, and office. The little chapel was in the back of the property where you could hear all the wild animals around it. All around the farm there were potato fields. On State Road 16, you could see 3 o 4 cars a day. And all the cleared property was really clear! I mean there were no trees at all, so the sun was beating on our hard heads.
We looked at each other
asking where we are. Our idea of Florida was the beaches, the flowers,
sunshine, etcetera. The first time we saw the ocean was 3 months later!
My first job was the kitchen, and I remember seeing our cabinets full of cans, and I just opened a can and tried it. Also I was answering the phone without knowing much English and I did not understand the Florida accent at all. The main house was under construction and we had workers on the property, so for sure it was a very big challenge. All of us were struggling with the language, and the way things were done here. I had never seen the construction of a frame house, and we were all afraid it would collapse later. Also nobody understood our way of working by hands, telling us to use the machines for everything. There was a very big conflict of mentality.