The Journey to Reggio

As a brief introduction, my name is Mike Marmo. I played baseball at Quinnipiac University, a small division 1 school in the Northeast Conference. I was given the honor of being the starting catcher for 3 years. After my college career was over, I soon came to realize that all those years of baseball had come to an end. Although it saddened me, I figured I had a great run and it was time to enter the real world.

I went about entering the real world by working for a company as a temporary employee. The more and more I did data entry, the more I realized I wasn't happy. I loved baseball, and missed it greatly. Knowing I wasn't going to make it in the US, I looked elsewhere. In an ambitious mood, I emailed all the teams in the Italian Baseball league. To sum up the semantics of it all, Reggio Baseball said they would sign me if I got my duel citizenship. With the help of my cousin, I got into the consulate just in time and got my italian passport.

That leads us to yesterday. After getting dropped off by my grandmother, I stood on-line at JFK waiting to check in to Air Europa. Throughout this whole process, everybody asked me if I was nervous. I thought about it long and hard, and for some reason I wasn't and couldn't figure out why. 5 months in another country should make you nervous. Anyway, after a long 6 hour flight to Madrid, and 2 hour layover, and a 3 hours flight to Milan, I had finally made it to Italy. I had left at 9:30 pm Wed to arrive in Italy at 6 pm Thursday.

I walked out the doors and was greeted by a man holding a sign with my name and Reggio baseball on it. He was an old man, decently tall, and didn't speak a word of english. When he did talk, he sounded like the cookie monster. He tried to converse with me while we took the hour drive in his Mercedes from Milan to Reggio. It didn't work out, and we sat in silence for the remainder of the ride.

As we drove, I looked around and realized there was nothing but farm land and large industrial buildings. I found it amazing how the two were mingled together like they belonged. I was waiting patiently to enter Reggio Emilia. As we got closer, I could see the city building, with more and more going on as we drove. Just like that, we drove down this narrow road and were suddenly in the middle of this beautiful city. While driving on the cobblestone roads, the driver honked at people riding there bikes and walking in the streets. After a quick drive through the city, he took me to the field.

After a crazy long journey, I arrived at the field. I took my stuff out and was greeted by the president of the team, Graziella. She is an incredibly nice woman, and she introduced me to other members of the staff. She then asked me if I was ready to practice. Practice was about to start at 7:30 pm. Although tired, I said sure and pulled some clothes out of my bag. She then took me to the locker room to meet the guys.

Between the coaches and players, everybody was speaking Italian. I hadn't met my roomate yet, but I knew he didn't speak Italian either. I spotted him out and we immediately started conversing. I was introduced to everybody, forgetting there names right after they walked away. If I remember correctly, they were all named either Luca or Allesandro. Anyway, they were very nice and tried there best to speak with me. Practice began, and just like that I was starting my first day of my professional career.

Now I sit here in my apartment. It is relatively new, expect for the old furniture it contains. I will take pictures and post them eventually. It is a different lifestyle. There is no shower, just a bath with a mobile shower head. There is a washer, but no dryer. I had the washer on at the same time as some lights and whatnot, and the power instantaneously went out. It will take some getting used to but I am very excited for the journey.

I'll keep you posted. Goodnight.