Moving to Italy: Zio Silvio. Part 2.

The story of our move to Italy starts with "Arrival" on the June 26, 2017 blog post.

When we first arrived in Italy, my father-in-law told George he would have to partner with Zio Silvio. Marino had warned Silvio the previous year that George intended to work the farm. Since they knew Silvio didn’t have any other way to earn a living, Marino had no intention of turning him out. He was family. However, until Silvio’s rental agreement expired at the end of November, we could not work the fields, nor could we install any animals in the barn. Since we had arrived in May, we had a long wait.
We had fully expected that when we arrived, Zio Silvio would approach his brother and nephew with some kind of partnership deal. That didn’t happen. When the renewal came up, my father-in-law had to tell Silvio that, although he could live in the house, he must vacate the barn and the fields, and unless he could pay for the tractor, he must give it up. The only thing Silvio argued about was the tractor, but finally he agreed to relinquish it.  

James cycling in front of the tractor. (Matthew's ankles peeking out as he pets the dog.)

One of our biggest problems was that everyone in Italy seemed to equate living in America as becoming instantly rich. Zio Silvio never paid my father-in-law his rent because he thought Marino didn’t need it. When we arrived at Gabi, everyone seemed to assume that we had a huge stash of money from which we could draw if we needed to. We did have some savings, but barely enough to support us all for six months. I’m not sure what went on in the conversation with Zio Silvio, but I am sure that his hesitation in approaching George about a partnership was based on the belief that we were not serious, that when we saw how hard farming was, we would return to our rich and comfortable life in America.

My fantasy about Silvio being a kindly, innocent, older man who never thought much beyond the next day’s harvest was, of course, ridiculous. He may have been kind, but he was shrewd, and he had been playing for time. After the discussion with Marino, when he realized his livelihood was about to disappear, Silvio finally approached George with a partnership proposal. They would share the facilities, increase the livestock, and the two of them would rent and cultivate even more fields from surrounding farms. It seemed like a wonderful opportunity for them both, and they came to a financial understanding. 
 But it was never to be. In the end, Zio Silvio’s shrewdness won out.