| Home Page
About Page
What's New Page
Reunion Photo Page
Careatti Photo Page
Galie Photo Page
Girolami Photo Page
Contact Page
Guest Book Page
Favorite Links
|
|
Connections to Careatti family bring women together
Connections to Careatti family bring women together
Photo Gallery
e Kristin Schultz and Mimi Girolami
By Dorothy Yagodich
FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, August 31, 2003
Italian culture fascinates Kristin Schultz. Mimi Girolami has an Italian name through marriage but her roots are in Korea.
The pair crossed paths once again at the 56th annual get-together that traces five generations, with ties to the Careatti family, who once lived in the village of Warner in Fallowfield Township. At the event, the two enjoyed games and learned more about the Careatti family.
Schultz is the granddaughter of the late Milio Careatti and Margaret Careatti Vandiver. Schultz is also a step-grandchild to the Rev. Elwood Vandiver, widely known for his visits to patients at Monongahela Valley Hospital in Carroll Township.
Schultz, daughter of Robert and Maret Careatti Schultz, of Haverstown, just outside of Philadelphia, is a third-year student at Penn State University. When the opportunity for a seven-week study tour in Italy surfaced, Schultz joined the nutrition and human development group to study Italian architecture and how it affected life and human development, in marriage in the Italian family and child development in Italy.
"I was always interested in going to Italy. I took three years of Italian in high school and also a child- development course," Schultz said. Her high school and university studies blended with the Italian trip.
Staying in Rome, "my favorite city because of all the hustle and bustle," Schultz also visited Venice, Florence, Tuscany and parts of southern Italy. "Everything is so old, medieval buildings, cobblestone roads, and tiny cars and dogs."
"The countryside looks like central Pennsylvania. It was like driving back to school at University Park," Schultz said. In Tuscany, she noticed "olive fields and grape vineyards."
When Schultz went to Ascoli Picen, where some of her distant relatives live, she found a medieval hill town but no relatives. They were away at the time of her visit. "But it was neat to think that my ancestors came from here, where I was standing."
Back in Rome, one of 17 women and two men in the study program, Schultz lived in an apartment. She noted that Italian pasta is undercooked by our standards. "Ever since I got back, every pasta here tastes overcooked."
As for studies about Italian life, "Kids are kids anywhere." Schultz found more traditional gender roles in Italy than here. "Girls don't play contact sports in school."
Schultz plans on going to graduate school at the University of Delaware. She will graduate from Penn State in 2004, in just three years of study by averaging 19 credits a semester and taking summer courses. She wants to study for a master's degree in psychology and teaching, with a vision of opening a preschool for children ages 3 through 5.
The Montessori method is her choice for teaching children "as opposed to traditional learning." It makes kids feel like they have control, with freedom and responsibility, she explained.
In another story with family ties, love bloomed 24 years ago in Korea. Albert Girolami, a great-nephew of Rosa Girolami Careatti, fell in love at first sight with a 20-something Korean girl from the Han family.
"I knew the moment I saw her, she was the one." Albert was in the military, a member of the U.S. Air Force serving in Seoul. "It took her a little while," he said.
But Mimi found, "he was such a gentleman, soft-hearted, kind, like my daddy. I just like him."
Six months after they met, Albert and Mimi walked through government offices, signing papers. They exchanged wedding rings, and walked out the door.
"Are we married?" Albert asked. Mimi said they were, and they have been together ever since.
When she became an American citizen 20 years ago, she became Mimi Girolami, discarding her Korean name.
Today, the couple resides in McKees Rocks and maintains a farm home in Hibbs, Fayette County.
She works in women's fashions at Eastern Wigs on Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh.
Recently, the couple was in Masontown buying supplies for their Hibbs home. Girolami said he noticed a woman approached, shouting "Mimi, Mimi," and began hugging her. "She's one of my customers," Mimi Girolami said.
"Imagine, we're 63 miles from Pittsburgh and someone recognizes her here," her husband joked.
Mimi Girolami loves her work and her customers. But most of all, she loves Albert and America. "I wouldn't go back."
Albert Girolami said of Korea, "It is a male-dominated society." Though his wife's parents are both deceased, she has a sister and brother in Korea and two sisters in the state of California.
She speaks Korean, Japanese, Chinese, English and a bit of Spanish.
She still maintains many Oriental ways. Shoes are left outside the door and though Albert smokes, "I smoke outside."
Mimi Girolami rises at 5:30 am. and makes her husband coffee and toast while he showers. "She pours two cups of coffee so it is cool enough for me to drink," he said. Then her husband is off to work at Draeger Safety in Findlay Township by Pittsburgh International Airport. The privately-held German company makes breathing apparatus for firefighters, underwater safety gear for Navy SEALS, gas-detection units and other safety equipment.
When Albert Girolami finishes his day at Draeger, his wife is home from work and prepares dinner. She enjoys cooking and uses lots of garlic, onions, soy sauce, red and hot pepper, and red wine -- "good for the heart," she said.
Since her dad was an herb doctor in Korea, she believes in fresh foods and herbs. She cooks "American" too, spaghetti and other Italian food, pork chops, and steak.
She does all the housework, laundry and ironing, and buys all of Albert's clothes. "I hate to shop," he said.His wife loves fashion.
She looks forward to March 9, 2004, when the couple will celebrate their silver anniversary. The couple plans a "big wedding" with a gown for Mimi, her California family of sisters, and her sister and brother from Korea. "We never had a real wedding," he said.
The couple eagerly anticipates the time when all the family will be together.
|
.
|
|
|
