Mr. Del Maestro

The person that I interviewed is the neighbour of my grandparents living in Montreal-Nord. I know him ever since I can remember. Mr. Del Maestro is the stereotype of the old Italian guy, complaining  all the time, talking loudly with a thick accent and lots of gestures. Last week I called my grandparents to get his phone number and to inform him that I would call. Even if time caught up with him (he's 91 now) and is often confused, he seemed very happy to talk to me again, since he saw me growing up.

He told me that he left Ladispoli, in Italy after World War II with his wife and moved to Montreal-Nord in 1953 and he has been neighbour with my grandparents ever since. They chose Montreal because many other Italians had already moved there. He worked very hard his entire life in the construction industry like many other Italians. They found it hard at first to get used to our American lifestyle and they often had the nostalgia of the Mediterranean way of life, were they lived from fishing and their garden, everyone of their village sharing everything and coming over for supper. The air was very different, ''it's very stinky in Canada, I miss the smell of the sea and gardens'', he told me. As for our food, he ain't a big fan. He told me that everything was flavourless, and fortunately there was the Petit Italie in Montreal where he could buy decent food. Then he ranted over almost everything, the weather, the government, prices, today's youth and the new priest for the parish in a strange French-Italian dialect. After a while he told me that despite all this he was happy here. The Quebecois are ''bon vivants'' and the life along other retired persons what nice, he could give time to his flower and squabble over the news with my grandfather on the balcony.

Before he had to hang up he told me that he appreciated that, like in Italy, the family was very important to us, then he thanked me for the call I made the promise that I would come see his flowers next time I go back to Montreal.