The View from Little Italy

It may be trite, but there is absolutely no option for me today but to write about Italy's World Cup win. You see, I live in Toronto's St. Clair West neighbourhood - the quintessential Little Italy. Yesterday, we had some Italian friends over from the burbs - Woodbridge, which is basically Little Italy north- to watch the game. Also, our neighbour CJ- who has deep roots in France- was there. My WASPy wife, me the Ukie, my rapidly-growing almost-2-year-old daughter and our friend Elana- an American-Canadian Jewish-Greek (long story) all ate prosciutto and Camembert, drank Dutch beer and broke bread while taking in the final showdown. After the winning goal, we ran out to the porch to hear the tidal wave of roars originating on the Corso Italia pour down St. Clair, through the neighbourhoods of Italians, Jamaicans, South Americans, Portuguese and everyone else under the sun. In minutes, the entire area erupted into a deafening din which sustained itself well into the night from that moment on.

We had to get out there, so we waded through the swarming masses of ecstatic Tri-Colore adorned revellers -- many of whom were likely not Italian either. The pure joy emanating from these hundreds of thousands was contagious. And the event was as conspicuous for its festivity as it it was for what didn't happen. There was no violence. No lawlessness. No injury.

But the day didn't end for us there. We then subwayed ourselves down to Queen's Park, because despite the celebrations in our hood, we couldn't miss checking out one of our favourite summer cultural festivals, AfroFest. Within minutes, we were enveloped by thousands who came to experience African music, food and culture. After a while we were drawn back to the happy insanity that continued to grow in our absence only a few stops away.

Even though I'm not Italian, I felt immense pride in my heart yesterday. I even felt sentimental. Some might ask "Why would you care? You're just a mange cake". To those I would say this: What happened in this city yesterday exemplified the best that Toronto has to offer. The beer buzz, the people and the warm blanket of an inclusive community all made me realize I would not want to be living anywhere else on this globe. It also made me think how happy I am to know that my daughter will have the rich, unique and priceless advantage of growing up in the most omni-cultural city on the face of the earth.

Viva Italia! Vive le Canada!