Giaquinto: Already Fifth

My experience in Italian culture began the day I was born. Giaquinto translates to "already fifth"— and I was the fifth male child in the family, born on the fifth of May. Needless to say, five is my lucky number. I was always interested in art and very close with my Italian family, mainly my grandparents, from listening to them speak and learning the family dynamics around the dining table.

I traveled to Italy for the first time in 2015, an Italian art history tour on my own for two weeks in Florence and Rome. I also met for the first time my second cousin and his family in Rome. In 2017 there was a family wedding in Caserta, about 25 miles north of Naples. This trip was three weeks of traveling, seeing art, and meeting more of the Giaquinto family. The Italian culture and my family made me more aware of what has inspired me over the years: art, studying, and making, and then family and food. It is a perfect life.