Sister City Ambassador to give Key to San Juan Capistrano to Capestrano, Italy and facilitate cultural exchange with students from opposite ends of the globe

Students from San Juan Capistrano and Capestrano, Italy will soon learn about each other's culture and in a new Skype/pen pal program designed to enrich and educate the students from opposite sides of the globe. The Italian village will also receive a "Key" to San Juan Capistrano. The program - and trip to Italy to hand off the Key to San Juan Capistrano - is being facilitated by Vicky Carabini, who was recognized as the City's official "ambasciatrice" to San Juan Capistrano's Sister City group in 2007.

Carabini, who speaks Italian, has helped to further strengthen the relationship between the sister cities that was established more than a decade ago by encouraging Italian participation in several San Juan Capistrano Sister City events and promoting cultural and educational exchange. This summer she was contacted by a Mission Parish School parent interested in immersing the students in a more international view, history and culture of their Sister City.

Capestrano (Abruzzi, Italy) - located about 70 miles from Rome - is a small medieval town in the province of L'Aquila in the foothills of the Gran Sasso National Park. Capestrano is a city within the Abruzzo region where Carabini's family is from. It is the birthplace of San Giovanni da Capestrano, or St. John of Capestrano - San Juan Capistrano in Spanish. San Giovanni da Capestrano is the patron saint and Italian inquisitor for whom the Mission is named.

To enrich the students' cultural and educational journey, Carabini invited them to attend the City Council meeting where she was presented the Key to San Juan Capistrano and a proclamation proclaiming October as Italian American Heritage Month. Along with the Key, Carabini asked the kids to make her something she could give to the Italian students.

"The students came up with the idea of beading rosaries, which were blessed at the Mission, for me to present along with the Key to the City to our Sister City officials and students," she said. Carabini presented the Key to San Juan Capistrano and rosaries to Capestrano officials and students on October 23. "Our students and theirs will start the Skype/pen pal program and our kids will teach them about the American culture while they teach us about the Italian culture," she said.

"This really is exciting and it has always been one of the goals of our Sister City program to expand not only the cultural exchange between our two cities but the educational exchange as well."

Kelly Tokarski