FIRENZE VIA ALAMANNI
Proximity and integration
the Post Office
has a human face
Big city train stations are often characterless places of modernity. They are spaces where one’s identity is watered down by branding in shopping and fast food areas. Nevertheless, in Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station, the Via Luigi Alamanni Post Office is a special place where the frenetic world we live in comes to a pause, loses its homogeneousness and anonymity, and revisits the human side of life. In addition to Italian, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic are frequently spoken here by four multilingual employees.
“85% of the customers are foreigners who share the location of this particular branch through word of mouth,” says manager Giulio Conte. The most sought-after services are assistance with permanent residency permits and Postepay cards. “Postepay Evolution is the most common one because it allows international transactions,” explains the manager. For those who have long-term plans to remain in Italy and have therefore bought a house and have a mortgage; many of them choose products such as the Da Grande policy, dedicated specifically to children. The manager adds that “our work is primarily to educate people on how to play by the rules in our country.” The presence of a consultant able to speak Italian and English, in addition to their native languages (French and Arabic), is of particular importance. Abramo Zarra, 39, born in Morocco, has lived in Italy for more than 20 years and is now an Italian citizen. Abramo has appointments with 15-20 customers from ten different countries every day and now he needs a bigger working place: “Sometimes I meet with regular clients whose families have expanded so we have to create a larger space to welcome them.”
At the Post Office, Irma Rodas Perez (originally from Peru, living in Florence for nine years) is in the queue while her 3-year old daughter, Benedetta, plays. “I am friends with some of the young women who work here,” says Irma, who is assisted by Esmeralda Marku, 32, from Shkodër, in Albania. But she lived in Florence for 14 years and she speaks with a Tuscan accent. Every day at the Alamanni Post Office branch, new bridges connect different cultures and bring barriers down. There is also an Italian lady who always comes to this particular branch and who “sees hope in this multi-cultural environment. If an 88-year-old woman can make these observations, it means there is hope for the whole community.”
