However, Toronto, Canada, presents a different and challenging reality for a Mediterranean: prejudice towards Italians, a different climate, homesickness. To not succumb, Franco must roll up his sleeves and prove to himself that he can make it. He works as a cobbler, painter, becomes the owner of a shoe factory. Until bankruptcy. It is in that moment, when all seems lost, that a providential encounter teaches him that there is a second chance for everyone, as long as one knows how to seize it. Today, Franco defines himself as a “true Materan,” who, despite living thousands of kilometers away from his birthplace, continues to speak the Materan dialect and maintain a strong connection with his homeland. And to not lose that bond, “you must hold the dialect tightly within you.”