Hello Maryann

I do live here permanently yes. My town is called Sant Eusanio Del Sangro in Chieti....it is about 30 mins from the beach and 1 hour from the mountains....it is a very beautiful little town where everybody is friendly and will do anything to help you, we love it...we have 2 children (Kieran, 9 & Nathan 7) and they also love it.
Sounds like you have done your homework on your ancestry, we don't have any Italian relatives.
We fit in really well as we are very laid back, which is a must for the Italian life style.....
We have been accepted into the community by everyone, even the really old villagers.
For us Calabria didn't have the job prospects we were looking for, the properties were good and the areas were beautiful, but as we are only in our late 30's we still wanted to work and not retire fully at such a young age. We are doing well out here, we have 2 businesses now, one which maintains holiday homes and the other is a property devolpment company catering for the holiday market. Calabria is more of a holiday destination for us rather than a place to work and raise our children.
Hope this answers some of your questions???
I look forward to speaking to you again soon.
Jane