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September 12, 2013 I found Giovanna baking in the sun like the lizards on the wall behind her.  A heliotropic flower, her face turned sunward.“You want to photograph me?”
 “Ma perche?” (She pronounced it pee-kay, like Sicilians do.)
Born and raised right here. In this very spot. An entire life in a sleepy stone town, never stepping off the isle she calls home. *** September 1, 2013 I was in Sortino, “Città del Miele”, prowling the streets for a jar of wild-thyme honey.
And there was Gino Cavallero, poking his head out the door. We got to chatting. Turns out he was on the crew of the Irminio Bridge near Modica, the highest bridge in Sicily. I often drive to Modica on little back roads and see his bridge. I wasn’t sure I liked it–modern things in Sicily don’t usually impress–but now I think of Gino and his sweet smile and two years of hard labor whenever I see it. For me it’s “Gino’s Bridge.”
The central pier is 144 meters, he tells me. He went up and down it in a cable car. No, he didn’t have vertigo, not like some of the other men, who were afraid to work that high up. It didn’t bother him. A metal worker, he welded stuff together, from what I could gather, and worked on the bridge for 2 years. He is very humble. “My part wasn’t important; we were a team.” But from the gleam in his eye, I know he’s also proud.
Click to subscribe to BaroqueSicily. ****** If you go to Sortino, don’t miss the cathedral!
August 23, 2013 Omne trium perfectum. Three is a perfect number. Are they awaiting 3 surprise guests? Is it Sicilian Theater of the Absurd?  A church in Scicli, in Southeast Sicily. August 14, 2013 The hungry Sicilian sun gnaws at my doors, chewing them to pieces.
Who do I call? My pair of painters: Graziano and Giovanni. (Not only do they paint, they correct my pronunciation! Thanks guys!)
Sicily is a group society. People stick like glue. Plumbers work in pairs. Police work in pairs. Painters work in pairs. Of course no one in Sicily is working NOW: it’s August! Are you working now, dear Reader, or lolling on some beach like a Sicilian? *** PS Happy Ferragosto!
August 1, 2013 In Sicily, you wouldn’t dare touch the veggies yourself.* (Hands off!)
You have to ASK for each thing. So before you travel here, you may want to learn a word or two. Here’s a little Italian lesson: Can you find these foods in the picture below?: pomodori, lattuga, pere, mele, peperoni rossi, cavolfiore, arance, finocchio, asparagi, melanzane.
Want to learn to pronounce them? Click here for a list of fruits and veggies in Italian, along with audio pronunciation. *** *Except in a supermarket, but even then you’d better put on plastic gloves! *** |
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