Sunday, April 11, 2021

A Cool Breeze in Sicily

The cobblestone streets that once echoed sounds of strutting mules are now lined with  Fiats.  Satellite dishes accent rustic balconies like obese quotations marks. A nearby bakery emits tentacles  of aroma inviting you to come closer.    The mountains embracing this small Sicilian town, Ventimiglia, are too awesome to be captured by any camera....fodder for national anthems.


We just finished an incredible meal and needed to stretch our legs.  “Fascemu una caminata” (we’re going for a walk), I stated to our gracious host Ignacio.  He responded quickly, “a pedi ?”(on foot ?) as if this was such an unusual request.  He quickly pulled  keys out of his pocket stating “lets go by car”.  After some explaining, he finally conceded .   

Our cadence was brisk as we walked on this cool day .  As we approached the church in the center of town just steps from the house where my mother was born, we noticed an old man following us.  My children, being seasoned New Yorkers, increased their pace to distance themselves.  His pace increased as well and his cane started to drag along the pavement.  I smiled at my wife and we stopped.  The children drew closer as I began to speak.

“Bon Giorno”, I said to the man who stared at me in amazement.  He wore a cliché Sicilian cap and darkened Fellini-type lenses that partially covered a squinting right eye.  The wrinkles on his face spoke of years of hard work in the fields.  Sicilian farmers, un-affectionately called “veddani”, once tended the food resources that sustained great civilizations.

After a few moments of inspection, he said in a most certain manner, “ma yo ti canusciu”.    Now this is creepy, I thought.   This old man, meeting me for the first time, knows me!   He then stated emphatically “You have the eyes of an Attardo” .   After a brief conversation and exchange of pleasantries, I explained to my puzzled children that this man knew my grandfather, nonnu Ciro.  When I bid him farewell, I noticed his eyes were a bit glassy.  It could have been the cool breeze. Or it could have been the fleeting remembrance of an old friend he would never see again.  

From the piazza in front of the church I could see the house where my grandparents lived.  I remembered the photos from my parents wedding album and  I triangulated our position.  Without explanation, I suddenly felt an unexpected pang of nostalgia.  Perhap it was some form of prenatal memory that triggered an emotional connection.  We turned the corner and saw a street sign  “Via  Attardo Ciro” on the wall of a building.  My son called out “Dad, there’s a street with your name on it” and then snapped photos to document my celebrity.   
 
As a scientist I knew the bonds connecting my purines in a helical fashion were engineered in this town. This Sicilian DNA, my DNA, was replicated exactly with every cell division . How could these ancestral atoms, known to me so well on a cellular level, be unfamiliar to the emotional part of my brain !

My wife noticed my eyes were glassy.  Perhaps it was the cool breeze.
We started our walk back to our gracious hosts Frensi and Ignacio.   We smiled contemplating the assortment of desserts that awaited us. 

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Sicily Guide


This website is a good reference to check before a visit to Sicily.  I would also recommend a personal tour guide. Diana Mazza is one such person who is knowledgeable and well-spoken

http://www.thinksicily.com/guide-to-sicily.aspx

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

St. Joseph, Sfingi (zeppoli) and fava beans

In Sicily, where St. Joseph is regarded by many as their Patron Saint, thanks are given to St. Joseph ("San Giuseppe" in Italian) for preventing a famine in Sicily during the Middle Ages. According to legend, there was a severe drought at the time, and the people prayed for their patron saint to bring them rain. They promised that if he answered their prayers, they would prepare a large feast to honor him. The rain did come, and the people of Sicily prepared a large banquet for their patron saint. The fava bean was the crop which saved the population from starvation and is a traditional part of St. Joseph's Day altars and traditions. Giving food to the needy is a St. Joseph's Day custom. One food in particular is the zeppoli (or sfingi), a fried dough treat covered in sugar.

St Joseph, father of Jesus, is the icon for fatherhood.  March 19 is Father's Day in Italy and other European countries.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Sicilian-American Words

I discovered a Sicilian language annomaly when visiting Sicily. My father was speaking a language that was not Italian. It wasn't even Sicilian.  It was Sicilianese. What was even more interesting was that our relatives in Sicily understood him.

He would say words like Bruculino meaning Brooklyn or "Levamano" meaning nevermind. In my childhood I heard these expressions and thought they were Italian....or at least Sicilian. But what really surprised me was those living in Sicily used the same expressions. I guess there was enough dialogue exchange to blend some of these bastardized words back into the language. For example, a cousin would say "truvasti travaggiu n' Brucculinu. Comu ti pari u bossu nuovo" (Did you find work in Brooklyn? What do you think of your new boss"). Today I spoke with a Sicilian woman who was visiting her family in the US.  She also spoke Sicilianese.

Some words are derived simply by adding a vowel at the end as in "stoppa" for stop. Not specific to Sicilian derivatives are expression made popular by American media:  Boccigallu saying “wa sa matta u” in some tv sitcom. Neopolitan derivatives have a tendency to drop the last vowel as in “prosciut and other expressions heard in shows like the Sopranos. (entirely overdone and somewhat degrading. Try that with other cultures like the American Indians and see what happens).  Others have historical roots such as the word for bathroom, "bec cau su", originally from back house. And then others are a bit more complicated.  The words "salamagonia" and salamabicci" are " son of a gun" and son of a bitch" respectively.

I am posting a sample list of Sicilianese words.  Please feel free to include new words in your comments. I will add them to my post.

Truck- tru cu   
car- car ru
bus- bus su
boss- bos su
stove- stu fa
washing machine- wa schi ma chi na
dish washer - di sci wa sci
bathroom - bec cau su
bedroom - bed di ru mu
kitchen- chi cen ni
basement - ba sa men tu
bronx- bron chi si
brooklyn - bruc cu li no
orchard street - o ci stri ti
never mind - lev va ma nu
son of a bitch – sa la ma bic ci
son of a gun –sa la ma go gnia
gasoline – gasolina
check book – che ki boo cu

Friday, October 5, 2012

Etna

Etna_20100109_036_400



The bus groaned as it made hair-pin turns up the active volcano. Carcasses of spewed volcanic ash and stone along the gullies remind us of Etna's power.  I wondered how hot it would be at the top.  Is it possible to fall into the molten rivers that I've seen in so many pictures.  I looked across the aisle and felt reassured by the smiling octogenarians.  They didn't seem worried ; why should I!  I was expecting to see the smokey summit crater at every turn; the one I have been staring at from sea level for days. 



Then without much fanfare we stopped at a clearing.  It was our final destination, a gift shop. We went as far as we could go.  Wait, I want to see the top!  "How can you go shopping at a time like this", I said aloud. So I climbed down into one crater and waved at my fellow bus travelers.  Then I climbed to the rim of another. I grabbed fistfuls of volcanic pebbles and touched what was once the center of the earth.  I marveled at the sprinkling of flowers whose seeds survived the wrath of Zeus.  Climbing even higher, I was able to appreciate the effect of high altitude on pulmonary function.  It reminded me of mountain documentaries and my questions about why climbers walked so slowly when they approached the summit.  I looked at craters in the distance that became even more distant when I noticed the microscopic creatures were actually hikers.



It would take a tram ride and a 4 hr hike to reach a point where one can see the summit crater from a distance. Then I would need a geological permit to go any further.  Too bad, I sighed... the bus was leaving in twenty minutes. 

As we approached the hotel in Naxos I looked out the window.  There it was ; the triangular Etna in all its glory.  I grinned proudly thinking, ....I was there.




Saturday, September 29, 2012

Sicilian Breakfast

Just imagine walking down a narrow cobblestone street in Monreale, Sicily.  You can hear the church bells in the distance.  The air is crisp and the sun is shining.  As you turn the corner, the smell of fresh baked bread grabs your nostrils as if you were a cartoon character in the sixties.  Next to the bakery there is someone making a breakfast sandwich.  It's a chickpea patty placed in a warm roll.  The textures and buttery flavors blend to make the most wonderful breakfast that is unique to western Sicily (and maybe some areas of Brooklyn). Pane Panelle.
 

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Sicily: Our 51st State?

Salvatore Giuliano
FBI, CIA, Lucky Luciano, Salvatore Giuliano and General Patton are all players in this amazing story of how Sicily almost became our 51st State.  It starts at the beginning of WWll, just weeks after Pearl Harbor,  after a suspicious fire in the Brooklyn Navy Yard destroyed a merchant ship.. This spurred an effort to prevent sabotage by German spies who infiltrated the shipyards.  The CIA partnered with Lucky Luciano to investigate shipping personell and monitor suspicious activity.  In 1943, Patton went to Luciano for help with the invasion of Italy. Patton relied on Luciano's connections with Sicilian friends.


Landings and initial action.
Invasion of Sicily
Meanwhile, in Sicily, the leader of the Sicilian Independence Movement, Salvatore Giulano met with CIA and US Government officials to assist the US invasion of Europe from North Africa.  Giuliano, considered a Robin Hood like hero, objected to northern Italian exploitaion of Sicilian resources while Sicilian farmers starved.  In 1943 when the Allied forces invaded at the Gulf of Gela, the Sicilian Independence Movement cleared  roads of snipers and mines that facilitated Patton's take over of Palermo in just 4 days.

To the US, Sicily was a mouth-watering jewel in the Mediterranean.  The Germans had the same idea.  Sicily, was historically the bread basket of the Roman Empire and many empires to follow.  It had many trade and strategic implications that made it attractive.  Many believe thant Luciano, Patton, Guiliano and US officials had plans for Sicily to become a US State.  In fact, a US flag with 51 stars was designed and circulated in Sicily.


51 Stars
In the end, the invasion of Sicily was key the Allied victory in Europe : in part because of direct access to Germany from the south but also because diverted German resouces away from the Russian front.  Five thousand Allied troops lost their lives in this campaign.  Lucky Luciano had his sentence communted by the US courts because of his assistance to General Patton.  Giuliano was assassinated in 1947...maybe ! His death is believed to be staged . He is the subject of books, movies, songs, legends and remains a Sicilian folk hero.

Today, the US has its military bases in Sicily.  Italy dictates what crops are to be grown in Sicily because of EU (German) agreements and the unemployment rate in Sicily is 25%.  Germans summer in Sicily and bathe in beaches not far from the Allied war cemetary.  If you take a plane out of Sicily, announcements are made in Italian and German; not English.  So much for Sicily, USA.