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.

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

Etna

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.

Live Etna Webcam Link (remember the time difference is 6 hrs EST)

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.
 

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.



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.

Who ran through the city naked shouting , "Eureka"?

He was a Sicilian of course! This great scientist and mathematician noticed how water displaced  when bathing at the bath house; giving him the answer to a problem he was solving for the King .  So excited about his discovery, he "streaked" through Siracusa shouting "Eureka, Eureka...."

Archimedes (287-212 BC) developed weapon systems that made Syracuse impenetrable, founded the value of pi , invented Archimedes Screw (still used today), Archimedes Principles of buoyancy and displacement, and countless other inventions.  Working on a solution for finding the area in a circle, he established the foundation that would later become calculus. His ideas were adopted by scientist such as DaVince, Galileo, and Newton.

One day, he was interrupted by a Roman soldier in his study.  In an absent minded fashion he berated the soldier.  Not realizing this crazy old man was Archimedes, soldier killed him with his sword.

Read more about Archimedes and his manuscript that sold for $2 million.  Wiki  has excellent summary and references.

Lido a Naxos

Lido a Naxos

By Ciro Attardo
 

Chiurriti i occhi
E sentiti u mare, scumazzata e frizzante,
chi vasa l’rina cauru,
cottu du suli,
comu muddica ncapu brodu azzurru.

 

Sentiti u ventu chi sciuscia,

Passanu capu i ficurrini nta muntata,

Frisculianu canzuni siciliani,

Capiddi sciunnuti e carne arrizzati.

 Sentiti u mare
Tronu luntanu;
l’acqua sbatti capu petri timpuliati,
bianchi cu sale mediterraneu.

 Mettiti i pedi nta l’acqua.

A scumazza furriannu i petruddi

catigghiannu i pedi.

A luci curri nta spina

Mizzica chi friddu.

 

Alternate Ending

 

Chiurriti i occhi
U ventu liscia u corpu
comu una manu friddu ncapu n’ iatta stanca.
Sonnati i navi grechi, antici, rancurannu;
Chini cu fimmini menzu nudi
Chi manciannu racina e vivinu vinu duci .

Poi…

Pla-chi-ti, pla-chi- ti, Pla-chi-ti, Pla-chi-ti.

Ti stuvigghi (ruspigghi)…sannali Tidisci.

Ce una puzza di birra nta l’aria,

Vuci strani, peddi bianchi,  e mutanni nici nici ,

Culi di fora

Grassati cu ogghiu,  si votannu nta rina

comu cutuletti nta muddica.

Translation:

Close your eyes
And feel the sea, foamy and sparkling
That kisses the hot sand,
cooked by the sun,
Like toasted bread crumbs and azure broth.

 Hear the blowing wind,
Passing over prickly pears on the hill,
Whistling Sicilian songs;
Disheveled hair and goose bumped skin.

 Listen to the sea.
Distant thunder;
The water smashed against battered rocks
White with Mediterranean salt

Put your feet in the water.
The foam twirls pebbles
Tickling feet,

Electricity runs through the spine
Wow it’s cold

Close your eyes
The wind smooths your body

Like a cool hand on a tired cat.

Dreams of Greek ships, ancient and groaning
Filled with half naked women
Eating grapes and drinking sweet wine

Then…
Pla-chi-ti, Pla-chi-ti, Pla-chi-ti, Pla-chi-ti.
You awake…German sandals!
There is an odor of beer in the air,
strange voices, white skin, and very small briefs, naked asses
Greased with oil, they turn in the sand
Like cutlets in bread crumbs.