fletchersitalianadventure

Maybe it's time to blog again Look for new blog name

2009-12-21T23:54:00.004+01:00

As most of you know, we came back to the US in January because I was found to have Stage 4 breast cancer. The doctors on the Navy base treated it like it was a death sentence and were sending me home to die. I was very scared but knew that somehow, someway, God was in charge and He would never make the way too hard for me to bear. That He would be with me whatever I had to go through.

Many people told me I should continue the blog and transition it to a blog about my cancer. Well...I don't know about you but I don't think people would want to hear about my feelings, fears and pain when it comes to cancer. I almost wish I had because here it is December...almost a year later and I am heading toward being cancer free. There are pills I have to take and bone treatments I have to have but there has been no surgery, no chemotherapy with the companion hair loss. A pill a day, an IV once a month. God has been good.

I know it may not last, the meds might stop working, they often do, but this wonderful treatment has given me my life back for now and I'm going to enjoy every moment of it.

Slight improvement by April allowed me to go finish out the year teaching in Sicily. It gave me the opportunity, also to say some goodbyes that I didn't get to say in January due to the rapidness of our leaving for the States. It was good to see friends and have the goodbyes we all needed.

Two weeks after we returned we had another health crisis. Bob got up in the middle of the night and suddenly realized something was wrong. My diagnosis, which turned out to be right, was that he was having a stroke. Thanks be to God, again, that I had listened to a radio broadcast from Focus on the Family when they talked about Dr. Dobson's stroke and the TPA that saved him. We immediately got Bob to the hospital where I kept telling them to hurry so he could have the TPA. Two hours and 40 minutes after the stroke started they injected the TPA and Bob immediately felt the difference. You can't have a major incident like that and come back with nothing different, but we are thankful for the slight balance difficulties (really....slight), a bit of numbness on one side and vision impairment on his right side. He can do most things he always did with the only major exception being that he can't drive any more. After 42 years I get to be the driver in the family.

Well, all that to say I might just begin this blog for a bit to tell of the adventures of two people entering their older years. I say entering because before all this happened, we still felt invincible. We were going to be healthy and live forever. Still did all the things we ever did and looked at old age as being VERY far away. Now we realize that God was looking down at us with His sense of humor saying, "Plan all you want, I have your future planned a little differently."

There are things in this that I am very thankful for and things that worry me. Things that make me laugh and others that make me cry. Tomorrow I go for a dr. visit and my monthly treatment. Last time for one blood test and one IV I had to be "stuck" six times. That made me cry. It also made me a little scared about tomorrow.

On Wednesday Bob goes for a CT scan in the area of the clot that caused the stroke. We are expecting all to be healed and for him to be off all specialty medication and doctor's care. I am praying that all is well but I know we don't always have the answers and will leave that in God's hands, too.

Please don't get me wrong, God is not my crutch though I could give reasons why a crutch is a good analogy. I just know that there is a future that is planned, not random, and I choose to believe that there is a God who loves me and will plan what is best for me and for improving our family's relationship with Him.

I think I shall name the new blog "Adventures beyond Italy" since that seems to be where and when the change in our lives happened.

Goodbye for this blogsite. I have copied all the sessions and will someday make a book from them but I am done with my adventure in Italy and so.......... on with life.

We're well and happy

2009-09-07T23:56:00.000+02:00

Our hearts belong to Sicily

2009-05-31T11:29:00.007+02:00

Here we are back in Sicily and loving it. No matter where we finally live the last years of our lives, this will always be the place we remember with loving fondness. I never thought Sicily would feel like home but here we are....home.

It is the season of roses and strawberries and cherries and watermelon. Yum. We've had dinner with our Italian friends twice. The first just the weekend after we arrived and the next a week later. The second meal was up on the mountain at the home of Cicio (chee chee o) and Graziella (graht zee ell a). Good friends, great Italian food. Can't get better than that.

The day was hot at our house but up on the mountain it was nice and cool. They live on a farm-type property with cherry trees, apple trees, pear trees.....all perfectly groomed with not a weed in sight on the ground. There are even concrete paths lined with roses to walk through the grove. They also have many things used years ago by Sicilians and Alfio (another friend) made sure we understood what each was for.

Also, Cicio and Graciella made sure we understood that if we needed a place to stay, either after our furniture was sent or upon returning to Sicily for vacation, they would love for us to stay with them. Giusseppe and Mimma have made the same offer so we are never going to be without a place to stay. What wonderful people.

Yesterday we went to the outdoor market in Misterbianco where we always spend too much and get great things. I decided I had to have some sheer curtains and some tablecloths to bring back to the states. The price is much more reasonable here. So, I bought curtains at 3 euro each and a tablecloth for 6 euro. Then I got cushions and a tablecloth for our marble table and some odds and ends of things to add to the already full bag. Poor Bob, he was carrying all that through the crowds. Not heavy, but very bulky.

Next we drove up the mountain to our favorite spot at a winery. We thought since it was a beautiful day, we could get a great view of the land. From the Gambino winery property on Mount Etna you can look clear out to the sea. We were excited to see it one last time before returning to the States. Going up the mountain we travelled the winding roads and noticed it becoming first cloudy, then foggy, then rainy so that by the time we got there, we couldn't even see past the yard, let alone to the sea. So we bought a little Sicily wine to send to the States and returned on the winding road (winding road here means 180 degree turns every few feet). The weather changed back to beautiful as we came down the mountain until at home it was just as we had left it. By the way, the mountain winery is (as the magpie flies) only 15 miles away.

Driving on the small highway, we came upon a horse and buggy painted with red, yellow, blue scenes. The horse was decorated, too, so they must have been going to or coming from some sort of "festa". Now this isn't something you see very often in Sicily. Quite unique, so Bob said he would go slowly and I could take a picture. Here are the two pictures I got.

Where in the world did Tracy inherit her great photography skills from? Certainly not me.

We are looking forward to coming back to the States but we will always belong to Sicily.

going back to Sicily

2009-04-25T01:09:00.002+02:00

In two weeks we'll be on planes headed for Sicily. Bob is a little worried because, as we got our tickets in two different ways, we will not be traveling together. He is concerned that I will not feel well and he won't be there to take care of me. He's been so great during this whole situation that he'll worry until he sees me safe in Sicily.

We're so much looking forward to seeing all our friends. I can hardly wait. I'm already planning a cookout with our Italian friends. Hamburgers, baked beans, potato salad....all those American cookout things.

And trying to find gifts for friends, both American and Italian. There are so many people we miss and/or want to show our appreciation to for all the help they've been while we've been away. keeping our dog, watching out for the house, going over to start the car...even paying our rent for us. So many wonderful friends.

Then, only four more weeks until we leave Sicily forever. I can't imagine our going back though I would love to. There will be to many new things to do here and new adventures for our lives. Maybe we'll go on a cruise.

Well, what do you know.....I'm back

2009-04-14T15:16:00.002+02:00

The doctors say I can go back to Sicily to finish out the school year so on May 8 we will be boarding an airplane to go "home." I have truly missed that place, the countryside, the towns and villages, the wonderful Italian friends, the American friends from the base.

I am really getting excited.

However, in the meantime, we've been staying with our daughter, Jessica and her family, in a little suburb of Grand Rapids, Michigan, called Rockford. If you ever want to get away for a weekend, I would suggest Michigan. Beautiful beaches, little towns (like Rockford) with main streets that play jazz over an speaker system and local shops with a great variety of products. Not the big department stores and franchize shops we're used to in the midwest but the shops that invite you to come and browse through. (The shops remind me of Meg Ryan's little book store in "You've got mail") In Rockford's main street we have an herb shop, yarn shop, vintage and hand made clothing and accessories, basket/home accessory shop, toy store, ice cream parlor, candy shop, hot dog stands, and a store that sells articles made by women rescued from "trafficking" in India, Pakistan, northern countries of Africa, etc. What a great place, not just Rockford but all of western Michigan.

I'm not going to start a blog of our adventures here but we are having some really good times with the Jessica and the boys. Just this morning I was sitting doing my Bible study in Psalms and heard the boys laughing (Grant, 5, and Charlie, 7 months). The thought went through my head that if someone had told me I could hear that sound every day but would have to put up with cancer as a choice, I might just think it was worth it. I'm not glad I have cancer but I'm truly thankful for the opportunity to get to hear the boys laughter and spend time with my daughter.

God does work in mysterious ways.

Goodbye to Sicily

2009-02-01T06:25:00.008+01:00

This may be my final blog post about the joys and frustrations of living in Sicily. It will definitely be the final one for awhile. However, don't give up on me. I may be back to pack out and have a couple of stories from that. Without getting too maudlin, I want to let you know I've been diagnosed with breast cancer and am leaving immediately for the States for surgery and treatment.

Before I go, I want to share a few photos of a place we almost could call our second home. The Saturday outdoor market in Misterbianco. Being the sentimental person I am, I couldn't leave without saying good-bye to some of the vendors we've come to consider friends. Bob took pictures of me with them so here they are with a few of just the market, too.

When we first found the market we bought several things from this couple. The sets of curtains for each of the huge window/doors in the house were only about 20 dollars including hardware. I would love to buy a bunch more to bring home but then, what would I do with them. They would only fit on patio doors and who, besides us while we're here, has four sets in their house?

We've bought a few other things there but mostly just stop to chat every time we are at the market. They are really nice people. Wanted our email address to write us.

These are the people we have bought yarn from . The husband looks like he would be tough, mean, disagreeable. But he's a real sweetie. I never understand a word he says because he speaks softly and in a Sicilian dialect that I don't know. But, he is gentle and precious and I could listen to that soft voice for hours.

I think it would put me to sleep. Usually he speaks and if it's important, she translates---into Italian. They did tell me not long ago that her brother left for America about ten years ago. He went to Canada, Toronto, and they haven't heard from him for five years. They have tried everything within their limited means. (Every Sicilian has a story about relatives in America)

This final family may be my favorite. We buy our ricotta (in the winter) and olives from them. The wife always makes sure she's the one who waits on me (I just thought, maybe she's the only one who understands my Italian). I think they must do a lot of the preserving or making of things at their house because they often show me something for sale and tell me they have made it. I know they have the best sun dried tomatoes I've ever found and they dry them themselves.

She also makes a candy-type snack from prickly pears off the cactus that grows everywhere here that is pretty good (delicious if one grew up with it). They sell all kinds of cheeses, meats, nuts, olives, tomatoes, figs, and it's always a pleasure to see this family.

This last friend photo is the woman who, with her husband, owns the little Tavola Calda (literally hot table) that we love in Misterbianco. The food is good and fresh but the owners are so gracious and friendly that we would like it even if it wasn't so good. Her family doesn't have an American story. Theirs is German. In the fifties, when there was "famine in the land" (no kidding, Sicily had famine) many families moved to either America or Australia. Her family went to Germany. So, she still has relatives there.

The final photos are of the market aisles. It's a cacophony of people talking, laughing, buying, selling, visiting and I will never forget this, my favorite place in Sicily. I'm sorry there are no photos of Bob among this set, he was the one taking the pictures. He's a pretty good photographer and if I want them to turn out good, I always ask him.

And so, my faithful friends and readers, thank you for sharing our adventures in Italy for the past two and a half years. For laughing with us and being amazed at this wonderful place. For enjoying through us the graciousness of it's people and for staying a part of our lives. We are now off to a new adventure.

If you would like to get in touch with us, please send an email to fletcher_italy@yahoo.com . We'll be looking forward to hearing from you.

on ordering for school from Sicily

2009-01-18T04:57:00.003+01:00

When I was a teacher-leader for Reading Recovery in the States, all it took to order was to call the book rep (whom I knew from conferences) and say, "Here's what I want. Can you do it?" Then write up a purchase order. Not so from Sicily.

On Wednesday our principal called a small team together to say we have a large amount of money to buy books for our water-destroyed book room. The catch was that we have to submit a request as soon as possible (preferably this coming Tuesday, the day after a holiday weekend). Thinking it an easy job, the principal told us she would get us substitutes for Friday morning and we could get our ordering done.

We met Friday morning and after looking at all the choices, decided on two companies for the majority of the books. We wanted to get the most for our money so we decided to call each company to see what they could do--after all, this was major money, even for these companies. Calling wasn't as easy as one might think. Only three phones in our building are connected in a way that will allow calls out of the country, and they are all in our main office. We also have to wait until at least three o'clock to call because of the six to nine hour time difference. Taking the phone numbers off their website didn't really help because two of those numbers only got us a recording that said we had reached a (company name) unworking number.............then nothing...no redirections....just dead phone. Finally we got a live person.

First call:

Operator: Welcome to _______publishing, my name is Fatima, may I help you (strong accent---was she from India, maybe?)

Me: Hi, my name is Marianne Fletcher and I work for a Department of Defense school in Sicily serving the children of our military personnel. We would like to buy several thousand dollars worth of books in ___________series for our bookroom. Can you connect me with a sales rep?

Operator: I'm sorry, we don't have an Italian language edition of those series.

Me: No, no, no. We are an American school in Sicily

O: Let me give you the number of our Italian representative.

Me: No, no. We only have American language students. I NEED an American sales representative.

O: What state would that be?

Me: Well, everything would be shipped to our FPO address so I guess that would be New York

(wait, wait, wait at overseas long distance prices)

O: Here is the number for our UK (England) representative

Me: NO! NO! I NEED AN AMERICAN REPRESENTATIVE. We will be ordering through a United States representative and it will only need to be shipped to New York.

Three calls later we were still trying to get a sales rep. Deciding to try an alternate number from the website we got someone who was willing to help us. Even as helpful as she was we were stuck at the part in her computer program that asked for an address and wouldn't accept a Post office number and/or box number. We were f-i-n-a-l-l-y turned over to the international rep based in New York who was a great help.

Second company phone call made by a different teacher: Same shpeel about DoD school, blah, blah, blah.

Company person: I'm sorry, we only sell to public school and private schools.

After explaining that we are a public school----of Americans----she got basically the same "help" that I did.

rainy season in Sicily

2009-01-13T20:32:00.002+01:00

It's the rainy season here in Sicily and this year we're getting our share and more. Today the base commander closed down the base at noon because of the severity of the storms. It was raining so hard and the winds were so strong it was raining sideways.

Our school principal lives thirty minutes away from the base. She said it took her two hours to get to school this morning. As I've said other times, the rain has nowhere to go other than on the road so there are many rivulets (is that the right word?) running down every street. Mostly people try to drive on the highways which are built higher.

In Sicily, in the winter, we don't have just storms, but they bring in sand from the African desert thousands of kilometers away. We had that kind of a storm today and it was as dark at 10:00 as if the day were just dawning. And the air was a sickly yellowish.

Our car has a layer of silt on it that is a beautiful color somewhere between terra cotta and mustard. I wish I could paint with that color. Flowers and bird feathers would be perfect in this shade of gold.

Our electricity as been going off and on all afternoon, sometimes for a few minutes other times for a few seconds. Kind of like one of those nights when you doze more than sleep......asleep (dark) .......awake.....asleep....... We have lanterns and candles and have good batteries for our computers. We're fine and dandy.

a frustration not just for Sicily

2008-12-31T19:28:00.003+01:00

We planned to go to Malta this week but never got around to getting tickets. Must have been fate because our part of the world has not seen the sun for the past five days. Not even a little bit in this our (supposed) tropical paradise. In addition, for about three days both Bob and I have each been down with our own type of bug. Bob has a head cold and I have a strange case of a fever with the "ache all overs".

Winter seems to be the time when everyone everywhere picks up viruses and has bouts of feeling puny, but no matter where you live it's not fun.

The bright spot though, is that we have a nice warm house with fireplace, lots of books to read, movies to watch and, when we feel up to it, Wii games to play. Yep, us old folks got a Wii for Christmas. Bob has several games but I've only tried a couple of the sports games. Bowling is the only one I can play with any feeling of success.

Tonight is New Year's Eve and tomorrow is the beginning of the year when we will be coming home to the States. Though we've both loved Sicily (and still do) and will be sad to leave, it's time to be with family and friends once more. (So if anyone hears of any jobs for me.....)

So from my semi-vegetative state here in my bed in Sicily, Happy New Year. May you prosper in these most important areas of life; spiritual, emotional and physical. AND may you not catch this or any other flu. See you next year.

What a wonderful season

2008-12-25T08:35:00.011+01:00

Merry Christmas!!!

Here's wishing you a happy Christmas season with all the blessings Christ bestows. We are not posting pictures of us at Christmas because we look the same as usual, just different jammies.

However, here are a few pictures of our impressions of Christmas in Sicily. Disclaimer: This is the viewpoint of us as we spend our third Christmas season in Sicily, not as tourism advocates.

The Saturday night before Christmas we went to Catania with Giusseppe and Mimma. The sidewalks were so crowded that people were walking all through the center of the street. (You'll have to double click on the picture to see it as we did.) Occasionally a car would come through and people parted just enough to let it pass then moved back together. There was a carnival atmosphere in the air. Street vendors hawking toys, scarves, hats, belts, watches and anything else that might be considered a Christmas gift. On the left in the photo above you can see the back of Giusseppe. The Sicilians were in heavy coats, scarves, hats while Bob and I, thinking the weather comfortable, had on light jackets.

On Sunday we went to Caltegirone to see the prescepe (nativity) displays. They were more magnificent than any I've ever seen. Whole rooms with scenes from the Sicilian countryside all leading to the stable with the Christ child. The scenes were very intricate and made of materials from terra cotta, to ceramic, to flannel (the scene on the right was actually a whole room-sized nativity display made of sewn flannel, and I think it was my favorite---please excuse the glare, it was behind glass and , though other phots of the scene didn't have the glare, this was the one I wanted you to see)

In addition to the large nativity scenes, every year there is a contest for the best nativity------displayed in a car. There is a type of car here in Sicily that is about the size of a Smartcar and the piazza was filled with these little cars, each with a nativity built right into the car, mostly inside the car, a few built into the trunk. They, also were made from a variety of materials and all were amazing. As intricate as they all were, I wonder what they do with the cars the rest of the year. It must take a month to create such a display.

Finally, here is my Christmas wish for you:

In this holiday season, may all the love you see everywhere around the world remind you of the One who loved us so much He gave His most precious gift---Christ Jesus, Our Lord. And may you understand more clearly every day how precious that gift was and give Him all the honor and praise in your mind and heart.

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a blessed new year.

Marianne

We went for a walk

2008-12-20T01:25:00.012+01:00

It's amazing what you can find when you go for a walk near your house. I'm not sure whether it matters whether you're in Italy or in the States.

There's an old, empty house in an open field near our home. It's about a quarter mile away sitting by itself on a hill. Every day for two and a half years we drove by the house. We noticed it and often mentioned we'd like to walk over there to see it. On this particular day it seemed to beckon us in a way we couldn't resist so we put Bullet on his leash and set out through the field to explore.

As we walked through the grasses and weeds the first thing to catch my attention was the plants. Things I had never noticed before, bright yellow seed pods tucked into the middle of the plant, wild fennel beginning to come up, and a few stinging nettles which we managed to keep away from (mostly). I think we even saw a "Jack in the pulpit". I've never seen one before but this is what I imagined one would look like.

When we got near the house Bob wanted to go up near it to take pictures. I would have loved to go with him but I was sure I heard a big dog bark from inside the ruins so I took Bullet a different way in order to not have to break up a territorial fight. Bullet and I went up a nearby hill to see what was on the other side. At the crest of the hill I was surprised to see we were near the road we travel on the Saturdays we go to market. In fact, from that vantage point, I could, within a 360 degree turn, see Misterbianco, Motta, Catania, the mountain and the sea. What a wonderful view. I stopped for a moment to take a picture of the town of Misterbianco (our market town) while Bullet waited not so patiently, ready to continue expoloring.

So, we continued our walk (I want to know how Bullet avoided the stinging nettles while I hopped here and there trying to prevent any contact) Just on the other side of the hill was a wonderland. Another old house but in less of a form, only a few posts and shapes of stone, but you could tell it had once been loved by a family. There were flowers in a small area that must have once been a garden. They were small, like most things Sicilian, and had gone native; many daisies, iris and others I didn't recognize. There were pomegranite trees providing a treat for the insects and birds, an olive tree that must have been several hundred years old, and old, old apple trees no longer able to bear fruit.

After exploring cisterns, and walls and rocks and trees, we headed back home. Being assured there was no dog in the first old house, I ventured in for a look. There were archways, basement rooms for coolness in the summer, porches, and several rooms. A nice, old, farmhouse of a place.

There are many of these homes sitting in the countryside rotting (if you can say that about stone houses) in Sicily and people seem to be crowded into apartments in every city and town. It is said that children of the home owners found it more expensive to modernize the house than to just move into an apartment closer to their work.

And interesting sidenote: I'm told that to fix up an old house wherever it is, you have to pay graft to the Mafia for materials, for permissions, for laborers. While it may be true, I find that those things that frustrate the Sicilians (and me, too) are blamed on the Mafia (like getting, or not getting, a telephone in one's home or having to stand in hour-long lines to pay all utility bills at the post office). Maybe I'm just naive.

bits and pieces

2008-12-13T04:27:00.004+01:00

It's 4:00 a.m. here in Sicily. Having gone to bed extremely early last night, I'm up for the day. As I step out onto the porch this chilly December night, I am struck by the beauty. The moon is so bright it casts distinct shadows across the lawn. The stars are numerous and I think of the words "The stars at night, are big and bright....." Of course that song is about Texas but it truly applies here.

It has been raining this week. Two days of rain and you see how ill-prepared the Italians are for rain. Our brand new building is flooding. Every door has water seeping into the room, the hallway, the office. On Thursday I literally had to wade to my classroom to get my purse after a meeting. Teachers whose classrooms have doors to the outside were making sure there was nothing on that half of the room to get ruined by water.

Upper walkways between buildings are open and water was draining off them through the drainspout directly onto the courtyard below (where people walk). And as Bob and I were walking from the building to the Navy Exchange (store) we went up some stairs that were flowing like a river because the contractor had chosen to empty the drainspout directly onto the steps.

The roads tell the same story. Ditches are almost unheard of here in Sicily. The land is higher than the roads and when there is a heavy rain the water has nowhere to go except onto the street. One has to drive very carefully to keep from sliding off.

I have to say, though, that the hard rains only come two months of the year, December and January. With 300 days of sun in Sicily, it might be easy to skip the expense of preparing for rain.

my third and final post on our trip to Rome

2008-12-10T19:10:00.005+01:00

The art of Rome, the beauty of Rome....they are fine but not nearly as interesting as the people of Rome.

When we first got there we were proud to have easily found the way from the airport to the center of town by way of the train. Then a short walk across the street to the bus station to pick up Bus 16 which would drop us off in front of our hotel. We asked at the information counter and were sent to a particular bus stop to wait for bus 16. And wait we did...................for 20 minutes. Several busses stopped to let passengers off and on but not that important bus 16. Wait....wait.....wait.....Oh, good, here it is....bus 16. We got on, settled in and watched the streets go by. But not in the right direction.

After a couple of stops we asked the driver if this bus would take us to via XX Setembre (20 September street). No, he said, that would be bus number sixteen going the other way. So......off the bus, walk back to the station and wait again......wait.....wait....wait....total wait time one hour. Finally we gave up saying, "it's only 10 euro to our hotel by taxi." (according to the hotel brochure) and walked over to the taxi stand (which lay between the train and bus stations)

Rick Steves' book on Rome said to make sure we took an official taxi with a taxi sign on top and a meter. Rick had never steered us wrong before so we were careful to take the white taxi with the meter. I asked the price to the hotel and was told, "It will be on the meter."

In the cab, I felt uncomfortable when the driver seemed to go further than the distance I had imagined it would be to the hotel. "This doesn't seem right," I said to myself. Sure enough the meter kept going up and up until, right in front of our hotel it was at 30 Euros. If that weren't enough the driver told us we owed him 40 euro because we had "packages". (we each had one carry on and no luggage). When Bob opened his wallet to take out some money we found out how quick that taxi driver's hands were. He had a fifty out of Bob's wallet and into his pocket before we even saw it. He said he had given Bob back a ten. Hah!!!!

We should have taken him into the hotel and called the police but..........
(it's really hard when you don't speak the language)

Oh, by the way, later we were walking and found the bus station three blocks from our hotel.

But....to make up for that, we met a man "in Rome for the fashion show" who drove up beside us in a semi-fancy rental car and had a nice conversation about Kansas City (long story short, here). Because we were from the Kansas City area and because we were such nice people (wink, wink) he gave us two leather jackets for only 20 euro each (because he had only credit cards and needed some cash for gasoline), yea, right. Were the jackets hot? I don't know, but I have to say they're nice jackets if not our style. To be honest, I didn't even think about the jackets being stolen until I was telling the story later. Am I a hick from Missouri?

Every day we were in Rome it rained. And there were umbrella vendors everywhere.

On the day we went to the Vatican we were sharing an umbrella and one of the many vendors offered us an umbrella for five euro. We said no thanks and kept walking. With each few steps the price went down until we agreed to buy for 3 euros---not a bad price for an umbrella (that will undoubtedly fall apart in a day or two).

Just as we got our money out and were ready to hand it to him, he looked out toward the street and started running away, dodging behind cars and carts. We looked around and there was a police car. Yep-----illegal vendor---probably illegally in the country too. Too bad....we could have used that umbrella. However, a few paces further on, we hear, "Lady...Lady, your umbrella." There he was, chasing us down to sell an umbrella for 3 Euro.

An all-around interesting trip.

Art is a part.........of Rome

2008-12-09T03:50:00.007+01:00

From cathedrals and museums to doorways and heating grates, art is definitely a big part of the essence of Rome. There are four National Museums each with a different theme for the art within. Walking the streets you see fountains and doorposts with statues and figurines hundreds of years old. As I mentioned before, the basilichi and cathedrals have millions of dollars worth of frescoes, statues and artworks. And, yes, in St. Peter's Basilica there is even a heating grate worthy to be called art.

One of my favorite surprises walking through Rome was the day we saw a poster in a doorway inviting us into an exhibition of 17th century Flemish and Dutch painters. It was only to be in Rome from November until February and lucky for us, we were there at the right time. To some people seeing an art exhibit wouldn’t be very special but to a girl whose only childhood exposure to great art was the pictures in school textbooks this was an invitation to explore the works of masters.

We paid a minimal fee thanks to an earlier purchase of the “Roma Pass” and spent an hour or more examining the beauty created by a great number of artists including Rubens, van Dyke, Steen, Vermeer, and Rembrandt. These are copies of the photos on the flyer and would never do justice to the awesomeness (is that a word?) of those paintings. The depth and color and stories within each painting was worth staring at…..and we did. We kept saying, “Oh, look at that part.” or “Look how he…..” They were beautiful. I can truly see why they were the masters.

And…..they were painted four hundred years ago.

Amazing.

The historic city of Rome

2008-12-04T16:24:00.010+01:00

(The Coliseum really does look like all the pictures.)

Bob and I finally made it to Rome and it was quite a trip.

Thanksgiving is no fun without friends and family to share it with so we took off to Rome for a four day weekend.

Rome is..........old.

We saw a lot of "this is where the ......used to be." In fact, they even sell a book with see-through pages of what the tourist places used to look like and what they look like now. In America we would have had all those old places torn down long ago to make room for Walmart, Meijer or Home Depot. (Can you see my tongue in my cheek?)

I can't say Rome is beautiful but it is interesting. You have to do a lot of imagining to "see" the gladiators in the Coliseum, the speeches in the Pantheon, the races in the forum. But they are there. And awesome. I could have been more impressed if we weren't trying to see everything in two and a half days. It would have taken a week or more to truly see and appreciate all the places and their history. The last day we took a tour bus----you know, the kind with the open upper deck and a recording telling you the history of each site. It was well worth the money but still couldn't get to all the history of Rome.

And....there were fountains everywhere, even built into the sides of buildings in unexpected places. We were walking down a road looking for a street called "Quatro Fontana" wondering how we would know when we got there (street signs are almost non-existent) when I noticed a building with a large, beautiful stone fountain carved right into the corner of the building. Bob was ahead of me and I pointed out the fountain. He lifted his camera to take a photo but.....he was looking in the wrong direction. "No, that other way." He looked up at me and said, "no, There's the fountain." By this time I had caught up with him and could see that each building had an intricate fountain sculpture carved into the corner. What an amazing site. And....we had found our street.

The most beautiful sites were the churches.

Basilichi (plural, I think, for Basilica) and cathedrals have what has to be millions of dollars of statues, artwork and just plain gold. The most beautiful church in the world has to be St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City. There is no picture that can adequately represent the beauty there. Even the windows are put in for the best effect in shining light on the beauty. I'm going to have to put a lot of the photos on Flickr because Bob and I took around 250 photos. After filtering down the duplicates and just plain bad photos there will still be a lot.

One place I just had to see was Trevi Fountain. Every movie with Rome as a background mentions or shows Trevi Fountain. It took us all three days but we finally did find it. And it is just as beautiful as they say.

Really big, too.

So big in fact that there is room around it for about ninety-five souvenir and gelato shops. This is our first view of the area of the fountain.

And this is what we all came to see.

Last note: In order not to make this blog too big, (though it's already huge) I'm dividing it into three parts. This is really part one. Another day I'll add part two and then later part three. For a teaser, part two is named (for now) Amazing Art Part three is .....and how we were ripped off by a taxi driver and bought what was probably stolen..............no more or I'll give it away.

Wild Wild West Italy

2008-11-15T05:51:00.006+01:00

Last weekend, after visiting a small town we came back hungry and decided to go to the mall (the Italian mall that looks pretty much like an American one). There they have an area of small restaurants kind of like our food court but, other than McDonalds, the places are really restaurants as opposed to fast food (which, by the way, is VERY different from our fast food).

Anyway, we decided to try a place actually called Wild Wild West. We ate chicken drizzled with southwest sauce, nachos, onion rings and a grilled steak salad. The food was "Tex-Mex" and it was surprisingly good.

The decor was very "cowboys and indians" and Bob and I couldn't pass up making some really corny jokes about "spaghetti westerns". Never heard of them??? Look it up.....there really is such a thing. One more thing. If you double click on the first picture and look at the sign in the middle of the room you'll see a place close to home (for us)........I wonder who thought to put that town on there?

on our visit to a prickly pear festival

2008-10-21T05:59:00.012+02:00

In my opinion the prickly pear is an ugly cactus. It grows huge and takes over and new plants grow from even a leaf (?) falling on the ground. I can't see any use for it.

But the Sicilians??? They love it. They don't use the leaves (I know that's not the right term but I don't know what the real name is) like people in Mexico do, but they use the fruit in many ways.

And we got to see several of those ways.

This past weekend we went to the town of Militello not far from the base where they were having their annual prickly pear festival. This festival is a big deal and takes up most of the town for crafts, produce, food and just stuff in booths packed side by side, around corners, and up and down the hills. Vendors come from all around to sell about anything you could want, including prickly pears.

I think this was my favorite booth---for a bit. This man had it all in one. Ceramics, paintings, lots and lots of every kind of nuts grown in Sicily. Chestnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, walnuts....... And figs and dates and sun-dried tomatoes and on and on. I bought a couple of kinds of nuts and was looking around to see if there was something else I wanted to buy when I saw three cakes of prickly pear "candy" that had fallen on the ground. Just as I noticed them, the man also noticed and promptly picked them up off the street and put them back up on the display to sell......to eat. I was suddenly through shopping there and glad that what I bought was safe and clean inside its shell.

We were amazed to see the many ways to use prickly pears. We saw prickly pear "candy" (sort of like cookie shaped fruit roll-ups), prickly pear juice (mostrada), prickly pear sauces and marmalades.

At the end of one of the streets when we thought we might be lost, we came upon a group of booths with nothing for sale but products made from prickly pears. There were several booths with hot tubs full of prickly pear meat/pulp being constantly stirred. People would buy a little dish of the stuff sprinkled with chopped almonds. Of course we had to try it. Hm-m-m-m tastes just like......hot prickly pears.

Actually, the flavor of fresh prickly pears is very nice. There's no other fruit to compare its taste to but it's as sweet as a grape, none of the tartness of other fruits and very smooth. There are a great number of seeds in the prickly pear fruit. The people here just eat the whole thing. We spit out the seeds. It's a cultural thing.

There were some nice carts on display around the city but none like the ones we saw in Piedemonte. These carts were mostly the racing trotter kind. Here's one I thought was especially pretty.

There was a parade, of sorts, through town but the only way to tell it was a parade was that a band would walk down the street playing a tune, then soon another band. "So...how's that a sort of parade?" you might ask? Well, you know the old saying from the sixties, "What if there was a war and nobody came?" This was kind of like, "What if there was a parade and nobody paid attention." People walked up the street as if the band members were just other people at the festival. So the musicians had to play while dodging festival-goers. The only people on the sidewalks watching, I guess, were family members. I wish I had taken more photos of the bands because they were really quite good. One military band was very impressive in their camouflage uniforms and their military air. Another that I liked was this band of "gypsies" playing a "jaunty" tune.

Today we got lost.....

2008-10-11T21:35:00.009+02:00

.........and found some amazing things. I know getting lost isn't new for us, and usually when we get lost we find something interesting.

Today we decided to go to a little town near a housing unit used for military families from our base. For some reason the housing unit is 45 minutes away from the base but it is near the town of Mineo (min-ay'-o). So I figure Mineo must have something there for the base to have it's people so far away. Nope...couldn't find a thing of interest...no good shopping area....no restaurants....not much to keep us there any longer than necessary to find our way out (not an easy task).

Coming out of Mineo we took a wrong turn and went down a road that literally led to nowhere. We should have had second thoughts when half the road was washed out (or caved in) and barriers were set up narrowing the road to only a bit wider than a car. But, no, we plunged on.

Sheep dotted the hillside and when we stopped we could hear their bells clanking as they moved along the paths to find just the right grass. Somewhere down the road, I'm sure there was a cow telling us we were lost (she must have been by the way she was staring at us) and still we drove.

Then, at the crest of a hill was an abandoned villa that I could tell had once been beautiful. It was falling in on itself but some walls were still there. I had Bob stop the car so I could wander through the villa and we explored.

The villa was on a hill overlooking valleys of olive trees, orange trees and grazing land. There were many rooms in the house and every room looked out over an amazing view. Balconies skirted most windows tall enough to walk through at several levels.

What looked like old wall paper on the walls was actually painted designs (frescoes) and you could tell they had once been bright, cheerful and welcoming for those who visited there. The ceilings gently curved upward giving the appearance of being domed. Sadly, though, the ceilings now opened to the sky and pigeons used these beautiful rooms for nesting areas.

As we looked into an area that resembled an old cooking or laundry room, we were greeted by the villa's present inhabitants. Pigs. Resting on large rocks that had once been the walls, they were enjoying a gentle breeze and the shade of what was left of the roof. They seemed to welcome us and one even came to say hello.

We decided it was time to move on and hadn't driven far when I told Bob to pull over again to see stone posts opening like doors into the rocky hillside. A closer inspection gave me the impression that these places used to be graves/catecombs/sarcofogi (I'm not sure what to call them). Inside was a roughed out room-like area with a bench where a loved one who had died might be laid to rest. There were three at that place and we saw more as we drove on down that road to never-never land.

Soon the road let us know we were going the wrong way by ending. After about five miles of driving we came to a fence where the road just.....died. No more road...turn around. So we did.

Just another of fletchers italian adventures.

It's almost weekend again and...

2008-10-10T02:02:00.010+02:00

I haven't told you about last weekend. In Sicily, autumn is the time for festivals. In Piedemonte we went to the "uva" (grape) festival a couple of weeks ago, last weekend it was Zafferana. Zafferana's festival is actually four festivals. Each Sunday in October they celebrate a different harvest. Last week it was supposed to be grapes but we didn't see any grapes there. (Plenty of wine vendors, though) This week it's honey, and I forgot what the other two weeks are. So, instead of calling it the ____ festival, they call it Ottobrata. It's becoming pretty famous and people come from all over Italy, Europe and even the States to celebrate with the town.

Zafferana is a good-sized town about two thirds of the way up the mountain (Mount Etna) and the weather is beautiful this time of the year. The climate is excellent for growing grapes which is the main crop of the mountain area. There is also an abundance of chestnut, pine and apple trees.

In the States when our little Midwest towns have an October fest, we cordon off a bit of a main street and in the rest of the town, life goes on. In Zafferana, the whole town is shut down for the day (I guess that's why they have it on Sundays). People have to park as much as a half mile from the festival area and those who come late might had better have on their hiking boots.

A very busy place those few weeks. Parades, puppet shows, costumes, food, and lots of people.

Vendors come from all over to show their "wares." Some are commercial and some are local farmers and artisans. They have booths, stands, and even blankets on which to spread out wonderful products for sale. From the farmer bringing in his cheeses, peaches, apples, artichokes, etc. to the guy demonstrating the miracle window cleaner at least a hundred times a day. Products from Italy, Turkey, Senegal. Things to eat, to enjoy the beauty of, to wear, to cook or to cook with.

The town is built on three levels with stairs going from piazza to piazza at each level. The bottom level has vendors for a variety of things but the two main parts to this area are the games and the food. Outdoor grills serving up everything from Tuna (beside the grill sitting on a table of ice was the whole tuna from which they cut a steak-sized piece to cook for you), to horse meat pinani (plural for pinano which in Italy just means sandwich, hot or cold--same sandwich).

In fact, it's difficult to find a stand there not serving caballo (horse meat) so when I went to one of the stands to tell the guy what I wanted for a sandwich I said, "Sono Americana, no mi piace caballo. Per favore un altro coso."

I think I said I am an American, I don't like horsemeat. Please give me another thing. He showed me a meat in a tray and I said it would be fine but I really don't have a clue what I ate. Bob, on the other hand, didn't care. He'll eat anything.

One thing more. On the way to up the mountain we stopped in the nearby town of Via Grande which was enjoying a bit of the spill-over from the larger festivities at Zafferana. There were many interesting things there but the one that caught my eye was the little shop with two guys outside grilling artichokes. Bob and I like artichokes but to buy them fresh, steam them or cook them in some other way is a LOT of time and trouble for the little bit you get to eat----and, we always end up eating them with butter which we don't need. These were delicious and made with only a bit of olive oil and salt as they grilled.

It was another great day and we came home with a few purchased items for eating or for Christmas gifts and with tired but happy bodies.

I think it's time I put some more photos on flickr. I'll try to do that this three-day weekend when I can go to the base and spend an hour on the computer with a good signal.

Off on another adventure

2008-10-05T01:31:00.010+02:00

Last Saturday Bob and I decided we would go to a little place up north-----a factory just outside of Patti (accent on last syllable) called Caleco that makes tableware with distinctive designs. Plates, bowls, saucers, etc. Very nice. The outlet sells the not-perfect ones at a lesser price as outlets do, but then, they also give a 25% discount to people from Sigonella. We had been there once before a bought a few serving bowls and now wanted to add to the pattern. And we did.

Going up was nice but it was the autostrada--pretty much like an interstate. We wanted a bit of a different view so decided to come home a different route. Easy----just pick up 116 to Randazzo then through Linguaglossa, Piedemonte then hop on the autostrada for the ten more miles home. No problem......???

Never trust the GPS over the road signs in Sicily. If...you can find any road signs.

We started out at Patti and went to Tindari to pick up the SS116, a nice road that encircles Mount Etna. Found a quaint little shop that sold their own cheeses, breads and wines along with fresh meats, sausages and other locally produced goods. We bought a few things and went on to find the road to Randazzo. Here is a picture of the little shop. Maybe I should have taken the photo before we got in the car.

We must have missed a turn or turned when we weren't supposed to and the GPS took us, as only a GPS can, on a road that, on the map, was only a tiny white line twisting and turning throughout the many foothills and valleys. We passed cows grazing at the side of the road, farmers looking up from their work to see who the idiots were who had gotten lost because, obviously, the only ones who drove that road either were neighbors or lost tourists following their GPS. Other than thinking the road was going to end soon and we'd be forced to back up several miles before being able to turn around, we enjoyed being out int he countryside on that glorious autumn day.

Up and over and back and forth we drove and drove (twisty, turny, narrow, dirt-washed roads) for about two hours before finally arriving at Randazzo (which meant we still weren't home) to find a sign pointing to the SS116 and telling us we were about fifteen miles from Patti.

Autumn in Sicily is cooler weather and the second growing season for fruits and vegetables. Similar to Missouri without the winter to follow. And...Sicily has two distinct climates. The mountain where we were has the kind of weather that is conducive to growing the same kinds of things we see in Missouri, apples, peaches, pumpkins, and daffodils (my favorite). The lowlands of Sicily are more like the mideast, olive trees, cactus and desert in the summer months. Rain in the fall and winter with a little cooler temperatures for growing artichokes, zucchini, tomatoes, etc. Those things that produce quickly.

As we came closer to Randazzo we found a farmer selling apples and peaches by the side of the road. We picked up two large bags of each to make all sorts of autumn goodies.

After Randazzo and Linguaglossa we came to Piedemonte. We had tried to go through this town last year when we were on our way to Basico and was detoured due to the annual grape festival. This year we made it for the yearly detour but instead of bypassing, decided to stop awhile and join the festivities. And....I finally found those traditional little carts I've been looking for since we got here. What a great surprise.

They were lined up all along the main street. Some very old, some more recently made but all were intricate and beautiful. The pictures carved or painted on the wood typically depicts a scene from a historical battle or a familiar Sicilian love tale, or the story of the making of wine from grapes. Other shapes are cherubs, doves and other such icons of hope for a good harvest. And all parts of the wagon are decorated, even the underneath and inside the wheels and the axle.

We stayed for the parade and saw a clown band, the town band and flag throwers (typically found in Sicilian festival parades) But the most interesting to me was the large group of townspeople dressed in costumes depicting the early days of grape harvesting with the farmers and women who stomped the grapes. By the way, small farmers who make their own wine still stomp the grapes even today.

The day had been long and we were close to the autostrada so after an hour or so we slipped out and went the few miles home to relive the memories of a wonderful adventure in Sicily----once again.

Welcome Charlie !!!!!

2008-09-29T04:53:00.009+02:00

Charles David Craig (Charlie) was born on February 19 at 12:58 a.m. He weighed 9 pounds 14.2 ounces and is one of the most beautiful babies ever (that's grandma talking......the other beautiful babies are Grant, Madyline, Micha, Sophia....etc. for four more). In this photo, Charlie is about 12 hours old and, though awake, was having a little trouble learning to work his eyes to stay open. By the way, this picture wasn't posed. We laid the bear beside him and Charlie immediately cuddled.

As soon as I found out Jessica (and David, of course) was going to have a baby, I told the administration at school that I would be going to be with her when the time came. I scheduled my visit for a week after the due date and Charlie was gracious enough to wait until I got there to come into the world. I was able to stay with Grant while Mom and Dad went to the hospital.

Speaking of Grant, he is completely enamoured of he baby brother. As soon as he saw Charlie, he couldn't stop smiling. Grant and I went back for forth from home to the hospital for the three days Mom was in and one time, when we went out for some groceries, I heard him say to himself, "I miss my little brother." (said with a kind of sigh in his voice) All the time I was there, Grant never tired of holding his baby brother. When Charlie was in his arms, every once in awhile Grant would lean down and say something private to him. Just a bit of brother talk.

Jessica says Charlie is sleeping well and that he is the kind of little one who knows what he wants and lets the rest of the family know.

I'm just sad that he will be 8 months old before I get to see him again. Grandmas are supposed to be right there.

Tradition has it....

2008-09-14T22:54:00.011+02:00

...that after the apostle Paul founded the church in Siracusa, Sicily, he stopped in the seaport of Catania before he continued on his way. He was also, supposedly, ministered to by Santa Maria di Ognina. The church named for this saint each year has a festival marking the visit of St. Paul. The festival is culminated with the statue of Santa Maria di Ognina being carried out of the church by six strong men, paraded through the streets of Catania then placed on a boat decorated with many lights and floated down the shoreline accompanied by priests and dignitaries. Also accompanied by many, many small highly decorated boats (I lost count at 30). As they floated down the sea just a few yards from shore, there were several places where the all the boats stopped and faced shore for a small ceremony with the onlookers.

Giusseppe and Mimma, Bob and I met some other friends and was able to watch the procession from the balcony of a popular swimming area. This also happened to be one of the stopping places at which time the owner of the swimming area and his daughter took a small boat to meet the saint with an offering of armloads of beautiful white flowers. The crowd clapped and said rosary together with the priests (who had a loudspeaker system) then sang a well-known song together. It was quite a spectacular event. But for Bob and I the best was yet to come.

When the song was done there came one of the most beautiful fireworks displays we had ever seen, and we were only about 50 yards from it's point of origin. Explosion after explosion rocked the air and the rockets and sparkles they made were such a celebration one couldn't help but be awestruck.

These photos can't do justice to having a giant ball of light explode into thousands of shining diamonds almost above your head. But....I do hope you enjoy seeing them.

After the fireworks the procession moved on to the next and the next until it came to the port nearest the church and was placed in a place of honor in the church at midnight.

When the fireworks were over, we went to Aci Tressa to a pizza restaurant. Outside tables were surrounded by fruit trees and you were encouraged to reach up and pick a plumb or some grapes or a banana to enjoy either before or after your pizza. There was even a pomegranate tree near us with pomegranates that, we were told, would be ripe at Christmastime.

I don't understand.......

2008-09-11T05:08:00.001+02:00

the concept of throwing trash at the side of the road and yard waste (tree branches, weeds, etc) in the trash dumpsters. Must be a Sicilian thing.

A very short note

2008-09-01T17:42:00.003+02:00

I just posted about our new school but Bob and I went to the beach today. Remember the photo of the beach at Giardini Naxos? Well, that was the busy season. I must admit, this was a different beach but this is typical of the beaches today.

We had it all to ourselves. At its busiest (around 11:00 a.m.) there were about four families on the beach with us.

If you double click on the photo you can see Bob's "Tony the Tiger" feet from wearing his sandels all summer. I think it's cute.

Force Protection--a new frustration

2008-09-01T05:35:00.005+02:00

Okay, here's our new school. Beautiful isn't it? 33 million dollars for just the elementary part that we've moved into for this school year. Middle School and High School got their new building two years ago. The workers were still putting the finishing touches on our building the first and second days of school (last week) and the new playground will be finished in October/November. This is not to complain about the school. It's great.....I appreciate the new building....but...

"Force protection" is a word that means a way to protect our citizens in case there's a threat to safety on the base. So, "force protection" dictates that the school can be locked down immediately upon being informed of, or recognizing, a threat.

Every outside door is reinforced steel with no window, always kept locked (except, of course, for the one by the front office)...Okay, no problem. Inside that door is a set of double doors for the first floor and another at the top of the stairs for the second floor. So, if I'm in my room and need to go to the second floor I have to go out through the double doors on the first floor, up the stairs and in the double doors on the second floor. I don't have a problem with that either.....when they are unlocked (which half the time they're not) or propped open (which is against regulations).

The building is a squared-off U shape and to get to the office I can go all the way around the building or across the top of the U-shape through a breezeway. (by the way, I love the breezeway, it opens out to a plaza area that always beckons me to stop awhile) Now, since the breezeway doors are outer doors, it's required they stay locked, too. And, I have to go through those doors not only to get to the office but to the first and second grade classrooms. No problem there, either. I'm all for safety.

But now the frustration:

All rooms stay locked at all times, we teachers are not able to unlock them. So, if you go out of the classroom to use the restroom, pick up a student, go run some copies, you'd better have your key with you. In my position, I go to classrooms constantly picking up students for their time with me and have to knock, have someone in the room open the door and disrupt the whole class. Yuck.

And, the big thing......all the locks are opened with key-cards, like in a hotel, and can only be programmed in Germany. So, when the administration needs staff members to be able to get into the, oh, teacher work room for instance, they have to put in a request to Germany to change the computer program to add that room number then, when they've gotten the okay, to call each teacher into the office to recode her key. What a pain...............right now the key each teacher holds opens the outer doors and his/her room only. All in the name of security.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm all for the safety of our kids, but key cards programmed in Germany? Isn't that going a bit too far?

I wasn't going to........

2008-08-16T06:29:00.003+02:00

.....tell you about our lunch with Giusseppe and Mimma because it would just be a lunch and we've spoken about other lunches. However, this one really shows a difference in the eating habits of the sea-loving Sicilians and us "landlubbers."

As it happened, we didn't have to brave the congested highways to get to our restaurant. Apparently everyone who was going somewhere was already there. The roads looked like 2:00 p.m. on Christmas Day in the States. Maybe ten cars in the 30 minute drive.

Due to unexpected circumstances (completely different, boring, story) we rode, again, with Giusseppe and Mimma to a restaurant which had its own parking facility. Thank goodness because the roads in Capo Mulini (excuse me, road...only one here, no kidding. It goes in a circle through this little town on the sea) were bumper to bumper with people hunting for a parking place in order to get to the beach.

Inside the restaurant it was very difficult to find anything except seafood on the menu....... antipasti, pasta, main dishes, all seafood. Bob wanted a salad and we had to ask for that to be specially made, when it came it had lettuce and radicchio with olive oil.......that's all. I found an antipasto with cheese, prosciutto and olives for me then ordered shrimp for my main meal.

The restaurant, as most in Sicily, has its own before-meal appetizers the waiter brings to your table; bread (always in Sicily) and the house specialty, sea urchin. There were about 12 sea urchins turned upside down on the plate and I really felt that if I tried to eat one I would be sick. You know, that one food that just turns your stomach to even think of it? (I must preface this with letting you know that neither Bob nor I like Sushi but at least Bob has tried it. For me, it's just the thought of it that makes me refuse though our kids say it's delicious).

Not to be impolite, because we were the guests, Bob and I watched as Mimma showed us how to eat these sea urchins. Scrape the sides with a spoon then scoop out the insides with a piece of your bread. I was able to talk myself into trying this new dish, "Be a gracious guest, be brave. After all how bad can it be."................ I won't tell you the taste because that became terrifically insignificant, unimportant and forgotten when Bob said, "Hon, look." There, on his plate, the sea urchin was moving!!!!!!!!! A-a-a-ack!!! IT WAS ALIVE!!! It was "walking" off the plate. That was just WAY too much for me. I was finished with being gracious. I quietly (after exclaiming, "E viva!!") set my plate aside and ate bread. (for any of you who speak Italian, I know the grammar is wrong but I wasn't thinking of grammar at the time)

The rest of the meal was uneventful and maybe I redeemed myself a bit by eating a bit of all the other foods presented but, I really had no appetite for seafood after that. From now on I may just eat all my seafood at Long John Silvers.

August in Sicily

2008-08-14T15:44:00.010+02:00

August in Sicily, well, actually in all of Italy, is vacation month. Those who can, rent an apartment (no houses available here) as close to the beach as they can get and spend as much time as possible there. Many shop owners close for the entire month, businessmen take month-long vacations. It is the season of the beach. (Please, oh, please, double click on that photo. You need to see it larger to get the full effect)

Roberto and Valentina have rented a place near the beach in Giardini Naxos and invited us to come visit them for the day. So yesterday Giusseppe, Mimma, Bob and I loaded our "beach gear" and drove up to see them. The drive is usually 30 minutes long but as Giusseppe explained, those who are rich stay at the beach, those of us who are poor have to drive there every day for holiday (don't you believe him, Giusseppe is the one who put Roberto into his business......and Tony in his......and probably Mariella in hers, too). The road was congested all the way as people lemming-ed to the beaches lining Sicily.

Driving with Giusseppe and Mimma is always an experience. They are around 70 years old and have been driving since forever, therefore the whole road belongs to them......an idea shared by most Sicilian drivers. Once they find the town (of wherever they're going) they never can remember exactly how to get to the destination so we drive round and round until something looks familiar. We've driven around for as much as a half hour, made calls to people and stopped in the middle of the road holding up traffic while trying to decide whether to turn left, right or just go straight. However.....we (they) have never turned away defeated, we eventually find the right place.

Having finally found the beach apartment, Roberto wanted to show us around. He's considering buying it and, I believe, wants to get all the input he can before making the final decision. This apartment (as far as apartments go) is nice for a vacation place. They are on the top floor which means there are two levels, the apartment and a rooftop patio with outdoor kitchen and grill. Very nice. Looking from one balcony you can see the sea, look the other way at night and you can watch lava flow down Etna's mountain (beautiful sight to see).

The beach you saw pictured above is, I understand, typical of Sicilian beaches in August. Not only do the Sicilians gravitate to their beaches, but it seems half of Italy arrives to share the shore. Bob, as always, was the official picture taker and took several of the people sharing space on the beach. Pick out your nine square foot area and put up your umbrella, beach chairs and slather on the "crema del sole" (by the way, people in Sicily use coverage in the single digits such as 5 or 8, Americans really do need the higher numbers----but I've not met a Sicilian who's had skin cancer......interesting).

We had a good time. Visited. Swam (this is us just getting out of the water: me, Viviana, Mimma, and Valentina). Took photos. And went back to the apartment exhausted but ready for Valentina's great Italian lunch. Afterward we played cards for a bit (Bob played "chess" with four-year-old Fabio) and were ready to come home. A very nice day. I do, though have two more photos I want to show you. We have come to care greatly for this family and are proud that they have such beautiful and gracious children, Viviana, 10, and Fabio, 4-almost 5)

Today and tomorrow is a "great Italian holiday" where everyone celebrates from the evening of one to the evening of the next. Our friend Giusseppe Calanna explained that it's kind of like the special picnic night and the true celebrations begin at midnight with a multitude of fireworks everywhere in Sicily. Giusseppe and Mimmi invited us to dinner and dancing tonight in Aci Tretsi at their favorite place. They are spending the night to celebrate but we would drive separately to be able to come home when we were ready. We begged off, not wanting to join the crowds on the highways late at night but Bob and I will brave the congested roads tomorrow to meet them in Capo Mulini for a seafood lunch (pranza, which is their main meal). For those of you we got to talk to when in the States, it's the same seafood place where we ate just before beginning our journey to Missouri and Michigan. We'll be eating octopus, clams, squid, oysters, fish.....all of it in one gigantic meal----then roll ourselves home.

Summer in the States

2008-08-04T21:52:00.024+02:00

A month in the States and we didn't get everything done we wanted, didn't get to see everyone we wanted, and didn't have enough time at all.

First stop was Joplin to see Mike, Chris and their three beautiful children. My how they've grown. Besides being beautiful (and handsome) they are smart and happy. What more could you ask for. They came for a visit to our hotel room and we all went for a swim (except for Bob who was the official picture taker). Another day Logan went with us out and about and we stopped at "The Falls" to enjoy the scenery and look for wiggly things in the puddles.

We planned to go to the zoo in Springfield but rainy weather moved our plans to Bass Pro Shop then on to Lambert's for lunch. If any one of you do not know about Lambert's Restaurant, they are known for throwing hot rolls to the customers ("Home of the Throwed Rolls"). The kids were having so much fun signaling for rolls that we had to start holding their hands down when the guy came around. Logan was trying to get someone to throw him rolls for several days afterward. It was a nice day, even without the zoo and as you can see.....a very tired family somehow found its way home.

We also got to see their new house. They had just agreed to buy it and now, already, are living there. It's a very nice house. Five bedrooms. Plenty of room for Grandma and Grandpa to stay when they come to visit.

While in Joplin we spent some time with Madyline (Bob's mom). We tried to see her every day that we were in town. I wish we lived closer and could see her more often. It's sad to try to help her recall each one of the children when she sees them so seldom.

From Joplin we traveled up to Kansas City to see Ken, Lynette and Sophia. That 'Fia is a doll. She loves people and took to us right away-----she also took to the lady at the restaurant whom she had never seen before. That's okay, though, as long as she lets me give her lots of hugs, she can like other people, too.

We had a great time swimming in the apartment pool. Sophia loves the water. In fact, she would walk around the house with her legs through the float/boat that she loves to sit in at the pool. We meant to visit Ken's restaurant and sample some of the great food that he makes but time just didn't allow.

While we were there 'Fia had her second birthday and birthday party. What fun. She also loves helium-filled balloons and walked around with as many as she could gather at the party. When one would float away, she grabbed both sides of her face (Macauley Caulkin-style) and said with great emphasis, "Oh, no!" What a cutie.

After leaving Missouri, we drove to see the Craig family in Michigan stopping along the way (it's a long trip) to shop at the outlet mall. It's always my favorite place to stop. Just right for stretching the legs (and the pocket book).

David and Jessica have just bought a new house, too, and we got to see it (well, of course.... stay in it). They have both worked really hard getting rooms done. Of course, when they redo a room, they strip floors and walls and pretty much start it all over. Looks great when they're done but it's a lot of work, I know.

I expected to walk in the door and be handed a paintbrush, or at least a scraper but Jae took some time off to just hang with Mom and Dad and we relaxed for our last week in the States. A walk downtown in their quaint little suburb of Rockford led us to toy stores, ice cream shops and people setting up for a blues concert. What a nice place to live.

Another couple of days found us at the beach ( no matter whether in Sicily or Michigan, we love the beach) where we watched the ships, played in the sand and explored the dunes. The water was a bit too cold for our taste but we got in a few times. Watching Grant play and playing with him was the best part of the beach trips.

Michigan has the Tigers......and...... they have the Whitecaps minor league team. We went to a game and had a great time. Such excitement and enthusiasm for a minor league team. I'm told there were over 7,000 people there. Grant had a good time watching the ball game, playing on the playground boucy toys and eating this cotton candy. We had fun watching him stuff it into his mouth.

We had a wonderful time with all the grandkids, playing, reading stories, etc. but it was time for us to come back to the reality of our temporary home in Sicily and the two dogs under the care of a sitter who were patiently waiting for our return.

And now, dear friends and family, we are back in Sicily. We plan to enjoy, very much, this last year we are here. You will see more of our travels and travails and soon be seeing the fun and frustration of trying to get out of this place to move back to the States. I hear it's a real bear getting out of here. Harder than getting in.....and we had to have an FBI background check for that.

Thinking about moving back

2008-07-16T12:58:00.003+02:00

We have been visiting here in the States for two weeks now and it's time to post some thoughts.

We're seriously planning to leave Sigonella after this next school year and return to our homeland. It has been a wonderful time but, as most of you know, the pain of being away from my children and grandchildren weighs on me every day that I'm there. However..........

When we're in Sicily I do not miss the US. I very much miss family and friends but not the States. Not the television shows (ours are very limited), not the speed of life, not the shopping.....well, maybe the shopping just a little---the variety of stores. So far the only things I have found that I really miss is the song of the cardinal and Jonathan apples.

Now I never thought I would feel this way and am ashamed to say it........until I think of the reasons.

We live in a cocoon over there. We get to enjoy the pleasures of living in Europe and the "paradise" of Sicily without actually having the struggles of being anything but observers. We can live in our wonderful little villa, visit England, France, Germany, Spain, or any other area of Europe on a weekend trip. We can shop in town or not, not being dependent upon the prices of the high prices of food (Bob paid $7.00 for one medium-sized fish for us to share the weekend before we left for the States). We can speak the language or not and get by, etc. etc.

At the base we enjoy many if not most of the pleasures of living in the States, shop at the base stores for familiar brands, eat at several familiar spots (Applebees, Subway, KFC), go bowling, watch current movies, go to a well-stocked library, get our car maintained or repaired. We even have carnivals and community celebrations for American holidays like Fourth of July, Easter and Christmas. And all in a clean, well organized, safe environment. All the pleasures........

The first (and even the second) year we were at Sigonella, I wondered how anyone could stand to be away for 15 to 30 to 40 years like some of the teachers at our school.

Now each day I am confronted with at least one circumstance that makes me miss Sicily. I'm beginning to wonder if I will be able to come home. I am completely spoiled.

While we wait

2008-06-26T17:12:00.003+02:00

School is over and we are waiting for the time that the airplane will bring us back to the States to visit family and friends. But while we wait we are not bored, we are staying busy. We have so much to do that we just can't fit everything in.

Seriously, though, we are enjoying the time while we wait. We've been eating with our Italian friends, visiting wineries (the wine here is not at all like in the States........and after seeing the water here in the 21 century I see why Jesus drank wine), and seeing the sights. It's been a great and restful time which I needed after this stressful year.

Speaking of this school year, Bob and I decided that one more year would get us back on our feet financially (after the B&B) and so we are staying this one more year. I've already told my principal, our personnel secretary and everyone else (except our Italian friends) that we will be leaving after next school year whether or not I have a job to go to. I just can't stay away any longer from my family. I'm such a clinger-on-er.

Actually, when I had my birthday this year I realized that Bob and I are getting older (really fast) and don't have many more healthy years to spend with children and grandchildren. I just don't want to miss any more than I have to. These times are too precious.

Lastly, our itinerary in the States. We will be flying into St. Louis on July 1 where our good friends Billy and Bob DeMond will pick us up. After spending a day resting from the flight and picking up our rental car, we will drive to Joplin for a week. We'll sleep at the Holiday Inn but visit with Mike and his familly and with Bob's mom in the nursing home. (Mike's phone: 417-624-6059) Leaving there on the 11th of July we will go to Kansas City and visit with Ken, Lynette and Sophia until the 20th (phone 816-425-2623). After Ken's house we're driving to Michigan to see Jae (who is going to have a baby in September and can't travel to Missouri). On the 29th, we'll head back to St. Louis for a short visit again with the DeMonds then on August 1 we'll come back to Sicily. Please, do call if you would like to get together. I'm going to try to be at church in Cameron on the 12th or the 20th if I possibly can.

(and a few frustrations)

2008-06-20T17:26:00.003+02:00

There are so many things good about Sicily that I hate to mention the frustrations. And......the frustrations are usually so minor they're not worth mentioning. But.....I thought I'd mention a few so you know even Paradise has some flaws.

The first is something I've mentioned several times before--no phone. I think we're the only Americans we know that don't have one (Come to think of it, we're the only people, American or Italian, we know that doesn't have one). The phone company has sent people out five times to hook it up and five times they've told us (as if we didn't know), "You don't have any phone wires." I guess we just didn't smile right when we asked for the phone.

Water has also been a continual frustration. We have a running bet on whether we will have hot water when we need to bathe or wash dishes. The odds are about 50/50. The hot water heater is a typical Italian one. It is a continual hot water type that sits outside on the wall of the back porch. Between the wind blowing the pilot out and birds using it as a nesting place we never know what to expect when we turn on the hot water. (Right after I wrote this I went to take a bath and wouldn't you know it...no hot water)

But, worse than that is the experience we had a couple of weeks ago with our water. Suddenly one day while Bob was watering the garden our water went out. When that happens he usually goes down the lane and flips a switch for the motor of the well pump but this time it didn't work. No one on our lane had water--- niether Giusseppe nor Tony. After fiddling with it for awhile (meaning days) and calling an "idrolico" to come see if he could fix it, Giusseppe decided it was a bad motor and had to order one to be put in. So, in the meanwhile he hooked up our water to the cistern. For almost two weeks our water in the house was green and smelled like pond scum.

We couldn't wash clothes at all and taking baths was simply washing off with bottled water. Washing the dishes was a trick, too. Use lots of soap and rinse with bottled water. The toilets were getting pretty scummy by the time we were able to get back to clean water.

Today we went for help to the Vodaphone store at the base because I've been getting about 6 video messages per day on my phone showing the same soccer tournament. I showed the guy the 20 I had gotten since Thursday afternoon and he said he would take care of it. Now, you have to understand that everything on our phones is in Italian.....the writing, messages, helps, everything. So the guy calls customer service and talked/listened for about ten minutes. They gave him another number to call. When he called that number he discovered it was for setting up those video messages not getting rid of them so he called customer service back. During this time I was tired of waiting (a little ADHD, there) so I wandered the store. After a bit I went back to be told that it was fixed (this is the second time they've "fixed" it). They told me it was against the law for them to start the service without my permission but they could have sent me a message (in Italian) that said if you don't want this service let us know (in Italian). Since I didn't contact them to not have the service (in Italian!) they started it, charging me weekly for the service. Yi-i-i. In order to get rid of it the guy had to go into my messages where, at the end of one of the videos (you had to watch the whole thing) it told how (In Italian!!) how to get rid of those messges.

Just another day in Paradise.

Another beautiful spot in Sicily

2008-06-20T04:03:00.007+02:00

We found a little bit of Southwest Missouri right here in Sicily. Yesterday Bob and I took a trip to Alcantara Gorge (Gole della Alcantara). It's an area in the northeastern part of Sicily about a third of the way up the mountain (Mount Etna). It's a little tricky to get there and we took a couple of wrong turns, but just about the time I had given up hope of ever finding it, there were signs that pointed the way.

We walked a nice long (hot) trail overlooking the gorge and saw bluffs that reminded us of home. The river itself was a beautiful clear stream you could drink out of (well, that's not Missouri anymore but the one of my childhood). From the top of the bluff we looked down on crystalline waters running through the lava bed. The effect can't be put into a photo but here's a couple to show you a bit of the rocks and river.

After the walk we went to the little beach at the bottom of the gorge. We both said, almost simultaneously, "Roaring River". The water was cold, cold, cold and clear and beautiful. Signs warned to not stay in the water very long because of the cold. We took a few minutes to splash water on our faces and arms and after that long, hot walk it was very refreshing.

Living in Paradise

2008-06-01T06:52:00.003+02:00

The other day I was helping one of our fourth graders get ideas for an extensive paper they have to write: My Utopia. She was having trouble coming up with what she would like her utopia to be like so I gave her some of my thoughts to get her thinking processes going.

I told her that if I could create any kind of world I wanted I would start with one where the people are gracious, caring and fun loving. The weather is beautiful and flowers bloom all year round but if you want snow you can get to snow easily. Then I stopped and said, "Wait, I have that here." Needless to say, my Utopia didn't give her much help. Yet, her Utopia came out probably better than mine. Here's a part.

"My utopia is where all the family lives and you don't have to miss seeing your grandma or uncles. There would be pajama parties every night and in school you would only do reading, art and science."

I think I would like her Utopia.

Horse Attack

2008-05-26T19:52:00.004+02:00

Let me set the stage. We’ve rented a beach-side apartment for the weekend in a tiny little village in Sicily. The place is so serene that the few birds and the waves are the loudest sounds you hear. We’ve invited our friend Janelle and her two children, Trenton, age 10, and Miranda, age 5, to drive the hour down to come to the beach with us.

The beach has no other people on it. A few fishermen line the rocks on either side of the beach casting their lines or fishing nets into the sea. We spend some time watching a young man waiting patiently, net in hand then stealthily creeping up to throw his net on unsuspecting fish as Peter, James or John might have in Bible times. Surprisingly to us, he was actually catching fish.

There’s a small fresh-water stream flowing to the sea between the road and the beach and to get to the beach it you have to wade across the stream. No problem for us. We had gladly gone through to have our precious time on what seemed to us to be our own private beach.

We had enjoyed watching the fishermen, the boats on the sea, and now we saw two men riding a small cart pulled by a beautiful dark, almost black, horse. They came down to the area where the stream was and our thoughts were they were going to let the horse have a drink. The horse was acting a bit nervous so he was probably tired and a drink would help him. But, no. One man got off and prodded the horse to cross the stream. Still, no worry, they had plenty of room to go around us.

The horse didn’t want to go into the stream but finally rushed through only to stop just two feet from where we were to show these men he didn’t want to go any further, especially through the soft sand that he and the cart were sinking into. We, of course backed off, but were unable to get our things out of the way before he really threw a fit, jumping around as frightened horses do, his feet tossing our blankets, chairs, books and drinks everywhere. We, with our quick thinking (or lack thereof), just stood there hoping we didn’t get hit by flying hooves or objects. (Don’t ever hire any of us adults as secret service agents because we never once thought, “Jump in front of the children.” We all just stood there dumbfounded.)

The men finally got him settled down and rode off down the beach, hooves and wheels sinking all the way. And we began the job of cleanup. What was their intention? Were they training him for something? Were they mad? We’ll never know but it was the only time I’ve gone to the beach to get attacked by a horse.-------------and my camera was back at the apartment.

More of Sicily

2008-05-11T13:22:00.004+02:00

I really need to get better at posting. I've gotten lazy and apparently am in danger of taking Sicily for granted. I hope that never happens no matter how long we're here. It is too beautiful, breathtaking, actually to not appreciate every day the blessings of being here in paradise.

Yesterday Bob and I went to the annual garlic festival in Tre Castagni (Cost-ahn-yee) and walked among vendors offering goods from all over Sicily and some other nearby countries. If you've followed the blog you've heard that all towns have very special times for festivals each year. One festival is to honor the appointed saint of the town, another is for Carnivale just before Easter and the third is to honor the typical food of the area. There are, in addition to garlic festival, almond blossom festivals, artichoke festivals, apple, pear and peach festivals, numerous grape festivals, honey festivals and even a prickly pear festival. One for each town.

So last night we went to the garlic festival. Apparently I read the promotional clip from our on-base tour company because I was sure we would see a parade of the famous Sicilian horse carts that fascinate me so much. The carts are painted festively all over and I can't get enough of seeing them (which is a rare sight these days).

We didn't see any carts or parade but there were vendors selling garlic (and a few with red onions) everywhere. They pick them and either bunch them together or braid the tops together into these long chains.

We, of course, had to have a smaller version of the braid to put in our kitchen for decoration. Ours has only eighteen bulbs set on both sides of the braided tops and is hanging in our kitchen. Two things about garlic hanging in your kitchen: 1)You kitchen is protected from vampires. 2) You have to keep the windows open.

Mother's Day

2008-05-11T12:48:00.005+02:00

This blog is hidden behind another because it's just a personal note and only slightly related to being in Italy. Please just chalk all this sentimentality up to it's being Mother's Day.

Today is Mother's Day and I am slightly sad only because communication is difficult and I may not get to talk to the kids today.

Bob and I discussed early in our marriage that we would never feel obligated to get each other gifts for Mother's or Father's Day because, after all, we weren't each other's mother or father. We would help and encourage the children to give but not do anything ourselves. So what he has done the past week has been especially thoughtful.

Bob has been so gracious in making sure I have a Mother's Day celebration. A week ago he bought me this beautiful Italian leather bag for my computer. I had seen it and really loved it but would never have bought it for myself (anything over $10 is too much). It was so expensive I told him I would have to sleep with it, carry it everywhere and keep it forever. When it starts falling apart I'll have to cut it up for key chains, wallets and other leather goods to keep on using it.

Last night we went to the annual garlic festival in Tre Castagni (cost-ahn-yee) where we walked the streets lined with vendors from all over Sicily, northern Africa, Romania (if that's were gypsys come from) and Morraco (yes, I know that's also northern Africa but it's part of my story)

At one vendor's booth we saw several things we loved. The nice man who manned the booth talked to us quite a bit (Did you know they speak English in Morraco?). He and his friend had brought decorative and useful pieces both new and antique and I fell in love. Anyone who knows me know that "stuff" is not important to me but occasionally I find something that touches my heart and I know it's something I'll love for a long, long time. I found this small Morracan chest that I fell in love with. I don't know why, it just touched me. No matter that I have no where to put it in our small house, no matter that it really has no use, it was beautiful. Bob wanted me to have it and he bought it for me saying it was a Mother's day gift.

But the sweetest thing was what he did this morning. Before we left for the base for church, Bob went out and brought me yellow roses from our yard. We live in what could be called a flower garden. Roses, jasmine, geranium, lavendar and a multitude of other flowers grow all around our house. The fact that Bob made sure I had flowers for Mother's Day touched me as nothing else he might do could.

Spring break week is almost over, but what a time we've had.

2008-04-11T16:09:00.007+02:00

We've had a great week going here and there all over the island. I wrote about Cefalu on one day but here I'm going to talk about the rest of the week. I know it will be long but blogging about each day would be too short.

On Monday Bob and I decided to drive to a little town called Nicolosi. We didn't have any special reason, we just hadn't been there before. It's a pretty little town and we walked around awhile. While we were walking we saw a sign that said "Etna" with an arrow. So we decided to get in the car and follow the signs. We drove and drove up the mountain watching the elevation on the GPS (translating km to mph as we went). 1000 feet, 2000 feet, up and up, 3000, 4000 and on.

Etna is about 9000 feet above sea level and we started at 1200. There are scenic views all along the way and we could see all the way to the sea. All the little towns flowing down the mountain. What a wonderful view. The day was hazy so we're definitely going back sometime on a clear day to take some amazing photos.

About 5000 feet we came to the snow line. Sometimes the snow line is much lower--we have rain or sprinkles and look up the mountain and it's filled with snow. But it's springtime and the weather was warm so we had to go quite a way to get to the snow. We stopped and took some photos then got back in and drove until we came to a little resort area. At 6000 feet there are hotels, souvenoir shops and a cable car that will (for $75) take you to the top, provide a guide and a jeep to go right up to the mouth of the volcano where you can see the lava. Bob and I were neither one interested in doing that on Monday but we might some other day.

We decided to go back to Nicolosi for lunch but couldn't find the right road for any of the restaurants we had seen earlier so we went to the mall in Motta instead (they have a McDonalds). We didn't plan to buy anything but one of the kitchen stores was having most of their stock on sale for half price and we found some really unique dishes and glasses that we "just had to have". It was fun finding all the bargains.

Tuesday was pretty much a bust for seeing the "beautiful" sights of Sicily. We went to Bronte, which is the pistacchio capital of Italy. Do you know what pistacchio trees look like at this time of year? U-G-L-Y!! Very much like a tree you would draw in a Halloween picture. And the town really has nothing else to boast of. It is, though, on the other side of the mountain and we got another view. The land on that side of the mountain is rough, rocky with lava and sparse. Almost desolate. Some vegetation but it looks like it has to work really hard to grow.

The town is straight up and down the mountain and each street is too narrow for comfortable driving (coffee table streets). We parked the car and walked down to the center of town and found nothing worthy of photos except this of CDs hanging out to...dry? Sometime walking down the streets of the town, the thought flitted through each of our minds (but didn't stay long enough to effect our actions) that if we were walking down we would eventually have to walk back up. Ouch!! It was about a mile of really steep walking and we really got our exercise.

Thursday we shopped for ceramics in Santo Stefano di Camastra and in Patti. Didn't need much but had some things we were especially looking for. On the way to San Stefano, though, Bob mentioned a restaurant we had eaten at when last we were there. We had gotten lost wandering through the town on foot and found a really great restaurant. Thursday we looked and looked for the restaurant and didn't find it until........we got lost again and there it was right in front of us. So now, we know how to find that wonderful place to eat. All we have to do is get lost.

Today we went south to the Mediterranean coast and found a town that Bob said if he ever runs away that's where I can find him. It's all that he pictured when he thought of us living in Sicily. A little fishing village nestled up against the sea. Lava stone surrounding the sea, sharply pitted and hollowed out like it has been washed for hundreds of years (oh yea, it has). Little beaches nestled in among the rock ledges just waiting for footprints and sand castles. We ate lunch at a tavola calda (literally translated, table hot, loosely translated, hot food at a little, family owned restauranty type place) looking out over the little boats docked for the season. The boats will be in the water soon for the fishing season but for now they sit in the sand waiting.

It's been a great week and there are still two days. Tomorrow we may go to the outdoor market in Misterbianco or we may just relax. Sunday will be church and getting ready to go back to work. I could continue with spring break forever---especially if the paychecks would keep coming.

Forget Taormina, It's Cefalu for me

2008-04-07T15:44:00.009+02:00

People told us from the first months we got here that Cefalu (pronounced chay'-falu) is a beautiful little town and we just had to see it. But we thought, we're in Sicily, everything is beautiful so we weren't in any particular hurry to see it. Besides, how could it compare to Taormina, world-reknown as THE town to visit when in Sicily---all the notable people come to Taormina.

But, here we are on spring break and have some time so yesterday we went with some friends to Cefalu. It was a long trip....three hours. Not so bad since we were with friends and they have a big SUV...Still, over the day we drove about 8 hours total. It will take us a couple of days to be ready for another big trip.

The first look at Cefalu was of the lighthouse and the sea. I don't think I've ever seen water as blue. Now I understand the Crayola crayon called Mediterranean (although this in on the Tyrranean Sea). Deep beckoning, blue. You just want to walk out in to the sea and become a part of it. I didn't get a good photo of the lighthouse but here is the water. Out on that little penninsula is the remains of an old (maybe 12th century) fortress/watchtower. You can walk out there but it's private property. There are two small houses on the little penninsula and, of course, a hotel at the place where it leaves the rest of the land.

As we walked through the town there were many beautiful walkways. On our little pathway was this 'tunnel'. We were enjoying the blend of materials and finishes (very, very old and very new) when a car came through making us realize it was not a pathway but one of the roads of the town. When Trace was here she called them "coffee table roads" because that's about the width of them. The kind you have to pull in your side mirrors to get through----and don't try to stop and get out, the doors wouldn't open in that tight space. There are many, many roads like that in small towns in Sicily. Always an adventure to drive.

We went to eat right near a marina and, of course, had seafood. The north side of the island is mostly fishing villages and up there it's hard to find a restaurant with something other than seafood. And they all seem to know how to cook it very well. On very full stomachs we walked down by the mariana and looked at the boats and the water and the sights. I found a little stream emptying fresh water into the sea (I know, I tasted it). I was like a little kid, following the stream backward as far as I could.

We walked by all the boats at the marina......not at all like marinas in the States. Nor were the boats like those in the states. I really liked this one that had windows in the front that looked like eyes. All it needed was a mouth painted on it to be perfect.

There were "photo ops" all over the place and Bob and I took almost a hundred photos. I'll have to put them on flickr so you can see more of this little town. Just had to put this one on, though because he was so.....picturesque.

Cefalu, itself, is a small resort town with nice beaches and lava cliff(ettes) and stone walls that open right out to the sea. We were constantly saying, "Ooh, look at this!!" We couldn't get enough of the views.

There are lots of little shops in the town some with tourist-y things and some with unusual things and one that just had stuff...I loved that shop. Vintage hats and baby clothes, old pottery and metalware, books, helmets from old and all just stuffed here and there. Since I was the only one of the group interested in such an old musty shop I looked for a short bit then moved on. I want to go back. There's got to be some treasure there that I "just can't live without."

We walked around for a couple of hours and never got enough of the town and the beach and the sea. But, Harrison----their gelato is definitely not as good as in Misterbianco. We tried it, just for you.

On Sicilian friends who love us.

2008-03-22T15:10:00.003+01:00

I have to share a special incident from last weekend that touched my heart. I had decided long ago that when I turned 60 I would have a huge party with many people there. But...when the time grew close and I thought of who to invite, the only people that came to mind were Giusseppe and Mimma. So instead of the big party we invited our neighbors to have dinner with us after church.

Because they are older and it's more difficult for them to get around, Giusseppe and Mimma don't often attend church on Sunday morning. Every Sunday, though, I hear their television tuned to a station with a church service whether they have company or not.

Palm Sunday is a very important time for the Italians and a day not to miss the service for the blessings of the time of Easter. Guisseppe came over that morning to ask if we would like to go and I wanted so much to say yes. But I had important things going on at my church and really couldn't miss.

When they came over to eat in the afternoon Mimma brought me a large palm branch tied to an olive branch with a piece of ribbon. She told me she had gotten one for each of her children (Antonia, Mariella, and Roberto) and one for me. What a privilege to be considered important by such a gracious lady.

I never want to leave our wonderful Italian friends.

A great coming of (old) age

2008-03-22T13:36:00.006+01:00

Those of you who know me well, know that my birthday was last weekend and now I am officially old. I've been telling friends that I feel oh, so much wiser now and if the Dali Lama really quits as he's threatened to I may apply for that job.......(does he have to do anything other than be wise?)

We had a really nice weekend with many things going on. But, it was the little, unexpected things that made the weekend great.

On Saturday we decided to drive to a little town, called Castle Mola,above Taormina. Literally above, as in skyward, like a cap on the top of the mountain. I had seen some things there last June that stuck in my mind as things I would like to look at more closely so we got our things ready to get into the car and go.

On the way out to the car we saw this unusual assemblage of caterpillars. Yep, they are really caterpillars. They were uncurling from a hole in the corner of several stones in the patio/driveway and for some reason felt it important to parade to some unknown destination. Of course, when we got home four hours later, time and possibly the birds had done their work and the caterpillars were gone except for a few who didn't make it to the "upper world" alive. Anyone ever seen this before?

We had a great time at Castle Mola, took some pictures, bought a few souvenirs and gifts, had some coffee, tea and biscotti and were ready to leave by 11:00 (it really is a small town). It seems that every shop we went into the proprietor was related to the person at the previous shop. This little shop had a wide variety of vintage Sicilian aritfacts, crafts and such. If you look at the left-hand corner under the staircase you'll see a circle of bells. The frame is made of iron and there's a wind-y thing (kind of like on the old, old cars to start them) that makes the bells go around and ring. It's a kind of doorbell. That's one of the things I wanted to look at we found and bought one. So ....when you come to my house after we move back to the States you'll know how to ring my bell(s).

Since it was early we decided to stop by another small town called Linguaglossa and visit our favorite winery. (Especially for Ken and Lynette----we did not use the GPS this time) At the family-run business of the Gambino winery the owners are gracious, the land is beautiful and the view is indescribable (you're actually more than halfway up on Mount Etna and can look out from their patio clear to the sea---but not in this picture).

Again, anyone who knows me well, knows that my very favorite flower in the world is daffodils. The big trumpet kind and bright, bright yellow. When I was growing up in southeast Kansas daffodils were always in bloom on my birthday and were the first sigh of spring for me (the h is not a typo--sigh). Not crocus, not hyacinth, not even jonquils.............daffodils. Because the bulbs need to freeze we're not able to grow daffodils down where we live and I've missed them. What a great surprise it was to walk up to the house at the Gambino winery and see daffodils growing all along the walk. What a wonderful birthday present. What a wonderful day.

(A paraphrase of Psalm 37: something says: Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Over the past 60 years, I must say, God has truly given me the desires of my heart and I praise Him)

Belated photos of carnivale

2008-03-08T16:36:00.009+01:00

Tracy and Bill got here on February 4th toting backpacks, pillows, DS game systems, and ten giant suitcases. Bob and I rented a larger car for their visit and it took that car (a station-wagon), our little Sunfire and a friend's car to get them and their belongings to our house. You'd be surprised what a family of five can get into a suitcase for a move to South Africa. If you want to know why they're moving click on their link from our page. They left us for their new adventure on the 20th (well, Tracy left the 20th, Bill left a week earlier to get things ready for the family's arrival) and we are missing them a lot.

The first full day they were here was sunny and bright, typical Sicily. That night was the final night of carnivale (don't forget to pronounce the e at the end) and a parade of costumes in Misterbianco. The brochure from the town said there would be a parade of bands at 4:00 and the costume parade would start at 5:00. We got there a little before 4:00 and found (surprisingly) a parking place. We walked around the town thinking it was pretty quiet for a parade about to start. Not many people there. So, this being Bob's and my first time at this parade we thought maybe we had taken the family to a real putz of a parade. How wrong we were. However, back to my story.

We walked all over the town and saw railings up and down the streets as if to hold people back but.....back from what. Four o'clock........five o'clock. Went to the little store for a gelato.....walked some more. Walked to the park for a beautiful view of the surrounding area and other little towns. Six o'clock, finally a band came marching through the town. And then nothing. One band--a small one, at that.

About then, someone turned on music. Huge speakers were set up all over town and typical Sicilian music blasted forth from every one. More people started showing up and a few vendors of confetti, silly string, and noise makers set up stands along the sidewalk. We found a spot and very soon it was evident that something special was going to happen. Many of the bystanders had costumes on, especially little children. People crowded together along the streets waiting for whatever would come.

Seven o'clock (no, we didn't read the brochure wrong) the parade came down the street. And what a parade it was. People in costumes so elaborate I don't know how they could ever hold together. So heavy that sometimes when the parade stopped for a bit people would come out and hold the costume up to let the wearer rest.
Everyone, even those in huge costumes, danced down the street to the music and the parade went all over the town.

Costumes depicting Rome, Felix the Cat, ships at sea, gardens complete with bench and fence, card games, (oh, yea, and Alice in Wonderland). Way too many to describe. Here are just a few photos of some of the parade but there were many many costumes and "floats" (only way to describe them).

The air of festivity that can only happen in Sicily. People talking loudly, laughing, cheering, and a few teenagers walking along the street having silly-string fights. By the way, the silly string, for some reason, is shot at the floats and people in the parade--and anyone else standing in the way
We were parked far away from the parade area and even our car was decorated with silly string.

It got really cold as soon as the sun went down and we were all freezing by 7:00. We left about nine-thirty so the kids could get warm. We walked up the way the parade was coming so as not to miss anything. I don't know what time the parade finished but I'm sure it was late (for Americans--not for Sicilians). There were fireworks scheduled for midnight.

Carnivale begins

2008-01-31T21:06:00.000+01:00

This is the week that Carnivale began in Sicily. Costumes, parades, fireworks and festivities in almost every town. Some formal with parades, costume contests and special events. Some informal with people meeting in the piazza each evening with music and the children in costumes..........these are the most interesting to me. The people of the town chatting and exclaiming over the children and the music weaving in and through the Sicilian night.

Tonight as we went into Motta for dinner we came upon what looked like an impromptu parade. Street musicians, clowns short and tall, jugglers and a fire eater entertaining as they walked down the street. As we followed and watched we realized this was a professional troupe (what normal person would want to be a fire-eater) with police escorting them and stopping traffic as they wandered through town.

We watched and took pictures for a few minutes then took our friend to dinner at Buon Gustaio--a great place for dinner-----garlic soup, "molta buono."

Carnivale, for those who are wondering, is the Italian version of Mardi Gras (without the drunken brawls), though a much older tradition here--of course. The costumes are intricate, ornate and sometimes outlandish (how about two waist-high chicken heads attached to a skirt/dress). There are parades, costume competitions, street vendors and music everywhere. It is a time for people to celebrate each other and the coming of spring. The Sicilaians are a religious people and thank God in every part of their life. Many of the mini-floats are dedicated to the various professions--bakers, butchers, etc.---which makes for very interesting floats.

We're planning to take Tracy and Bill to the final day of the carnivale in Misterbianco. It should be a great experience--a real Sicilian adventure.

Piazza Amerina

2008-01-21T15:41:00.000+01:00

This weekend the weather finally broke from the monotonous rain we've had since December and Bob and I decided it was a good time for a new adventure. We've been told often that Piazza Amerina was the place we should go and that's where we went. Everywhere here is close--it's a small island--and we were there in a little over an hour.

The villa we "just had to see" sat about 5 kilometers outside of Piazza Amerina. It (Villa Romana Casale) was a magnificent country home for the governor of Sicily (same as a president) and was built in a.d. 330 to 360. It was destroyed by a landslide in the 12th century and was forgotten about until the 19th century when some of the mosaics were found. They began to excavate but didn't get far before they lost interest (or money) and it wasn't until 1951 that a real excavation began. Okay--enough for the history lesson. Here are our impressions.

When we got there the day was beautiful but cool and we felt like we had the place to ourselves as we rarely passed another sightseer. As we walked down the path toward the villa we saw construction scaffolding and old walls and thought people were mistaken about it's beauty. Then we went inside-------

The floor of each room, terrace and portico was covered with mosaics. Intricate pictures of hunting scenes, wreaths with symbolic animals, and just plain decorative mosaics. It must have taken hundreds of artisans years and years to finish just the floors.

In some areas you could see the minimal remains of frescos (paintings on the stone walls) to match the tiles. What beauty it must have been when the governor lived there.

I really liked the duck.

They are working hard (for many years) to jigsaw the pieces into place or replace parts that are missing. Some will be forever lost but what is there is--I know I overuse this word--amazing. I know the photos can't really show how intricate this all is, but maybe you can get some idea.

After we were finished looking at the mosaics and had walked all around the villa we were hungry. We looked and looked for somewhere to eat and just as we were leaving town we saw a restaurant that looked good. Not being in the town but outside at the opposite end from the villa, the place was not touristy but very authentic Sicilian. As we looked at the menu, though, we saw several dishes we were surprised to see. Venison (we've not seen one deer in Sicily)......wild boar (I'm really glad we've not seen one of those) We chose something safe and Sicilian--pasta and had a really nice meal before heading home. I guess we weren't as adventurous as we thought.

I digress

2008-01-21T15:38:00.000+01:00

As per the title of our blog and the intention of it, I do realize that I am straying from the story today. However, as we make the difficult decision regarding staying in Sicily another year or returning home to find jobs and a life “back home” I am finding myself nostalgic in many arenas. Today I was reading a portion of a book on Prayer by Philip Yancey and came to a passage that took my mind and heart to friends I love dearly. I will quote the passage here and maybe it will do the same for you.

“I can count on one hand my most intimate friends, those with whom I would share anything. I can hardly think of a boundary on our conversations. We reach that plane of relationship after long hours together and considerable risk. If a doctor informs me tomorrow that I have a terminal disease, they will be my first calls.
Most of my intimate friends live in other cities, and as a result I may see them only once a year. When we meet, though, we skip the chitchat and go right to the heart of what concerns us most. I don’t worry about being judged or second-guessed or made the subject of gossip. With true friends I feel safe”

As I read I began thinking of three friends I put into that category. I will not name them here but if you read this you know who you are.

The first is from my childhood…so early in life that I don’t recall ever not knowing her. We played together as children and, though we have lived our adult lives geographically far apart, we have continued that friendship throughout the years. She knows my childhood family in a way no other friend does and I know hers. She even knows Bob’s family in a close personal way. I am truly thankful for her friendship.

The second friend I met in my young married years at a time when we had moved far away from family and friends. I was in desperate need of a friend and she showed up on my doorstep------literally-----and immediately became friend and family for these 35 years I’ve known her. She has dressed my children, waited with me during labor until Bob could get there, cried with me when my mother died, helped with weddings and has pretty much been a constant through my adult life. She is a dear friend and one who in some ways I would pattern my life after.

The third friend I met after I became a teacher. The first time I met her was when we moved to a new town in a different part of our state, I was walking down the hall of my new school and she was working in her room. I stopped to introduce myself and found we had been raised just 30 miles from each other. Through the years we found that our teaching styles were not only similar but we could finish each other’s sentences when working with children. We trained together for Reading Recovery and compared notes constantly. We even taught in the same room for several years. She is gracious and caring and thinks of others in ways I could never imitate no matter how much I would like to. She is one of the best teachers and friends I have ever known and we can talk for hours about any subject.

When I think about friends these are the first people who come to mind so I hope you don’t mind my taking a moment to ponder and say thank you for the importance they have had in my life. I even find that as I think about either moving back to or visiting the States this summer I think about being in a place where I can spend time with these friends. God has blessed me with other wonderful friends that I am very thankful for and I can only be amazed at His goodness.

Christmas on our own

2007-12-26T10:47:00.000+01:00

Hey, Grant, did you make these? We love them and they look really good on our mantle with Santa holding them. Thank you. from Grammy and Papa

Much to the surprise of both Bob and me, we had a wonderful Christmas yesterday. Being on our own and so far away from the kids, I was sure that I would be teary all day and Bob was sure he would have to put up with my tearfulness all day but that didn't happen.

We received some gifts from kids and had a few for each other.

After a cup of coffee for Bob and tea for me, we opened our gifts.

They were all great and very much appreciated but the nicest thing about the day was relaxing together and having no responsibilities at all for the whole day. We didn't even have to cook a dinner.

We were invited next door (Giusseppe and Mimma's) for Christmas dinner with the Fortunato family. The food was definitely not what we're used to having for Christmas dinner, no turkey or ham, no sweet potatoes. Instead we had a delicious Sicilian dinner and good conversation with friends. We aren't fluent in Italian by any means but between the little English they speak and the little Italian we speak we are able to carry on decent conversations.

After dinner, Roberto and Bob worked together to clean out the chimney of our house. We had tried to have a fire in the fireplace a couple of times as the weather got cooler but got a house full of smoke---not good for breathing. Roberto got on the roof and saw that we had a huge bird's nest in the top of the chimney. After the nest was cleared out, we could enjoy a cozy Christmas evening reading our new books in front of a beautiful fire.

I do hope you have all had equally beautiful days for Christmas and the new year brings spiritual growth, good friends both old and new, and families to love. God Bless and Happy New Year.

It's Christmastime

2007-12-17T15:29:00.000+01:00

I feel I must say a bit about Christmas. I really wish we could be home and see you all and spend time just sitting together and enjoying each other’s company but that would not be a wise choice for us this year. Bob and I decided that we really need to stay in Italy. I will miss you very much…both family and friends. Take care of yourselves ( I see a lot of bad, bad weather there) and have a very Merry Christmas.

I was so sad about being away from family for Christmas I had decided we just wouldn’t have a traditional Christmas this year. We wouldn’t decorate the house or open presents Christmas morning or listen to Christmas music (and everyone knows how I love Christmas music). Maybe instead of buying gifts for each other Bob and I could take a short trip. Or choose one big thing we both want and buy that together (as if we could ever decide on one thing we both want).

I lasted until December 7. .....(add thought bubble here)........"Well, maybe it wouldn’t hurt to buy a poinsettia," “Oh, they’re only two and three Euro? Then I think we need five.” …… (later)……. “Those poinsettias look kind of bare just sitting there, maybe we could look at the store and see if they have a garland we can accent with.” Etc. etc. etc. Here’s some photos of our house now that we “didn’t” do Christmas.

Poor Bob, he doesn't know what to do about Christmas because I keep changing my mind about the whole thing.

I still don’t know what Bob and I will do for Christmas but whatever it is, we’ll have a great time and enjoy being together. And, we’ll call all the kids to wish them a wonderful Christmas Day.

Speaking of Christmas, I’ve been practicing with people from the several chapel congregations, both Protestant and Catholic, for the annual Christmas cantata. For those of you who have been in a program like this, you know that when you gather for the first time you think it will never work. So many missed notes, missed beats, missed words. But, slowly, week by week you see improvement and even though two weeks before the performance you’re still thinking it’s not going to work, suddenly, at the last practice it all seems to fall into place. It’s a wonderful sound. The sopranos, altos, tenors and basses all doing their parts to make beautiful harmonies. Though you’ve been singing it all along and you’ve sung in cantatas all your life, the amazing beauty of it coming together still catches you by surprise. We sang (a teaser) at the Catholic and the Protestant services Sunday morning then performed the cantata on Sunday night. It turned out even better that I could have hoped for. And if you ever want to see our cantata, Bob taped it.

I feel like the Kranks from the movie “Skipping Christmas.” So much for not celebrating Christmas. I love Christmastime--------but still miss my family.

Train Ride around the Volcano

2007-12-13T16:09:00.000+01:00

Okay, I really am going to talk about going around the mountain on a train but first I need to make a suggestion. If you ever want a really great winter “drink” you should go to the store and buy the kind of deep chocolate pudding that you actually have to cook. Follow the directions except add about a fourth cup more milk and when it’s mixed together and cooked, pour it into four cups and call a friend or two to share it with. Remember, it must be served hot and eaten with a spoon. Wow! To add a bit of pizzazz you can put a touch of flavoring in it as soon as you take it off the stove, ameratto, almond, let your imagination dictate what you want. I can’t imagine anything ruining the taste.

We got up really early last Saturday and drove to the base to catch the bus for our Circumetnea (pronounced: cheer-come-et-nay-ya) adventure. We went to Catania and got on an old train that travels around the mountain stopping at almost every town along the way. The train actually has the old time whistle and bumps along the track in such an informal way that at one point the engineer stopped to let the conductor jump out and pick oranges off nearby trees to give to people on the train. Time meant nothing that day and we enjoyed seeing Mount Etna from every angle. I can’t say the countryside was beautiful. The view we had most of the time was of giant walls of lava or a field that seemed to grow lava rocks. Bob said we could make a fortune on lava table tops if we could figure out a way to move them all and knew how to polish them.

We stopped in the small town of Randazzo, the highest town and the town closest to the mouth of the volcano. This is the same place that is pictured in Ken and Lynette’s blog—the church made of lava. The weather didn’t seem to know whether to be nice or misty that day so we went into several shops and enjoyed the sights in line with the weather. Once, when it got too misty to walk we ducked into a pastacceria to have a mid-morning snack. The advertisement on the wall said they served 32 different chocolate drinks. Could I resist? Of course not! The one I got tasted just like the chocolate pudding I mentioned before with probably a touch of cherry flavoring in it. I definitely had my chocolate fix for the day.

Continuing around the mountain we ended at Giarro, just north of Catania, where we transferred to a super modern train to get us back to the train station in Catania. I’ve never been on a train so nice and smooth-riding----and quiet. It runs on electricity and you don’t hear any engine noise at all. If we had trains like this in the States we might have less gasoline problems, everyone would be riding the train.

Un reingraciamente tipico d'America

2007-11-28T04:33:00.000+01:00

Our Italian friends, at least 18 of them, came to our traditional Thanksgiving dinner last Sunday afternoon. Since the Italians do not celebrate our Thanksgiving, there is no translation for all that we feel, think and do relating to that time of year. The word reingraciamente is one they have pretty much coined to describe the day. It means something to the effect of "big thanks" and many Sicilians seem to think it's a substitute for Christmas for us.

Our friends arrived with gifts in hand. Not just the traditional plate of Sicilian sweets but really nice gifts: a bud vase, a beautiful large ceramic platter and a really cute stuffed Christmas dog that sings a Christmas song. Our friend was so proud that she found one that sang a song in English. If she spoke English she probably wouldn't have picked one that sang about how lonely he was going to be this Christmas. We were quite amused. Mimma and Valentina (Roberto's wife) brought us a beautiful ceramic planter with plants in it. I hope it lasts long enough for them to see it another time when they come over. I'm terrible with plants.

Speaking of plants.....I am constantly amazed to see the plants that we consider house plants growing here the way they should naturally. Geraniums that fill the fenceline at the edge of our road, not dying over winter but flourishing and flowering year after year. The plant (we call it a weeping fig) that I gave to Jessica before we came over here was about three feet tall. We had bought it before Ken was born and I had tried my best to nurture it (but, in actuality had only allowed it to survive, barely, suffering all those years). In Giuseppe's yard is a tree that stands about thirty to fifty feet tall......yep, you guessed it. The weeping fig. But I'm off on a tangent. I came here to talk about Thanksgiving with the Italians.

For appetizers we served spinach and artichoke dip, stuffed mushrooms, several kinds of olives and pistachios (which we had plenty of, having mistakenly thought the guy at the market said they were three euro a kilo). We made up the recipe for the stuffed mushrooms because we don't have our recipe book from the B&B but they went over well and our 32 huge mushrooms all got eaten. The spinach/artichoke dip also went well. We made about four cups total and it was completely gone.

Dinner consisted of the traditional offerings of turkey, dressing, gravy (they don't have gravy here at all) mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, two kinds of cranberry sauce---no translation for cranberries in a place with almost no inland water---corn on the cob and hot rolls with butter. This photo is Giusseppe showing the turkey carcass to his grandson Fabio. Fabio thought it looked pretty gross.

Alfio helped Bob carve the turkey in the kitchen then when Bob put the platter into the oven to keep the meat warm, Alfio cut the wings, leg bones, and thigh bones off the carcass and took them to the table for people to start on. Did he think we weren't going to serve the carved meat? I don't know. However, they seemed happy with the bones. I think Sicilians do not wait patiently for anything. When they eat, the food is brought in a bit at a time from the time they sit to the table to the time they leave, which can be two or three hours.

Our food was eaten in less time than that but all were full and enjoyed the meal. Their general comments about the food was that American food is sweeter than Sicilian. The turkey, dressing, Waldorf salad, sweet potatoes, etc. Although we don't think much about it, they all do have a sweetness that is different from the food of other countries.

For dessert we had, of course, pumpkin pie, Grandma Madyline's three-day coconut cake, chocolate mousse cake and magic cookie bars. However, after that big meal no one was able to eat much dessert. We were left with one of the two pumpkin pies, half a cake and a few pieces of the chocolate cake. No one even touched the magic cookie bars (quite allright, though, I took them to school the next day and they were the hit of the day).

All in all, it was a great day and the Cool Whip was the most popular item on the table.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-25T05:25:00.000+01:00

I do hope all who read this had a great day on Thanksgiving. We went to our friends', Bob & Joyce Brickley, house for dinner. Joyce is a great cook (they used to have a restaurant in Boston right in the historical district) and we had a wonderful meal. Being with friends doesn't take the place of family but it's very nice.

However, as I write this I realize I didn't miss my family so much on Thanksgiving as I did Bob and Billy DeMond. (over the years we and the kids have saved Christmas for our big holiday)We've been friends with Bob and Billy for over thirty years and they have been a part of almost every stage of our adult lives. From babies being born to parents dying. We don't keep in touch nearly as much as we should but they are both very special people and we love them like family.

Today we are having our own Thanksgiving with our Italian friends. Turkey and all the fixins'. I'll write and send photos so you can see. Almost everything we're having is not what Sicilians eat so it will be interesting to see their reactions.

Ten things about me

2007-11-14T21:14:00.000+01:00

Well, I got tagged by Tracy and the first thing about me is I don't know ten people who have blogs---even counting Tracy and her brothers and sister.

*Here's how you play....once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with ten random facts, habits, or goals about yourself. At the end, choose ten people to tag, listing their names and why you chose them; don't forget to leave a comment on their page letting them know "tag you're it". You cannot tag the original people/person back that tagged you first, but let them know when you have posted so they can read your blog.

So........here goes.

1. I've always wanted to visit Italy but never dreamed I'd one day live here. I love it, have friends here and can't wait to go home.

2. Someone once asked me (mmmmm.....Tracy) "Is it possible for someone to read too much?" I love to read. Love to be taken away by the magic of books, especially to places I would never be able to or be brave enough to go in real life, i.e. Janet Evonovich's bounty hunter, Madeline L'Engle's fantasy time travel, Dicken's or Jane Austin's era England.

3. I hate talking about myself but find myself doing it a lot. I feel self conscious talking about much else. I don't talk about other people (to them, of course) because I'm afraid I'd be intruding into personal things. I don't talk about facts because I don't really feel I know a lot about much. I never even talked about my kids much when they were little. Who would want to hear how wonderful, smart, beautiful and talented my kids were except their Grandmas.

4. Speaking of Grandmas......I have always felt that my kids were cheated in that department (my mother died young and Bob's mom didn't really like the grandma-thing) and that's why it's so hard for me to be gone when my own grandkids are young. Every child needs a grandma who will love them no matter what and want to spend time with them.

5. I love to be outside but don't get there very often. My favorite thing we've ever done has been to go hiking on the trails at Roaring River State Park near Cassville, Missouri, or exploring Schermerhorn Park in Galena, Kansas.

6. I love water (lakes, oceans, seas, even ponds) but am a little bit afraid of it, too. I'm never comfortable in a boat but love to ride in them. I love to swim but want to be able to touch the bottom of the pool. Such a dichotomy.

7. I am seen as calm and cool but whenever there is an emergency situation, I'm the first to panic. I'm a real wuss when it comes to blood, injuries, pain, etc.

8. I want to be thought of by others as very intelligent but I don't really think I am. I insisted for myself that I make top grades in college but had to get up at four in the morning to study and have tutors for certain science classes to get the grades I wanted.

9. I've always had five things I've wanted to do in my lifetime. I've been able to do most: travel to England, get a college degree, see a Broadway play (it was actually in St. Louis but it was the road show of the Broadway production). Actually, I can't think of the last things but three out of five would still be great even if I could remember.

10. I would love to write a book but I can't even write a letter. Kids, do you recall when I'd send money with a note that said. "Here's your money. I love you. Mom" ? Occasionally I get inspired to write an anecdote from my life but I'm definitely not a writer.

Now for my ten people. Can you believe I know people who not only do not have a blog but not even a computer? Sue, I want to tag you because I miss your sense of humor and being a part of your life. So consider yourself tagged. Lynette, because sometimes you let Ken do the talking for you. I want to know your opinions, hopes and dreams. Christine, because I love reading when you blog. You see things in a beautiful way. Leota, if you're still blogging, I need to reconnect. I miss being in touch with you. Eunice and Rhonda--you need to blog. You'd both be great in your own ways and this would be a great start. That's the end of my list. I'm looking forward to reading Michele's and Chasity's. If I know you. If you read my blog. If you are willing to bare your soul. :) Let me know and I'll tag you, too.

Bits and Pieces of Italy

2007-11-12T14:06:00.000+01:00

There are many photos I take and say, "I'm going to put this on our blog and say...." They often don't get on there so I decided to put up a few with a short paragraph about them.

First: We went to the market and saw this giant potato. When we asked what it was, the man told us it was "patata Americana" which our friend said meant sweet potato. We bought two and brought them home to try. Bob sliced them like french fries and fried them in oil. They were really good and tasted more like potato than sweet potato. They're also not orange inside, they're yellowish-white. I put it with a regular sized potato for the photo to show how huge it was.

As I've said before, there are two bases here. The working base with the air field (we're a Naval Air Station) and other important parts of the work here and the support base where the school, stores, recreation, etc. are located. Driving between the two is always a challenge because you usually have to wait for a flock of sheep to cross the road (and they're never in a hurry). You have to be really careful because they don't seem to have any idea a car is dangerous so they walk in, among, and around the cars in the middle of the road. The shepherd, also, is never in a hurry and you'd better not hit one of the sheep---male sheep cost you 200 Euros each and females cost 500 if you hit them. At an exchange rate of $1.43 for every Euro you just don't want to take the chance so you drive VERY SLOWLY and stop if necessary until they're completely out of the way.

When Ken and Lynette were here we were walking in Motta and looked to the right. This cloud was hovering there and was pretty much the only cloud in the sky. It looked more like a bomb blast than a cloud but it reminded me that I wanted to show a couple of interesting cloud formations. We've seen things here that really surprise us and clouds are one type of thing. They come and go so quickly, though, that you have to have a camera with you to catch them at their most interesting. The second cloud, we've seen a couple of times. (It's really not a tornado.) We're told that the moisture in the air, the dryness and warmth of the air over Mount Etna etc. etc. make this formation show up occasionally.

Just a final note: Bullet, the dog we accidentally adopted is doing well. At one year old, he's still acting like a pup and eating everything. The account of what he's eaten includes (but is not a comprehensive list by all means): the cover off the swimmimg pool, four garden hoses, four---no, more than that---of our next door neighbor's shoes (Giusseppe keeps saying, "No problemo, e' giovani" which means, no problem he's young), five decorative straw chickens from our porch (it has a gate and he still gets in), the irrigation system for the orange trees, a couple of light bulbs from our outside lights, and numerous container plants we've tried to put around for decoration (one was a very stick cactus and didn't seem to bother him). The only stomach problem we've seen from him was when he stole a trash bag that had leftover chili in it. (Or maybe it was the rabbit he caught and ate earlier that day). What a dog.........He makes life interesting. Every day on the way home from the base we wonder..........

Olive oil

2007-11-05T15:37:00.000+01:00

Here's a new adventure we've been on that I wanted to share. Last weekend (a week ago now) we went with some friends to a factory where they process olives to make olive oil. It was VERY interesting. Not quite the factory we would see in the states but not a donkey and a stone wheel.

I just wanted to send you a few photos so you can share our experience. Here you see the back of a truck full of olives. The man is scooping the olives into a bin where they are scooped into a tunnel with a conveyor belt brought up to a fan that whooshes the leaves and sticks out.

The two large stone wheels are grinding the olives to a pulp and pushing them into something that spits the pulp out onto palattes. I know you can only see one but there really are two.

There's a guy who directs the mushed olives onto the round palattes and stacks them up about three feet high.

They are then put into a machine that slowly squeezes the oil out. When it comes out, believe it or not, it's green (like the olives) and very strong tasting.

We got five liters and were told to let it sit in the dark for a couple of weeks so the flavors could blend and settle. Of course we couldn't wait and ate some with some bread Bob had made. It was delicious. It had a bit of a bite like it had pepper in it. The bottles are sitting in our back room under a towel. I can hardly wait to see what two weeks bring.

Just some pondering on why we are here

2007-10-20T05:41:00.000+02:00

Sometimes Bob and I get into the routine of, go to school, come home, go to bed, get up, go to school. On Saturdays I often work at school or we just relax at home. Sunday is church then play with our computers on the base where we can get internet for free. That would be a fine routine if we were in the States.

This has been one of several difficult weeks at my school. Not to go into details but there seems to be a lot of unnecessary negative energy there and sometimes it gets me down. This was one of those weeks.

In the middle of it, though, when I was shouting to no one, "I hate this place, " God reminded me that I am not that school, that school is not my life. His quiet voice spoke to me to say, "You are here for a purpose." I don't know the purpose God has for me here, I may never know. Sometimes God puts us into a place for someone else and we don't know the influence we've had. Our job is just to be there and serve Him. I'm trying to do that.

The other, more selfish, but not bad, voice said, "You are teaching at this school to be in Sicily; not living in Sicily to teach here. When you're done being in Sicily-----go home-----don't look back."

That said, we're going out into Sicily today (of course, I need to be working) just to enjoy being here. We may go to Caltegirone (one of our favorite places for ceramics) or to look for relatives of "the bread man" in Kansas City. Who knows. The important thing is to truly BE in Sicily.

Finally, I want to digress. I have, from the first, felt God put us here just because He loves us so much he wants to give us this gift. The phrase, "He will give you the desires of your heart" keeps running through my mind. I have always wanted to visit Italy. Not the tourist Italy but the small town ancient history Italy. He has given me that in such a beautiful, unexpected way that my heart bursts with thankfulness. He is so good.

About Looking for Relatives

2007-09-30T12:50:00.000+02:00

This is my second post of the day so if you're not tired of reading when you finish, go on to the next.

Yesterday started many months ago when we got a letter from our daughter's mother-in-law. Jean DiCocco's mother and father immigrated from Sicily near the turn of the century (the last one, that is) and Jean was born here (oops, there) in the States. Jean's letter asked us to see if we could find anyone from her family still living here. With the letter she sent a photo of her with her father and his birth certificate listing the name of the town in Sicily where he was born.

We put this off for as long as we could because........... I think our greatest fear was "What if we found them." What do you say. Hi? We came to see what you looked like? You don't know us but you might be related to someone we know in America? Good-bye. Seemed a bit eccentric to drive four hours to not know what to say. Besides....we don't speak Italian well enough to ask all the right questions or know what the answer is.

But, Jean had asked us to do it and we're always up for an adventure so finally we chose the day to go. Taking our map and trusty GPS we set off on our adventure. Even on the map the road to Basico was a miniscule snake slithering into a never-never land and we were a bit nervous.

The drive was amazing. Tiny little towns nestled between giant hills. Herds of sheep drifting lazily across the road, cows sidling into our pathway so that we had to get out and "encourage" them to move on. Puffy chestnut balls clinging to their trees, not willing to let go for another week or two. And the road itself..........let's just say that not even a snake has that many wiggles.

We finally entered the town of Basico and immediately were impressed with it's beauty. High on the hill overlooking valleys of trees and farmland, it was clean and new and modern looking with just enough antiquity to capture our hearts.

I took the plunge and,while Bob took photos and video,I stopped everyone I saw (both of them) and told them my story. In my broken Italian I said we were looking for the mother of the husband of my daughter--(why didn't I just look up the word for mother-in-law.....or even just say friend?--hindsight). One lady said she used to know some Chiofolos (pronounced: key-o'-fo-lo accent on the first o....not that it matters) but they moved to Messina.

Then we went into a little pastecierra (pastry bar) for a drink and bathroom. I told the young woman our search and she replied, "La mia madre (got that so far?) e' Chiofolo." So, there we had found a possible relative. I got her mother's name and address and will send that to Jean. Mission accomplished.

But-----don't stop here. There's more to come.

We walked around the town a little and kept coming back around to an older man who was taking things out of his car, carrying them into his "house." About the third time we passed him he asked if we were looking at antiquities. We said yes and he pointed up the mountain and mentioned the castle and church. Then he asked us to come inside to see something. When we followed him in we were surprised to see it was not a house at all but the place where he made provolone cheese---of course the old fashioned way. There were barrels of whatever it's made from. Shaped provelone soaking in vats of salt water and provelone hanging from the rafters ready to take to the shops. He cut some off and gave us a taste. Soft and mellow, I could have eaten much, much more of it. It was so much better than the provelone I'm used to, and we get it "fresh" from the market. I wish we could have bought some to take home but the stores were closed for riposo--"riposo" means "I rest" in Italian. We had to be satisfied with the chunks of manna we had.

As we were leaving his little one-person factory, I told him of our quest. He stood up straight and tall and said, "Io sono Chiofolo." You guessed it, we had found another possible family member. What a treat. We took his picture and thanked him as best we knew how but he wasn't ready to let us go yet. He urged us into his car and took us up the mountain to visit the church he said was so beautiful. When we got there, it was closed in preparation for a wedding. (There were people arriving as we got into the car to leave). I could tell he was disappointed that we didn't get to see what he was so proud of. We said good-bye to Antonio Chiofolo back at the car and thanked him again.

What more could there be to top this experience? We reluctantly left Basico and headed for home. What an Italian experience. We really do live in paradise.

Pizza the Italian Way

2007-09-30T10:31:00.000+02:00

Last Sunday was another "festa" at Giuseppe and Mimma's house. They are such party people. Ten thirty in the morning Mimma started the pizza. A wooden trough held a yellowish flour, yeast and salt. There were four of us women in the kitchen and it was as much a social affair as it was about making the dough.

As water was poured into the flour mix we took turns working it into the dough. What a great experience. Bob came over and took these photos. When the dough was just right Mimma scraped the bottom of the trough with a metal scraper and poured olive oil into the bottom, then worked it just enough to get the dough enclosed in the oil and pushed it over to the side. Next it was cut off a chunk of dough, slap it on the bottom of the trough, work it into a ball and set it on a cloth-covered board to rise. Mimma covered it with a cotton cloth then about five or six layers of heavy blankets. (And here we're always careful to put something very light on our dough.)

The dough rose while we women chatted. The men went off somewhere. (Which was probably another Italian experience Bob should talk about sometime.) All came back together to put the pizzas together.

Everything from anchovies to zucchini was available to put on pizza. Bob and I brought sun-dried tomatoes (which I can never get enough of) and calamata olives. Everyone brought something.

The pizza was cooked in a pizza oven outdoors. Made of bricks and stone, the pizza oven is a staple at those houses with room for it. It's used not only for pizza but also for the wonderful Italian bread that just doesn't cook the same in our American ranges.

Wood is burned in the oven to get the stones hot enough to cook then the wood is pushed to the back and the stones are brushed to be ready for the mixture of wonderful ingredients--fresh mozarella, fresh tomatoes (they don't use pizza sauce like Americans do), prosciutto, olives, whatever the mind can imagine. (Mine had my favorite of sun-dried tomatoes and chopped basil.) Each pizza is placed onto a "peel" (in the left hand of the lady in the back)and is slid off onto the "floor" of the oven. It cooks in about 5 minutes to a golden brown and is ready to eat.

Eating it was the best part, of course. I think this was the best pizza I had ever had in my life. The crust was light and tender, the toppings perfect. Do you think, when I get to heaven, God will let me eat that same pizza daily for the first few hundred years?

Another encounter with the traffic police

2007-09-14T18:08:00.000+02:00

Do you recall when we first got here and parked in the wrong place in Caltegirone and came back to find the tow truck pulled up to the car? Well, today was a de ja vue day.

Our principal, Nadine, had to fly out to go to a friend's funeral and apparently drove around the airport for an hour and a half to try and find a parking place. None to be had. So, finally, in desperation, she parked in a lot but in a part of the lot that was reserved for specific vehicles. Her plane was scheduled to leave in about a half hour and she had to check in at the counter--no room to spare timewise.

She immediately called our friend and school counselor, Le, to ask her to come get the car. Le grabbed Bob and I and we set off for the airport. The directions we had to the car were, "In the old parking lot, near the rental car place, in front of the terminal."----------5000 cars were parked in the lots that fit that description. (Oh, yeah, she left the doors unlocked and the keys in the car--in a major city airport--and--it's a new Saab convertible

So Le went in one lot and I went into another and Bob drove around and around the airport waiting for us to find the car.................up one aisle, down the other, trying the doors of any silver convertibles with black roofs. Luckily we each found only about five and none of them blared out with a car alarm.

Finally, at the back of one of the lots Le found the car but there were several men gathered around it. She was speaking to them in English and they didn't seem to understand so I tried my (very bad) Italian. I guess one guy got tired of trying to make out what I was trying to say because he finally said, "Speak English." We explained that our boss asked us to pick up her car but the end result was the same.

Yup...tow truck and parking ticket. We had to pay 40 Euro ($53) to get out of the lot and Nadine will be paying another 35 Euro ($47) for the parking ticket when she gets back. What a day--what an adventure living here is.

Ken and Lynette are coming!!!

2007-09-08T13:36:00.000+02:00

We bought the tickets yesterday for Ken and Lynette to leave Kansas City on October 2. they get to stay for a little over a week. Now we just have to decide on all the special things we want to do while they're here. I suppose we should ask them first. But in the meantime I can think of a few things.

1) Dinner with Giusseppe, Mimma, Alfio, Marissa, etc. Just a huge dinner with all our Italian friends.

2) Go to the market in Misterbianco. That's almost a must because there is so much of Sicily there.

3) Have gelato in a gelateria. They won't eat ice cream ever again without thinking of the wonderful gelato. But then, again.....granita is nice, too, especially since I've discovered "tonica con limone" (tonic with lemon granita). Or...a granita with brioche, m-m-m-m.

4) Taoramina is essential for both its beauty and the shopping. Oh, and they have a 13th century Greek/Roman ampitheater there that is still in use today.

5) We want them to be able to say they waded in the Mediterranean Sea so we'll need to go to Donna Lucato or somewhere like that. We could take them closer (like Catania) but they'd have to go back and say they'd dipped their toes in the Ionian Sea and then they'd have to explain where that was.

6) Bob says you almost can't come to Sicily without seeing Agrigento. What a beautiful place with ancient Greek temples just like in all the photos.

7) We've been looking forward to taking them to the fall festival in Zeferana for a long time. It will just be starting and people travel far to go to it. A typical Sicilian festival.

8) Our friends have a pizza oven and live near Zeferana so we'll probably have to do both those things in one day. We want them to see a pizza cooked in one of those ovens. It's really interesting.

9) Sicilian food. Ah-h-h-h What more is there to say about that?

10) The Gambino winery. Another very interesting place and it's way up the mountain.

11) Maybe the mountain if it's spewing out lava. It was doing that one night just this past week and people from the school hopped in their cars and drove up to get a good look at the spout. A really great sight. One way or the other they will see the mountain, it's the central focus of everything in our area.

Ken and Lynette.....don't get nervous. We won't run you too much but.....could you stay maybe a year?

Such a nice place to be

2007-09-01T17:22:00.000+02:00

Dear ones, I have to begin this blog by saying I love you, I miss you and there were many tears when we left you to come back to Sicily. Saying that, I now can begin my blog.

Last week, sitting among Italian friends and acquaintances drinking strange (to us) drinks of lemon granita in tonic water (not bad, by the way) watching the parades and people of our little town, (check our our flikr photos) I was reminded once again of what a wonder life we are living, what a wonderful place we are living in and what wonderful people the Sicilians are to accept us as friends. We are very blessed.

Most Americans never have this opportunity. They, like we have before, travel to a new place, quickly take photos and hurry to the new place to take more photos never getting the chance to get to know a place and its people. Even most of the Americans here in Sicily don’t get to experience it like we have because they live with other Americans, work with them and eat with them either on or off base. Many of the apartment areas in town have several Americans living there and, frankly, if I were a woman living alone, I might choose the same thing.

I am very thankful we live where we do and that the Fortunatos have chosen to bring us into their circle of friends. They, as most Sicilians, are very gracious people.

The festival in Motta

2007-08-27T15:40:00.000+02:00

Last night we went to the festival for San Anastasia in the little town of Motta (officially named Motta San Anastasia) which is very near us. This was the last and most important night of the festival as this was the night (the statue of) San Anastasia arrives at the Church to preside over Motta. We're putting a few photos here but this weekend I'll put more on Flickr.

The festival occurs each year but this was one of the “every four years” festivals which are much grander and last a full week instead of the usual four days. It depicts the midevil times when each small area had its own king and castle. Early each night of the festival there is a parade representing the King of Motta and his court. Many, many beautiful costumes worn by even more beautiful young people, too many to count. Flag bearers/twirlers throw flags high into the air to be caught either by them or by crossing with another to be caught by a partner.

Near the end of the parade comes the “king” riding his horse and after a few more courtiers the queen rides along in her beautifully carved carriage drawn by two perfectly matched dapple gray horses.

When this parade is over everyone walks up the hill of the town to an area below the castle where a new parade begins. A much shorter but more significant one which is a more religious parade—the one in which the statue of San Anastasia is carried around the town to finally arrive at the church.

There are three large, heavy pieces carried before the statue comes. It takes a team of about 12 very strong men to carry each one and the young men vie for the honor of being on one of the teams. The carrying of these pieces (see photo) becomes a contest of who can be in front of this small parade but they are so heavy a team can only carry one a few feet before having to put it down to rest a bit. What a sight to see them run a short way then put this thing down and rest a bit before taking it up to do the same thing again. The route is strenuous since Motta is built on a steep hill but being on one of these teams is an honor and no one would ever give up their spot.

The statue (covered in real gold and jewels) is larger than life-sized and is actually on a rolling cart. Two priests (and two guards) stand on the cart with the statue and people give money to them as an offering to the saint. A rope extends out in front about fifty feet and people from the town find a spot on the rope to help pull the statue along the streets of Motta. There is a group of priests (or priests’ helpers, maybe) in front and behind pushing, pulling and yelling something that might be (with my limited knowledge of Italian), “We live well -- because of San Anastasia. We are strong -- because of San Anastasia, etc.” One man yells the first part and the others answer with the other.

This parade starts about 8:00 and continues all through town until at midnight it ends at the church and the statue is carried in. There's arial fireworks throughout the parade.. each set even more than in our little town back in the states and they do it about three times throughout the parade time but Bob said they did a really huge bunch at 2:00 a.m. (We were home and I was sound asleep).

Feel sorry for me

2007-08-20T13:31:00.000+02:00

Day before yesterday we were having breakfast with friends in the States and last night we were having dinner with friends in Sicily. What an amazing world we live in.

We got in after an 18 hour trip with no difficulties and few frustrations (but no sleep) yesterday (Sunday) at 3:00 p.m. (Even our luggage got here with us. Yea!!!) Sonny picked us up and said, "We're going to the commissary because I know you don't have any food at your house and I need to go, too." So..we got home about 5:00. (Still no sleep)

Saw Giusseppe about 7:00 and he reminded us of the birthday party we had aggreed to before we left for the States. Of course we left at 8:00 or so, ate about 10:00 and got home at 1:45 this morning. (Even more no sleep)

Four hours sleep then off to work this morning. The new year has started. Where did the summer go?------------Where did my night's sleep go?????? I can hardly keep my eyes open.

For those friends and family we didn't get to see, I really did miss seeing you. It's just so difficult to get to everyone we love with such a short time home.

We had a great time with the kids. The little ones are growing up so quickly but they still will let Grammy hug and kiss them lots and lots. They are all the most handsome (or pretties) and smartest kids I've ever seen. I could tell stories and stories about things they do and say but I'm sure you don't need a two hour read. I'll put some of my favorite photos on in a few days.

Leaving each family of our children was very hard on me. After the first goodbye to Mike and Chris, knowing it will be about a year before we see them again, I was very sad. As the tears rolled down my cheeks, Bob turned and asked if I just wanted to stay home and not go back to Italy. My first answer was a very quick yes but then responsibility took hold and I realized I need to be back here to fulfill my commitment to the school. Darn.

Trying it on my own

2007-08-11T23:54:00.000+02:00

Now that I've done one video with Mike's help I'm trying one of my own.

I'm not sure how happy Bizmark was right this minute that we brought him for our visit to the states. Ken and Lynnette's little girl, Sophia, thought Biz biting her was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. We weren't worried because Biz's teeth and jaws aren't strong enought to hurt even a baby. We were actually a little more worried about Biz than Sophie.

One further thing from Venice

2007-08-11T23:25:00.000+02:00

Mike just showed me how to put videos on the blog so here is something I was really impressed with in Venice.
And I thought glasses were just for drinking from. (Oops, I ended a sentence with a preposition, do I lose my teacher's liscense?)

We're coming home!!!

2007-07-19T14:47:00.000+02:00

We got our final itinerary and will have tickets in a day or two!! Yea!!

We leave here on Sunday the 29th of July at 8:35 in the morning and get into St. Louis at 8:02 p.m. that same day. Billie and Bob DeMond will pick us up at the airport and we'll go to their house for a couple of days.

They're kindly allowing us to use one of their cars to travel while we're in the States. We're planning to first head to Joplin area and visit family there. We'll be there about a week then travel up to the Kansas City area.

We will be leaving to return to Sicily on August 18th in the afternoon. I know we'll have mixed feelings about leaving but for now Sicily is our home. Please, those of you who can, consider visiting us while we're in the States and in Sicily, too.

We'll see you soon.

Belpasso for candy

2007-07-16T14:31:00.000+02:00

Jae and David, this is for you.

We went to Belpasso the other day to pick up some Torrincini candies that Jae and David like so much. We are bringing some home to share again.

Apparently when we were there before Christmas and I thought I wrote down the address I made a mistake and wrote a 5 instead of a 538 for the building number. Of course, that made the GPS take us to the wrong end of town and there was no Condorelli store there. The store is well known in the area because the owner is part of the family of the person that created the Torrincini many many years ago. So....how to find the place? Just ask anyone in town. Problem is, we don't understand the answer. Everyone talks in gestures and we do understand those up to a point. Our plan was to ask several people....drive a bit, ask directions...drive a bit, ask directions, until we found it.

We stopped first at a store where people were standing outside visiting and were directed up the street and around a corner. When we got arouhd that corner, lo and behold there was a shop that said Condorelli. Oops... it was a little shop that sells breakfast rolls, coffee (and other drinks) and lunch sandwiches (panini) and......the shop was named Condorelli. There were several older men sitting outside visiting so I asked them how to find the Condorelli that sold sweets.

Of course, as is the custom in Sicily, they all told me at once and I couldn't make out the words. Bob came up about that time and read their gestures and took us right to the place we wanted.

Speaking of little old men, every town has a place or two where little old men gather to spend some time with friends and swap "war stories". Sometimes it's in front of what we would call a coffee shop, sometimes in the piazza and sometimes they just have a special place. It seems to me to be a symbol of Sicily and I think it would be such a great photo if I were brave enough to ask.

On the way back to the car from Condorelli's we saw a church with a wedding in process and this car sitting out front. I fell in love with the car and took several pictures. For those of you who would like to buy me a present, consider this an arrow pointing to the car------------------->
I think it's the car of my dreams.

In another completely different vein, we're still trying to get our plane tickets to the States. They keep asking for "just one more thing" in getting us and our Bizmark back home. In fact, we've been asked for the same things more than once and have been glad we make copies of everything we turn in. It's not easy getting home for free.

More about Venice

2007-07-14T06:35:00.000+02:00

I'm surprised no one has said, "what gondola?" I wrote in the blog about Venice that you could see nine gondolas then didn't put in the photo so I've gone back and added it. Since I'm writing I'll add a few more things about Venice and/or Verona.

The two big, big tourist attractions in Venice are the canals (with gondolas, of course) and the Carnivale (pronounced car-nee-vol-ay) in the spring which is much older and much bigger than Mardi Gras but happens about the same time. Everyone there, too, wears masks and the masks have become as famous as the carnivale itself.

Every little vendor stand has masks for sale and they range from cheap plastic ones at about $14 to very expensive ones at about $200. If you look carefully over my right shoulder in this photo you'll see two of the nicer masks. Probably the 35 Euro kind.

The vendors also sell everything from necklaces and rings to knick-knacks to nice pieces of art in a blown glass made in a nearby town. In addition to the sun hats, the umbrellas, the maps and the information books about Venice, those vendors do a great business. It must take in a lot of money because there's a vendor about every three steps.

In addition to that, like Tracy said in her blog about New York, the men selling purses are every other step along the way and you are accosted by their sales pitch---in your face if you happen to look their way. I've seen them chase after women to try to put purses in their hands.

All this among buildings of such beautiful architecture and placement that it takes your breath away. Many of the buildings took over a hundred years to build and have stood much longer than that. And the stonework is nothing less than art. It amazes me to think that most of the buildings I saw were older than our United States. People were living and working in them while settlers were chopping wood to form a primitive log cabin in our wildernesses.

When I think of Venice, though, I shall forever remember the music. As we walked the streets the sound of a lone violinist would fill the air, then just past that a string ensemble at an outside cafe, a flutist a little farther on. A museum with a display of violins, violas, basses, etc built by hand over the past three hundred years with music from Vivaldi playing in the background. The most amazing site and sound was a man playing a set of glasses on the street. It was so beautiful yet plaintive we were captivated by it's sound and stayed to the end of the piece. And it was no ordinary piece, it was a concert with harmonies running in and out and all through our souls leaving them more content for having heard it.

Cavalier Giusseppi Fortunato

2007-07-10T14:53:00.000+02:00

Bob keeps teasing about the "connections" our neighbor (and friend) has. We went to Motta the other night with Giusseppi, Mimma and a few other of their friends making up a group of seven. It was a special "festa" combining the people of Sigonella Naval Air Station and the town of Motta which is the nearest to the base and where many Sigonella workers live, both Italian and American. Giusseppi knows everyone and had to stop to talk several times before we made it to the little pizza place he had picked out where we would eat. When we got there (at 9:30 of course) all six tables were full and there was nowhere for us to sit. While the Itallian friends were discussing what to do Giusseppi went up and talked to the owner and suddenly people were leaving their tables (and the restaurant) and the owner found us three small tables to put together to accomodate our group. Surreal.

Anyway, we had a some really good pizza and a lot of fun. In the photo around the table from front left are Alfio, Gionni (Johnny), Giusseppi, Marisa (Alfio's wife), Mimma, and Bob.

We had a great time at the carnival being introduced to several people whose names we will never remember. Getting cooling drinks the Sicilians call digestives but seem to be juice with grappa (ask me later) in it and going for gelati (plural for gelato). Giusseppi lost his wallet somewhere along the way but when he went to the Cabiniere office (military police who are the big-wig police) it had already been turned in and they had it waiting with nothing having been disturbed.

And.............we got home VERY late. Getting home at 12:30 seems to be the pattern for outings with our Sicilian friends. We're getting to understand the need for riposo, that time between 12:30 and 5:00 when all Sicilians go home, eat a big meal then take a nap or just rest awhile--no shopping, no getting the house clean, just rest.

The "club" came to our house for a fish and calamari dinner on Thursday. After dinner they brought out the cards and put Bob at the table with a game that was part Rummy, part Canasta partnered with Giusseppi against Mimma and Alfio. The other four were playing a game I didn't recognize but looked a little like Poker. My place? They put me in a chair by Bob and told me to translate for him. This is an old photo but same group without young Giusseppi from down the lane.

Next week we're out two nights with our friends. One night at the house of the only lady whose name I haven't gotten yet (I think someone called her something that sounded like Joanna). That will be on Wednesday after their English lesson. On Thursday we're going to Gionni's house in Fiumefreddo (translated cold river--literally "river cold"). We've not been there before but he tells us it looks out over Taormina and the sea. I'll bet it's beautiful. We'll get home late again, I'm ready for that nap just thinking about it.

The gardner is getting our pool ready for us to swim. It's a 32 X 6 foot above ground pool and takes several days to put up and get ready for swimming. They took it down for the winter right after we moved into our house and we could have had it up earlier but for two things. The first is the worry that Bullet would eat it, the second is that the gardner wanted two or three hundred Euro ($270 to $400) to put it up since it would take extra time. We said we weren't sure it was worth that much and then............ Bob said he saw Giusseppi talk to the gardner one day when he was here mowing and the next day he and his crew were putting up the pool. However, now whenever I let the dog off his chain I have to sit out and watch to make sure he doesn't eat the pool parts.

Speaking of the dog and his chain, we all--Giusseppi, Roberto (our landlord and Giusseppi's son) and we----decided that Bullet needs to be on his chain when we're not there to watch him. He's eaten our deck chairs, irrigation tubes from off the orange trees and a couple of the underground sprinklers for our lawn. In fact, the only words our gardner has ever said to me were, "cane mangie tutti". (translation: the dog eats everything).........but he said it with a smile.

On living life in Sicily

2007-07-08T13:17:00.000+02:00

We haven't been good about regular posts so I have decided to write them at home then paste them into the blog when we get to the base where we have access to the internet. I've actually posted three today counting this one so just wander through them at your leisure.

On Wednesday I went with two of Mima’s friends (who are in our little English class) to the beach (spaggio) for a swim in the sea (il mare) wearing my “costume dil mare”. They told me to be very careful because I was so white. We stayed out for about three hours and I slathered on suntan lotion with as high a number as I could find here (30). I only got a little pinkness and it has turned into a bit of a tan for almost the first time in my life-----although my tan is more red than brown. Now I know why Sicilians have such beautiful dark skin. They don’t start out with skin that color…they get it at the beach.

Later the four Italian ladies and I had their second English class. I was surprised to find they had really studied and had come to class knowing the alphabet and a word for each letter, the seasons and colors. So…after reviewing we looked at the verb to be which gave them some sentences they could say.

After our lesson we went over to Giuseppi’s and Mimma’s for a “grand festa” to celebrate Bob’s and my 40th wedding anniversary. They had made some very special dishes and we ate to overfull (though not as much as the Italians). The strange thing about the evening was that I understood more than I have at earlier get-togethers and could do a little better at interpreting for Bob. The group of six friends who have taken Bob and I in are always so gracious. Whenever we are together one of them takes on the task (and it must be a difficult one) of making sure I understand what they're talking about most of the time so I can tell Bob and we feel a part of the group. With my limited Italian and the aid of our English/Italian dictionary, we usually get the gist of what's going on. (other times I just turn to him and say, "Not a clue.") I have learned a few new Italian words in the process----just let me say that little old Sicilian women can tell some pretty dirty jokes.

Of life and pots and peacock plumes

2007-07-08T13:12:00.000+02:00

This is really my second post of the day so when you get through reading this just move on down to the next one. It has more photos.

So… I have a two-for-one story. A couple of months ago we went on a tour with the base tour company (called ITT) and along the way the bus stopped at a roadside area where there were “famous” cave burial sites. Bob and I didn’t feel like walking up the steep hill so we stayed at the roadside area. After a bit we noticed a man in the doorway of a building next door who looked like he was making pottery. We walked over and started a limited conversation with him and sure enough, he was painting and decorating huge pieces of pottery, pots and vases, etc. He told us he had relatives in Philadelphia and that he made a living decorating these pots. So, of course, we had to buy one. After we paid him for the pot he asked us for a dollar---an American dollar—for a souvenir. We gladly gave it to him. It’s really a lovely vase painted brown with gold designs and trimmed in gold rope. It’s about two and a half to three feet tall and sits on our porch.

Same story, second part. Last fall Giuseppi bought what he thought was a female peacock (actually, peahen) to mate with his male peacock (redundant terms: male and peacock). Turns out he now has two beautiful peacocks with lovely tails. I’m assuming it’s molting time because he came over a few days ago with a bouquet of plumes and put them into our vase. They look great together, the brown and gold of the vase is a beautiful contrast for the iridescence of the peacock plumes. (By the way, the chickens aren't real)

When Mike and Chris were here they were amazed at the wonderful smell of orange blossoms that filled the land. Lately the smell we have is that of dead things. Something has been getting into our neighbor’s chickens and killing them, one or two at a time. His chickens have an area of relative safety but have the run of the yard and apparently have been in the yard when the whatever comes calling. In the States we would be furious, sitting out at night guarding the chickens or fortifying a chicken coop to make sure our chickens are safe. I have been interested in our neighbor’s reaction: one that seems to be an understanding of nature in this harsh land. Not so much resignation as knowledge that it is to be expected sometimes.

What an interesting people.

Venice and Verona

2007-07-08T12:32:00.000+02:00

Venice, what can I say about it that hasn't already been said a thousand times.

Well, I have a few things to say. It's an interesting city but way too "touristy". We heard English spoken there more than Italian. The Basilica in Marco Polo piazza is nice but there was a l-o-n-g line to see the inside. We saw the beautiful canals and the small walking bridges going over them and did appreciate their beauty. To ride a gondola would have been nice but you're not the only one on the canal like in the movies. I don't know if you can see well enough to count but there are eleven gondolas in this one photo.

Not to say we didn't like Venice. It's a beautiful city with amazing architecture. There were so many places with carved stone and marble figures and designs that I could never photograph them all.

We went from the airport into Venice for a half day on Sunday when we got there and kind of scoped out the place. In Venice, it's easy to get to the city from the airport and easy to get around. We never got lost at all. On Wednesday we had a whole day and spent many hours walking around enjoying the beauty.

We watched an artist drawing with charcoal and were amazed that he would just wiggle his piece of charcoal on the paper and a boat or a building would appear. His finished pieces were beautiful.

On Tuesday afternoon/evening we drove from the Army base to Verona and saw the tomb and the house of Juliet (in Italian it's spelled Giulietta just so you aren't confused by the sign). I think we may have liked Verona better than Venice.

Just so you don't think I'm confusing fantasy with what's real. There were really families with names similar to that of Montegue and Capulet living in the Verona area near the time Shakespeare wrote his play. Families fueded all the time to get more power and land. No one knows if there were a young man and woman from the feuding families who fell in love but the town of Verona has set up the houses of the two families as those of Romeo and Juliet. I need to learn more.

Coming out of the area where Juliet's house was we passed through a small walk-through tunnel and saw thousands and thousands of clumps of chewed gum covering the walls and ceiling of the tunnel. It must be some kind of tradition but I can't imagine why. Many of the clumps of gum had names or notes with names beside them. Next time I go I've just got to find out what that's about.

There's a colosseum that is more complete than the one in Rome and still houses operas, theatrical productions and concerts by famous artists three seasons of the year. At the time we were there we met some people who had come to see Aida. Those who have been there for a concert say the acoustics are excellent.

Father's Day

2007-06-20T11:51:00.000+02:00

Two posts in a week? We're not really that interesting. Just a fluke.

On Father's Day we went with friends to Castle Moela, a town above Taormina. Taormina is a world-renowned tourist spot with beautiful beaches, an ancient Greek/Roman amphitheater and, of course, lots of shopping; art, antiques, clothes (expensive but beautiful), souvenirs, and plenty of places to eat and drink.

Castle Moela is a nice little town on top of the same mountain, so far up that you have to park and walk up a set of steps to get to the town. The views are amazing and there are many little shops to see. The picture above was taken from the restaurant where we ate. In fact, right from our table.

After we ate we walked around the town and took lots of pictures. I'll put a few here but most will be on our Flikr page in a few days.

This picture is of Mount Etna from the top of the steps at Castle Moela. At this point the mountain is about fifteen or so miles away. Beautiful view.

The next photo is of one of the shops in town. We didn't go in but I was fascinated by the front of the store. I've kicked myself several times for not going in because I may never get there again. The bells in a circle on the front wall are actually doorbells though I've never seen them on any doors. (you may have to click on the picture to see the bells very well) I think they're very interesting and if I do go back I'd love to get one of those very unique doorbells.

I really like this photo. It may become a larger framed print on our wall when we move back to the States.

This final photo is of a small piazza in the town. All towns have a large piazza where all the important things get done. The main church is in the piazza, people gather there to visit in the evenings and on Saturday mornings and Sundays after church. In most towns, except for the very smallest, there is also a few smaller piazzas. This is one of those. Restaurants and shops line a kind of circular area with outdoor seating. Most restaurants have a little seating inside but life for the Sicilian is lived outside. (The only exception in the day is riposo-from riposare: to relax. At about 12:30 in the afternoon the stores and businesses all close up and everyone goes home for a large lunch and a two to three hour rest. I think I mentioned this in the last post.)

Anyway, this is a beautiful little piazza in Castle Moela. One of the prettiest I've seen. Bob took this picture from the balcony of one of the bar/eating places where we had some gelato for our dessert.

I'll try to get the other photos posted today or tomorrow on Flik-R.

Dinner...Italian style

2007-06-19T15:25:00.000+02:00

In our last blog we mentioned we were invited somewhere for something we didn't know what. Well, we figured out what the invitation was for and went to the house of friends of Giusseppi and Mimma on Monday evening for dinner. We left the house a little after 8:00 p.m., got to their house a bit before nine, visited for awhile then began eating about 10:00. Some people stopped over for dessert at 11:00 and we got home around 12:30. This is the typical time for dinner since they eat lunch at 1:00 then take a rest for a few hours before starting the evening.

At dinner were about fifteen people and they all talked at the same time across the table having no problem knowing who their conversation was with and what they were saying. I watched people's mouths as they talked (as if that would help in the translating) and listened for words I recognized. I was sure I had it figured out when I heard "matrimonio" and Mimma was talking with a loving voice holding Giusseppi's hand. I was sure that one of the young women was getting married and they were giving advice....................... Wrong............. When a girl sitting near me told me about the conversation, it wasn't at all what I thought. They were talking about something completely different.

(I've GOT to learn Italian)

So, that night the ladies pinned me down as to teaching them English and we decided they would come to our house on Monday (last night) for their first lesson. Bob thought, "why not fix dinner for them, too." and invited them over. Well, we didn't have fifteen but it was more than the four ladies who came for the lesson. Around our table were the four women (I only know the names of Mimma and Marissa), Marissa's husband Alfio (that's whose house we went to to eat), Giusseppi, Bob and me----plus----Giusseppi and Mimma's thirteen year old grandson who seems to show up at our house anytime we have anyone else from his family (his name is also Giusseppi). We had a great time and great food.

The lesson was pretty funny since I only speak a very tiny bit of Italian. I had written down everything I thought I would need to say, such as, dictionary (dizionario), alphabet (alfebeto), vowel (vocale), "you will need" (forgot that one), practice this for next week (lost this one, too) and translations for the American word for every letter of the alphabet. But, as it turned out, I needed to look up things like, "let's say this together" and "the e is silent" (now that was hard because all vowels are important in Italian) Next lesson is on July 4. Lesson at our house, dinner next door at G and M's. What an experience we're having. Such good people.

Enjoy the pictures!

Bits and pieces

2007-06-09T15:56:00.000+02:00

I know it's been awhile but the end of school is near and we've been staying home many weekends so I can just rest up from the pressure of testing, reports, plans, and the impending job of special education. On Tuesday of this week I was in meetings from 8:00 until 2:30. What a day. I hope that's not indications of what's to come--I hate sitting in meetings. I want to be teaching kids.

On Saturday two weeks ago (that long already???) we got on the bus at 7:00 a.m. for a trip to two of the islands north of Sicily (Aeloian Islands), Lipari and Vulcano. Our tour guide arrived to tell us that the sea was too rough and we couldn't go on the boat so the trip was cancelled. Instead they substituted a trip to Messina and Tricani where there's a statue of a black Madonna. The trip was good but the interesting thing to us is the many statues we see that have been found in the sea. Apparently ships with statues on them sink in the Mediterranean. We'll have to remember that next time we're on a boat---look for statues and get off if you're sharing the ship with them.

I've started Italian classes--the first one this week--and so far learned I've been using the wrong word for "I want". Apparently I've been using the one that means a command instead of the polite form of the verb. I always seem to know just enough of a language to get in trouble. I'm looking forward to learning the right way to speak and am even willing to write the common letter clusters ten times each while saying them out loud (only a little part of our homework this week).

Speaking of (not) speaking Italian. Mimma and I had a nice conversation yesterday--wish I understood what she was telling me. I think she said that her friend we met at her house when we went for the pizza party (we met three friends--refer to photo in previous blog) wants us to come to her house Monday (or Tuesday) evening (or afternoon) for dinner (or not). She doesn't live in Motta, she lives in some town that starts with Gi---. I said, "Of course, we'd love to. So--we're going somewhere we don't know to eat or not with someone we don't know who and we don't know when. But we're going to have a great time.

This next week is our last week of school. The kids have three and a half days then teachers go until Friday afternoon. After a two week break we'll start summer school. I've volunteered to teach and since I'm the only actually certified teacher teaching, I'll be "teacher-in-charge." What an honor. That really means I'll be the one who fills out all the paperwork and the evaluation of the program. What that also means is that I get to go to Vicenza for a two day training. I'll tell you more about that at another time.

Anyone want a really smart dog? We have a nice Italian dog who amazes me at how smart he is. He learns things very quickly and is the first dog we've ever had that does the whole game of "chase the ball, pick it up, bring it back and drop it at the master's feet". Most dogs we've had either ignore the ball or pick it up and want you to fight them for it.

However, today, we thought he was going to be playing the game with a live chicken. One of Giusseppi's chickens stupidly came through the fence into our yard and was flapping around the yard. Now isn't that an invitation for a dog to play? By the way, "no animals were injured in the playing of this game." The chicken quickly found out it didn't really want to play and ran home and surprisingly Bullet let him. It may have had something to do with all the yelling he was hearing from both yards.

On spending time with some wonderful Italian people

2007-05-23T15:32:00.000+02:00

For last Saturday evening we invited Giusseppi and Mimma for a pizza dinner at Donna Fortunata (restaurant in town, i.e. Motta) and since then we've spent much time with their friends and family.

The pizza at DF is typically Sicilian (would we expect anything else?)--cooked in a wood heated brick oven and delicious. It was interesting, though, deciding with Giusseppi and Mimma what we would have. Bob and I wanted to share a pizza but didn't know how to say share (dee-vee-day, spelled divide) so we kept gesturing cutting one in half. Giusseppi and Mimma each had their own. Then when we were quite full of pizza, Giusseppi wanted to go for gelato (Italian style ice cream----y-u-m-m-y). So we all trouped down the street to the gelato store. Bob and I could neither one finish ours but it was good.

On Sunday we went with Roberto and Valentina to Catania (big city nearby) for Sunday dinner. Their two children, Viviana and Fabio went too and it was fun interacting with the kids. Roberto speaks a little English and Valentina a little less. We managed to communicate, though. After dinner we walked around Catania to see some of the sights. This park is named for a great Italian musician, last name Bellini (not Roberto Bellini the actor). Anyway it's a beautiful place with plants that spell out the day and date and are changed every day to keep current. Roberto took this photo but you can see the rest of his family.

Tuesday (last night) we went over to Giusseppi and Mimma's for a pizza dinner with some other friends of theirs. Until Roberto and Valentina came, no one spoke English but the women were trying to look up words to communicate. The problem with having to look up words is that by the time you find one the conversation is two paragraphs, or three pages, ahead of the word you wanted. We had a great time, though, everyone was laughing a lot and dinner was an adventure. We never got to the pizza because the pizza oven had cooled from making bread and just waiting around to be used. (Outdoor, brick, wood-fired oven. Not electric) However, when the Sicilians eat----you don't need the main course.

After the meal they started telling jokes (Roberto didn't know the English for joke so he told us they liked to tell "stories happy". Of course Bob and I didn't understand them but when I heard a familiar word I would tell him. "I heard duck." "That was doctor" We never got any of the jokes but we just laughed when they did and had fun anyway.

THEN----Giusseppi decided he would tell one so we could understand (remember, he doesn't speak English at all). Everyone really laughed at that. However, by using very simple words I could recognize (or could fill in between) and speaking very slowly, he was able to help us understand the joke and it was really funny. I would lean over to Bob every few words and tell him the ones I understood so we both knew when to laugh. What a great time.

Bob and I brought the dessert and it was wildly popular. The Sicilians don't have anything like brownies and they're always a big hit. We also brought angelfood cake, strawberries and Cool Whip. When they asked what it was, we told them it was "cibo di angelici" - food of angels. I couldn't think of any other way to say it. One of the men said it could make him religious (I think). They don't have the same kind of flour we do so it's almost impossible to make those light cakes here.

So, these pictures are from last night and I wanted to share them since I'm always talking about our neighbors (G and M) and our landlord (R and V) who I've probably mentioned is Giuseppi and Mimma's son. Enjoy.

bits and pieces of nothing

2007-05-05T15:43:00.000+02:00

We went to the market in Misterbianco this morning. I don't want anyone to get jealous, now, but we got 20 peach colored roses for 2 Euro (that's $2.60 American)-----okay, I really do want you to be jealous. They look beautiful in our living room. We also got provelone cheese, swiss cheese, strawberries, onions, kiwi, etc. for almost pennies.

We love to shop the market on Saturday. The vendors are starting to recognize us and stop to chat a bit. The man who has the stand with yarn always has a great story to tell us about his friend Filipo who used to work at the naval base and speaks English.....too bad this man doesn't. And we don't speak enough Italian to get much of what he says. So, we smile politely, try to match our facial expressions to his and nod a lot. Sometimes his wife will repeat what he said more slowly but it doesn't help us much. We don't understand Italian slowly any more than we do when they speak quickly.

I have learned that the University of Maryland has Italian classes on base. I'll go soon to see if I can get in for a summer session.

We recently bought a "fresco" (a painting on stone) reproduction of a wall painting from 1511. We put it in the bedroom but it doesn't really show up well with our blue plaid comforter so we're slowly changing the bedroom colors to gold and cream to show it off. First we bought some long sheer gold curtains to form a drapery over the bed to serve as sort of a headboard since we don't have one. Next we'll buy a new comforter--the present one is about ten years old and the stitching is coming out so it's about time. Since that's the extent of our decorating our bedroom will then be gold and cream.

The oranges are about gone, now. The trees have already blossomed (see Mike's blog) and now there are tiny orange buds appearing. We do miss the orange juice every day and the smell of the orange blossoms but next year we'll have them again.

The dog (Bullet, not Bizmark) has a new hobby......Sitting on the top of our car. I would love to get a good photo of him up there to put on the blog but when he hears the door open (and he has ears like a .....something and can hear the click of the door no matter how quiet we try to be) he "shoots" around to the door to welcome us. The only way I got this one was to open the back bathroom window and screen and just wait for him to get on the car. Anyway, he jumps up on the hood of the car then on to the top to sit and look out over his domain. It took us a couple of days to figure out how we were getting muddy dog prints on our windshield.

His other new thing also involving the car and muddy footprints is to run around the yard playing with his ball or shoe (both of which he stole from Antonio's yard). He runs in a big circle, drops the toy, runs another big circle through the carport. Jumps on the car, runs the length then takes a flying leap to hit the toy and make it jump. What a dog. We could get upset and yell at him but since the car has a big dent in the side and drives through air with volcanic dust in it all the time he couldn't possibly hurt the paint job anymore that it's already getting just being here. Besides that, this game means he's not eating the irrigation tubing Giusseppi has on the orange trees...or the gardner's water hose...or his food dish...or the....or the.... You get the idea. He's a puppy.

Family came to visit us

2007-04-30T15:41:00.000+02:00

We were so thrilled to have Mike and Chris and Micha come see us that I'm afraid we wore them out. Trying to fit so many things into one short trip. Some people come to Sicily and see poverty, crowded conditions and trash. We came to Sicily and saw beautiful people, interesting history, and a wonderful story. Reading their blog, I'm glad Mike and Chris saw the same.

The visit wouldn't be complete without their meeting Giuseppi and Mima. What great neighbors. BTW Mima says Micha is a "bambina bellisima!" (beautiful baby girl) Of course she is and I love Mima all the more for saying that.

Mike and I our shared photos from the trip so I don't have any new ones that you can't go see on their flicker account but I want to put up a couple of my favorites. Actually, the one they put on their blog of Micha leaning against the wall might be my all time favorite.

We're going to be staying close to home for the next couple of weeks so I'll try to get in to blog more. Be patient.

Buona Pascuale (Happy Easter)

2007-04-08T18:40:00.000+02:00

We got back from our trip today and wanted to call to say Happy Easter, then realized everyone would be at church so we'll just use our friendly "blogger" to say we hope you've had a great day and the weather is nice for you.

The village of San Biagio Platani (don't even try to pronounce it) has a traditional procession on Easter and we were privileged to be there today. Each year during Holy Week the men put up structures made of bamboo which are amazing in themselves. These things have to be about five stories tall and are put together every year along the street in front of the church. They run about four blocks on either side of the church front. Besides being made of bamboo, every corner and important line is covered (really covered) with fresh bay leaves. Millions of bay leaves. Anything green you see in this photo is bay leaves. On each end of the structure the lower section of the archways are covered with rosemary leaves. I think it's amazing that they can even make something like that.

Then, the women of the village spend the week making fancy sculptures, paintings, pieces of art using bread. We can't put many photos of them on so tomorrow we will put them on flicker. Click there tomorrow 'cause we really want you to see the fancy things they do. We took pictures of just a few of the many pieces they had displayed. I can't even make a loaf round on the top so I can't imagine making any of these. Now I know you're asking, "what about that first picture on your blog?" yep---all of bread. The swans, the trees, the tablet and flowers, even the almost-life-sized people and the fence around them all----all made of bread and bay leaves.

On Easter Sunday they have a processional in which a statue of Mary is paraded around the town. The band plays meloncholy music and the whole town follows Mary through the streets under the structure made by the men and women of the village. This is to represent the sadness Mary felt when Jesus had been killed on the cross. After a couple of rounds through the town a statue of Jesus joins Mary and the band strikes up happy music representing Mary seeing that Jesus has risen and is alive. The atmosphere of the day is festive and, as is usual whenever any town in Sicily has a festival, there are street vendors everywhere.

Note to our kids: This is spring break week so we're going to be bouncing here and there on the island. If I miss calling someone, please forgive, we'll call anytime we can. Or we may have to call with cell phones and have shortened conversations this week.

When we went to San Stefano di Camastra and Pollina

2007-04-01T10:40:00.000+02:00

Another tour Saturday took us to the northern town of San Stefano... We had been there once before, about a week after we got to Sicily, and were too overwhelmed to appreciate its beauty, too new to just wander the town, and too ignorant of the Sicilian pottery to make any intelligent decisions on things to buy.

Usually on these tours we are dropped off in a town for and hour of "shopping" during the Sicilian reposo. That's the time when all shops close and the shopworkers have a long lunch and time for relaxing before opening back up for the evening trade. So, needless to say, we don't get much shopping done. This time, though, we were given three hours during the actual work day then visited the other sights (castle tower and amphitheater) more appropriately when the shops were closed.

We did buy a few things to use when we have dinner guests which seems to be at least once a week.

San Stefano is noted for it's ceramics much like Caltegirone about which we've written before. Since we hadn't planned to buy much, and were given so much time, we had time to wander. The town sits on the shores of the Tyrannian Sea (a northern extension of the Mediterranean) and has beautiful walled walkways from which to view the water. The walkway you see in this picture is made of hand carved stone (not formed concrete) with ceramic tiles covering the top and sides. It's beautiful-----(and the guy in the photo is cute, too).

There were so many great photo places that I'll just have to refer you to our "flicker" site so you can see how neat the area is.

As usually happens when we begin to wander outside of the main street and through the less traveled areas of a town, we found a trattoria (family-owned restaurant) where we were the only non-Sicilian and the food was amazing. The menu was written on a board as we walked in and we ordered from it. What did we order? We don't know but it was great. Bob's was a ravioli filled with ground prosciutto, covered with a sauce (sugo) of freshly cooked artichoke, tomatoes and ham. Mine was linguini with cooked fresh tomatoes and the meat of some kind of shellfish. I have never liked a mixture of fish and pasta or tomatoes and fish but this was very good.

Later we went to the town of Pollina up at the top of a mountain (as are many, many of the towns). It was so high that from the bottom of the mountain we could see the town consumed by clouds. When we got to the town, sure enough, we could look down on the clouds. The bus had to stop at the edge of town because there was no way for the driver to turn the bus around if he went up into the streets of the village.

We walked up the street (up being the operative word here) and stepped into a couple of churches that were open on our way. I really can't begin to describe what we saw. The outside of the churches looked like old, dead, decaying rock buildings but once we stepped inside the beauty was astounding. Solid marble statues with inlaid marble designs around them, murals and paintings--all having been there for hundreds of years. One church had beautiful sculptures and designs but only 8 chairs for parishiners. What a statement.

As we passed a little store our tour guide (who by this time only was guiding Bob, me and one other lady, all others had gone ahead) said she had something special to show us. She opened a door to a little shop about the size of our bathroom. In the small interior sat a beautiful old lady with her feet on an open-fire stove for warmth, cracking pistachios with a small hammer and putting them in a container probably to sell later.

The store was filled with everything you could possibly need from pins and needles to milk. But with only one or two of each item, the store was packed full. With our guide as an interpreter, this lady told us she is 86 years old and works every day in the store to keep busy. She said her daughter wants her to move to Palermo and live with the family but she is sure she would die there....................................This is the Sicily we came to see.

A few home things

2007-04-01T10:05:00.000+02:00

I'm going to try to put on several pictures and a couple of blogs this morning. There's just so much to say and see here that I want to share.

First of all I have a couple of things that are just from home. The other day we were walking in light jackets from the post office on base to our car on the other side of "Midtown", a walk equivalent to a football field or a little more. When we got about a third of the way it started to sprinkle. Expecting rain, we had brought our umbrella and so got it out and huddled under it as the sprinkle began to develop into rain. Going a little farther we noticed the rain was getting rather heavy with larger drops. About twenty yards from the car it was really pelting down and something was added to it. We began to run and when we got in the car I looked at my sleeve and it was covered with pellets--not of hail but actually snow pellets. (And here I thought we lived in the tropics.) I took a photo but you can hardly tell on the windshield--I should have taken a photo of my arm. A few days later we had a hail storm. It woke us up about 11:30 hailing very hard and was still on the ground, sometimes in two to four inch drifts, as we went into work the next morning. Funny thing is, though, other than during those times, we still are comfortable in long sleeves or sweaters. Seldom need even a jacket during the day.

I think I mentioned a long time ago the beautiful table top we got on a trip north. Well, we finally have the finished product. A local artisan has made the support for the table and has just finished chairs to match. It's all handcrafted heavy iron. Notice the tulips he added to the center of the table bottom and to the backs of the chairs that match the design on the table top. We are really happy with it. I think this is our one big money item we will take away from Italy.

And, finally, we have conceded that this dog is probably ours and have given him the name of Bullet. It seems to fit because he "shoots" out of his crate in the morning, shoots around the house to the front whenever he hears the door open, and puts holes in everything he's near.

And for those of us who are REALLY old, he even looks kind of like Roy Rogers' dog.

Actually he's very intelligent and once he got the idea that I wanted to take his picture he seemed to be posing for me. I took several but this is his best pose.

We finally made it to Italy

2007-03-25T10:18:00.000+02:00

It's been cool and rainy for the past two weeks and more is predicted for the week to come. We were a little nervous when we signed up for a trip across the ferry to the mainland for Saturday. It was cold when we got on the bus and we were all bundled up. But when we got to the ferry the sun came out and immediately warmed everything up. The ferry ride was amazing. Wind in your face, mist from the sea and all that. Our friend, Kelly, joined us on the trip and we all laughed a lot. We had a great time.

The city of Calabria Reggio has a couple of things to offer, a beautiful church and a museum with pottery, tools and bronze statues from the Greek era in Italy. We immediately saw the difference in the decor of the cathedral from those we've seen in Sicily. Much color in the murals and intricate carvings all around. Even the doors are carved to tell the stories of "the life of the Virgin Mary," the days leading up to the crucifixion, the travels of Paul, etc. We could only imagine how long it took to make each piece---and the building was full of alll that beautiful work, in wood, in stone, in marble.

From there we went to a castle in Scilla, a coastal town--beaches and palm trees for miles. What they call castles here aren't like the castles we imagine from seeing them in movies. More like fortresses. They're built on a hill and are made of rough stone. Basically places to watch for the enemy and have a high place to shoot from. They did have an interesting wagon, though so I made Bob stand beside it for a shot.

2007-03-18T09:47:00.000+01:00

We've been busy going to work and back, doing little errands on the weekends and not getting out much. Shame on us.

So....we returned to the Gambino winery on a tour a couple of weeks ago and had a great time. The bus let us off at the bottom of the hill and some rode the shuttle to the winery. We chose to walk and quite a walk it was. About a mile straight up, or it felt like it. But the walk was worth it. The winery sits far up on the slope of Mount Etnea and on a clear day like we had the view is amazing. Little towns "nestled" in the mountainside and lands producing grapes, oranges and lemons as far as the eye can see until the land slips into the sea. So beautiful, but not 'capture-albe" with our camera. We did take a couple of pictures to share. Mr. Gambino was kind enough to pose with us for photos. Our friend Mary Jo went with us on the tour and joined me in the pose.

This week we've been doing errands again but this time we went to the Saturday market in Misterbianco. We found such a variety of things at the vendor's booths and wanted to buy a lot but held off. There were shoes, clothes for all ages, curtains, kitchen ware, bedding, a butcher, fresh fruits and veggies....just not much you could want that you couldn't find there. Such fun.

We're still waiting to see where we've been assigned for next year. Might be this weekend. If so, I'll see it on my school email Monday morning.

One more thing before I head for church....Bob and I think we could get jobs translating instructions from English to Italian or vice versa. We could do no worse than what we read on the lightbulbs we bought at the market yesterday. I think if you double click on this photo it will enlarge and you can read the directions. Good luck.

Oops, I forgot an important part

2007-02-18T12:40:00.000+01:00

Okay, I'm trying again

I thought I had the important "stuff" covered with the last post until I started looking, again, at the photos. So I wanted to add more. I didn't want you to miss this.

We happened to get into Agrigento in the middle of the "Almond Flower Festival" which is held yearly. We got off the tour bus at the right time to watch a parade through town with bands representing the past conquerors (the photos are of the Arabs and French conquerors). I just had to send pictures of the parades but why would one celebrate conquerors?

There were many other things to see throughout the town too. Like a man who was not a mime and not a mannequin mimic but something capturing a bit of each plus a little clowning, too. There was quite a crowd around him.

We really must go back.

A bit of this and that

2007-02-18T12:09:00.000+01:00

Just a few thoughts before we tell about our latest adventure in Sicily.

Why is it that when you've taken in puppies for the express purpose of giving them to someone else even to the extent of not naming them, it's still hard to see them go. Puppy number 3 is right now on her way to a wonderful home--probably the perfect one and I'm wanting to call the young man and say, "Oh, yeah and she likes a milkbone before bed, and she is used to going to bed at nine and up at 6:30. And she needs to go outside as soon as she wakes up, etc. etc." This is after I spent 15 minutes going over all the particulars before I let him drive away with her.

Another thought. Fun is fun no matter what language you speak.--Last night we went to a private club with Giusseppi and Mima for dinner and dancing. Getting there early, some of their friends were playing cards and after a bit, we sat in on a "for no money" poker game. We had a great time and laughed a lot and it didn't matter that we didn't speak the same language.

On the subject of the evening. I've never seen so many dead animals in one place --minks, fox, and sable. And I realized that, though I was dressed appropriately, I wasn't much better in my new leather coat. I may have to give it away.

Okay, our latest trip/adventure was last weekend to the beautiful town of Agrigento with its sandy beaches and the "Valley of the Temples." All I can say about it that you won't see in the photos is, "Bellisima." (Very beautiful) As we walked through the valley of the temples (which were built by the Greeks after they had conquered Sicily) we couldn't help but wonder how they got those huge pieces of rock shaped and how in the world did they get them on top of each other without a very large crane.

By the way, you know that inverted scalloped look on all the pillars of Greek temples? They are shaped and sized for a grown man to fit into the scallop. Don't know why but if you're ever asked that question on "Who Wants to be a Millionnaire" you'll know--you won't have to phone a friend.

We had a great day and ate at another nice seafood restaurant. Other than the shrimp with legs and eyes, I loved the food and the company (Bob, of course).

New week, New trip. We love Italy

2007-01-29T16:32:00.000+01:00

This weekend we went on another trip with the base tour company. This trip was to the castle at Carini (which means pretty) up on the northern coast of Sicily past Palermo. You probably (oops, I meant you don't) need to know that except to know that we were on the coast.

However, concerning the castle........don't think we saw this beautiful castle filled with beautiful furnishings. First of all, everything here is made of stone and was pretty much bombed during several wars. Second, they just don't take care of their antiquities like other countries do. So we went to some big ole' falling down stone place where the only real claim to fame was that someone was killed there. Some baroness who was beheaded by her father for dirtying the family name by having an affair.

But then.....we went to the town of Sferracavallo (try saying that three times fast).

Part of the tour was to eat at a seafood restaurant that was popular with the area people. Oh, my, what a meal. It actually turned into a seafood marathon .... once they started bringing food .. it just never stopped ... plates of Octopus, fish, shrimp, muscles, oysters and little balls of fried fish, followed up with a seafood bruchetta ......... and this was just the appitizer portion. Next comes the Pasta regimine ... three different platters .. one with seafood, another a risotta .. and yet a 3rd, flavored with fennel ..... Had enough?? Hope not .. we haven't had our meal yet ... so, out come heaping platters of broiled and blackened fish, succulent lobsters and bright red whole shrimp ..... (did I mention this was ALL you could eat?? plus a little more??)

Dessert anyone?? (Groan)

After the meal we went out to walk around a little area where vendors were offering a variety of jewelry, scarves, hats, tools, belts, and .....shoes. Bob needed a new pair of tennies so browsed a bit. He found a pair he liked and a helpful young man found the right size (apparently he wears a size 42 shoe). At first glance the name and insignia looked like Nike but upon closer inspection they weren't Nikes but Yikes.....Yikes! The young man told Bob (in very broken English) that the shoes should cost a hundred and a thousand but for him they were only 15 Euro. It was a tough decision but for fifteen Euro they were a steal (maybe literally). Somewhere in Italy there is a truck minus a few pair of Yikes ... but, somehow, I don't think anyone really cares ..

Hey! Look at this neat place.

2007-01-27T13:59:00.000+01:00

We were invited to our friends' house (the ones with the pizza oven) last Saturday evening. Joyce said, "Come about 3:30, and we can show you a great deli that we love."

So, we went, arriving at about 4:30 .... now remember the Italian 'repose' .. close at 1 .. re-open, sometime later -- usually about 4. Oops, they were closed but a nearby fruit stand was open -- so using our Best Italian, we asked when the deli would open .... and using Their best Italian, we were given the standard Sicilian answer "They are open, when they are open" ... that is a good expression to remember because it sums up the Sicilian attitude.

Anyway, it was a great deli and we spent quite awhile just looking then bought way too much. It's not a typical deli for Sicily but you can find them here and there. We're definitely going to have to go back.

In another vein, Bob and I are finding that we can understand more and more of what people are saying (if they speak VERY slowly and repeat several times).

No, really, this morning the truck was supposed to come to deliver our household gas. He called to say he couldn't find our place and I understood enough to know he couldn't find our place. I tried to explain it but my Italian doesn't include "Go up highway 192 from Sigonella toward Catania" let alone the rest of the directions. So we ran over to our neighbor yelling, "direzione per favore" and handed her the phone.

Good thing I didn't try to explain to him because it took her a full ten minutes in full steam Italian. Interestingly I had put the phone on speaker phone and we could hear both sides of the conversations. We understood enough to know he was thoroughly lost on the highway that doesn't even have an exit near our house. Mima enthusiastically (All Italians talk enthusiastically) explained several times to him how to get to our place. We were excited to understand destra (right) and sinestra (left) scattered in the conversation. Apparently she got the message across to him because he got there soon afterward.

We finally saw....

2007-01-21T14:14:00.000+01:00

the Mediterannean Sea. Now you may think that's not a big thing but we had to travel across the island to get there. And you know what? It looks just like the Ionian and the Tyrranhian Seas. It's a beautiful blue, not like any other body of water we've seen. Maybe it looked prettier because we had set out on our own and actually found it.

Bob got an old map poster that we plan to frame and the name there is "Straits of Africa." Guess it can be called anything---the important thing is to find it. And we Did!! The photos here are of the Mediterannean and the beach we found.

The trip that day was to a town called "hideous" by the travel books. I don't know if that's a good word to describe it but Gela isn't the most beautiful city in Sicily. It looks as if a whole city were half built. Concrete buildings looking like skeletons with no glass in the windows, no paint, just not finished. Or...buildings finished with no paint, no gardens/yards, no beauty at all. In a the nearby town of Falconara we did find a nice restaurant with really good Minestrone soup.

That's where we found the Med, too.

On a personal note, I'm officially "excessed". That means my position is being cut out here at the naval base. They say I will most probably have a job next year but it's not known yet where we'll be. Wherever it is will be a new great adventure. Could be several places in Europe or the Pacific. We'll have to wait until March (I think) to find out where our new assignment will be. Then we'll make a decision whether to stay with this for another year or come home.

quiet

2007-01-16T07:28:00.000+01:00

All the Fletcher-related family blogs have been pretty quiet this past week. Bob's mom is very ill and most correspondence has been to find out the news. Jae drove to Joplin to see Grandma for a bit and then traveled to Kansas City to see Ken and Lynette before heading back to Grand Rapids.

Bob and I are stewing here in Italy wishing we could be there.

In other news, we gave away another puppy. Now we're down to two. Marianne sat in front of the Commissary ALL DAY on Saturday with a sign and a puppy. Many people were very interested but finally late afternoon a nice young couple took her home. It may be worth sitting there another Saturday.

We didn't go to Milan because the trip was cancelled--not enough people signed up. However, we did do some exploring on our own. Nice weekend. We'll write about that and attach pictures soon.

This says Titolo....I'm guessing it means Title

2007-01-07T15:13:00.000+01:00

I don't know how but my blog site or computer has discovered we're in Italy and now all the instructions are in Italian. I can read a word here or there and recall where to find the necessary icons to add pictures but don't expect anything fancy----(did you ever?).

We got back safely after a very long flight. No sleeping on the plane but we were so tired that most of our seven hour layover in Milan was spent in their recliner-type chairs "stackin'-the-z s". Biz made it pretty well. He did well with the bathroom thing but the ladies in the restroom in Milan thought it strange that I was in there with a dog and a potty pad. American Airlines wouldn't let us take him out of the carrier on the flight to Chicago but Alitalia airlines personnel didn't seem to care.

The puppies were well taken care of while we were gone but I'm afraid they've grown so much they don't seem like puppies anymore. It's going to be harder to give them away.

We awoke this morning to a beautiful Sicilian sunrise that almost made us think of staying here forever. But then I tried to call Jae and woke her up because of the time difference and immediately wished I were back in the states where the time is relatively the same.

Lynnette........Dreamgirls is playing at our theater so I'm going on Tuesday evening. Pursuit of Happyness and Night at the Museum are also playing. Good week for movies.

Off to America

2007-01-02T14:57:00.000+01:00

Christmas in Michigan. I ordered snow but I don't think I would have enjoyed it so much with visions of tropical Sicily still in my head. The idea of snow was what I wanted---not the cold and slush of real snow. We had much too short a visit with the girls. Wonderful Christmas morning. My favorite part of Christmas morning was seeing that Madyline loved her necklace as much as we loved giving it to her. And...watching Jae open her box of many Italian food goodies. My second favorite thing was seeing how hard Tracy and Bill's kids had worked to make wonderful gifts for each other. (for an example link to Tracy's blog at the bottom left on this blog).

All the grandchildren have grown so much it's hard to realize we've only been gone three months. Madyline, especially has seemed to mature a great deal. She's becoming such a beautiful young woman. Harrison is still full of wonderful stories and we love to hear each one.

I wish I could include a video of Grant opening his gifts. He has perfected the "tear and toss" method.

The plane flight to Missouri seemed like child's play after the trip across the seas. Sophia is growing and smiling so much. What a joy to watch her play. Ken and Lynette are blessed.

Joplin was a mixed blessing. Bob and I both came down with something. Bob's started in Michigan and he just couldn't shake it--took what seemed like boxes of medicine. I had the 24 hour (almost to the minute) bug and spent one night at Mike's crawling between the bathroom and my bed. We were both afraid to visit Bob's mom in the nursing home for fear of passing our germs on to her.

Other than that we had a great time in Joplin. When we got into town we stopped by Sam's to see if we could find a party platter for New Year's Eve. As we went through the fruit area, I happened to notice they had blueberries at a reasonable price so I got some for the kids.

We called as we left Sam's to tell Mike we had stopped and would be there in a few minutes. He said, "Did you get blueberries?" "Yeah, how did you know?" He said that Micha had just said Grandma and Grandpa were late so they must have stopped at Sam's to get blueberries. Mike told her not to be disappointed if we didn't bring blueberries but Micha said, "No, Grandma always brings me blueberries." Phew!!! ...I almost picked up the strawberries instead.

Only a couple of days left in the States before heading back to Sicily. Can't say there's anything I have missed in the States except my family and friends. On TV there is a new show called "GREASE--You're the one that I want" and "Armed and Famous." Nothing on to miss there. The news programs here keep telling us how much the United States is hated and all about the bad things happening. I think I prefer our house in Sicily with no television. Just give me a nice cocoon to live in.

seeing a lot of Sicily......from a bus

2006-12-17T15:05:00.000+01:00

Bob and I went with a tour to Palermo yesterday. Same-o. Same-o. If you've seen one seventeenth century church...... Really, just kidding. The church there was beautiful and the tour guide explained about the fact that there were several ethnic influence in the making of it.

One thing I learned that really impressed me was that when you do see the ancient cathedrals and the mosaics or paintings seem to shine from the walls it's because they mix glass powder with the paint. When the light hits it, there is a beautiful shine. They do it in only the part of the painting that they want to emphasize like a scroll or lettering, or a sword, or halo, etc.

That particular influence came from the arabs who invaded Sicily. The cathedral had beautiful mosaic tile floors and we got lots of pictures that we're not going to put here. However, I just can't end this blog without including a picture of one of the many statues. We know there's a reason for this statue but can't come up with anything. Any ideas?

two kinds of people.....

2006-12-11T18:25:00.000+01:00

Mike wrote on our blog that there are two kinds of people, those who like olives and those who don't. Well, I say he's right, there are two kinds of people but it's those who trust GPS systems and those who don't.

Bob bought a handheld GPS for finding places in Italy and we took off for parts definitely unknown--our principal's house for an open house. She lives about 15 miles away---you would think "anyone can find something that close". Fifteen miles here deserves hazard duty pay if you are routed through downtown Catania...and of course we were. Fifteen miles also takes from 30 minutes to an hour to drive anywhere.

The Italians have really fallen in love with the Round-A-Bout .. and just can't build new ones fast enough ... well at least they are building them faster than they are making GPS maps of Sicily.
(Read "bout" literally...as in brawl...as in 45 cars going in all different directions at once--with no defined lanes.)

Well, Bob's GPS did a fine job but with much nerve-racking, swerving-to-miss, cutting-in-front-of, brake-stomping episodes .. all while trying to Guess which exit might be the correct one since the GPS never heard of the three particular Roundabouts we had to travel through. To add to the mayhem, we had people trying to follow us. To add even more, there was a fender-bender we had to maneuver around bringing six (unofficial) lanes into one. [the followees lost the followers]

Okay, to confess, an additional distraction was me beating Bob on the arm yelling, "Pull over so they can catch up." (He says pull over doesn't happen in Catania). Or...me saying (again yelling) "turn that stupid thing off and use Nadine's directions---We'll never find it."

However, we did get to Nadine's house in under an hour, in fact, we were the first ones to arrive at her party. And...our friends who got lost even found it with me on the phone reading them the directions.

So...there are those who trust GPS systems and those who don't. Guess who's who.

p.s. Bob says I have to write that coming home, we just let the GPS guide us on a different route and we made it just fine (even in a half hour).

For any who come.....

2006-12-03T13:13:00.000+01:00

The real place to see is the Saturday market in Catania. I've never seen anything like it. Food, clothes, shoes, kitchen wares, housewares, curtains, bedding, more food, and on and on. Many city blocks of vendors. What fun. You can buy furs next to the place to buy cheese, next to the place to buy fish, etc.

And tables filled with bunches of kinds of olives, tables with every kind of fish (and a few questionable items). Butchers and cheeses more than you could imagine. Just had to show some pictures.

It's artichoke season here and, boy, are there artichokes. Every farmer's truck is full of them. I even saw a station wagon with the back closed, artichoke leaves squeezing out the edges, artichokes tied on top and on both sides. As we drove by, I wish I could have gotten my camera out quick enough. But, alas, it will just have to be a memory.

The Godfather.....

2006-12-03T12:33:00.000+01:00

Since we've been here people have asked, "Have you been to Taorimina yet? It's beautiful there." Well, we finally made it and they were right. It is beautiful. The shoreline, the town, the Greek theatre/Roman Ampitheater (there's a story behind the slash too long to tell right now)...no, on second thought here it is.

A few hundred years ago, the Greeks built huge theatres in Sicily and put on their plays (tragedies). When they were pushed out by the Romans, their interest in entertainment varied a bit from the Greeks. They tore out half of the theatre and made it into an ampitheater with holding pens at the side for the lions--(and maybe locker rooms for the gladiators). Anyway, the same place served both groups at different times, thus the slash. Here's a picture of what it looks like today.

We were fascinated by the town and actually did a bit of Christmas shopping there (oops, let the cat out of the bag)------we don't have a cat-----Anyone need a puppy?

The place that really fascinated us, though, was Savaco. A tiny little town with probably four big churches. A path went between the churches and the town (what little there was of it). They have very few tourists in that little town but those who come there have the opportunity to see the very church that Al Pacino and company walked out of in "The Godfather" movie. The wedding of the Pacino character was done in that church and the procession went out of the church and down the pathway where we walked to a little bar that was also in the movie.
Bob rented the movie yesterday and, sure enough, there was the church and the path. We could say, "We were there."

Aside from that, the town is quiet and picturesque with many places for great pictures.

Lava and Snow on Etna

2006-12-01T09:47:00.000+01:00

I know (Jae) that's it been awhile since we posted anything. We have several things to put up and a couple of stories to tell but will have to do that this weekend. (Probably Sunday)

A teacher who lives closer to the volcano than we do sent this picture and I thought I would forward it on to those of you who visit the blog. Now I can see how they can have a ski resort on the mountain.

On a side note........do Italian puppies understand English or even Italian? A couple of days ago we were driving down our long driveway heading for school and found a box with four puppies in it. They were scared and hungry and huddled together. Of course we took them home and fed them. They don't seem to understand, though, that we are nice people. They run away from us and don't trust us at all. Would it be better if we spoke to them in Italian?

I think we'll have to find a truck so we can sit outside the comissary and give them away from the back of the truck. Just like at Walmart.