SUMMER FINALE

As the late afternoons get a bit quieter, the days get a little shorter and the temperatures remain not quite so hot. Summer as we know it is coming to an end. The little boys next door go on vacation next week to a northern Italy theme park (people think nothing of taking a vacation from vacation!), and our upstairs and side neighbors leave on the 1st. Thank goodness!! We will surely miss them, but we crave some delicious quiet in cooler nights, and a break from all the activity surrounding us.
We had fog the other morning and it was quite lovely. Living on the sea, you would expect it more, but this is only the second time in two years that I remember it. Our British/Scotch friends, Brian and Christine, bought an apartment in Caltabellota and we went up there for a visit with them. And Steve has gone out with Paolo to his farm again and picked MORE figs, and I just do not know what to do with them, although several of you have offered some terrific ideas. Here are a few pictures of them drying in the hot sun. Anyone want me to bring them back some in Nov?
The other night we were invited over to the neighbors next door (other Giusy) and had a Sicilian meal. It was indescribably, deliciously good. These ladies all know how to cook. Giusy and Lily’s 70 year old mom had just returned from staying for a month in Sardegna with a brother. This woman does NOT look 70! The picture of the three generations “discussing” how to cut up the watermelon was priceless. It reminded me of how we passed around the panettone cake when we had it 2 Easters ago with Woody, Jane, and Susan. Anyway, at midnight more people began to arrive and we celebrated Mariangela’s 19th birthday. We had a good time with the young people (“ragazzi”) and since Francisco knows English, he tried to help me with my Italian verbs. We chatted with Federica’s boyfriend Vincenzo, who is a rock musician with a CD out! The 2 Giusys got silly and started dancing.
This lovely Sunday AM, everyone was out at the beach chatting away, knowing it would be the last time for a long while they would all be together. Good bye, good bye, come again, but not too soon!

AMERICAN PICNIC

While the finals of the tennis tournament are finishing up, I am taking a moment to write about the picnic for 18 neighbors that we had the other day. It was fun and easy and even though I forgot the dressing for the salad and we broke a bottle of hot sauce, everything else went smoothly.
It was not a true American picnic in that we did not have corn on the cob, since it has not proved very good the few times we tried it here. We also did not have baked beans or watermelon since I prefer cantaloupe and yellow melon. And we forgot to bring back marshmallows!! But we did have barbecued chicken legs and hot wings, hot dogs with chili sauce, potato salad, tuna macaroni salad, green salad, green bean-tomato-onion salad, baked macaroni, and American coffee and melon for dessert. The guests were told not to, but ran back to their houses for more treats, and brought all kinds of things-canapés with olive pate, bruschetta, whole fresh almonds and walnuts, wine, cinnamon liquor, chocolate rum cake with whipped cream, and cuccidetti, these little iced cookies with candied green squash fillings.
Anyway-it was a lot of fun, and once we all got there and sorted out what was available, etc, and after people found seats, our big terrace looked so small! Most of these pictures were taken by neighbor Lillo since I was a little busy, so you can see for yourself the way Italians ham up their shots! They do not go for the informal shot-hey, why leave to chance the possibility of a bad picture?

FERRAGOSTO

Yesterday was the height of the summer here, as the holiday of Ferragosto, the celebration of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, is celebrated all over the island. In Sicily, tourism is centered on the day as various groups stage fantastic parades and religious observances then. Concerts and shows are also scheduled around now too as most people have at least a week or two off at this time. Fireworks are also a great part, and there were local ones shot off at the port, as we found when we were awakened at 1:00 AM by the booms.
The night before, we were invited to go down to the beach at midnight to swim, another of the traditions in this area. But a north wind was blowing and it got cooler that night than it has been all summer, down into the 70’s. That was the same day after I had taken the picture of the thermometer reading 104! Anyway, we went to the outdoor theater and saw Troy (I had a jacket on for the first time all summer) and returned just after midnight to see a few brave souls (kids) in wet suits, trying to get a fire started. We tried to help, but the wood was all wet. Then Steve got out his knife and cut little slivers of wood which I fed to the fire. Voila! Instant fire! They thought we were geniuses, but I explained if you could not make a fire where we came from, you would freeze.
The next day we went into town for Sciacca’s attempt to keep tourists happy. This is the annual feat of strength when the barefoot fishermen carry through the streets a huge platform and statue of the Madonna Soccorso that is sacred to Sciacca. We could not even find the place where the parade went there were so many people. Finally, just before dark, we were in a crush of about 50,000 people when we found the parade, and it was amazing the looks of strain on the fishermen’s faces, carrying that weight barefoot for so long. We found a good spot just inside the Porto Palermo gate, the other side of the picture shown here. But we were pushed away from our good vantage point by a man clearing the way, so I did not get a good picture at all-sorry! But Steve quickly pointed out the nuns on the balcony watching the procession, so here is a good picture of them.
My claustrophobia kicked in and we got out of there as fast as we could get through the gate and the crush of people going in the other direction. That entailed a wait of about 10 minutes before we got a baby carriage to run interference for us. I had had enough festivities so we drove around on the beautiful night breeze till we came to the pizzeria that is becoming a favorite around here, Panorama. It has a panoramic view of the ocean, but it is enclosed in windows and it is so hot inside it is not worth sitting there to see it. So we sit in back away from the ocean view. Go figure-people let an incredible view go to waste because there are so many lovely views around!

HOW HOT IS IT?

Ok, so it is in the sun, but still, this is 9:30 AM.

NEIGHBORS

Sometimes it seems like we are really a lot different than our neighbors here. The language and customs are really the key, as the people themselves are pleasant, somewhat younger professionals that we would probably get to know in the states. But they are all here for summer vacation fun, and we are here for life, and with that, all of the habits from our everyday living. Add to that being Americans and you can see we would not be doing the same things as them. I think some of them are not unfriendly, but wary of us because they don’t think they will really understand us, and their English is not too good. Since English is a school subject, and not everyone does well in school, the prospect of having to speak sometimes is overshadowed by memories of school successes or failures. And we read so much! That is really not what Sicilians do with their vacation time and we seem to surprise them with our leisure reading.
We have kind of gotten into the festive mood here although we keep telling people we are OK not to be with people all of the time. Ya know they don't get that! I kind of like my quiet neighbor Anna that is a town cop. She has 2 small boys who are loud but cute and respectful. Her mother comes and cleans sometimes, and reminds me of all Italian mamas, black dress and all, and her husband (Toto) is a really funny guy that I am sure can be a trial. He is an engineer and the one that has got Steve involved in bocce. They watch tennis and soccer matches together in front of the house and joke and pal around. When I started giving Anna basil from our huge, over-productive plants, she gave us a big bottle of their home-grown olive oil! I love that kind of neighborliness.
On the other side are Lillo and Giusy, with their young adolescent leader-of-the-pack daughter Julia and the sometimes-there grandmother who is always working at something or other. They are the ones who have had all the water damage problems from our pipes. They are real go-getters: she is an inner city (Palermo) high school geology teacher and runs all the shows and kids' programs here and he is a forestry service worker involved in food inspection and sells real estate on the side. They keep telling us not to worry about the walls, that it will all sort itself out. In fact we are close to having the job done, with only an outside water pipes door to be reinstalled at our house, and her paint job done. And we have yet to see what the bill from the muratore will be like!
Above us are Francco, Giusy (friend of other Giusy), and her 19 year-old daughter Mariangela. Francco is an investment banker (and a championship tennis player) and I don’t remember what Giusy does, but they are not married. They seem to have a strong relationship that has endured. Her husband was killed over 10 years ago in a terrible car crash that people still talk about it. Mariangela first had us worried cuz of lots of kids and late loud parties there, but ya know, we don't have to get up in the AM, and they are so nice and fun that we don't give a hoot for the noise and confusion now. They have to pass us on the stairs every time they come up or down cuz we are always there reading on the terrazzo. It is always cordial, and we have gotten to know them and people that visit this way. Yesterday they had us to pranza and it was just lovely! It was hot and sticky and we met them on the stairs to the beach about 1 as they were going down to the beach and we were coming up. They swam, ran up here, and cooked furiously for our meal together. We started at 2 and did not get home till after 5 and the time just flew. It was fun and enjoyable and every word in Italian that everyone understood.
The only sour note is the previous owners of our house, Sisa and Gianni. She has been friendly when she comes to visit her parents and brother who live upstairs and use the stairway near our house. Sisa’s parents and her daughter have recognized us and been polite, friendly, and respectful too. But Gianni has not been friendly at all. He will walk right by us without a smile or greeting. He seems content to leave his family here for his vacation but I have not seen him participate in anything. Maybe it has gotten back to him how much we had to do to make the house livable and he feels guilty. Maybe Giusy and Lillo have complained because all of the damage to their house was caused by him not doing anything about the small leak that everyone was aware of before we bought the place. Whatever. Despite him, we could not ask for a better set of neighbors, or a more comfortable house for the summer.

AN ART HISTORY WALK AND AN OUTDOOR MOVIE

Steve has got himself involved in the bocce tournament, so that story will have to wait till we see how that turns out. Meanwhile, the whole complex is full, the beach full of people and the water full of seaweed, and the events coming up require us to keep a detailed, full calendar. Last night Steve skipped practice so that we could go into Sciacca to see a movie and to see some of the art exhibits in town. We walked around town a bit with the camera as it was a pleasant evening, a little humid, but not unbearably hot. The restaurants have all moved outside and the streets were beginning to start to get their usual Sunday night crowd. As always, I am struck by how much beautiful old architecture you can see in Sciacca! The Steripinto palazzo pictured, for which Sciacca is famous, is a case in point. You almost cannot help but take another picture of it!
The art show was in four places and we got to three of them. We were happy to see the work of Michelle Patti, the artist who painted the plates that we gave Jr and Jo and the rainbow one we gave to Julie. He had a wonderful exhibit in the old Santa Margarita church, including three pieces that were in homage to Michelangelo. I’d love to have a spare couple of thousand to buy one of his works! Anyway, I liked seeing his work from the doorway of the gorgeous old church, with the black and white tiles on the floor and the centuries old rococo altar in the background.
Then it was on to San Michelle, the old walled part of the city of Sciacca that is behind the Castillo di Luna. The outdoor theater was in the back of an old “badia,” a wine storage facility that held huge barrels of wine at one time, and that had a lovely garden attached. There is where the comfortable outdoor theater is now located. We saw a wonderful Italian movie, “Non ti Muovere”, with Penelope Cruz who looked absolutely ugly all the way through. If this movie comes to the US, it is absolutely worth seeing. It was a wonderful way to see a movie on a gorgeous summer night. On the way out, I just had to stop and take a picture of the kids playing at 11 PM on the town square made totally out of marble! Kids learn to play soccer here, and adults take their nightly walk or passegio here also.

LETS ALL EAT SUPPER TOGETHER!

Thats what the program entertainment for last night at the party area in the resort (“cavea,” literally, cave) called for. And I had my misgivings because I had just cooked up a bunch of Chinese stir fry. But what the hey, why not? Isn’t Chinese food becoming quite an American classic? So we headed with our neighbors from both sides toward the festivities. This time they seemed to start close to on time (9:30 PM). I figured we would eat at 10 or 11 if we were doing things the normal way, but apparently there was some sanity prevailing that made someone think to feed little kids before 11 PM.
Of course there was plenty of pasta, there were rice dishes, sandwiches, baked eggplant and polenta, fried dough and fried cheese, potato salad and potato and cheese dumplings formed into rod shapes (my neighbor Giusy says the name of the dish translates into “little dicks.” I told her she does alright in knowing the essential English words!). There was not a lot of meat, but since a lot of Italian cooking uses only small amounts of meat, why would there be? My stir fry had a bit of chicken in it, the sandwiches had some ham, and the fussilli arrabiata had some chunks of pork. Of course there was soda, water, and wine.
After everyone ate their fill, I was pleased to see that my dish had been emptied! We think that people just wanted to taste what the Americans brought, but it was gratifying because I did see some people throw a lot of their contents in their dishes away. The people here are generally sweet and gracious and put up for our lack of language skills and our lack of enthusiasm for continual group activities like the nightly dancing.
Then the watermelons came out. Wow, can those people eat watermelon!! Then the dolces, the sweets from the pastry shop. After that, the dancing started. We were too pooped to participate, but the disco beat never was my favorite anyway. We hear it throbbing through the walls every night, and many times I stop to count the nights till September when this whole place is ours again, when we have it all to ourselves.
There are all kinds of things taking place at the cavea. Our neighbor Giusy next door (as opposed to Giusy upstairs) told me that she was preparing a kids’ play for the 10th, and would we please come. It so reminded me of rounding up the kids at the cabin for their plays. I told her we would love to. Right now Steve is watching the first round of the tennis tournament, rooting for Franco upstairs. At 8:30 tonight there will be a kids’ mass at the cavea with a local priest coming by so that all of these Catholics don’t have to miss their churches too much while they are vacationing for 2 months. And Monday starts the bocce tournament! Stay tuned….

Greek Theater at Segesta

We have been able to do so much this summer! One thing we both wanted to do was see a performance from the recently restored theater at Segesta, an hour and a half away from here by convertible, on a warm summer night. And we did just that on Friday. Of course, the full moon made it magical and the almost empty highway and perfect temperatures made it an experience we will want to repeat. They also have two dawn musical programs (5 AM) left and we will want to do one of those one of these days.
Leaving our house at 5 PM for the 7:30 PM show, we got there in time to pick up sandwiches, board a comfortable bus, be driven up the hill, and get good seats for the performance. The show was done and we were transported back down and arrived on the main highway in our car by 9:30 PM, when most shows in Sicily start. So this is one of those realistic performances that is designed for tourist comfort. But I just saw in the paper that there had been severe problems on Thursday because the inefficient bus system had taken 4 hours to bus 2,000 spectators up the hill to hear a popular comedian. If there were many more than 500 at our performance, I would have been very surprised, so the efficiency here probably depends on how many people attend a particular program.
We saw Electra, the Greek play that revolved again around that fun family that loved to hate and for whom revenge was more than sweet, it was a duty. Agamemnon and Clytemnestra are the couple whose children are Electra, Orestes, and Iphigenia (I just can’t imagine them as children). Their family life consists of a series of murders, human sacrifice, remarriage, huge battles guided by the intervention by the gods, and of course, revenge. Having seen the Eumenides at Siracusa last year, following the furies’ wrath over Orestes’ revenge killing of his mother, and having read Iphigenia , whose parents decide to sacrifice her, because Jess produced it at school this year, this gang gets my nod for the price for best dysfunctional family of the last two millennia.
It’s fun to follow along the Italian text, except it is not always so easy, as they never sell the exact text, but one that generally follows what is going on. Add to that the director’s choice of who gets to give the lines when the character in the text is “chorus” (you know, the “Greek chorus” that is famous for making asides and commenting on the situation) and you have to think about who is saying what a lot. The acting was excellent, and so helped the meaning along.
But the play was definitely surpassed by the setting. The theater is located on a hillside where you cannot help but look out over the hillside and dream that you are there in Greek times, especially at sunset. The existence of a superhighway bridge in the middle of the scene is not really that bad, as its graceful curve adds to the beauty of the scene. We started the play in daylight and ended in darkness. The costumes were gorgeous, the sound perfect, the evening magical.

GETTING OLD!

Happy Birthday to my twin brother Jack. My you are getting old!!