The Characters of Taormina

I warned y'all that yesterday's blog could be a two-parter! I can't believe I forgot to mention some of my favorite characters in the town, but I suppose it's better to just dedicate an entire blog to them, so here goes.

On the weekends, these three men appear - one is an accordion player, another is a flute player, and the third is a mime. They don't work together, but they wander the streets, entertaining the people. When we walked around Taormina Saturday and Sunday, it just seemed very cliche European to have an accordion and a flute playing in the background. (It's not really a flute, but a flute-like instrument made of wood).

It's a bit similar to the people who play guitar on the sidewalks in big American cities, except I didn't see anyone give these guys money. And the accordion man actually just walks around and plays, so there's no way to give him money, but the flute player did put his cap on the ground, but from what I could tell, no one bothered to pay him anything.

I wonder if most Italian towns have these sort of "entertainers." Since Taormina is a tourist hotspot, it is oftentimes difficult to figure out what things here are typical of other Sicilian (or Italian) cities, and what things are only being done in tourist towns. I just can't decide about these musicians, but I enjoy them nonetheless.

As for the mime, well, that's a different story. I'm not a big fan of his, and he's not a very good mime either. He's often taking coffee breaks, and during his breaks he's chatting up a storm! Now I realize everyone deserves a break, and I suppose performers shouldn't have to stay in character during their break, but still, he just hangs out in plain view, talking away! It ruins a bit of his credibility if you ask me. Besides talking during his frequent breaks (I see him on break as often as I see him doing his miming - is miming a word?), he's a bit creepy; I suppose all mimes are a bit creepy really. One of his bits is to try and shake your hand. I had been warned of this bit before by our American friends who were here two weeks ago. When he shakes your hand, he will often times not let it go, and he'll grab you. Then, he won't let you go until you (or your companions) pay him some money.

So Clay and I were walking down the street this past weekend, and the mime puts his hand out to me. I completely forgot about the warning, and I thought I'd be polite and shake it. Thankfully, as soon as he grabbed it, I remembered that he might try to kidnap me, so I yanked it away. He tried to hold onto Clay's, but Clay was a bit stronger than him. Needless to say, I'll remember next time to just ignore the creepy mime.

Another familiar face in Taormina is the town drunk. I don't know his name, but everyone knows who he is. He's an older man, and he actually looks just like a bum would back home. Messy, unshaven, etc., except he doesn't actually carry around liquor in a brown bag. I guess some stereotypes cross the ocean. I hope that wasn't politically incorrect. Anyways, one evening, I was window shopping, when he randomly started yelling at me. I have no idea what he said, and even if I knew Italian, I'm convinced I still wouldn't know what he said! We walked away from him, but later that evening, we saw him again. He likes to hang out in front of one of the ATMs, and he just yells and yells until he gets tired of yelling. His speech is slurred, and I'm pretty sure no one can make out what he says. But I frequently see him, smoking and yelling in front of the ATM.

The last character of Taormina is definitely creepier than the mime, though, and by far my least favorite. I believe this guy is a local as he's out on Corso Umberto every night. While he may live here, or at least nearby, he's not Sicilian as his skin is darker than the Sicilians. He has these hollow, empty eyes, and he just looks incredibly sad. Yet he doesn't look like an approachable person. He's more on the scary-sad side. Just so empty looking. I almost get the feeling that if I get too close, he'll try to suck my soul out or something (he could probably be in a Harry Potter book or something). Anyways, so he walks up and down Corso Umberto, and he always has these pitiful looking flowers with him. He tries to walk up to people and give them the flowers. He never says anything to you when he approaches. He does mumble under his breath, but I don't think he's actually mumbling any words - it's more of like a grumbling combined with a whimper. Very odd. He just walks up to you real fast, and holds out the flower, almost laying it in your arms. Most people really recoil when he approaches them, and the only people that ever accept the flowers are tourists. So the locals are obviously familiar with him, and there's either something really wrong with him, or it's some sort of a scam. Who knows.

I don't understand the ritual at all, because it seems like if you take a flower, you should pay him. It looks to me like he's a vendor of sorts, but I've seen people take a flower and not pay. Maybe he just hopes they'll pay. Either way, it's very odd, but he is on Corso Umberto every night, and he tries to give me a flower at least two times a night. I've even seen him out late a night when not many people are around. I'm very confused by him.

So those are the most interesting characters in Taormina. Everyone else I've met is extremely nice and helpful. Well, that's enough for now. I'll try to update tomorrow, but we're taking a walk down to the beach with some other students and Pepe (Pepe is a teacher here who also handles all the afternoon activities and daily excursions. He might deserve a blog entry all to himself one day. We'll see). If I don't update tomorrow, I'll be back on Friday!

Ciao!