Everything Taormina

Ciao!

I know I said today I would describe Taormina, and I will, but I have to begin by describing a situation that occurred last night. I mentioned in my blog about politics that I thought perhaps Italians don't know that there are lots of presidential candidates - not just Hillary and Barack. This suspicion was confirmed last night when Aurelio asked me who I had voted for - Hillary or Barack.

At first, this question took me a bit offguard. I didn't explain to him that in the States, it's a bit inappropiate, and often even rude, to ask someone who they vote for. It's a private matter, and rarely it is discussed among mere acquaintances. But, I didn't explain any of that. I figured it would take plenty of effort anyways to explain that there were other candidates besides those two. I told him I hadn't voted for either, but this answer didn't satisfy him. When I finished explaining my decision, he then asked me who I preferred - Hillary or Barack. Obviously, those are the only two that matter here I suppose.

Then in class today, Carlo (one of my teachers this week), asked me essentially the same question. We had a political discussion that included America, London and Italia, and Carlo said he thought Hillary or Barack would win. I just found it very interesting since just last week I had a nagging suspicion that most folks here think there are only two candidates. I'd love to know what will happen in July when the two parties have selected their candidate, and all of sudden either Hillary or Barack (or possibly both) are no longer in the race, and instead there's another main name. They will be utterly confused.

Just wanted to share that. Now on with Taormina. I realize this blog probably should have been the first or second one I wrote, and I've given bits and pieces of life here through other blogs, but hopefully this will give you an overall view of life here. I should also note that pictures of my weekend and pictures of the town have been uploaded, with captions, at dropshots.com, so after reading this, you can see a little bit of what I'm talking about.

Taormina is a small town - smaller than Auburn I would say, and it's very compact. You can walk most places within 15 minutes, easily. Technically it stretches down to the beach and up to Castelmola, and those walks take about 30 to 40 minutes, but primarily because you have to climb up or down a mountain. No matter where I go in Taormina, though, I have an absolutely incredible view of the beach, or the mountain, or towns below.

Taormina is also a big tourist town. The more we're here, the easier it becomes to pick out the tourists. There aren't too many here right now because it's the down season, but in the summer, this place is packed. Because it's a tourist town, it's a bit more expensive here, so we won't buy any clothes or things here, as many shops are merely tourist traps. And because it is the down season right now, many shops are closed. The business owners have left for their own vacations, and plenty of stores have signs in the window that say they won't be back until February or March!

Even the stores that are open are often closed on random days or at random times. This appears to be the Sicilian way of life - very laid back and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants. All the stores close during siesta (2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.), and then they open back up usually until 8 or 9 p.m. But I'm convinced that half the store owners wake up from their siesta and decide they don't want to go back to work, so they never reopen their store. That's just how it works, I suppose. It's neat that they can just do as they please, but at times it's frustrating for us, as we often have to really troll for an open eating establishment. Or we'll plan to go to a store, and when we go, it's closed for the rest of the day or the week.

The people here, though, are incredibly friendly. And they see many tourists, so they are very patient with our terrible Italian (although the ones that speak English usually immediately switch to English so they can practice, and probably show off a bit too). Everyone seems to know everyone here (like Monroe, no doubt), and I've started seeing the same faces over and over, especially at night when I cruise Corso Umberto. During the nightly cruise session, I also always see people walking down the street, running into one another, and just chatting it up. Like I said in my first blog, cruising the Corso is the social event, especially on weekends, and I've joined in on the fun.

The town is centered around Corso Umberto, and on either side of Corso Umberto is Porta Messina (which faces Messina) and Porta Catania (which faces Catania). Porta means door in Italian. Off of Corso Umberto are lots of smaller "streets," and I put that in quotations because many of the roads are actually just stairways. I suppose they have to technically be streets, though, since folks have their houses on these stairwells. Seriously, there are front doors in every imaginable alleyway or street here. There are two piazzas on the Corso, and the piazzas are filled on the weekends (and at night) with people hanging out and children playing, riding their bikes, etc.

The town is also very clean and safe. The garbage picks up about every other day here. Every morning, the streets are swept by workers, which is wonderful since there always seems to be confetti from the children. And I've only seen one rat (which was enough to make me scream anyways).

The only unclean part of the town is the animals. There are tons of feral cats running around here. Apparently, the Italians (and many Europeans from what I've been told) think it's inhumane to spay and neuter the animals, which means the animals keep producing more animals to just run around and reproduce again. The cats are also extremely loud. They scream and cry at you. I swear these cats don't meow or purr. They make sounds I've never heard coming from a cat. I'm not a cat lover, and Taormina is not helping that at all. Several people do have dogs as pets, though, and the dogs cruise the Corso with them. Most of the dogs are small since the houses here aren't very big. Despite the number of dogs, there are no grassy areas or yards, so the dogs poop in the streets. Everyday is like walking through a mine field, and I just have to hope I don't step in anything that would ruin my only pair of tennis shoes.

The roads here are very narrow, even the two-way roads. I have seen only one stop sign in the entire town (so of course I snapped a picture of it). I also rarely see yield signs, and I've been told that in Italy, all the signs and driving rules are merely suggestions - suggestions that aren't followed I should add. Right around the corner from my house is a blind intersection (there are no traffic lights here, only in big cities). The apparent rule of thumb is to honk as you approach the intersection, and if you hear someone honking, you should maybe stop, or at least slow down. I'm constantly afraid I'll be hit by a car. There are rarely sidewalks, so I must walk on the side of the road, so cars fly by me probably going 30 or 40 miles an hour, and they are a mere 6 inches from me. What if I happen to trip right when they drive by?? I don't care that they all drive Fiat Pandas; it's still going to hurt.

Clay and I have found our two favorite intersections, though, which we have affectionately dubbed The Intersection of Death and The Practice Intersection of Death. I posted pictures of both, but unfortunately, they don't adequately show how dangerous they are. The Intersection of Death is at Porta Messina, and it consists of five roads that all intersect together. Not a single one of them has a yield sign (or if they do, no one yields). For four of the five roads, it is impossible to see the other roads until it's too late. I'm quite amazed I've never seen an accident, as cars come flying through there, and then slam on their brakes at the last minute. It's also dangerous as a pedestrian, and we frequently must cross the Intersection of Death. Some of you may be familiar with the videogame Frogger, and I must say I feel like Frogger every time I have to run across without getting killed. The Practice Intersection of Death is a bit smaller, but still dangerous.

The last thing to note is that the houses are typically built up, not out. The house I live in has 5 floors, but it is probably smaller than my parents' house, which has two. Those people who own cars or scooters just park them on the road somewhere (making the streets even more narrow than they already were). I should also note that the houses aren't built to keep out noise, so it's difficult to fall asleep some nights since my room overlooks the street. I can hear everything, and it seems like the window is open, even though it's not. I can hear conversation, music and of course, the cats screaming. I've adopted the practice of sleeping with earplugs.

That is probably enough for now. I realize this blog was incredibly long. A domani!