These Are a Few of My Favorite (and not-so-favorite) Things

Ciao!

I have officially finished all my courses and exams for my undergraduate degree!!!!! I don't think it really hit me since instead of walking out of a class from Haley or Tichenor, I walked out of a small room in a small building in Taormina, Sicily. As I walked through the door, I thought, "Wow. I am completely finished with my undergrad. Four years. Done." It's a bit surreal, but what better place to end than Sicily?

Heads-up, but this blog might get long-winded. I've got a few things to catch you up on, and then if I've got time, I'm going to list the things I will and will not miss from Sicily. Let's start though with the Catania trip. It started out not-so-hot. They bumped the price of a ticket up 60 centisimmi, and the bus schedule online was wrong, so we had to chill at the station for about 30 minutes. We went to Catania to take pictures and so some last-minute shopping. The last time we were in Catania was on a Sunday, and everything was closed. We thought returning on a weekday would solve this problem, but we came in the afternoon during naptime. I thought for sure a big city like Catania wouldn't have a nap time, but they do. So, we walked around the city for an hour, then got some gelato. We met up with Sabina, one of the daughters of Elsa and Nini to drop off a key. Then we waited for the bus. But here is where the trip was totally worth it, and I hope you don't think I'm sick in the head for this next part.

Ever since we got here, I thought for sure I'd see a car accident. After all, they drive like drunk maniacs. Yet, I haven't once seen a car accident. Until yesterday. It happened right in front of us at what has got to be one of the worst intersections in Catania. It's right by the bus station, and there is supposed to be a one lane road with a bus lane merging with another lane from the opposite direction to form a two-lane road. But people think the bus lane is a second lane, so there are actually four lanes of traffic merging into two, without a stop sign or light, but with motorinas zipping and swerving in between. I actually think they could merge faster if they wouldn't tie up the bus lane. Each lane from either direction could flow directly to where it is supposed to go, without stopping. But there is constant braking because instead of following the rules, the Sicilians create new lanes.

Anyways, so this little car stops, but the guy behind him is in the middle of lighting a cigarette, so he's not paying attention, and he rear-ends the guy in front of him. It was only a fender bender, and the front car didn't even have any damage, but it's the only accident I've seen, so at least I know they do happen here. Unlike in the states, though, the guy in the front car got out, greeted the guy behind him, and they just politely chatted. No cussing, no yelling or getting mad, like a lot of people back home would do. Then the guy in the front car helped the cigarette guy reattach his front grill, which had fallen off and suffered some damage. Then the two went about their business.

The second fun thing happened on the bus. We were sitting right behind this young Sicilian who was carrying on a conversation with the man across the aisle. The young guy spent the whole ride talking about all the places in the States he had visited and his opinion of things in the States. We were eavesdropping the whole time. Then he scooted over, and I couldn't hear him anymore, but Clay could. After about 45 minutes, Clay finally asked him (in Italian) how many times he had been to the States. The guy looked a little shocked, but politely answered the question and asked us if we were from the states. We're pretty sure he already knew since we would perk up when we heard American cities, but we don't think he knew we spoke Italian. In fact, after Clay asked, the guy tried to whisper to his buddy that he didn't realize we spoke Italian. But Clay heard that too. It was pretty entertaining. He didn't say anything negative really. He said it was a completely different world. I did overhear him say we had really big cars, and we actually stopped at lights and signs, which was funny in light of the accident we had just witnessed.

Two nights ago, Clay and I taught Elsa and Nini "War Eagle," a phrase that above all else, they must know! We wanted to tell them the story behind it, but we knew there were a lot of phrases we wouldn't know, so before dinner yesterday, we looked up what we needed in the dictionary. After dinner, I read the legend of how "War Eagle" started (in Italian of course), and Clay told them about the tradition of rolling Toomer's corner. We also showed them a video and a photo, and Elsa absolutely loved it. Now she keeps saying War Eagle, and we're so excited! So, "Aquila da guerra!"

One other thing I failed to mention - Nini has been speaking to us in Sicilian for the past two weeks. He and Clay made a deal a long time ago that he would speak in Sicilian for our last two weeks. Sicilian is essentially an entirely different language. We actually found a Sicilian-Italian vocabulary dictionary in my room the other night, so we were looking through it. My understanding from the book and Nini is to speak Sicilian, you change an "O" at the end of a word to a "u," and you change "e" to "i." So now we just make up words with him. If something ends with an "O," we just switch to "u," and about half the time, we're correct. Or we just shorten a word. They do that a lot as well. We're probably destroying our Italian.

Today was also the last day we ate at Osteria dal Rita, or Sala's place as we call it, which makes no sense since Sala isn't a member of the family that owns it. Anyways, it was the perfect last lunch. They gave us free bruchetta, which happens a lot. We both ordered Penne Sicilia, and we got a double helping of it! Then they gave us their traditional almond dessert wine with biscotti. Plus, we got 2 euros off the final bill! We were sad to leave, but we went inside and told the family goodbye and how much we enjoyed their osteria. I really will miss eating there every week. With that, I'll move into a list of other things I'll miss:

1. Martina's sweets at her bar (we're going there one last time Monday)
2. The incredible views here - from the beach to Etna to Madonna della Rocca
3. The incredibly nice people.
4. The gelato.
5. The Sicilian Sweets!!!!!!!!!!!! I really don't know what I'm going to do when I get home. I can't possibly get the same canoli, cassata siciliana, tiramasu, ochio di bue, etc., etc.
6. The teachers here at Babilonia. They are absolutely the nicest bunch of people you'll ever meet. I can tell they really enjoy their job as well, which makes class all the more fun.
7. Aurelio and Angela, and Elsa and Nini. Both families are incredibly kind and welcoming, and I've learned so much from them.
8. The cute houses and doors. This weekend I'm going to go around Taormina and take pictures of people's doors because they are quite interesting.
9. The walking. I've really enjoyed not having to drive, although, sometimes it would be nice to drive to places the bus won't take me, but overall, I have not missed my car.
10. Not having anything to do. This could also go on the list of things I won't miss as there are days I'm so glad I have nowhere to be and nothing to do, but there are other days where I miss being busy.
11. Constantly meeting new people from all over the world.
12. The blog
13. Sundays at the piazza.
14. The cliche European background music - flutes, guitars, accordians. I might even miss hearing The Taormina Special being played over and over by the accordian guys. I still haven't figured out why between two or three accordian players, they only know one song.
15. The sense of accomplishment I feel when an Italian actually understands what I've said to them.
16. Window shopping in front of really large window displays.

Naturally, there are some things I won't miss, like:

1. The smoke. Almost every European here smokes, and I've breathed in so much second-hand smoke that I might as well have been a smoker these past three months.
2. The driving. I've gotten more accustomed to it, but I still think I might be hit by a car every day.
3. The euro, and constantly making exact change.
4. Hand-washing my clothes.
5. The flower guys.
6. The mime.
7. The steps. I like walking, but I don't like climbing.
8. Dog poop on the sidewalk.
9. The loud cats.

Alright, I'm sure I'll think of some more tonight. Maybe I'll add them tomorrow. Ciao!