Sicilian Sunday

As expected, a Sicilian Sunday is much more relaxed than a Sunday at home. Many of the stores are closed at least part of the day, if not all day. I didn't know if the stores here would close or not because this is definitely a tourist town. I was glad to see they did! Although it may be old-fashioned, I like the idea of a slower life on Sunday where the primary purpose is to have dinner with family and friends. I appreciate that the family is still the primary focus of life here.

A trip to a Sicilian store

Either I'm crazy or I just can't turn off my marketing brain or maybe it's a little of both. Whenever I travel, one of my big excursions is to go to the grocery store to check out the "marcas" (brands) to see what is the same, what's different, what could be the same product just repackaged differently. 

Today, I went to the supermarket to see what I could find. It was interesting as I walked down all the aisles I noticed that there were a few global brands but more regional than global. Of course, there was "THE" global brand, Coca-Cola. My students get tired of me talking about Coca-Cola but it is for good reason as they are one of the companies that has figured out how to effectively market their product around the world. 

Another discovery today, it's true, Barilla is the pasta of Italy. In an aisle of nothing but pasta, Barilla occupied 3/4 of shelf space. It was nice to know that there is "truth in advertising". 

Sicilian Stereotypes

As I said last month, stereotypes are not easy to move beyond! Yesterday, we were taking an introductory tour to Taormina to get to know the important places of where we'll be living for the next weeks. There was a lot of talk about how "Il Padrino" (the first Godfather) was filmed not too far from here. Stores readily take advantage of this fact as you cannot walk down the main shopping street without seeing Marlon Brando's image everywhere. 

Is it any wonder then, when on a Monday afternoon when we see a bride and her dad pulling up in a vintage vehicle with a whole slew of Sicilians standing in the background, that one immediately thinks "Il Padrino"? Italians (especially Sicilians) have tried to overcome the stereotype of "If you're Italian, you're mafia." I've traveled here extensively and I have never encountered anything that I could definitively say WAS mafia. And yet, the first thing that I thought of was "mafia" when I saw the whole scene. 

 

I'm not the only one with stereotypes. My host mom was telling me that her son is staying in Ireland and he doesn't like it all that much because Irish don't have any culture, all they do is drink. Yes, it's true that the Irish like to drink however, not all Irish are drunks and they do have culture! It's amazing to me how we can let these stereotypes blur our vision about another group of people.

Traveling from the heart

I've discovered that when your travels come from your heart, it's like heaven on earth! What do I mean "travling from the heart"? There are places that you can go that touch your heart in ways that are just precious. 

For me, Italy is such a place. I have no idea why or when my love affair with all things Italian started but it was a very long time ago. As a child, I would always imagine what it would be like to travel to Italy. I'm very blessed that I've had so many opportunities to come here. 

 For the next few weeks, Sicilia will be my home. If Italy was always consideration for me, Sicilia was the preferred destination. Again, I have no idea why that is. Maybe it's because so many friends are of Sicilian descent, maybe it is my love of food typical from Sicilia, maybe it's a curiosity about the Mafia. Whatever it is, I can honestly say that I'm glad that I came here. I can't say one way or another, yet, how Sicilia compares with the rest of Italy. I can say that where I'm staying is picture perfect and would not be classified any other way as spectacular. So, for those who may think that Sicilia is going to a third world country, think again. There may be parts that leave much to be desired, but there are definitely parts that will take your breath away!

Sicilia, finalmente!

As I'm getting ready to leave on my vacation to Sicily, some may say "well, didn't you have a vacation already this summer?". My reply is "no". Turkey was work, Sicily is all play! I was thinking about how I felt before going to Turkey- apprehensive and a bit nervous. I have none of this for my Sicily trip. I'm excited! I can't wait to get to see Sicily and confirm that it is everything that I've imagined it to be. After comparing my "pre-trip" sentiments for both trips, I couldn't help what was the difference? I'd never been to either place, both are rich in history and tradition, there is much to see and do and yet, I know my feelings are quite different. The only thing I can think of is "familiarity". Although I don't have an ounce of Italian blood in me, I've always had an affinity towards all things Italian. Since I was a child, I've imagined what Sicily must look, smell and taste like. I'm blessed to be able to finally get the chance. I'm confident that my imagination probably doesn't do it justice but that's the beauty of travel, I'll soon find out.

Legs

This will be a two-fer since the Internet was down yesterday! Yesterday morning I posted on my Facebook page "today's word is "legs"". I had been running for the first three days of the trip in Istanbul. Wednesday was the first day that I went a bit later. I was amazed at the reaction of people on the streets and in cars. I thought "it's like they've never seen this before". Then, I thought, it was quite possible that they hadn't. Running is not a common thing here in Turkey and you can rest assure, neither is walking around in short spandex running shorts. It's hard for me not to have an opinion on what I see going on with the women especially those who walk about in the "full gear". They just look miserable. Generally, the ensemble is black or dark tones and it doesn't exactly look like it's made of silk. It's hot and humid here and these women are loaded down. I know, I'm looking at things through my own bias but I can honestly say that I'm sure at the very least these outfits are not comfortable. Then we have the men, on the other hand, who are appropriately dressed for the weather strutting around the streets very comfortably. And, in case they need to freshen up later, they are carrying their nice little "man bag". I have never thought of myself as a "women's libber"- I like being a lady and love it when a man takes charge. The scenes that I've seen play out over the last few days make me very sad. Although everywhere we have been, the people say that women are given equal rights and are treated equal I really find it hard to believe. I'll end this post on a happy thought- as I was getting ready to write this blog- I heard Gangnam Style blasting from down the street at 10:30 pm. It made me chuckle as I thought "we really are more alike than different"

It's all about TP!

TP- Trade, Politics and Press were today's themes. We started the day off meeting with the deputy mayor and a few city planners were we discussed everything from the city's support of the arts, balancing modernity and antiquity and the green movement. One thing that I couldn't help notice during the conversation is how it really is true that when you don't speak the language, it can "tip the scale" in a business deal. It's true that we weren't negotiating a deal but we were using our tour guide as the translator. I'm convinced that the deput mayor knew some English, his two colleagues were completely fluent. In any case, he had the benefit of hearing our conversation in English and then hearing it again in Turkish. It was a great meeting and he was a very open to our conversation, it is just something that we anglophones need to be aware of. It is true that English is the lingua franca but we should remember we are at a disadvantage in speaking in only English at a meeting as the other party has the benefit of hearing the conversation twice- once when we say it and then again when it is translated. Of course, politics has an impact on trade and the press. It was interesting to hear that Turkey's number one selling newspaper only came into existence 26 years ago because before that, there was no such thing as a "free press" and even know the government does have influence over what's published. The trade piece was most interesting for me, of course, It was fabulous to see how things like lowering taxes, support for ex-pats, assurance of legal rights has catapulted this economy into a position to compete with the BRICs.