Sogni di Sicilia

In this part of Sicily — I don’t know; perhaps in Italy in general — there is an expression when a rich man (who doesn’t necessarily need to be rich, but spoils with attention and/or gifts) takes you under his wing: Zio Americano , the American Uncle. After today, that’s what Elena (and now everyone here) began calling Joe. He spent the whole day playing with the kids. We guessed he burned 15,000-20,000 calories today, between table tennis, tennis, volleyball, trampoline jumping, and swimming. I feel as if I’m forgetting one or two things. “Joef-fef! Swing with me! Come heee-eer!” “Et-tor-e! I’m eating breakfast! But soon!” From that point, he went to play tennis with Rachele while Ettore and I hit the trail for the treehouse again. Elena, Mariella, and Matteo went to the doctor for Matteo’s check-up, so there was a brief rest time for Joe while Ettore and I played. I am starting to introduce the concept of astronauts to him, although I feel he probably knows about them already. I need

As we all had caffe together this morning, Giuseppe G explained that Ettore woke up, hearing a noise around 3 a.m. Giuseppe said, don’t worry it’s only a car. Ettore said, “Oh yes; it’s probably Amazon”.  Joe and I had a good night’s sleep, after our previous night’s rough start. What a difference that makes. Ettore and I had a playful morning. We picked up sticks, and I showed him how to make a Lincoln Log style cabin (although later, he exclaimed to his mom, “I made a square!”, which is not untrue). He likened this structure to the 3 Little Pigs story, commenting that it was the house of sticks. Evidently his right foot was the huff of the big bad wolf. With all of the fruit trees, vegetable gardens, and flowers, there are tons of caterpillars, bumblebees, and butterflies. Today we saw an orange butterfly; I’d say it was a Painted Lady, but the wingspan was small. It got close to Ettore and, in fact, seemed to follow him. On our way to the house, Ettore pointed to his shadow and laug

Joe managed to fix our bed; no more burrito-style sleeping! Maria Teresa and I told him we built it like that on purpose, so he’d have something to do and look like a hero in the process. Joe fixed the bed! Ettore and I played, along with Andrea’s darling daughter Sofia, spending time in the treehouse and the vineyard. We’re discussing such things as supply and demand, hiring someone on retainer, and having a good visual display for our pinecone selling business.  We also found a small hole in the floorboard, which is fun to push sticks through.  He is brilliant, and quite polite these days, and Sofia is a 10-year-old sweetheart. Respect, grooming, and manners are instilled early, and I love that about this culture. Sofia found a broom caterpillar  Ettore outside his pinecone shop Another thing I love is their natural approach to natural things! Elena has no hesitation in pulling down her shirt to nurse Matteo in front of people, whether it be her grandpa, dad, brother, the priest, or

Joe and I fell asleep last night and awoke this morning to four empty flats below us. I wondered if the dogs, Titi and Lilo, were at the summer house.  We had our coffee and packed for the move. I brought some cleaning supplies and my basil plant, along with clothes, towels, etc. I also forgot a few important things, but!!! I remembered the wine. We arrived, greeted everyone, and got our accommodations somewhat organized. The IKEA futon that Maria Teresa and I assembled has a few flaws, so we end up becoming a human burrito every time we get into or out of the bed. This will need to be assessed and fixed tomorrow. Elena and family were seeing the dinosaurs in Centro Sicilia. They arrived after we did. And the sweet Romanian family, Rodi, Rodica, and Vasily, who take care of Vincenzo’s mom, were here with her. Nonno (who is in his element here) was directing Vincenzo (on a ladder) where and how to cut the grapevines on the pergola. “He thinks I’m his slave,” Vincenzo joked. Joe joined i

Image taken from www.italianfix.com/live-dolce-vita I have no idea why I’m exhausted, but the family is at the vineyard house and we’re in town. I stayed in my pjs until midday, then finally showered and dressed; made a pasta and salsiccia lunch for us, then took a two-hour nap.  Now I’m waiting for bed time, but will update if I leave the apartment and anything interesting happens. ****** Nothing interesting, but I managed to leave the apartment. Joe and I saw Giovanna, temporarily parked in a diagonal across via Trapani before driving in to her garage. She asked if I were ok; I told her I don’t know why, but I’ve had a mal di testa all day, and just stayed inside. She said Boh! Io so…. Stanca, stanca, stanca, bella . She showed us her great-smelling mixture of maiale-vitello, which she’s combining with parmesan to make some nice polpette with tomatoes for her supper. A man in a car honked lightly, wanting to pass, but Giovanna was nonplussed. We were talking about food, after all. Jo

I can't describe how generous Lilliana and Rejy are, to spend an entire day and evening with us. Lilliana normally works (she is a doctor; an epidemiologist) on weekday mornings, and Rejy gives tours on Etna, as he did this morning (then repeated with us this afternoon).  We left Biancavilla in two cars, picking up Martha and family from their hotel on the way. I was in Lilliana's car; she turned onto a street mostly blocked by two small trucks (on a Biancavilla street, this means you could pull a thread or perhaps a piece of yarn between them), and Lilliana had no time to wait for them. She drove on the side, while the truck driver glared at her. In Italian, of course, while rolling down her window: "Don't worry; I may be a woman, but I know how to drive". We got to the sea, and the first stop was a small place that, in dialect, is named "It's So Dirty". It's small and run by an old woman, who has been making granita every day (or, every day tha