Sunday, November 11, 2007

Caltabellotta

The city of Caltabellotta has been featured many times in this blog. It is the home of the Fatoria del Vento, where fresh Ricotta breakfasts are available. It is also the home of some beautiful necropoli, churches, splendid views of both the sea and the interior of Sicily (I am told that one can see 27 different towns and cities from Caltabellotta, not including Caltabellotta itself). It is called the city of peace, as it was there that the Sicilian War of the Vespers was ended in 1302 when the Angevinians and the Arogoneese signed a peace treaty.

When Joe and Kathe Piede came to Sciacca last week with their friends Fred and Carol, we went up there for a breakfast. Then we drove through town and down the other side of the hill to the Ribera market. When we stopped to take pictures of the necropoli near the entrance to town, we got to see a little bit of old Sicily. I am not sure why the man did not want his face to be seen in any of the pictures, but that was certainly his number one priority. He had one of his goats on a leash, and all four were following him as he rode through town, and presumably out to a pasture area.

It is a part of old Sicily, and I hope we never lose it, just as I hope that we never stop having bakeries, butcher shops, and green grocers, despite the encroachment of super markets on this wonderful island.

Halloween

I went to visit my friends in Nicolosi for Halloween, and probably the scariest thing about the holiday was my finding out about new rules, which is covered in the entry below this one.

However, Halloween, while not celebrated much here in Sicily, is still an excuse for the American community centered around Sigonella, and they were going to have a costume party, and I was invited. I used an African shirt that I bought in Amsterdam last July as a mini dress, and went in drag. Now granted, I was not pretty enough for anyone to want to date me, but I did have a good time. The wig was bought for me at the Base exchange, and I am not sure it was my color, although it did seem to match my shirt. Everyone told me that I should have been wearing heels, and several times during the night when I was sitting down I was told to put my knees together. One woman actually asked if I would try crossing my legs, but I declined. At least I was wearing briefs under the costume.


There were all sorts of costumes, including one woman who came as a passable Marilyn Monroe, and another woman who came as a rice paddy worker, and was so well costumed her friends could not recognize her. She was mute until someone guessed who she was, as she did not want to let her voice give the whole thing away.

My host Rob, who is in the picture to the right, was a cook when he was in the Navy. Actually, because he and his wonderful wife Jacque (who is NOT pictured here) have cooked such wonderful meals for me when I have visited, I think that he was a chef in the Navy, rather than just a cook. Anyway, after Jacque and I found him the right sort of briefs to wear, he appeared as the pampered chef, and his was voted the best costume. The picture shows him with a wonderful woman who is from Lawrence, Mass, and who has returned to Sicily and her roots, and teaches in the local schools.

It was a great party, and the next day we visited a winery on the slopes of Etna. The winery was named Gambino, and they said they were not related to my friends the Gambino's in Palermo, however when I asked them if they were related to the Gambino family in the US that makes headlines every once in a while, they sort of walked away and made no comment. Hmmmm.

And just a little side light now. I did find it interesting that a federal judge refused to extradite a member of the Gambino crime family from the US to Italy, where he was facing eight years in the special mafia prison, where he would not have unsupervised access to his lawyer or his family (or any other visitors). The US judge said that such an incarceration would be torture, and this from a country where the new US Attorney General will not say that 'water boarding' is torture. It makes me wonder.

Security Advisory

Recently, when I was visiting friends in Nicolosi, who work at the Naval Air Station at Sigonella, they took me on base to look around, and one of the things they had to do was to talk with the travel agent. I of course went with them.

I was shocked to see the new security advisory that was posted on the bulletin board.
I immediately asked my friends if we could visit the large, all purpose department store that they have on base, even though I am not supposed to be allowed to go into the store, much less buy anything. However, with plans to go to America twice, Israel once, and Germany once, and with the tickets all bought and payed for, I figured that I better get a pair of force protection briefs.

I knew that simply buying a metal cup would not do the trick, as I would never be able to get through the security to get on the plane. I must admit, I was also a bit worried about allowing someone else to arrange my briefs once I put them on.

To my disappointment, the department store only had jockey shorts, boxers, and a few other styles of briefs , and none of them were labeled force protection. When I asked about special force protection briefs, people just gave me a strange look.

I will do my best to try to sneak off island with just regular underwear, and do the Sicilian thing, which is to ignore new rules that require force protection briefs.