Sicilia Parra XVII-1

Sicilia Parra
Bi-annual Newsletter of Arba Sicula:
An International Organization that Promotes the Language and Culture of Sicily
Volume XXII
Arba Sicula 16th
Tour Is Ready to
Go
T
he sixteenth consecutive
tour of Sicily will depart as
scheduled on June 2, 2010 from J.F.
Kennedy Airport. Again this year,
a nice group of Arba Sicula members, and some who became members to be able to go on the tour,
will take off for a wonderful 12day excursion on the island of their
dream. While the main part of the
tour has been confirmed (arrangements for hotels, excursions, guides
and transportation) a few items
which are usually added by Professor Cipolla to enhance the tour and
make it a more pleasant experience
remain to be arranged. I am referring to the added values that usually are not available for commercial tours. Thanks to Arba Sicula’s
reputation and to the network that
Number 1
it has been able to build on the island through the years,it can arrange meetings with local authorities in the main cities of Sicily, provide local entertainment by friends
of Arba Sicula, theatrical performances arranged by local friends
P. Orsi Museum. Venus Landolina.
The dancing
satyr.
Table of Contents
Arba Sicula 16th Tour Is Ready to Go ...................................... 1
The President’s Message ............................................................. 2
Sicilian Blood Oranges Against Obesity .................................... 3
The Canterini di Ortigia’s Christmas Show .............................. 4
Arba Sicula Resumes Lecture Series ........................................... 6
Pilusedda: The Hairy Girl – by Giuseppe Pitrè ........................... 7
Sicily—An Analytical Overview, by Joseph Palisi ....................... 9
Sicilian Poetry ........................................................................... 14
Book Reviews ........................................................................... 16
Spring 2010
and get togethers with members of
Arba Sicula who live in Sicily. This
year one such activity that is in the
planning stage envisions a visit to
the town of Valguarnera Caropepe,
otherwise known as Carrapipi to
Sicilians, where the group will stop
to celebrate a famous local writer,
Francesco Lanza, author of Mimi
siciliani, a classic of Sicilian humor.
Professor Cipolla has just published his English translation of the
book and the local authorities
seized the opportunity to establish
a relationship with the Arba Sicula
group by hosting a special reception in honor of the shared interests in Lanza.
There are other events that are
still in the planning stage and which
will be finalized by the time the
tour gets off the ground. The hard
part of these tours is that they have
been so successful in the past that
it becomes increasingly more difficult to top them. One thing that
you can be sure of is that we will
try to do just that.
Although the tour has a sufficient number of people participating and will depart as planned,
there are still a few spots available,
as of this date. That may not be
the case by the time you receive
your copy of the newsletter. Nevertheless, if you are interested in
joining the tour, give Professor
Cipolla a call at 718 990 5203 to
find out. There could be cancellations. At any rate, you have nothing to lose by calling.
Sicilia Parra
2
The President’s Message
I
n the last issue of Sicilia Parra I focused on some of the goals that we
have reached and on some we have not achieved. Primarily I wrote
about establishing a Center for Sicilian Studies at St. John’s University which
becomes ever more difficult for a number of reasons. One of the most important reasons is the fact that our membership is rapidly getting older, including myself. The trend is very clear. The senior citizens in our membership
outnumber those who are middle aged and these far outnumber those whom
we could consider a younger crowd, say between people between the ages of
25 and 45. Clearly the segment of the population that is missing from our
group is the young men and women who might one day carry on the objectives of our organization. We can see this also by looking at the people who
come to our events. While we are able to attract some young people to these
activities the majority of those who attend tend to be older. One of the most
obvious reasons for this is the fact that immigration from Sicily stopped a
long time ago and the native Sicilians have grown older and will become
fewer and fewer as time passes. Arba Sicula needs to attract people who second and third generation Sicilian-Americans and it needs to attract the younger
generations. I do not have any sociological study to back me up on this, but
it seems to me that Sicilians, even of the second and third generations, do not
to lose their attachment to Sicily as easily as other Italian-Americans. The
integration into American society is accomplished as well, but Sicilian-Americans seem to retain their “Sicelitude” longer than people from other regions.
Perhaps this is so because islanders generally feel part of a group that is separated from others not only culturally but also geographically. At any rate,
there are many Sicilian-Americans in the membership of Arba Sicula and I
think it’s possible to attract many more of them to our cause.
As I think of ways of attracting, the most successful method I know is to
sponsor someone who is of Sicilian descent into the membership. This has
been traditionally the best way to grow our organization. Many of the people
who have been sponsored by others have become sponsors themselves. So if
you know someone who is of Sicilian origin who reacted positively when
you mentioned Arba Sicula, by all means, sponsor him/her. The people you
sponsor will be thankful to you. If you have a grandson or a granddaughter
who is curious about Sicily, buy them a subscription to Arba Sicula. Even
better take them on a tour of Sicily with us! They will fall in love with it. We
need to educate the younger generations about Sicily and her contribution to
western civilization. That is one of the reasons for the lecture series I started
at St. John’s University. People need to hear a different voice about what our
island represents, not the usual stereotypes they see on TV.
At St. John’s University we do have a small group of students who are of
Sicilian descent whom I have tried to involve in the activities of Arba Sicula,
but a more concerted effort is required, involving not only college students
from all over the country, but the young people in your families.
If you have some good ideas please share them with me. I would be very
interested in how you think we could expand our membership and primarily
how to attract younger people who will continue the work we have done on
behalf on Sicilians
Sicilia Parra
is the official newsletter of ARBA
SICULA, Inc., an international organization promoting the language and culture
of Sicily. Unless otherwise indicated,
unsigned articles are by Gaetano Cipolla.
EDITOR
Gaetano Cipolla
SUBSCRIPTIONS:
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MAKE CHECKS PAYABLE TO
ARBA SICULA and send them to:
Professor Gaetano Cipolla
Languages and Literatures Dept.
8000 Utopia Parkway
St. John’s University
Queens, NY 11439
www.arbasicula.org
ARBA SICULA is a non-profit organization. All contributions and subscriptions
are tax deductible.
All members of ARBA SICULA in good
standing automatically receive Sicilia Parra,
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published twice a year, in the Spring and in
the Winter. For information and to submit
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Gaetano Cipolla at the address above.
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Sicilia Parra ISSN 8755-6987
Camera Ready Text by Legas
3
Sicilia Parra
Sicilian Blood
Oranges Against
Obesity
W
e have always known that
there is something very special about the blood oranges produced
in Sicily. In a study conducted by the
University of Catania we learned a
number of years ago that the oranges
Sicilian call “sanguinelle” because of
the reddish color of their pulp represent something unique that grows
only on the island. We learned that
even though they have been planted
in many other countries, including
the United States (in Florida and California, for example), the peculiar
qualities of the Sicilian blood orange
have not been reproduced anywhere
else. As I recall the article on blood
oranges we published many years ago,
one of the reasons for this is the
unique combination of weather found
on the island, specifically the fact that
the very hot days are followed by cool
evenings, which seems to affect the
qualities of the oranges.
In a study recently published in the
International Journal of Obesity we
learn that the blood oranges of Sicily, especially the “Moro” variety, has
been shown to be effective against
obesity by hindering the accumulation of triglycerides in the blood of
experimental mice. The study which
was conducted by the European Institute of Oncology in Milan and by
the Center for Citrus Culture in
Acireale (Catania) was presented at a
conference sponsored by the Ministry of Agriculture and the City of
Rome. The study was conducted on
laboratory mice that were given a fat
rich diet as well as juice from blood
oranges. According to Lucilla Titta of
the European Institute for Oncology,
“The effects on the mice was surprising. In fact the mice lost a considerable amount of weight, as though
their capacity to accumulate triglyc-
erides had been reduced.”
The result of the study showed
that the obesity created by the ingestion of fats had been reversed by the
consumption of the juice from blood
oranges. The researchers conducted a
similar study, but instead of blood or-
anges they fed the mice regular oranges. The obesity reducing effect was
not achieved with the regular blond
variety of oranges. This shows, according to Ms. Titta, that blood oranges possess qualities that could
prove effective against obesity, and
that only the blood orange has those
beneficial qualities.
Instead of an apple a day, you
probably should eat a couple of blood
oranges a day or a glass of blood orange juice. Imagine, the population of
the United States which is notoriously
overweight, could reverse this dangerous and unhealthy trend by importing Sicilian blood oranges. If everybody knew this and if indeed it was
confirmed by other studies, Sicilian
wealth would increase considerably.
I wonder what it would take for the
Sicilian region to mount a serious
campaign to educate the world on the
values of Sicilian blood oranges. I for
one, when we go on the Tour of Sicily always drink blood orange juice.
LIST OF OUR VIDEOS ON SICILIAN TOWNS
Province of Palermo: Alia (In English); Bolognetta; Carini (In English); Castronovo Di
Sicilia; Chiusa Sclafani; Cinisi; Corleone; Lercara Friddi; Le Madonie; Mezzojuso (In English
); Misilmeri (In English); Montelepre (In English); Petralia Soprana; Petralia Sottana (English
Translation); Polizzi Generosa; Prizzi; Roccapalumba; Sciara; La Settimana Santa A Ventimiglia
Di Sicilia (In English ); Termini Imerese (In English); Terrasini; Valledolmo (In English); Il
Venerdi Santo A Corleone (45’); Ventimiglia Di Sicilia (In English); Vicari
Province of Trapani: Alcamo; Buseto Palizzolo; Campobello Di Mazara; Castellammare
Del Golfo (In English ); Castelvetrano (In English ); Custonaci (In English ); Erice (In English
); La Festa Di San Giuseppe A Dattilo; I ‘Misteri’ Di Trapani; Il Museo Vivente Di Custonaci;
Nostra Patrona Di Castellammare Del Golfo; Paceco; Poggioreale; Il Presepe Vivente Di
Custonaci; Salaparuta; Salemi; Selinunte; Il Territorio Di Erice; Trapani; Valderice (In English);
La Via Crucis Di Buseto Palizzolo; Vita;
Province of Enna: Enna; Nicosia (In English); Province of Agrigento: Caltabellotta
Other videos:
L’asino Di Pantelleria; Viaggio Nei Comuni Elimo-ericini (30’) (In English); La Vastedda Del
Belice (12’); Valle Del Belice: Viaggio Nel Fiore Del Sapore
The cost of each video is US$45 (which includes shipping cost). Payment can be made by
check or by credit card.
One of the services I provide is to search for documents and people. I have experience in
locating Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates throughout all of Sicily and Italy.
www.sicilyvideo.it - [email protected] – [email protected]
IL SOLE EDITRICE – Via G. Marconi, 39 – Casa Santa – Erice- 91100 Trapani
(Italy)
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Sicilia Parra
Repeaters: Florence, Doxey, Tamara
The
Canterini
di Gengo.
Caponetto
and Paul and Marina
Ortigia’s Christmas
Show
4
Salvo Bottaro,
Bottaro, Daniela
Cassia, Daniela
Salvo Puzzo
and Gabriele
Ruffino.
All
Salvo
Salvo Puzzo,
Cassia,
and Gabriele
Ruffino.
photos
by
Rocco
Galatioto.
AllGaetano
photos Cipolla,
by Rocco
Leoluca
Galatioto.
Orlando and Anthony
Tamburri.
Photos by Rocco Galatioto
O
n December 11, 2009, the well
known group of performers
known as the Canterini di Ortigia, returned to St. John’s University for another wonderful evening of music, song
and theatre. Led by the showman Salvo
Bottaro who narrated the show, the eight
members of the group kept the over
three hundred spectators, mostly members of Arba Sicula and their friends,
mesmerized for about two hours. The
show, which started as usual at about
6:30 PM ended at 8:30. But the festivities did not end there, because as
of the
Christmas,
going
usual,Courageous
Arba Siculaclimbers
providedwho
ample
madeon
to the
the day
top of
Theater in
time
for everyone to renew friend- through both religious and devotional
Taormina.
ships and see old friends at the recep- songs that are heard at Christmas time
tion held after the show in the ban- even today, and songs of love. They
quet room. Everyone enjoyed food were performed by vocalists Daniela
and drink generously provided by the Cassia, Salvo Puzzo and Gabriele
Italian Cultural Center of St. John’s Ruffino all of whom have clear and
University which co-sponsored the limpid voices that can skillfully render the most intimate lullabies and the
event.
The title of the show was “Cunti e heartiest of songs. They were accomcanti di lu Bamminu” (Stories and Songs panied on the accordion by the
about the Child Jesus) and it was basi- youngest member of the group, the
cally a celebration of Christmas as prac- talended Peppe Zagarella, who
ticed by Sicilians. It focused on the ac- sported a mod hairstyle. The flute and
tivities that Sicilians used to engage in the friscalettu were masterflly played
by Nino Di Nicola, and Nuccio
The Gruppo Polifonico del
Marino
played
thebytambourines
and
Balzo. All
photos
Rocco
drums. The
ensemble was coordiGalatioto.
Salvo Bottaro.
nated by Salvo Bottaro who provided
an explanation in Italian and in Sicilian of what the songs were about. He
also contributed by providing the
narrative thread that held the program
together, reading poems, exchanging
a few adlibs with the audience who
appreciated the presentation immensely and reflecting on the importance of the season for Sicilians. The
group managed to play a few old favorites of the Sicilian repertoire, such
as the beautiful love ballad “E vui
durmiti ancora”. Each song was selected because it provided a tassel in
the mosaic that the group wove aound
Christmas. No “ciuri ciuri,” this time!
Toward the end of the show
Bottaro read a poem on love that the
audience appreciated so much that
Salvo asked Professor Cipolla to recite an English version of it. Afterwards a number of people asked to
have a copy of the poem. And I think
that the members who were not able
to attend the event might enjoy reading the poems. So I am providing you
with the text:
Merry Christmas, my love!
Merry Christmas, my love!
Merry Christmas to you, to those you
love,
To the little every day things
that are around you.
Merry Christmas to your pillow,
To the lamp resting on your night
table.
Merry Christmas to your windows,
Dreaming of the sun as they cry
in the chill of wintry nights.
Merry Christmas to your plants,
To the flowers that you love,
To the world that is yours, that is ours;
Oh, I would so love to hold your hand
And wish you Merry Christmas
without speaking.
5
Sicilia Parra
these programs with the entire membership. Some people have suggested
that we record these
events. We have
Mt. Etna
attempted to do so on some occasions
but the quality of the recording has
not been ideal. We will try to do a better job of it in the future. Hopefully
our members can then purchase them
at moderate prices so they can be partake of these wonderful opportunities
to share their feelings of belonging to
an organization that has established an
enviable record of achievements.
The Canterini of Ortigia will no
doubt return to the United States in
Actors
of the
Scena
Verticale.
the
future
and
if you
missedAllthe prephotos
by
Rocco
Galatioto.
vious concerts you should plan to attend their next performance. They are
real
professionals and listening to them
Gaetano Cipolla, Gaspare Sturzo
I ask you, Divine Child, to transform
indeed a treat. While we do not have
and GiovanniisAvanti
both of us
a recording of this concert available,
for one day into music, into little notes,
we do have two of their CDs that you
so we can ride clutching each other
can purchase from us. If you want to
upon a sled of snow flakes,
buy them, they are available at $17.00
in the air we breathe, we men and pine
each. This includes shipping and posttrees,
age. Write to Prof. Cipolla and he will
and enter the hearts of those who are
send them to you.
not just
SalvoBottaro
entertaining the Arba Sicula crowd.
Relaxing at
the pool at the
Caesars Palace.
But I am far away, a few feet, a million
feet,
no matter, I feel so distant.
I searched a lot for a present for you,
you know.
Then I found it, I had it with me all
along,
I’ve always had it. My mother gave it to
me
On the day I was born: a smile.
So, my love, I’m sending you a smile:
The rarest and most precious gift I have.
Let us ask Baby Jesus for something,
as we once used to do.
to speak to them, singing, of what is
good.
May all the people of the world
become happy notes
Of a single choir of peace,
of a song for Holy Christmas.
Merry Christmas, my love!
It is too bad that we cannot share
Piazza Duomo, Catania.
Daniela Cassia, Salvo Puzzo and Gabriele Ruffino.
Daniela Cassia
Sicilia Parra
6
Veneziano was so famous and ad- famous Sicilian who performed exmired by all Sicilians that if they read traordinary feats of daring. He flew
Bellini Theatre.
poems they liked a lot and did not on a deltaplane over Mount Everest.
know who the author was, they au- His name was D’Arrigo and his wife,
Laura Mancuso, has written a wontomatically attributed it to Veneollowing the successful lecture ziano. Professor Cipolla will do a bi- derful book on his life and will disseries offered last year, Arba lingual reading of some of the octaves cuss her book and show a documenSicula is once again scheduling three lec- for which the poet was justly famous tary about her husband’s achievetures at St. John’s University. Last year from the book Ninety Love Octaves, ments. The date is not set but it probwe presented three lectures on “The that he edited and translated into En- ably will be in late March, before Easter. Look for the announcement.
Jews of Sicily,” “Do Sicilians Have a glish.
So those of you who live in the
Sense of Humor?” both by Professor
The third meeting will be on April
metropolitan
area please mark the folCipolla and the Book Presentation/ 30, at 6:15, possibly in Bent Hall and
lowing dates on your calendar and
Recital of “Tornu/The Return,” by will be devoted to a presentation
of a Comunale
Gibellina, Teatro
1965
Antonino Provenzano. All three lec- book that many of you have learned to plan to attend the lectures. Arba
tures were attended by about 100 mem- love. It will be a reprint of Vincenzo Sicula takes pride in the fact that its
bers of Arba Sicula and of the Univer- Ancona’s Malidittu la lingua/Damned Lan- membership is comprised by people
Gibellina 63, Via Fosso
sity community.
guage. The book had been out of print who are interested in their heritage
This year’s lectures will be offered for about three years and having re- and will make every effort to support
once a month in February, March and ceived numerous requests for it Legas the events that are intended to proApril on Friday nights which seems to decided to reprint it in totally new mote Sicilian culture. Members
be an appropriate time for people to format. The book which originally should make an effort to bring guests
relax as they look forward to their week- came with two tapes will now come who are not familiar with Sicilian culture. It’s a great way to share our valends. The lectures are free to University with two CDs containing Mr.
community and to Arba Sicula members Ancona’s voice as recorded when he ues with others and make new friends.
and their guests. They will start at 6:15 was alive. This will be a lecture/rePM and last about an hour. As usual, cital, hopefully done by people who
refreshments will be provided after the performed with Ancona at the
lectures. The meetings are normally in Castellammare del Golfo club such as
Bent Hall 277 A & B, but to date we Maria Portuese and Nino Provenzano
have not received confirmation
this.posingin
Theofgroup
fron of the
Charleston Restauran for before the elegant welcome dinner.
and possibly
others.
Repreat Offenders, I mean members who h
We will send out
invitations
through
the
Marcello Sajia (left) explaining exhibits
to Consul
General
We are
also trying
to schedule a prebeen on the tour more than once.
mail and through
addresses
we and
F.the
M. email
Taló, Sen
E. La Loggia
Assessore
Formica.
sentation
of aS.new
book on the life of a
have.
The first meeting is scheduled for
1) Friday, February 26, 2010, at 6:15 in Marillac Terrace:
Friday, February 26 at 6:15 PM, but it
will be in Marillac Terrace, across the
“Sicilian Mimes,” a Lecture/Reading by Prof. Gaetano Cipolla;
way from Bent Hall, and it will be a lecture/book presentation of Francesco
2) Friday March 26, 2010, at 6:15 in Bent Hall 277 A & B?
Lanza’s classic of Sicilian humor Mimi
“Ninety Love Octaves” by Antonio Veneziano, Lecture/Recital
siciliani, which has just been translated
into English by Professor Cipolla. The
by Prof. Gaetano Cipolla;
book, which bears the English title of
Sicilian Mimes: a Gallery of Sly and Rustic
3) Friday, April 30, 2010 at 6:15 in Bent Hall 277 A & B?
Tales, will be discussed by Professor
Cipolla who will also talk about
Malidittu la lingua/Damned Language by Vincenzo Ancona, a
Francesco Lanza and read some of the
book presentation/recital by Gaetano Cipolla, Maria
stories contained in the volume. This
Portuese, Nino Provenzano and others;
should be an entertaining evening!
The second lecture is scheduled for
March 26, again on Friday and it will be
The fourth lecture is yet to be scheduled. It probably will be
on the poetry of Antonio Veneziano,
scheduled for late March but you will be notified by mail and
who was the most important and influemail. Gibellina 1963, Via Rom
a
ential poet of the Sicilian renaissance.
Arba Sicula Resumes
Lecture Series
F
Reunion in Sicily: Florence, Esperanza, and Carmen
7
Sicilia Parra
After a few days the father wanted
gician and told him what had happened.
“Do you know what I can suggest?” Said the magician — “ You can
ask for a dress in the sea green color,
must become my wife.”
and also with everything you can find
“Taking my father for a hus- in the countryside.”
band!”— The girl thought — “It
So she went to her father:
would be better if I die.”
“Do you know what I thought,
Not knowing what to do she went dear father? “— She said — “ The dress
to see a magician and confided every- you gave me is for the engagement,
thing to him.
now I need one for the formal civil
“Do you need a solution?” — He wedding.”
said “Then ask your father for a beauThe father went to his cousin again
tiful engagement dress, the same color and he brought the dress in no time.
as the sky, engraved with gold and
When the daughter got this second
precious
stones
in
the
shape
of
the
dress
she asked for eight days’ time.
G. Cipolla & L. Bonaffini
sun, the moon and all the other plan- But on the eighteenth day she went
ets.”
to the magician again.
So she went to her father and asked
“Ask for a dress to wear after the
for this garment.
wedding day “— He said —“ It has to
be in a pink color, decorated with four
rows of pendants and golden little
bells.”
So she did: and the father, as usual,
asked the cousin to do it.
As soon as the new dress was ready
the father said:
“Now, my dear daughter, there is
no time to waste. Within eight days
we will get married.”
The poor girl, put under such a
pressure, went once again to the magician.
“Here there is no way out”— He
said —“take this walnut, this chestnut
and this peanut: use them when
needed. Listen now what you have to
do: you have to find a horse
fur.
F. Russo
Andthe
of course,
Hindman
When
internal
organs and
have been
Florence
who have been
allof
14the
tours
of Arba
“Where could I find
it?” — Asked
takenon
out
animal
haveSicula.
it washed
the father. Then after thinking it over with salt then you can wear the fur,
and over again he went to an open looking as if you were a horse.”
field and called for his cousin and told
She did as she was told: she packed
him about the request.
some of her cloths, money and rings,
“What can I get in exchange for hers and her father’s jewels. Then in
this dress?”— Asked the cousin.
the wedding evening she told her fa“I’ll give you my soul” was the ther she wanted to take a bath [in old
father’s answer
times they used to have a bath just
“Wait”— He said and within half before the wedding] and do you know
an hour he brought the magnificent what she does? She puts a pigeon in a
dress requested.
bowl full of water and another one
The daughter was astonished as she outside the bowl, but with its foot tied
saw the dress. So she went to the ma- with a string to the one inside. As the
Pilusedda: The Hairy
to take a look at the finger and unCongratulations to to all the
wrapped it.
participants
who made it to the topo
Girl – The Girl
in the
As he saw the ring he cried out:
of the Greek Roman theatre of
Horse Fur
Taormina.“Oh, dear daughter, now you
by Giuseppe Pitrè
Translated by Marina Di Stefano and
Lorna Watson
This is a preview of a forthcoming
book that will contain twelve of
Giuseppe Pitrè’s Sicilian fables. The
translation will be published by Legas
in 2010 in a bilingual edition.
O
nce upon a time there was a
couple: these husband and
wife had a daughter who was very
beautiful. Unfortunately when the
girl was fifteen her mother became ill
and feeling she was about to die called
her husband and said:
“Dear husband, I’ll die soon: you
are still young and can marry again.
I’m leaving you this ring: when you
find a woman whose finger it fits you
have to take her wife.”
She died and, when some time
passed, the husband wished to marry
again. There were many girls and
those who wanted to become the new
bride had to try the ring on. However, for some it was too big, while
for others it was too small.
The father said:
“Let’s leave this matter for the
moment as apparently the ring is not
destined to fit again.” And he put the
ring away.
One day, while sheN.was
doing
Del Duca
some cleaning, the daughter found the
ring in a chest drawer. She slid it easily onto her finger but couldn’t take
it off.
“What shall I do now with my
father?” She thought.
So she took a piece of black cloth
and wrapped it around her finger.
When the father saw her finger
wrapped with a cloth he asked:
“What has happened to you, dear
daughter?
“It’s nothing, father, I just
scratched it.”
Sicilia Parra
one outside moved the other inside bun for myself ?”
was splashing the water, making the
The Prince ordered for the dough
Sammy Cicciarella
and his little
same noise as someone
taking a bath.
and it was brought at once. When she
Siracusa.
At the samesister
time performing
she slippedininto
was alone she made a bun and hid her
the fur and ran away.
father’s watch inside.
The father was waiting. He went
When the Prince came down to
on waiting but she wasn’t coming out see her she asked for the bun to be
from the bath room. Finally, as he baked; so it was baked together with
hadn’t seen her out, he opened the the King’s bread. But while all the
door but there was nobody inside.
King’s bread came out burned
“Betrayal, betrayal” — He
Pilusedda’s little piece of dough had
shouted.
become a delicious bun. What did the
But while he was shouting crashed cooks do then?
his head against the walls and exThey took the good loaf to the
ploded with rage. Down came the king while Pilusedda got nothing.
devil and took him away.
The King was amazed when, openNow let’s see what became of the ing the bread, he found the watch.
daughter. SheL.walked
The next day
Pilusedda asked the
M. Frasca
Calio and went on
walking for a long time and then Prince for another piece of dough and
where did she arrive? She got into an made another bun, hiding inside her
estate where all kind of animals lived. father’s nice gold needle. The Prince
And who was the land owner? The sent it to the oven where there was
prince was.
also the King’s bread to be baked;
The following day the guardian once again the one for the King got
saw this strange-looking horse walk- burned while Pilusedda’s tiny loaf
ing with the front feet up and wanted came out delicious.
to shoot it; but at that point the prince
The puzzled cooks sent the good
was passing by and ordered him not loaf to the King and the burned bread
to shoot. Then the prince got near the to Pilusedda: the former was amazed
strange animal and while he was strok- to find the gold needle and the latter
ing it the she-horse rubbed him back complained.
lovingly. The prince did enjoy the
On the third day Pilusedda asked
touch and had the animal taken to the for the dough again: she makes the
Palace.
bun and
puts
inside
a diamond
Prof.
Franco
Nocera,
photo byring.
Downstairs there was an empty She sent it to beGalatioto
baked and everything
room so the strange animal was
happened as before.
locked in there and some food taken
The bun to the King and the
to it. The prince was eager to learn burned loaf to Pilusedda.
about the kind of animal it was and
The King opened the bun and
so he asked:
found the ring:
“What sort of animal are you?”
“If this is Pilusedda’s loaf”— He
“I’m a she horse and my name is said “she cannot be an animal; she
Pilusedda”— She answered.
must be something else.”
Spending every day together they
Now a big event was approaching.
were getting used to each other and
“Would you like to come to the
the Prince didn’t find any other en- Royal Chapel?”—The Prince asked
joyment but being with Pilusedda. Pilusedda
However, the Prince’s mother
“Me!”— She said —“How could I
couldn’t understand the reason for come?”
this affection.
When the prince left she opened
One day Pilusedda asked the
the walnut, and then do you know
Prince:
what happened?
“Prince, my dear Prince, could I
Fairies bringing dresses, jewels,
E.
Aleandri
have some dough as I want to make s carriages. Pilusedda
L. Genovagot dressed and
8
came out of the fur with the pink
dress, given by her father for the day
after the wedding. She got on a carriage and reached the Royal Chapel
with twelve valets and servants.
As the prince saw her he fixed his
gaze on her and wasn’t interested in
going to the Royal Chapel any longer.
Then he told his servants:
“Go and see where this lady lives
and report it to me.”
When the lady left and was aware
of being followed she let her hair loose
so that pearls and diamonds were falling out.
The shining jewels blinded the servants so they went back to report to
the Prince: F. Piazza
“Your Majesty, please forgive us,
we have been blinded by that lady.”
“How fools you were! You did see
but your own advantage.”
In the meantime Pilusedda came
back to her room, joined the two
halves of the walnut and in a matter
of seconds the fairies, the carriages and
everything else disappeared.
Then the Prince arrived:
“ Pilusedda, dear Pilusedda,”— He
said—“I wish you were there! I saw
such a beautiful lady.”
“And what it has to do with me? I
just want something to eat.”
After eight days another ceremony
was organized at the Royal Chapel.
The Prince told Pilusedda but she said
it had nothing to do with her. However as he left she opened the chestnut and other fairies appeared within
seconds. They dressed her as the
queen she would become, with the sea
green dress she should have worn for
the civil wedding.
In Celebration of our 30th
Anniversary we ordered a new
gold plated lapel pin.
To obtain your pin send $6.50 to
Arba Sicula
St. John’s University
Queens, NY 11439
N. Provenzano
9
Sicilia Parra
the concepts of Liberty, Equality and
Fraternity had become a European
mainstream of history. This meant
that for whatever it might be worth,
By Joseph Palisi Ph.D.
the new Sicilian tradition was British
constitutional and decidedly aristoLooking through Arba Sicula papers cratic in tone while bourgeois influwe came across an article by Joseph ences predominated — along with the
Palisi, who was one of the founders formation of a new aristocracy of
of Arba Sicula as well as one of its merit — in Napoleonic Europe. In Sicmost ardent supporters. Dr. Palisi was ily the aristocracy maintained its
a historian and wrote this overview privileged status based on only limof Sicily in 1987 in Palermo. Dr. Palisi ited transformations of feudal custom
had been an American consular offi- and the socioeconomic abuses inhercial in Palermo when there was an ent therein ultimately re-enforced the
office there. Although it was written development of a new social phenommore than 30 years ago, his under- ena whose rudimentary beginnings
standing of history is still valid. We were already to be noted earlier and
which came to be called the Mafia.
Antonio
Augello,
photo by Galatioto.
print
it in two
installments.
Basically, the Mafia evolved as a state
ts insular configuration obvi of authority within the established
external order which fed on same for
ously predestined Sicily to
evolve historically along lines distinct the benefit of its members and which
from those of Northern Italy and maintained a certain code of ethics
even of the Southern portion of the and unconsciously drew upon certain
peninsula not to mention Sardinia. traditions of chivalry to describe its
Sicily, for example, never came to be own structure as composed by “men
exposed to the intellectual stimuli and of honor.” Initially a rural phenomultimate institutional reforms of a enon, the men of the Mafia forcefully
matured French Revolution. This was inserted themselves between feudal
exemplified in much of Western Eu- lordship and the masses extracting
rope by the Code Napoleon. A Brit- tribute from the former and allegiance
ish army of ten thousand men under from the latter. The Mafia was, in fact,
a subtle revolutionary force in its
the command of Lord William
Bentinck saw to it that Murat’s cav- early stages but like every revolution
alry never attempted a serious cross- it tended to turn conservative in oring of the Straits of Messina. Yet, the der to institutionalize its gains.
When the Napoleonic era ended
forced transfer of King Ferdinand
with
the final episode of exile to St.
from Naples to Palermo under the
protection of Admiral Nelson’s fleet Helena, the centralist tendencies of
(for which salvage operation Nelson the Neapolitan monarchy reasserted
was later named Duke of Bronte in themselves and Sicily’s Constitution
Sicily) did breed demands for change of 1812 (which had served the purwhich the British understood better pose of keeping the island’s oligarchs
than the King’s own displaced advi- reasonably quiescent) was abolished.
sors so that in 1812 Bentinck more or But Sicilian mistrust of the Continent
less imposed a 19th century type lib- continued to flare and when in 1820
eral constitution on the Neapolitan a liberal revolution shook Naples,
Bourbon dynasty. Thus, while the Western Sicily also rose in revolt but
ideas of the French Revolution circu- against Neapolitan domination. The
lated openly in Naples for some years, effort ended in anarchy and failure
a similar opportunity never extended and was repeated again in 1837 against
to Sicily at the very moment when the stressful background of 40,000
The Val d’Akragas Group,deaths
photo by
Galatioto.
from
cholera in Palermo alone.
M. Marcelli
Sicily—An Analytical
Overview
I
This time the revolt was suppressed
with notable ferocity on the part of
Neapolitan forces. Again, Sicilian discontent was forced to bide its time.
On Jan. 12, 1848, Sicily— first the
Western portion and this time the
remainder of the island — exploded
anew with mass participation which
required the Sicilian aristocracy to
quickly assume the leadership in order to protect property (their own)
and prevent decomposition into a
state of general anarchy. Baron Riso,
a banker by profession whose talents—the Sicilian Baronage had
openly recognized and therefore
drawn into their own noble ranks,
assumed command of the “national
guard”. A parliament based on the
British sponsored Constitution of
1812 was convened and negotiations
ensued with the Neapolitan Government through a British representative,
Lord Minto. The negotiations broke
down and King Ferdinand II was declared deposed. A former Sicilian naval officer, Ruggero Settimo, was declared president of a provisional government.
In the meanwhile the various factions of the Sicilian Parliament were
totally unable to agree among themselves but ultimately two points of
view came to predominate, namely
that Sicily should be a monarchy and
that the island should be a part of
united Italy but only on a confederal
basis to assure maximum self-dependence. In what in retrospect can only
be described as a masterful political
stroke had the offer been accepted, the
parliament offered the crown of Sicily to the second son of the Savoy
dynasty ruling Piedmont and
Sardinia. The offer was rejected for
overriding considerations. The possibility of a permanent loss of his Sicilian reign to his royal cousin angered
Ferdinand II and impelled him to a
major military effort which succeeded
in full by September, 1849. Neapolitan absolutism — continental domination — was once again the fate of
Sicily. Yet, it could hardly have been
Sicilia Parra
otherwise once the major European
revolutions of 1848 failed one by one.
It took Ferdinand only ten thousand
men to reoccupy Sicily, a figure of
some interest given developments almost two decades later. Discontent
with Naples helped pave the way for
Garibaldi’s successful expedition of
something under a thousand men
only a very few of which ever realized the covert protection role exerted
by the British Navy on their behalf.
If Garibaldi had had to contend with
real popular opposition in Sicily,
there is little question that his efforts
would have failed. Minor numbers of
“picciotti” (lads) did help him in his
efforts but the greater number of islanders played a passive role in line
with insular philosophy that the devil
you knew was better than the one you
didn’t.
Partially to meet the danger inherent in lurking Sicilian discontent,
Garibaldi was persuaded to grant Sicily an autonomous status within the
rapidly evolving dream of an Italian
national state. Antonio Mordini was
left behind to oversee the situation
while the Red Shirt chief moved on
to other campaigns beyond the Straits
of Messina. Once the annexation of
the South to Piedmont had been completed, Turin lost no time in revoking plans for an autonomous status
for Sicily. Yet, while the Sicilian political establishment resented the repudiation of its autonomist pretensions, it feared even more some of the
provisions that Garibaldi, a Socialist
at heart — had decreed both in the
belief that they were the correct thing
to do and to cultivate the Sicilian peasantry to favor his efforts at Italian
unification. Among other things he
abolished the tax on the milling of
wheat and then decreed the distribution of public lands to the poorest
peasants as well as veterans of the campaign to oust the Bourbons from Sicily. However, such lands had often
been rented out at very low fees to
local agrarian interests primarily for
purposes of grazing. It was not too
10
difficult for these same landed interests to understand where Garibaldi’s
social legislation was taking the peasantry. The result was a decided shift
on the part of the Sicilian baronage
as a class to the unitary concept of
Italy whose Piedmontese planners
were hardly concerned with anything
that smacked of Socialism.
The introduction by the
Piedmontese in the name of Italian
unity of a centralized system of State
management coupled with the introduction into the Mezzogiorno of certain basic reforms identified with a
modern State were not at all well received. Especially galling to the Sicilians was the tax on salt, the confiscation of Church properties with the
profits accruing to the national treasury and not financing much needed
public works on the island itself.
Above all, the introduction of
military conscription as an obligation
of citizenship was deeply resented and
helped bring about a localized revolt
in 1866 by which time Sicily was already under martial law with 25,000
deserters at large and a Piedmontese
controlled army of 120,000 men under Gen. Govone doing its best to
establish Turin’s version of order. In
all 2,500 Sicilians died and a slightly
larger number received prison terms.
The confiscation of church properties broke up the traditional alliance
between the Sicilian landowning establishment and the Church since it
was the former who were available
to increase their holdings by purchasing from the State its newly acquired
assets. But, the transaction severely
depleted what liquid assets had been
available in Sicily.
Discontent remained high not
only in Sicily but elsewhere in the
Mezzogiorno and Turin regularly
condemned such rebels as nothing
more than common outlaws, renegades, brigands and bandits. In the
Italian South the active manifestations
of such discontent lasted rather longer
than in Sicily with the difference that
in the case of the former, guerrilla
forces were frequently led by former
officers of the Neapolitan army. Their
objective was simply the restoration
of the Bourbon monarchy.
EVOLUTION OF THE QUESTION OF THE MEZZOGIORNO
While the problems of the
Mezzogiorno (a generic term of reference to South and Insular Italy together) preceded the unification of
Italy, it could only become a NorthSouth issue after unity had been
achieved. Cavour’s dictum that with
the creation of Italy it now remained
only to make Italians was well taken
and to its credit the Turin Government sought to attack a fundamental
cause of the backwardness of the old
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies by attacking the multiple evils inherent in
the phenomenon of illiteracy. Still,
many decades were to pass before a
majority of families could boast that
their children had achieved a fifth
grade education.
While Sicily’s situation in some
ways continued to be a set of problems apart, in most instances for the
four decades after 1860, the island’s
situation paralleled the general circumstances in the remainder of the
Mezzogiorno. To begin with, none
of these areas received back from the
State infrastructure investments commensurate with taxes contributed to
the national treasury. But taxes were
perhaps the lesser important of the
ways in which the population of the
Mezzogiorno was milked. Doubtless
more important was the fact that
South and Insular Italy was transformed into a protected and exclusive
market for burgeoning North Italian
industries.
The fact that the national budget
was too meager to allow for an equitable regional distribution was well
realized and the point became peculiarly exacerbated whenever reasons
of national security were invoked.
The truth was that the new Italy felt
ill-secured on its frontiers. At the very
11
time that nationalists longed to have
their country accepted as a major
power, much of the rest of Europe
was instead more inclined to regard
Italy as the strongest of the weak nations of the old continent. Italian
school children were not allowed to
forget that Trieste and its hinterland
as well as the Trentino were unredeemed Italian territory. The future
enemy was still, therefore, the AustroHungarian Empire. As a result, military installations were concentrated
primarily in the North and the necessary infrastructure for the shifting
around of large numbers of military
personnel and material — ports, railroads and good roads — were concentrated in the same area. But, these
same new facilities served as well the
larger cause of the North’s economic
development. The price for all of this
was especially high for the Sicilians if
one reflects on the single figure among
many similar ones that the Italian
State between 1862 and 1896 invested
450,000,000 Lire for the control of
hydraulic resources in the North and
only 1,300,000 Lire in Sicily to the
same end. Yet, to this day, water is
one of Sicily’s three major problems
and in the eyes of many experts its
primary one.
As the first decades of a united
Italy passed, intellectuals of the
Mezzogiorno — among them followers of dogmatic socialism — raised
comparative issues in North-South
terms, with increasing urgency. Peasant riots, a reflection of traditional
land hunger and often desperate conditions, increased both in frequency
and tempo of ... violence. Italian peasants laughed as they were arrested and
puzzled Carabinieri tried to plant
knives in trouser pockets which had
been carefully stitched shut by devoted wives and mothers to prevent
just such a possibility of introducing
falsified evidence.
Soon enough the Italian ruling
class began to realize that the Question of the Mezzogiorno was well on
its way to becoming institutionalized
Sicilia Parra
and in 1876 a major report by two helped to relieve the pressure of agriVilla Palagonia.cultural
Front. demographics at least for
members of Parliament, Franchetti
and Sonnino, shocked Italy’s intellec- much of Trapani Province. But Crispi
tuals with their conclusion that the had a plan to make up for what had
alleged wealth of the Mezzogiorno occurred with Tunisia and that was to
was nothing more than a durable try and annex the independent Afrimyth.
can kingdom of Ethiopia.
Not long after the publication of
Crispi’s plans were crushed at the
the Franchetti-Sonnino report, Sic- battle of Adowa, which resulted in an
ily entered a period of considerable important loss of international preseconomic stress due to the introduc- tige for Italy as the only European
tion of a disease which devastated the nation (until that time) which had
island’s vineyards. Almost at the
embarked on a colonial war of consame time Palermo’s two major the- quest and been humiliatingly defeated
atres were completed — the Massimo by native forces.
and the Politeama — as examples bath
With no prospective possibilities
of local civic pride and in support of for the satisfaction of their land hunthe Sicilian Capital’s Europeaniza- ger, Sicily’s peasantry began to move
tion — a point of concern to the city’s abroad in record numbers in order to
elite even to this day. Partial1y, per- secure employment and remit monies
haps, as a class reaction to this level back home to both support their famiof public ostentation but undoubt- lies and pay the taxes on their land
edly more due to the generally bad plots and residences. Immigration
economic conditions, a populist
therefore became Sicily’s major safety
movement began to take shape and valve for avoiding social discontent.
held its first congress in Palermo in But in the meanwhile a new political
1892. They took the name of Fasci movement was beginning to take
dei Lavoratori and courageously es- shape as Don Luigi Sturzo became
poused land reform and the suppres- Mayor of Caltagirone. It was from
sion—of the gabelloti, rural guards there that the humble priest laid the
whom many experts regard as the foundations of Christian Democracy
forerunners of the Mafia as it evolved in its modern European setting.
after World War I. Since the emerWORKING THE SYSTEM
gency was Sicilian, the remedy for it
had to be cast from the same mold
The Italian political establishment
and so Francesco Crispi, once a stout
republican and aide to Garibaldi be- composed of classic liberals, nationalcame Prime Minister. He dissolved ists, dogmatic socialists, republicans,
the Fasci in 1894 but temporarily did monarchists and others
had — by the turn of the 19th cennot seek to channel the social enertury — pretty much frozen into their
gies which had given them their
respective programs and positions
birth.
both pragmatic or ideological as the
Like others before and since.
Crispi regarded the land hunger of case might be. This era, which lasted
the Sicilian peasantry as a social con- up to the First World War is identistant and the problem therefore be- fied with the name of the presiding
came for him how it might be re- prime Minister Giovanni Giolitti, a
solved. Crispi was angered by the fact not unwise Piedmontese politician
that France had occupied Tunisia who consciously or otherwise develwhile Italy stood by thinking of such oped policies which worked to enforce
a possibility for itself. There were an the hegemony of the North over the
estimated 50,000 Sicilian settlers in Mezzogiorno. A political term —
Tunisia before the French made their Trasformismo — (a way of building
move and they had to some extent up political combinations) came to de-
Sicilia Parra
scribe his style of rule. The essential
principle underlying the system was
that so long as local power structures
sent to the nation’s parliament deputies who would almost always vote
automatically in favor of the government, those same political establishments could run their home areas almost as they pleased. In Western Sicily where local municipalities were—
and to a considerable extent still are
— subject to at least the veto power
of the Mafia (best understood as a
layer of privately wielded power and
abusive authority between constitutional prerogative and the people) the
arrangement was highly successful.
Yet in the Giolittian era Sicily’s
troubles through developments well
beyond local control. To begin with
the Province of Agrigento (then called
Girgenti) was economically hurt by
the discovery of vast sulfur beds in
Louisiana which could be mined simply by forcing water at high temperatures into them and then pumping out
the melted product and allowing it to
dry. Almost overnight, Sicilian sulfur
lost its world markets and remains
non-competitive to this day. Almost
at the same time Florida and California began to replace Sicily as the citrus fruit source for the American Eastern seaboard.
In the meanwhile, Sicilian and
Southern immigrant remittances
helped to complete the industrialization process which made the Genoa Milan - Turin triangle the most prosperous part of the nation as the
Giolitti regime continued to finance
with public monies the various forms
of infrastructure which facilitated and
spurred further onward the economic
development of the North. At the
same time the Mezzogiorno continued to function as a protected (from
outside competition) internal market
Thinkers like Gaetano Salvemini
were extremely vocal at times in their
condemnation of the Giolittian
regime’s policies towards south and
insular Italy. But Giolitti was by no
means instinctively hostile towards
the Mezzogiorno and he too per-
12
ceived it as Italy’s most dangerous
internal problem. Like Crispi, he too
felt that a successful colonial war of
territorial acquisition might be at least
a partial solution. The difference between Crispi and Giolitti was, however, that he planned his military adventure more carefully.
Giolitti called in his military advisors to inquire what it might cost to
detach Libya from Turkey, then commonly regarded as the “Sick Man of
Europe.” Giolitti then doubled the
amount and the result was a short and
reasonably successful war although
native tribes such as the Senussi continued to offer resistance to the Italian occupation forces for the next few
decades.
Paolo and Francesca flying in the storm
With the occupation of Tripoli,
Benghazi and the coastal belt, Italian
nationalists soon rediscovered the
Roman ruins of Leptis Magna and
launched the cry that Libya was once
again Italy’s “Fourth Shore” — Quarta
Sponda. To fulfill the Roman image
so dear to the Italian heart north of
Naples, the regime set in motion what
the Fascist period to follow would
stress even more, namely the upgrading of the most important Libyan
population clusters in order to confirm that Rome’s “civilizing” mission
was very much alive. While some foreign observers were impressed, the
natural reaction of those Sicilians and
Southerners who watched the new
construction was to ask why the same
thing was not happening in their
home towns. Part of the grand national strategy here was, of course, to
establish clusters of new Italian towns
in Libya in order to attract qualified
colonists.
A significant number went to satisfy their land hunger but — while the
soil was good the sparse rainfall made
the experiment’s success a precarious
one. In one of the more ironic twists
of modern Italian history, Fascism
simply did not realize that Libya’s
wealth lay under its soil.
For Italy, the Tripolitan War was
a minor exercise in comparison with
what lay a few years ahead. By 1914
Italy was still a member of the Triple
Alliance and therefore an ally of Germany and Austro—Hungary. But the
Italians postponed their entrance into
the conflict until 1915 and then on
the side of the Allied powers who, as
the Italian negotiators saw it, had
promised more to Rome in the secret
Treaty of London than the Germans
and especially the Austro-Hungarians
might ever have agreed to. In the
meanwhile Sicilian youth immigrated
to the United States, Argentina,
Southern Brazil and Australia in ever
increasing numbers. A few years later
as national war economies were
booming, immigrant remittances hit
new highs under conditions of full
employment so that it can safely be
affirmed that Italy’s World War I effort was partially financed by money
sent home by workers from the
Mezzogiorno living abroad.
Conscripts from South and Insular Italy found their native cuisines at
odds with those of North Italian recruits who favored polenta and butter while the lads of the Mezzogiorno
would abide only pasta and olive oil
as starters.
The peace treaty which had ended
the campaign of 1866 which freed
Venetia were very difficult ones for
the Italian Army since Austrian defenders shot down the mountainsides
while the Italians had to shoot up at
the enemy. Many illiterate but strong
Sicilian and South Italian peasants
were drafted into the field artillery
pulling cannon up slopes that mules
could not negotiate. After the battle
of Caporetto, morale in the Italian
Army broke down badly and the
Piedmontese-born commander, General Cadorna, was replaced. Italian
grand strategy intervened decisively
at this point with General Armando
Diaz a Neapolitan of Spanish ancestry replacing Cadorna while a Sicilian, V.E. Orlando of Palermo, became
Prime Minister.
(To be continued in the next issue)
13
Sicilia Parra
In Memoriam: Claudio Rinaudo
We publish a poem by Claudio Rinaudo who passed away recently.
Claudio was an entertainer, poet and raconteur who was invited for
many years to be part of the gathering that visits with the Arba Sicula
group during their Sicilian tours. Claudio, together with the other local guests, delighted the tour participants by reciting poems or doing a
skit from his night club act. Last year he recited a poem about a wine
taster who took his job too seriously and was always high on account
of it. Even though some of the people in our group did not understand
Sicilian, they easily understood his pantomime of the professional drunkard. He wrote two booksof poetry entitled Pinsannu, pinsannu (1997)
and U lampiuni (1998). He also collected some of his poems and theatrical pieces in a book entitled 2000 Risate (2000 Laughs) published in
2000.
Arba Sicula mourns the loss of a faithful and talented friend.
La me fedda di munnu/ My Slice of this World
Translated by Gaetano Cipolla
Di quannu ‘nta sta terra ha statu munnu,
lu pani s’assapura quannu è picca,
nun sugnu pezza, mancu ferru vecchiu
e di lu postu miu nun mi ci scucchiu;
puru ca si prisenta qualchi acciaccu,
nun si pò diri ca sugnu un rilittu.
Lu primu menzu seculu si ni’ iu
manciannu pani duru all’acchianata,
ora ca sugnu juntu a la cuddata
jornu pi’ jornu assapuru la vita.
Nun lassu nenti cchiù, mi pari pena,
vogghiu muriri cu la panza china;
travagghiu, amuri, peni, spiranza:
chistu è lu nutrimentu, la sustanza
di cui si trova già ‘nta sta valanza.
Cu la spiranza, sonnu la ricchizza
e li fatichi affruntu senza stentu;
li peni mi li pigghiu picchí sunnu
‘ncridienti nicissari di fa vita,
l’amuri va trattatu cu ducizza
e nun ci penzu di lassallu ‘mpastu;
iu di lu munnu vogghiu la me fedda
chi mi lassò lu Cristu quannu un ghiornu
lu pani si spartiu cu li so frati.
Fina ca ogghiu resta ‘nta sta lampa,
lu lustru chi manna mi lu pigghiu
e puru cu li peri ‘nta la fossa
a cu tocca lu miu: ci rumpu l’ossa.
Since the beginning of this world, mankind
Has appreciated bread more when it’s scarce.
I’m not a rag nor am I worn out metal
And I wont ever budge from where I sit
Even if some disease should strike me at times
I can’t regard my lot as a lost cause.
The first half century has come and gone
Though I ate stale bread, ever going uphill,
Now that I have come close to my old age
I do enjoy my life day after day
Now I leave nothing on the plate, it’d be
a shame. I want to die with a full stomach.
Work, expectations, tribulations, hope,
This is the nourishment, the actual
Substance for those who are upon the scale.
With hope I dream of wealth and riches
And I face every struggle easily.
The sorrows I accept because they are
required ingredients of our life.
Love must be treated with gentility
And I can’t think of leaving it aside;
I want my slice of this our world that Christ
Bequeathed to me when on that fated day
He shared a piece of bread with all his brothers.
As long as there’s a drop of oil inside
the lamp I will accept the light it gives
and even with one foot inside the grave
I’ll break the bones of those who touch what’s mine
Sicilia Parra
14
Puisia Siciliana
L’amicizia antica
Di Senziu Mazza
Quannu si nutricava sintimentu
e lu munnu ‘ntra lu so’ furriu
purtava amuri
gigghiannu sonnira
ghiumpeunu affetti e simpatii.
A riconcu famigghi e limmitanti
si ricunsulaunu Ii peni
e li palori ierunu barsammi
ppi sanari li ghiai di la vita:
assai spissu na sula carizza
valia tri cantara di trisori.
Si nisceunu ‘n ghiazza
cu si scuntrava facia na festa
e ddu picca c’aveunu iera ppi tutti.
Ora l’amicizia iè cosa rara;
semmu a circalla ppi tutti li gnuni:
non c’è chiù conca e mancu cassarìu.
lemmu currennu appressu a li filussi
sdrudennuni li sensi e la raggiuni;
sdisangati di tuttu
ristammu a dari cuntu
alla sdisulata sulità.
Un Sicilianu nton campusantu di
pizzenti
di Gil Fagiani
tradottu in sicilianu di G Cipolla
U zzu Dinu campau a Corona
pi trent’anni scanusciutu di tutti.
A so famigghia nun sapia picchì.
Fu capurali nta l’esercitu talianu
e siguiu a Mussolini nta l’Africa
pâ terra e pâ gloria.
Forsi nta l’Egittu si pirdiu di spiritu
dopu cinc’anni di prigiunia di guerra
nton campu nglisi.
Forsi fu l’amara pinnula dû travagghiu.
Sennu l’unicu figghiu, ci tuccau
mannari avanti a putia di stoffa,
ma so matri avia vinnutu a creditu
a troppa genti
prima cca finissi a guerra
e a putia fici fallimentu.
Forsi fu na delusioni d’amuri.
U so veru amuri fu na barunissa
ca era pazza d’iddu ma non vosi
cuntrastari a so famigghia
ca ci fici maritari
a unu dâ so classi suciali.
Forsi fu so cugnatu cu ccui vissi
dopu ca immigrau da Sicilia a New York
ca lu cumannava a bacchetta,
comu un picciriddu e cci apriu
na littra di la barunissa
ca lu fici scappari currennu di lu Bronx.
Ma a so famigghia prutesta:
Niautri circammu d’avvicinarlu.
Non nni desi mai u so indirizzu
e quannu unu nni desi u so telefunu
non vossi parrari cu niautri.
Nta l’anni 70 so soru Giuannina
vinni apposta dâ Sicilia
e ivu a truvarlu nta pinsioni
a Corona, ma iddu rifiutau di vidirla
e dissi a lu patruni di mannarla via.
Ntra li so paisani
unu diceva: “forsi era unu ca si drugava;”
Nautru dissi, “Forsi travagghiava cu la
mafia.”
E nautru ancora, “Forsi viveva cu na
niura.”
Quannu Dinu muriu ntô 1983,
u patruni ’i casa truvau un numiru di
telefunu
nfunnu ô saccu di marinaru ch’iddu avia
e chiamau a so niputi Filumena
ca poi chiamau a Giuannina.
“Forsi avissi a fari in modu ca a so salma
turnassi ô so paisi ntâ Sicilia,” dissi
Filumena.
“Fatti i fatti to!” ci rispunniu Giuanna.
E Dinu fu purtatu daccussì
cu n’ambulanza dû Cumuni
o campusantu dî pizzenti senza nnomu.
Lu non so-chì
di Giovanni Meli
In riguri, viiuledda,
bedda bedda nun ci sì;
ma in tia regna, in tia prevali
certu tali non-so-chì,
pri cui misa a beddi accantu,
d’iddi, oh! quantu, spicchi chiù.
Si sù chisti vaghi stiddi,
suli in iddi splendi tu.
E’ la rosa un arricrìu
pri lu briu, la maistà;
sta vaghizza l’occhi abbagghia,
la pribbaglia curri ddà;
ma in un cori dilicatu
lu to ciatu, oh quantu pò!
Quali ciamma, quali affettu
svigghia in pettu un guardu to!
E’ simpaticu, è gentili,
né virili cori c’è,
chi ‘un senta risbigghiari
li chiù cari e duci ohimè.
I spiriti
di Peppino Ruggeri
Na sira mentri facia na passiata
pâ via chi nni porta o campusantu
mi ncuntraiu all’angulu dâ strada
cu du spiriti, chi mi vinni puru u scantu.
“Picchí nisciti a fari scantu a genti?”
ci dumannaiu allura prontamenti.
“Vuiatri siti morti anticamenti;
lassati npaci a cu resta viventi”.
“Ma nui nuddu sconzu vinemu a fari.
Niscemu a sira sulu pi vaddari,
pi vidiri qual’è u cumpurtari
di chiddi ch’in terra ancora jannu a stari”.
“E chi vidistu”, curiusu dumannai.
“Vittimu putrunaria e malu fari,
nvidia, gilusia e tanti guai,
ngratitudini e amuri pi dinari.
Ntê famigghi mancanza di rispettu;
amici pi sfruttari sulamenti;
pi la comunità non c’è affettu
ma sulu egoismu d’ogni genti.
Tutti vannu a scola a studiari
e su tutti lauriati o diplomati,
a sapienza però non sannu amari
e da cultura non sunnu innamurati”.
“A vui chi v’intiressa chi viditi?”
ci rispunniu iò garbatamenti.
“Vui siti morti, stativi unni siti,
lassati npaci a tutti li viventi”.
“Nuiautri ancora avemu tantu amuri
pi chiddi chi pigghiaru u nostru sangu;
nto cori nui sintemu un gran duluri,
vidennu tanta genti nta lu fangu”.
“Ma chi diciti, spiriti di morti
vui siti! Comu umbra sulamenti.”
“Nui mangianu e bivemu a bona sorti
e semu fatti i carni ch’è viventi.
Mangiari e biviri cuntenti
su cosi che fannu puru l’animali.
Non sunnu cosi sulu pi la genti.
Li fannu puru i scecchi e i maiali.
Non è la carni chi fa viva a genti
ma u spiritu chi duna a tutti affettu,
a forza chi fa girari a nostra menti
e l’ amuri chi tinemu nta lu pettu.
Amicu nostru, vui non capiti nenti
picchí da vera vita siti gnuranti.
Nuiautri semu spiriti viventi,
vui siti cadaviri ambulanti”.
15
Sicilia Parra
Sicilian Poetry
Translations by Gaetano Cipolla
Old Friendships
by Senziu Mazza
When people cherished feelings and the
world
as it was going round spread love
that made dreams blossom,
affections and good friendships
flourished.
Gathered around a brazier families
and neighbors comforted each other
and words were like a balm that cured
the suffering and pain of life.
Often a single caress was worth much
more
than any worldly treasure.
If people came out to the square and met
each other face to face they both rejoiced,
what little they possessed belong to all.
Now friendships are a rarity;
we look for it in every corner, and
braziers do not exist, nor leisure walks.
We always seem to run after the money
straining our senses and our reason,
disgusted with everything,
remaining alone to talk things out
with our disconsolate loneliness.
A Sicilian in Potter’s Field
by Gil Fagiani
Uncle Dino lived incognito
in Corona for three decades.
The family says they don’t know why.
A non-com in the Italian Army,
he followed Mussolini to Africa
for land and glory.
Maybe his spirit broke in Egypt
after five years in a British P.O.W. camp.
Maybe it was the bitter pill of work.
The only son, he was due
to run the family dry goods store
but his mother gave out too much
credit before the war ended
.
and the store went belly up.
Maybe it was a letdown in love.
His true blue was a baronessa
who was wild about him
but not so wild to buck her family
who made her marry
someone from her social class.
Maybe it was his brother-in-law
whom he lived with after he immigrated
from Sicily to New York
who bullied him like a child
and opened a letter from the baronessa
sending him fleeing from the Bronx.
But the family protests:
We tried to stay in touch.
He wouldn’t give us his address and
when someone gave us
his telephone number
he wouldn’t talk to us.
In the ’70s, his sister Giovanna even
traveled from Sicily
and tracked him down
to a Corona rooming house
where he refused to see her
and told his landlord to send her away.
Among his paesani one said,
“could be he was a drug addict.”
Another said, “could be he worked for
the Mafia.”
Still another, “could be he lived with a
colored girl.”
When Dino died in 1983
his landlord found a phone number at
the bottom of a seaman’s bag and called
his niece Filomena
who called Giovanna.
“Maybe you should make arrangements
for his body to be brought back to
Sicily.” Filomena said.
“Bada ai fatti tuoi’” Giovanna replied—
“Mind your own business!”
And Dino was taken away
in a City ambulance
and buried in potter’s field.
The Don’t Know What
by Giovanni Meli
To be frank, my violet
a real beauty you are not,
but in you prevails and reigns,
a most certain don’t know what,
so that standing next to beauties
you outshine them all by far;
If they are resplendent stars,
like the sun you’re far more bright.
For their might and majesty
Roses are a great delight
and their brightness blinds the eye
To which fly the lowly throngs,
but on men with gentle hearts
your breath starts a greater song.
Oh what flame, what jubilance
Just one glance from you engenders!
It is charming, it is tender
You can’t find a manly heart
who won’t start to feel the rise
of sweet sighs and dear alas.
The Ghosts
by Peppino Ruggeri
One night as I was walking down
the street that leads to our cemetery
I met right at the corner of the street
two ghosts that frightened me a bit.
“Why do you come out of the grave
to scare the people?” I was quick to ask.
“You have been dead a long time,” I said
“Just let the people who’re alive alone.”
“But we do not come out to cause trouble.
We come at night to look around and see
how people who are still alive behave.”
“And what have you observed,” I asked
in curiosity. “We see much laziness
and evil, jealousy, envy, woes, ingratitude,
and lust for money. Inside families
there is no more respect, friends are in it
for gain; no love for the community,
but only selfishness and greed.
Everybody goes to school to study
they are all graduates, they hold diplomas,
but wisdom is something they don’t love,
they’re not in love with culture and good
taste.
“What do you care about these things you
see?”
I asked with courtesy. “You are all dead!
You should remain just where you are
and let the living live in peace.”
“We still feel a great of love for those
who took our blood; inside our hearts
we feel great sorrow when we see people
wallowing in mud.”
“What are you saying, you are ghosts
of the living. You are just shadows,
nothing more.” “Instead we eat and drink
with good luck, and we are made of flesh
that is alive. Eating and drinking are
things that animals can do as well.
They are not things that only people do.
Even the donkeys and the swines do them.
It’s not the flesh that makes people alive,
but it’s the spirit that gives us affection,
that makes our mind turn, it’s the love
that we keep in our breasts.
Our friend, you do not understand a thing
because you do not know what real life is.
We ghosts are truly living spirits,
but you are really walking corpses.”
Sicilia Parra
Book Reviews
Sicilian Mimes: A Gallery of Sly and Rustic
Tales, by Francesco Lanza, Mineola, NY:
Legas 2010, 144 pages, $14.95.
T
he members of Arba Sicula are
probably acquainted with the
contents of this book, having been exposed to a few of its stories in previous
issues of Arba Sicula. Francesco
Lanza’s Mimi siciliani is considered a classic in its genre. First published in 1923
as Storie di Nino Scardino in periodicals
of the time, they were collected in a volume and published as Mimi Siciliani at
the suggestion of writer Ardengo
Soffici. Although the author was not
satisfied with the success of his stories,
they have been published again and again
in different editions. The attention that
critics have given to the author has also
grown considerably. Thus it is with pleasure that we welcome the first English
translation of the book. Professor
Gaetano Cipolla, who has lent his voice
to many Sicilian classics such as
Giovanni Meli’s Don Chisciotti and Sanciu
Panza, Moral Fables and Other Poems, the
Poetry of Nino Martoglio and many others, has one again shown his devotion
to Sicilian culture by making it possible
for those who cannot read the original
to become familiar with it.
The book, as the subtitles suggest,
is a collection of sly and rustic tales derived from the oral tradition that survives in Sicily as probably nowhere else.
They are funny, hyperbolic stories of
people who out of ignorance, stupidity
or superstition do things that cannot fail
to provoke laughter and derision. The
foolish are pitted against one another in
a battle of wits which is more a battle
of the witless. They are a parody of Sicilian intelligence, virility, honor, fidelity
and religion. It is, as Professor Cipolla
noted in his introduction, Sicelitude
turned on its head. The battle of wits is
carried out in the context of a vice that
affects all Italians, but Sicilians in particular which manifests itself in the be-
16
talk with the trees; who save
their breath in a sack for
times of need; hunters who
shoot at figs thinking they
might be partridges; farmers
who converse with ravens
about how many bushels of
wheat their field will produce; men and women who
cannot walk and chew gum
at the same, to use an American idiom; and people like the
“Carrapipani” who threaten
to nail horseshoes on the feet
of the living who feign being
dead; or the “Nicosiani” who
want to dry wet candles in
hot ovens or the Brontese
who enlarged their church by
filling it with fava beans and
water.
The fools have a minimal
understanding of language
and this leads them to faulty
interpretations of reality. I
am thinking of the woman
lief that the fools, the dummies, the who was asked to prepare a “decotto”
promiscuous wives and their accom- (decoction, a medicinal extract) for
modating compari, inhabit a world her sick husband and proceeded to
other than their own. Most of the sto- boil a crucifix because she understood
ries are entitled by naming a nearby “diocotto” (boiled god) that I tried to
city or town, such as “The Man from translate by making up a word,
Mistretta,” or “The Man from Piazza” “deocotion,” or the young girl who
or “The Young Woman of Bronte”.
was asked by a priest whether she
While the author himself was from cursed as a matter of habit (per uso)
the town of Valguarnera Caropepe, and she thought he was asking her if
he does not treat his paesani
with
re- third
sheact
was
already fledged (peluso). The
Actors
reading
of play
Violence by Giuseppe
gard, indeed the vices are distributed
fools Fava,
in this book are immersed in
translated
by Gaetano
Cipolla. and cannot understand
equally among the many towns
menmateriality
tioned in the collection. The author symbolic or metaphoric language. So
seems to reserves a special place for the man from Santa Caterina who was
the people of Piazza Armerina who told to “go swallow Christ,” meanare regarded almost as a different spe- ing to go to confession and swallow
cies, as when someone asked a man the host, believed that he was supfrom Piazza if he was a Christian and posed to literally swallow the enorhe replied that he a was a Piazzese. mous statue of Christ in the church.
As you read this collection of stories Lacking education and living in a sub
you will meet many characters. Prof. proletarian world, the poor people of
Cipolla writes:
the Mimes believe in superstition, and
“The people who live and breathe reduce religion to rituals devoid of
in Lanza’s peasant universe are gov- spiritual meanings. They take hearerned by pseudo logical thinking that say as reality, as did a man who, havis more properly defined as non sense. ing been told that blondes had their
In this book, you will meet fools who sex perpendicular to the ground, re-
17
fused to have anything to do with his
new brunette wife whose sex was not
horizontal as he had been told.”
The reason that this book has become a favorite of Sicilians is simple:
it is a very funny book. Lanza possesses a real whacky sense of humor
and the things his characters say and
do are bound to evoke laughter, although the laughter is often of the bitter sweet kind. This book by showing
another side of the Sicilians’ character, a side that enjoys making fun, is
an excellent addition to the library of
those who are interested not only in
Sicilians but in human nature. It confirms, if such a thing was needed, that
Sicilians have parody in their blood.
They can make fun of everything.
Beginning with Epicharmus who invented comedy, Sicilians have always
practiced the art of parody and satire.
Francesco Lanza follows in the footsteps of such great humorists as
Giovanni Meli, Micio Tempio and
Nino Martoglio. If you want to spend
a couple of hours in the company of
Lanza’s wit and humor, buy this book.
Here is a little taste of that humor:
The Man from Mazzarino
A man from Mazzarino kept at his
side a sack tightly tied at the top. Once
in a while he carefully opened the sack,
just enough to blow air into it and then
quickly closed it again, tighter than before.
“Say, what are you doing?” someone
asked him once.
And he:
“I’m putting aside some breaths in
case I should run out.”
You may purchase the book from
Legas (See p. 19).
Betsy Vincent Hoffman, Dreaming of
Sicily: A Travel memoir, Illustration by
Kathleen Citrolo Gwinnett, self published, 2009. You may order from the
author at https://www.createspace.
com/3334027
This charming little book, written
by Betsy Vincent Hoffman and won-
Sicilia Parra
derfully illustrated by the authors’
cousin, Kathleen Citrolo Gwinnett,
is something that many or our members would appreciate. It is in fact a
story that I have heard before, especially as we travel around the island
with members of Arba Sicula of the
second an, third or even fourth generation. It is basically a story that
describes the coming into contact
with a land that many of them had
only seen through the eyes of their
old relatives, perhaps a grandmother
or a grandfather, whose words left
an indelible imprint in them made
up of nostalgia, of things remembered through the filter of time.
These new discoverers of Sicily have
carried in their subconscious thought
a word, an image, a smell, a picture a
memento of some kind which are
endowed with a certain sense of
magic. These things, although they
may have been ordinary things without any special qualities, have been
rendered part of a myth. Sicily as
imagined by them is part myth part
history, part suffering, part joy and
the encounter with these things inevitably brings about what the Greek
called anagnorisis, that is, epiphanies
of discovery, moments in which you
everything becomes clear and you realize who you are.
This sense of discovery accompa-
nies the author of this Travel
Memoir. Indeed the book
begins with the author’s recollection of conversations
she had with her grandmother who in her broken
English related to her niece
how she met her husband,
how courtship was carried
on those days and how she
had come to America. The
first chapter is then a sort of
prologue to the trip the author eventually took with
her husband to visit not only
the places where her family
came from but through the
most interesting spot of Sicily. Betsy Hoffman travelled
to Santa Elisabetta, Taormina, Cefalù,
Erice, Agrigento and this book is a
description of what she saw, the
people she met, the wondrous beauties she experienced, the food she
tasted. Her descriptions are not like
those you would get from a travel
guide, but they are imbued with a
sense of awe and amazement of someone who sees the world for the first
time. She gives travels tips along the
way on food (you can never get a bad
meal in Sicily!) dealing with taxi drivers, driving around with a rent a car
etc…
The booklet can be read easily in
one sitting. It’s only 80 pages of text
illustrated very attractively by the
Kathleen Guinnett’s 39 watercolors
that manage to capture in very vivid
colors the beauty of the island. The
text and the images will provide a pleasurable excursion to the island of Sicily in preparation for your own journey of discovery.
Mr. Vincent Ciaramitaro, former
owner of Joe’s of Avenue U in
Brooklyn, has developed a web
site that contains many of the
recipes used in the famous
Focacceria Palermitana. Check
out his site at:
www.siciliancookingplus.com
Sicilia Parra
18
Special Sale
Arba Sicula and Legas are committed to the idea that books are the best way to share our Sicilian heritage
with our children and grandchildren. With this in mind we continue to offer a discount to our members. All members of Arba Sicula will receive a 20% discount on all the books listed
on this page and on page 19.
19
Sicilia Parra
SICILIAN BOOKS SPECIAL SALE
Members of Arba Sicula are entitled to a 20% discount
on all Legas books.
Arba Sicula Subscription (Includes Arba Sicula & Sicilia Parra)
$30/35
F. Lanza, Sicilian Mimes, 144 p. in English, transl by G. Cipolla .......... $14.95
A. Provenzano, Tornu/The Return, bilingual poems, ............................ $16.95
E. Rao, Sicilian Palimpsest: The Language of Castroreale ...................................... $14.95
J. Cacibauda, After Laughng, Comes Crying, a novel in English ....................... $14.95
G.& J. Summerfield, Remembering Sicily, short stories and poems n English .. $14.95
C. De Caro, Sicily the Trampled Paradise, Revisieted II Ed. ................................ $14.95
G. Pilati, Sicilian Women ............................................................................. $12
G. Fava, Violence: A Sicilian Drama, (a play in English) 138 .......................... $13
F. Gatto, The Scent of Jasmine, 136 pp ......................................................... $15
D. Gestri, Time Takes no Time, (a novel)148 pp. ........................................... $15
P. Fiorentino, Sicily through Symbolism and Myth, with illustrations NEW ....... $13
A. Veneziano, Ninety Love Octaves, (Sicilian/English) NEW ......................... $12
C. DeCaro, Sebastiano; A Sicilian Legacy 248pp. ............................................ $15
S. Taormina, Il cuore oltre l’Oceano, 286 p. ..................................................... $16
G. Cipolla, Siciliana: Essays on the Sicilian Ethos, 254 p. .................................. $18
J . Privitera, Canti siciliani ......................................................................... $ 8
J. Privitera, Sicilian: the Oldest Romance Language, 96 pp. ................................ $12
A. Russo, The English-Italian Lexical Converter, 242 p. ................................... $18
C. Lombardo, Altavilla Sicily: Memories of a Happy Childhood, 160 p. ............. $14
G. Meli, Don Chisciotti and Sanciu Panza, Transl. by G. Cipolla, ..................... $18
G. Meli, Moral Fables and Other Poems (Sic./English), 212 pp. ....................... $16
C. Messina, A Sicilian Martyr in Nagasaki, 106 pp. ..................................... $12
D. Eannello, Sicily: Where Love Is, 228 pp. .................................................. $14
J. K Bonner, Introduction to Sicilian Grammar, 224 pp. plus G. Cipolla’s
The Sounds of Sicilian: A Pronunciation Guide, with CD .......................... $27.95
R. Menighetti & F. Nicastro, History of Autonomous Sicily, 348 pp. ................ $18
R. Porcelli, A Sicilian Shakespeare: a Sicilian/English Edition ............................ $ 8
J. Privitera, The Sicilians, 180 pages NEW .................................................. $14
L. Bonaffini, Dialect Poetry of Southern Italy, 514 pp. Trilingual ..................... $32
L. Bonaffini, Dialect Poetry of Central and Northern Italy, 714 pp. Trilingual .... $32
B. Morreale, Sicily: The Hallowed Land, A Memoir 218 pp ............................. $16
C. Cusumano, The Last Cannoli, A Novel, 240 pp. ...................................... $19
L. Bonaffini, Via Terra: Anthology of Italian Dialect Poetry, 290 pp. ................ $24
G. Basile, Sicilian Cuisine through History and Legend, 48 pp ........................... $ 6
J. Vitiello, Labyrinths and Volcanoes: Windings through Sicily, 120 pp. ............... $12
O. Claypole, Sicilian Erotica, (bilingual anthology) 196 pp. .......................... $10
G. Quatriglio, A Thousand Years in Sicily: from Arabs to Bourbons. 240 p. ......... $16
A. Provenzano, Vinissi ... I’d Love to Come ... (Sicilian/English) .................... $16
J. Navone, The Land and Spirit of Italy, (English) 218 pp. Special Sale .......... $10
H. Barbera, Medieval Sicily: the First Absolute State (in English),152 pp. ......... $12
The Poetry of Nino Martoglio (bilingual) transl. by G. Cipolla, 304 pp. ............ $10
G. Cipolla, What Italy Has Given to the World (English) 32 pp. ...................... $ 4
G. Cipolla, What Makes a Sicilian? ............................................................................... $ 4
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travel to Italy, I can escort you and
research your family together with you in
the town of your family’s origin. My
services include family history research as
well as escorted tours to towns of origin in
Sicily. Search for relatives is also attempted. Contact: Emilio Terrazzino via
Taormina 1, 92100 Agrigento Sicily
ITALY. Phone: 011/ 39/922-414893; Cell
phone: 011/39/349-762- 3936; Website:
http://www.Mediatel. itlpublic/emilio.
http://genealogypro.com/
GUIDARE - Driving guides
offers tours and excursions in Sicily
with authorized guides or Englishspeaking drivers on
Mercedes class S-E, minivans and
minibusses up to 16 seats.
Call James Mazza
phone : Italy 3397748228
fax :Italy 1782233226
email: [email protected]
Sicilia Parra
ARBA SICULA
Department of Languages and Literatures
St. John’s University
8000 Utopia Parkway
Queens, New York 11439
20
NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
JAMAICA, NY
PERMIT NO 52
ADDRESS SERVICE REQUESTED
Arba Sicula’s 16th Annual Tour of Sicily: June 2 to June 14, 2010
This is the preliminary itinerary for our 16th anniversary tour of Sicily. The price for the tour is $2,955.00 plus airport taxes and fuel
surcharge estimated at $380. The price includes airfare, four star hotels, Deluxe transportation, and all meals, except some lunches. The
single supplement is $400.00 which can be avoided if you share a room with someone. Please send a $200.00 deposit per person immediately to reserve your spot. As of this writing, a few seats were still available To check please call Prof. Cipolla at (718) 990 5203
and leave a message if he is not in the office.
June 2 - Wednesday DAY 1 - Departure from J.F Kennedy Airport, New York on Alitalia 611 to Rome at 21:40 PM.
June 3- Thursday DAY 2 - The flight to Rome arrives at 12:05 and connects with AZ 1781 arriving in Palermo at 14:25 PM. Transfer
to Grande Albergo Sole. Balance of day at leisure. Welcome dinner at a local restaurant.
June 4- Friday DAY 3 - Morning guided tour of Palermo that includes the Cathedral, the Palatine Chapel, The Norman Palace
(Parliament) and Palazzo Abbatellis, the National Museum. In the afternoon, we will visit Monreale. Dinner at our Hotel with Sicilian
guests, all local members of Arba Sicula.
June 5- Saturday DAY 4 - Morning guided excursion to Cefalù. Visit the Cathedral. After lunch we’ll return to Palermo. Afternoon
at leisure. Dinner at our hotel.
June 6 -Sunday DAY 5 - Palermo to Marsala. We will visit the Temple of Segesta on the way to Erice and Marsala. We will relax and
enjoy a wine-tasting and a light lunch at the Donnafugata wineries. Dinner at our Hotel Baglio Basile.
June 7- Monday DAY 6 -Marsala to Agrigento via Sciacca. Lunch in Sciacca or at the beach of Agrigento. Afternoon visit of
Agrigento’s Valley of the Temples. Check into our hotel. Dinner at the Colleverde Park Hotel.
June 8- Tuesday DAY 7 - Morning drive to Siracusa by way of Caltagirone. Lunch on the way. Then we will proceed to Siracusa.
Dinner at our Hotel. In the evening we will enjoy some Sicilian music after dinner at the hotel Panorama.
June 9- Wednesday DAY 8 - Visit the archeological sites in the morning. Lunch at our hotel. Visit The Madonna delle Lagrime and
other sights in Siracusa. In the evening we will enjoy a Greek tragedy at the Greek Theater and we wil have a pizza after the performance.
June10 - Thursday DAY 9 -Morning drive to Catania. Visit the Cathedral, the Via Etnea, the University. Lunch on your own. After
lunch we will proceed to Taormina where we will see the Greek theater, familiarize ourselves with the town and drive to the Caesar Palace
Hotel in Giardini Naxos, which will be our hotel for the remaining nights. Dinner at the hotel.
June 11- Friday DAY 10 - Morning drive to Messina, visit the Cathedral and return to our Hotel in early afternoon. Rest of the day
at leisure. Dinner at the hotel.
June 12- Saturday Day 11 - Spend the day shopping in Taormina or lounge at the pool in our hotel or at the beach.
June 13- Sunday DAY 12 -Drive to the Alcantara Gorges, visit Francavilla, Castiglione and enjoy some wonderful Sicilian hospitality.
Farewell dinner at a local restaurant.
June 14- Monday day 13. Transfer to Catania. The return flight is on Alitalia 1732 to Rome at 11:55 AM connecting with Alitalia 610
to New York at 14:25 PM. It will arrive in New York’s J.F. Kennedy Airport at 17:45 PM.of the same day.