Photo Montage: Western Sicily

The old saying "a picture is worth a thousand words" is repeated so often because it's true. Today, rather than write about our trip to Sicily, I thought I'd share some of my favorite scenery photos. I like some for the quality of the shot, others because of the subject. I think they give a good overview of what the western side of Sicily has to offer. I hope you enjoy them.

Agrigento, Valley of the Temples

Scala dei Turchi

Locals told us Sicily is the "Wild West" of Italy. Indeed, we experienced the different interpretations of laws in Sicily than on the mainland. Sicily also has stunning natural beauty like the western part of the US. Sure the landscape is different, but it's breathtaking in places. 

Have you been to Sicily? What do you think? 

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Travel Tuesdays: Communicating When You Don't Speak the Local Language

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Travel Tuesdays: Communicating When You Don't Speak the Local Language

View from our villa, Salina

Whenever we travel to another country, people ask us about the language barriers. Traveling to a country when you don't speak the language does present certain challenges, that's for sure, but they're usually not insurmountable. To start, be sure you have a good traveler's phrase book and/or dictionary. Knowing a few common phrases will go a long way.

(If you plan to take an extended trip, you may want to invest in a language course or Rosetta Stone software before you go.  There are also many new high tech gadgets you can look for such as translation apps. More on that in a future post).

Once you have a few words and phrases under your belt, use them whenever appropriate, and try to add more as you go. When you exhaust your skills, you can try asking if they speak English (or your native tongue). I've found that people often have a few words of English. Once you've exhausted your knowledge of each others languages, rely on gestures, facial expressions and the like. You'll find that people are amazingly adept at reading body language. I've had entire conversations in which neither one of us spoke a word of the other's language.

When we arrived on Salina last month, Domenic (not his real name), the caretaker of our villa, spoke no English. We arrived after just one full day in Italy, so we weren't exactly oriented to the language and place. However, we were still able to communicate enough to understand that he needed to shuttle us to our villa in two trips and that he would return for the second group in ten minutes. Of course, we also had an amusing conversation in which we thought he was trying to tell us something important about the police when he was actually talking about the cleaning fee for the villa. Yet, we still managed to figure this all out, with much laughing in between. Domenic wrote down a few words and gestured which helped us figure out our misunderstanding.

A few days later, when Domenic returned, I learned he had 2 kids with his first wife. They divorced. Now he has 3 kids with his second wife, the youngest being the baby we met when he picked us up. He intends not to have more children. Domenic also learned that my husband and I have two children and don't intend to have any more. When my family returned from their trip into town, they were surprised I had learned so much. Our secret... gestures! Seriously... Domenic made a motion like putting on a ring, put up 2 fingers and said "Bambino." Then he made a motion like removing the ring- I get it... divorce! Then he motioned in a way that made me realize he meant his wife, who we had met. He put up 3 fingers and said, "Bambino." Then, "Basta!"


I had another meaningful conversation with a man in Sicily. (I'll call him Lorenzo to protect his privacy).  Lorenzo was prepping the meal we were about to enjoy together. Lorenzo happens to speak English, so most of our conversation was in English. We were having the usual small talk when I asked if he had any children. He immediately said, "No." Then his face twisted a little, and in halting English he told me he had a child, but he died when he was one month old. I don't want to reveal any more personal information here, but we went on to talk about his experience for a while- the details of the death, how his partner responded to the situation, etc. But here's the part that stuck out for me... he was concerned that he couldn't find the English words to accurately describe his sorrow. My heart was breaking listening to him. He didn't need any words. I understood.

I was touched by Lorenzo's willingness to share such a personal story with me, a virtual stranger. He could have simply left his answer at "No" (As in, "No, I don't have any children"). I never would have known. But he chose to take a risk and share with me. As awful as his story was, that moment of personal connection is important to me. We crossed language and cultural barriers to get down to the  commonality of human experience. While I wish Lorenzo never had to suffer so, I feel fortunate that he shared it with me.

So, to my point. Yes, there are communication challenges. Yes, there are times when I just want to have an easy conversation in my primary language. That's natural. But I really do relish those times when I have to work to communicate across language and culture, as well. The key is to keep an open mind, speak slowly (NOT LOUDER!), and use facial expressions and gestures as much as possible. Think of it as a game of charades if that helps. And always, always pack your sense of humor so you can laugh when you're worried about the police and you really need to worry about scrubbing the toilet.

Family Roots

Malfa, Salina (Sicily)

Seven members of my family crammed into the tiny office at the Municipal building in Malfa, a village on the Island of Salina, off Sicily. The woman at the desk didn't speak English and we don't speak Italian, but that didn't stop us from finding what we were seeking. She opened the giant ledger and flipped through the pages until ...there it was. We looked at each other aghast, smiling. My sister-in-law said, "I have goosebumps!" "Me, too," was my reply.

What had we found? The official record of my husband's great-grandparents' marriage in 1895. My kid's great, great-grandparents! We had planned our trip to that little island having no idea if we were even in the right place. My Father-in-law had pieced together bits of information from his genealogical research with the bits of memories of things his parents had told him when he was young. But we settled on Salina as the place to start looking without any certainty about the location. And there we were, after a five minute interaction with the clerk, with the document in front of us!

This trip was years in the making and had, in fact, been postponed last summer when we realized we needed to plan better for the cost. But it was important to us, so we figured out how to make it work.

My husband's great-grandparents immigrated to the US from the island of Salina, which is now part of Italy. My Father-in-law has always wanted to see where his grandparents were from. My husband, sister-in-law, brother-in-law and I did, too, so we embarked on a three generation vacation to walk in his ancestors' footsteps.

San Lorenzo Church

When we boarded the ferry to Salina, we had no idea what we would discover. We just knew we wanted to see the island (we thought) they had left behind when they came to America. Of course, we'd also spend time together as a family and do some sight-seeing. The fact that we located the marriage documents so easily was amazing. We also visited the church where they were married and secured copies of the church record of their marriage and their proof of baptism. We were amazed by how quick and easy everything was. If not for the pesky language barrier, we would have had the church documents in even less time. Luckily, a kind American college student working in Malfa for the summer helped translate for us.

On the ferry ride to Salina, another passenger had told us the island is "magical." I thought that was a lovely way to describe it. I won't say that finding these documents was magical, but it sure was wonderful. And our desire to trace family roots brought us to a place that is lovely indeed.

Wordless Wednesday: Palermo, Sicilia

Photos taken 22 June 2012