On Sicily/The South

I've been here for 2.5 weeks now.  When I was at food camp in Calabria, I thought of writing on "The South."  I'm not sure if this post will be more about Sicily, or just the south in general, but we shall see.

Most tutors want to go south.  The vast majority of camps are in the north, so it's tough to get down here.  I did request to go to Sicily or Sardinia (the island to the west of the country), but those requests aren't often honored.  Yet here I am.

Why do we want to come down here?

1. The food
2. The hospitality
3. The sights
4. The beaches
5. The difference from the rest of Western Europe

1. The food has definitely been amazing all summer, and in general much better than last year, with the exception of my convent camp near Rome (which some would consider the south anyway). 

2. I've been in families all three camps, whereas I was only with families half my time last summer.  And they've all been great as host families.

3. Pompei, Napoli, the Amalfi Coast, Syracuse, Taormina, Palermo... the sights have been pretty good.

4. The beaches are beautiful, and the water where I am now is really warm.

5. But number five leads me into the next list, which is problems with the south that could be attractions or deterrents, depending on how you see them.

A) The mafia
B) The pollution (see A)
C) The heat
D) The distance from the more populated areas of the country
E) The disorganization/relaxedness

A) I have had no personal encounters with the mafia (yet).  But all my host fams have talked about them.  My last camp as 10 minutes from a town notorious for police raids on mafia houses (and within 30 miles of the town of Corleone).  At my current camp, murals and little student-made posters decorating the school walls ask for a world "senza mafia," without mafia (I will post pictures of these later).  Tourist shops sell so much mafia-related merchandise, which must be awkward for legit mafiosos strolling by.

Oh and in case you missed it, Italy just arrested 300 members of 'Ndrangheta, the mafia group based in Calabria, the region where I spent my first two weeks this summer. So yes, it's all still VERY real.

B) The area where I am now is the most polluted I have ever seen.  My host family and director have all apologized for this repeatedly.  Every morning on the way to camp, my host mom pulls over on the side of the road where a trash collection vehicle waits, and hands off a bag of trash to three or four guys who otherwise just sit there.  They have no house-to-house collection, and the sides of most roads are covered in litter.  Some of the beaches are especially dirty.  The mafia often takes funds away from local governments that would otherwise go toward these basic services...

C) Food camp was surprisingly cool, about mid-70s during mid-day.  But a few days ago it was hovering in the mid-100s here in Sicily, although it's been 10 or 15 degrees cooler lately.

D) I am really, really far from most things.  I am way closer to Tunisia than I am to Rome.  I may even be closer to Algeria than I am to Rome.  Ordinarily, this would be fine, but I'm meeting a friend up north in a couple weeks and flying out of Milan, so it could be very problematic.

E) Food camp was super organized, completely defying this stereotype.  But my Sicilian camps have been incredibly laid back. I'd heard that the south was like "a third-world country," and when I saw chickens in the street and donkeys in garages in Palermo, I believed it.  But for the most part, it's fine.  There are some problems, like how this is my first camp of the summer with fully operational bathrooms (toilets, toilet paper, and soap).  This was never a problem at the northern camps last year.


This weekend I'm trying to figure out day trips with the other tutors, probably staying in the Palermo area but possibly going down to Agrigento on the southern coast. 

Thanks for reading and I promise pictures in my next post!