L'ultimo Giorno

I am currently sitting outside of our hotel, looking out at the beautiful landscape, trying to take everything in before we leave tomorrow. I have been reminiscing on all of the places we’ve seen, the incredible food we have had and all of the information that we have absorbed within the past week. The saying “time flies when you’re having fun” is applicable to this trip. I feel as if we got off the plane yesterday. I am not ready to leave this beautiful place, I don’t think any of us really are. The memories that I have made here in Sicily will always be with me. I am thankful that I had the opportunity to travel with professors and classmates to a culturally and historically rich island. Today was our leisure day so we were able to sleep in a little bit longer. Jaymie, Michaella, Evelyn and I ended up going out for lunch and by lunch I mean gelato and granitas. Yes, we had gelato and granitas for lunch. They were delicious as expected. Though I am sad we are leaving, I know the memories from this trip will last a life time!

I also wanted to share some of my favorite photos from our trip: 

Jaymie in Cefalù

Island of Ortigia

Me and Michaella in Cefalù

Me, Michaella and Jaymie on Mt. Etna

Through My Camera Lens

My camera lens has been focused on the landscape and vegetation of Sicily over the past week. Though I expected the island to be beautiful, I am still surprised every time I look out the hotel window or go on an excursion with the group.  As my family and I rarely venture out of New England, it's been an incredible experience to live in such a different environment, even for a short period of time.  My complete awe at Sicily's landscape and vegetation has been documented in the many photos I've taken.

Palm tree in front of the Cathedral of Palermo

View of Palermo from Monreale

Overlooking the coast of Cefalù

Waves crashing against the rocks at Cefalù

Overlooking the coast of Agrigento

I never thought I would see a real lemon tree, climb an active volcano, or window-shop in a small Italian town such as Taormina, and doing so has given me a greater understanding of some of the elements of Italian culture I've studied in the many Italian courses I've taken at Mount Holyoke.

Sicilian Poems

During my time in Sicily, I've fallen in love with its rich landscape and cultural history. Everytime I look out my window on the bus, I feel like the velvet blues and purples of the landscape have crawled into my heart.

Because I have been so inspired by the local scenery, I have written several poems based on the sights and sounds of Sicily. Though I will probably end up revising them, I thought it would be nice to post them to this blog for feedback and for you all to (hopefully) enjoy.

UNTITLED SEA POEM:

She throws the coral
back into the sea,
where it is snagged
in the waves' net.

Tangled wires hold
it back from returning
to the shore,
perpetually trapped in place
for a sailor that will never come.

BUSINESS PARTNER:

The night comes on the mountain
and Rosalia is awake,
she watches as the sky slowly sheds
off its dress revealing dark, lumpy flesh
broken out in a million stars.

She watches as the sky stretches
until its back until it becomes taut,
its muscles squeezing down on the earth.
Its warm sweat dripping like nebula light
down its calves.

She wonders if she will ever feel as comfortable
in her skin as the sky does.

AMERICANS IN SICILY: PORTRAITS

Piazza Armerina, Mount Etna, Taormina, Catania. Just two days and yet, thanks to our organized guide Tita and driver Carmelo, we were able to enjoy places that are so different from each other and, only a few weeks ago in the confined space of our Clapp classroom, so remote and exotic. The Roman mosaics in Piazza Armerina; the beautiful, almost unreachable town of Taormina, perched up a steep hill [thank you, Carmelo, for taking those curves ever so slowly today]; the mysterious, dangerous but (as we learned) much beloved Mount Etna; Catania’s Baroque churches and monasteries and a final, unexpected, treat, Aci Castello and Aci Trezza, where we admired the ‘very’ house that inspired Verga’s Malavoglia, the set for Luchino Visconti’s La terra trema and the ‘very’ rocks that Polyphemus threw at Ulysses.

Today, Ulrich and I took our morning jog to a new level (literally) when we decided to run up the hill to the ruins of the Moorish castle. The view, needless to say, was even more breathtaking than the already amazing view from Taormina: Etna on the right and the Calabrian coast on the left. There were no cars, no noise, no people, just us and a few birds.

In a few minutes, we’ll head downstairs to enjoy Jazzy’s oral presentation. Yesterday it was Michaella’s turn, about Mount Etna, and we ended up with a Geology discussion. Maybe we should do the whole semester in Sicily…

Mimi in Piazza Armerina

Jazzy in Piazza Armerina

Alberta in Piazza Armerina

Anne Gabrielle in Piazza Armerina

Luckily, Michaella did not fall inside Etna, as she had an oral presentation later that day

Daring photographer Briana on Etna

Jaymie and Michaella in Taormina

Nancy Drew is not auditioning for a Wes Anderson movie, she is just stylish...

Happi in a rare moment of rest, and in between granitas

not quite at the castle yet, but already declaring victory...

Taormina from the castle with mainland Italy in the background

Swordfish at the Catania market

group picture in Catania. Left to right: Mark, Paula, Emma, Priscilla, Briana, Jazzy, Michaella,  Ombretta, Anne Gabrielle, Evelyn, Tita (our guide), Jaymie, Lauren, Maddie

The Malavoglia house in Aci Trezza

Polyphemus' rocks

Mighty Mt. Etna

There is a powerful monster buried beneath Mt. Etna. 

He is the son of Gaia (earth) and Tartarus (Stormy pit prison of the Titans), and one of the giants who revolted against the gods. As punishment for his wrongdoings, Zeus (or according to some, Athena) captured him and crushed him under the weight of the mountain. Great wings sprout from his back, coils of vipers wrap around his legs and wind up to his head, and his eyes glow bright with fire.

Zeus battling Typhon

Yesterday, we visited this terrible creature--or at least the mountain on top of him--and walked around one of the volcano's dormant small craters. The visit began cool and foggy with a light rain, but after lunch the sun began to peek through the clouds.

                

Mt. Etna is a complex stratovolcano with 4 main craters and over 300 small craters. It has the longest recorded eruptive history in the world and has been visited by and written about and visited by famous historical figures such as Emperor Hadrian, Virgil, Pindar, and Homer.

  Needless to say, our visit was pretty incredible.