My time in the Sicilian mob

I am almost one week removed from my time in Sicily and I have made some conclusions.

1. A week of cultural experiences outweighs a week of seeing the sights. On my last trip to Italy, I was very much left to my own devices. While I had someone to show me around Rome at night, most of the day I was left wandering the city by myself. I saw so many things, I don't remember them all. The draw back has been, I didn't really get to experience Rome through an Italian's eyes. More likely I saw Rome through an American's eyes visiting Italy. This is fine, but Sicily was very different. I was able to stay with a true Sicilian family in Vittoria, travel to homes of others and see more of what the average person would likely miss. I was filled with food, learned how to play with Sicilian playing cards and learned some Sicilian words. To say that I had a good time would be putting it lightly.

2. I need to stop underestimating Italian weather. Two trips to Italy, two cold experiences. Neither one would I consider bad, I just arrived and found myself ill prepared. Both times I left Romania under the impression that I would be going someplace significantly warmer, only to be slightly right. The weather in Sicily was not below freezing, but with the overcast days and it barely reaching 40 degrees, it made it colder than expected.

3. Killing with kindness. I have never eaten so much food over such a short span of time. When Eliseo told Spencer and I that Sicily was about family and food, it sounded like a great idea. Let's get the family together, have dinner and fellowship afterwards. And it is, but I walked away from most experiences feeling like my insides were about to burst. Eliseo's dad is an incredibly nice man with a very short attention span. On more than one occasion we just finished eating and he said, "So, what do you guys want for (the next meal)". I am halfway certain that Eliseo's dad believes me to be anorexic. It was every hour he would ask me if I was hungry. Everyone went out of their way to make sure I was eating as much as possible.

4. Sicily in my mind's eye. Vittoria is an actual city, but we did have the opportunity to have a meal in exactly what I envisioned Sicily to be. We were all invited to Uncle Luigi's (how great it that name) for lunch. We left the city for a small country house, surrounded by fields on both sides and greenhouses across the street. Greeted by two lovely Sicilians that were short and adorable. We had pasta for the first course and a quiche for the second. Following lunch we had the obligatory coffee and played cards for close to three hours. I can't imagine ever having the opportunity to do something like this again.

This may go down as the best trip I took while in Europe.