Jan. 20, 2025 - A LITTLE LONELY BUT YOU’RE GONNA GET USED TO IT
40 years ago, I was in the city of Rome at Christmas time. I talked to a young priest, there who spoke English and he told me, "Rome…A Lifetime is not long enough!" The same goes with any place else and this peninsula and island in the middle of the Mediterranean…
I roam the cobbled streets….
…..wherever they may take me…
But to fight the battle of the bulge and the great food, I am battling in the gym just about every day!
Some readers were curious about Gianni Gillo’s responses to my many questions. We covered a few of them, but we’ll have more for this coming Thursday:
1. What language are people speaking? Sicilian or Italian… in church and other places? Is there a future for the language of Sicily?
"The two languages exist separately. Churches preach and speak in Italian. Sicilian is no longer taught and is no longer the language of the teacher instead it is Italian. Gianni speaks Sicilian to his kids and uses Sicilian words within Italian conversation so that his kids will not grow up without the native tongue.
2. How do the schools teach language and history….are the schools secular?
Even though the schools are state operated, teachers have lots of leeway in terms of the subjects they teach and how they approach them.
3. How many people still subscribe to the old culture and old ways? Sunday dinner and nonna’s house.
"Yes…. Just about every week at mama‘s house…. and spending Sunday with the kids is a high priority."
4. Where does your family trace its history? How many generations back do you go?
The Grillos were originally sailors from Genoa. In the 1500s they found their way to the rich fishing grounds of Trapani
5. Can we talk a little bit about inter island politics? How is the west of Sicily different from the east and how the mountain regions differ from the rest of Sicily?
"There is not that kind of division in Sicily…. although the government in Rome is much more right leaning, they don’t have the divisions at home amongst family members or friends that we have in America. still for centuries there’s been the divide between the east side of the island which is very Greek in its origin and the west side of the island which is certainly more Arabic and influence by indigenous people who were here 3000 years ago and more."
Some other things I learned is that there were elephants and lions in Sicily because it was once geologically tied to Africa
They are primitive caves with bones of animals and lithographs in the hills of western Sicily…The land of the cyclops!
A LITTLE LONELY BUT YOU’RE GONNA GET USED TO IT
January 20th, 2025
Saluti,
A lot of folks have been asking me how I feel after three weeks separated from everything remotely familiar…..well….like a like a rolling stone, I guess. Mostly, I’m learning about myself. I’ve learned that I can take care of myself…even though I am pretty much disabled from arthritis and other worn out parts. I’m still an ornery and gnarly old man who just doesn’t give up. Luckily, I haven’t fallen down and haven’t crashed into any cars, but the loneliness is starting to get to me. At night, I think about going out to dinner and then I think it might be just a lonely experience. Maybe I’m like Dorothy….I’m just trying to find a way to get home… To be a pilgrim, to be on a voyage, to be on a quest that is the theme of every book I have ever read. Every piece of literature from Homer, to Melville, to Joyce to Salinger to… ET….we are all looking for home….where it’s safe and comfortable.
Language has been my biggest barrier. I’m not able to communicate with people and I have not had much human interaction except for "Thursdays with Gianni". Try as I might, I have no skills in language and it would take a long time of total immersion for me to get anything correct other than ciao, buongiorno, addio, manciamu or the phrase I most often lean on…"Mi dispiace, parlo solo inglese" (I’m sorry I only speak English!).
So I spend my time taking pictures of ancient and mostly abandoned churches because it is something that I’m familiar with…it makes my mind drift back 1000 years and more. Why were there so many churches and what did they offer to the people? Was it all just spiritual and then it dawned on me:
Sanctuary…..! Churches used to be a home were people felt safe. That is, until those who responsible for atrocious acts made it impossible for churches to be trusted. But I am still always fascinated by the idea of…sanctuary. Sanctuary is the back of the church. It’s the holiest part thus the name…from the Latin, sanctus... The right of sanctuary was an important part of medieval law. Perhaps that’s why there are so many churches in seaside towns like this…. they were providing sanctuary for the multitude of people, many of whom were refugees from the sea and obviously foreigners….immigrants but they still received sanctuary. Just as Universities are a temples of teaching and learning, churches were temples of faith and love and both exist to preserve our collective memory.
Sometimes I like to think of Bernunzio Uptown Music as a sanctuary for musicians. When I was there, Saturday was affectionately known as "church". What may look like a museum to others is actually run by a very keen cast of players who can help people find exactly what they might need in a musical instrument.. never overselling them… and always promising to stand 100% behind what they sell.
Cu la paci,
John Bernunzio
It’s been cold and rainy, but nothing compared to what they’re experiencing in Penn Yan, New York. The upcoming week promises to be sunshiny and low 60s. I’ll take it.
This was an old castle that now houses a B&B on the via Corso Victorio Emanuele… it enters into a large courtyard.
Every few days I must visit the Antico Forno Pollina. The chatter, the camaraderie and the smells have become part of my mental history. And I swear, when I have a taste of their bread I actually can think in Italian. Il pane è così sognante
just outside of Trapani in the little town of Valderice
Church graffiti