Farewell to Sicily

Tomorrow is my last day in Sicily. Although I have enjoyed my stay, I did not appreciate the Sicilian culture as much as I thought I would. I learned a lot about Sicilian life, food, organic farming, Tai Chi and my personal ability to work as a laborer in a commune environment at Casa Della Acque.

Although the people were very nice, I have found at Casa Della Acque that we are viewed as free labor. The lesson learned is how to overcome my pride and be a subservient laborer as part of the growth process. It is a very humbling experience and I was having some difficulty at the end. Since I am older than most Wwoofers by 30 plus years, perhaps my experience is different, but the younger Wwoofers I have met here felt the same way.

This is very hard work and I am really feeling my age lately with the heavy labor required to pick oranges and haul the crates of oranges. My body is very tired. I just do not have the energy of the younger people, but I did not want to get any special treatment, so I have been doing as much if not more than the other Wwoofers. This morning I could barely get out of bed and my knee is really starting to hurt. I definitely need a few days rest. It really sucks being older.

Living in a commune environment requires a clear understanding of each person’s responsibility. In Sicily nothing is that organized. It created tension between the Wwoofers and the people living at Casa Della Acque. I am trying not to judge the environment too harshly because I really enjoyed my stay and I felt that it was a real growth experience. Also, the commune was a combination of Sicilian men, Germans, a Belgium lady, a French lady, an Estonian man, and three Americans. Talk about a culture jigsaw puzzle.

Sicilian men, what can I say? One the one hand they are more arrogant than Italian men and they have major egos. Conquering women is an ego boost for them. I do not want to generalize, since my exposure has been very limited in Sicily, but that is what I experienced. I apologize in advance to all my wonderful male Sicilian friends back home.

It was a sad farewell as I passed the baton to another Wwoofer for Peter and Haide, the donkeys. The hardest part of leaving is the animals. It really makes me want to have a farm some day.

Tonight was a birthday party for Nela, who turned 30 years old. Ellen, the Belgium woman who lives here, and Alfonso were making pasta as a special treat for Nela. Since they had never made ravioli before, I was helping them. They filled some with beets and ricotta cheese and parmesan cheese; they were delicious. The others were filled with a wild flower called Borge with gorgonzola cheese and garlic. It was spectacular also. As a tradition in Sicily, our dinner started at 9:30pm. It was a long night.

I leave first thing tomorrow for a long two day trip to Abruzzo. I am so excited to be going to where my ancestors were. I feel that this is really the primary purpose of the trip. I will be cooking for the Easter Holiday, which is one of the major holidays in Italy.

Ciao for now.