Coming of Age on Mt. Etna

Written by Sam D'Anna, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

Where were you on your 21st birthday? Most Americans can answer this question without having to think for more than a second. I most certainly will be able to do the same in years to come. I doubt most people can say they had the privilege of spending their 21st on top of Mt. Etna, Europe’s most active volcano (the second most active in the world).

Guided by our charismatic and knowledgeable volcanologist Sandro Privitera, we hiked around the north face of Etna at around 3,000 feet for the entire afternoon. The temperature was fair and the sky clear.

It sounds crazy, but the only thing I wanted more was for an eruption to occur. Most people would think this an absurd thing to wish for on your 21st birthday, especially if you’re standing atop an active volcano like Mt. Etna.

“What do we do if there is an eruption,” our professoressa, the one and only Paola Servino asked Sandro. He assured us that if an eruption occurred, there would be plenty of time to descend to safer ground, unless it was of unusual magnitude. Sure enough within a half hour of our conversation, Mt. Etna erupted. Twice.

We couldn’t see lava nor could we feel the ground tremble, but we could see the smoke billowing from the top crater. It was a spectacle that will be impossible to forget. My first birthday wish fulfilled on the day of my birthday! I’m still waiting on the others, but I’m confident they are on the way. One must always be patient in Sicily.

As the day winded down and the time came to return to Catania, I felt tired, sun burnt, and proud of having done something different than the norm on my 21st. Of course, when the night came, I didn’t exactly “tuck-in” early.

After enjoying a lovely dinner of fresh calamari with my roommates, we decided to head to the town center, or the centro of Catania. As I was prancing around Piazza Università in my suit and the fake plastic crown that my roommates forced me to wear, Sicilians stares and point at me. I was easily recognized as just another American. However, I couldn’t have felt more at home on my birthday amongst my Sicilian and American friends here in Catania.

Volunteership and Language Learning

Written by Lucas Gelwarg, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

I wanted to improve my Italian language skills outside of my classes, so my Resident Director introduced me to Rosalba Rasà who is the owner and manager of a daycare center in Catania. Rosalba asked me if I would like to volunteer to help out with the children’s summer program—and I said yes!

For my first outing with the group we went to the beach. Before we went swimming, we sang and danced to some music. The children loved the YMCA song, but unfortunately I did not know all the lyrics. I had brought a meat sandwich to the beach and the children all thought it was funny that I would eat such a heavy food in the morning.

All the kids put on their swimmies and we went into the water. The water was so refreshing, at least for someone who is used to going to the beach in Maine. I jumped right in, but the water was too cold for some of the other kids. Marco, a thirteen-year-old who also helps out, wanted to race me to the buoy, and we had a little race for fun.

After everyone got out of the water, Marco asked me to help him get a sea urchin to show to the kids. While everyone else was drying off, we dived down and found one. We brought it over to the area where people were drying off, and everyone was so amazed by this curious creature. The teacher started explaining what it was to the kids. After everyone was dried off, we all got ice cream from the refreshment stand and enjoyed the rays of the sun. At around one o’clock, we went back to the daycare and watched Toy Story. I loved practicing my Italian with bambini—I can’t wait to return!

La Sicilia Press

This week famed TV and print journalist Maria Torrisi led our Journalism and Documentary students on a guided tour of the printing facility for the regional daily newspaper La Sicilia. In addition to the 700,000 copies of La Sicilia produced here daily, the facility also prints national papers like Il sole 24 Ore, La Repubblica, and Tutto Sport.

These large containers hold yellow, red , blue, and black inks. The black ink container is the largest, as it is used for the newspaper's typeface. The primary color inks are mixed to produce a variety of shades used in color photographs and graphics displayed in the paper.

This enormous press holds an army of rotating cylinders. After a laser ray has etched the day's news onto a sheet of aluminum, the sheet is wrapped around these cylinders. Ink is applied to the aluminum etching and the spinning cylinders are pressed against kilometers of newspaper.

Literally hundreds of kilometers of paper. Per day, the facility uses about 35 rolls of recycled newspaper, pictured below. The paper is imported from Russia, France, and Nordic countries.

After the paper is pressed, it is cut and folded, on the machine pictured below.

Great tour! Thanks Maria Torrisi!

Watch out! Observing the traffic in Catania

Written by Derek Olson, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

I didn’t notice the motorcylce until it zoomed inches in front of me. I had removed my eyes from the road to observe the restaurants to the left as I walked along the catanese streets. Paying close attention is a necessity on the streets of Catania. The road system looks more like bumper cars with BMW motorcycles and Vespa scooters weaving through the entanglement. Of course the road isn’t a county fair ride, so bumping is strictly prohibited.

Now immagine crossing this confusion without a pedestrian light indicating when to go. If there’s one thing people don’t wait for in Italy, it’s crossing the street. One must cautiously creep into the chaos before it slows down to allow you to cross. Even in the few intersections that have crosswalk lights, I felt uneasy at first. Cars and motorcycles making left turns will sinuously wrap around the pedestrians in the crosswalk. But after a few weeks, it’s beginning to feel more natural. The biggest bumper car collisions I ever experienced were the T-bone crashes I didn’t see coming. Thus, I have learned that eye contact, assertion, and awareness are the most important skills for a pedestrian.

Crossing an intersection is almost the same process for vehicles. Most intersections don’t have stop signs or stop lights. Cars and trucks inch forward until they demand their own right of way. By far, the most incredible part of Catania’s traffic is the way the drivers whip around the diminutive street corners missing the parked cars by centimeters on each side. However, sometimes side streets in the city really are too small. While riding in the car with my friend Riccardo, he took a turn that proved impossible to make with a car parked on the corner. Thankfully, the bump didn’t leave a mark.

Despite the frenetic appearance to a foreigner, the system seems to work well. It fits the layout of the city with it’s winding side streets intersecting each other every fifty meters. I know I won’t drive in the frenzy but perhaps on a back road, one of our Italian friends will teach me how to drive manual transmission like a European.

The Sea in Sicilia

Written by Theodore Choi, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

Since the age of four, I have loved going to the beach. Whenever I was at a beach, I considered myself to be on vacation. Although I hated the sand slipping into my shoes and irritating my feet while I walked, I loved being near the water. The beach has always lured me back to watch the ocean move around the land mass that serves as its boundary.

Last night, as I celebrated my birthday, I hoped to be able to visit the beach. Fortunately, a Sicilian friend was able to drive us to a part of Catania that was new to me, a new beach for me to enjoy. Although I am aware that Sicily is an island, and that I am surrounded by water, it was relieving to my mind to witness the ocean firsthand. Maybe it was because it was at night, but the tranquil nighttime beachscape was quite a change from the daytime bustle of the city’s center. The beach, deserted at this late hour, calmed my nerves.

The particular scent of the beach was what did it in. The salty perfume is much stronger on the Sicilian shore than on any beach in the United States and the water rolls softly onto the sand. A slight glow from the moon reflected off the froth that accumulated as small waves eased their way into the larger body of water.
It was almost as if the sea was an instrument playing the music of crashing waves. I have been to many beaches in my life, and I know that tourists crowd them and disrupt their natural flow.

Here in Catania, where non-European tourists are uncommon, it seems that the ocean reflects the attitude of the people, who seem more relaxed living their daily lives than the people I see back in the States. This assurance of peace and calm has helped me embrace the people, culture, and language even more.

Time in Sicily

Written by Derek Olson, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

In Sicily, my American anxiety for the proverbial value of time, and time lost, is put to the test. However, even if I wanted to live the same frenetic life I lead in the States, I wouldn’t have the energy here. Before coming to Italy I never considered how exhausting a full-immersion language experience would be. That must mean it’s working.

There is a wonderful atmosphere of tranquility in Sicily, Italy’s deep south. Though I enjoy this repose, acclimating to it requires a patience I never could have managed at home. As our professor Paola Servino remarked on the first day of class, “In Italy, one must always wait.” Convenience stores don’t inhabit every street corner to instantly fulfill my shopping needs. Fortunately, there is a fair trade off; every block has a panificio or pasticceria with delicious snacks and delectable sweets.

Running errands can be frustrating here but not because of the distance one must walk to a specialized shop. This city is enjoyable on foot. However, on more than one occasion I have traversed half way across the city to find a store closed. Most shops have slightly irregular hours and everything shuts down for an afternoon break called “la pausa.” In fact, the city becomes rather quiet during the hottest part of the day (see photo of Piazza Teatro Massimo, above). There are more than 20 times as many people in the city center at 2am than 2pm. Though the afternoon is quiet, the night life is more active than Mount Etna. The quiescent afternoon erupts into amicable gathering at night. (See photo of Teatro Massimo at night, below).

Sicilians, who consider themselves distinct from other Italians, have a few things they are proud of: their food, their families, but above all their people. I am amazed by the alacrity with which they make friendships. I grew up believing personal accomplishments to be the most fulfilling part of life, but for Sicilians, relationships are the true treasures. Simply put, Americans live to work, and Sicilians work to live. Experiencing these different philosophies is the greatest cultural exchange I could have.

Winding Down, Looking Back

Written by Angela Pisoni, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

As the semester comes to an end, the students are thinking about their favorite CET activities and how the program could have flown by so quickly. Below are some of Angela Pisoni's favorite memories from the Traveling Seminar to Rome.

It is difficult to believe that we’re approaching the final two weeks of our Catanese semester! It seems like yesterday that we took to the skies to travel to Roma for the three-day Traveling Seminar. Leading the way were our Resident Directory Janet Lawrence and Sicilian history professor Ivana Santonocito.

After checking into our hotel on Friday morning, we wasted no time in beginning our Roman adventure. First stop, no surprise, was The Vatican followed by the Sistine Chapel. To our relief, we were able to skip the seemingly endless line to meet our amazing tour guide, who led us through The Vatican Museums, imparting knowledge along the way in a perfect mixture of Italian and English. Later we had a delicious group dinner.
Saturday was chock full of many wonderful sights – the Colosseum, Roman Forum, and Museo di Risorgimento.

After the full morning, we had the afternoon free to discover Roma for ourselves. We visited many ‘must-sees’ including the Spanish Steps and Trevi Fountain (where many a coin was tossed!).

For the final piece of our Roman escapade, we visited Villa Borghese, home of the second largest park in Roma, as well as the Galleria Borghese. Needless to say, it was the perfect bookend for our Roman traveling seminar – bellissimo! Later in the day we all parted ways to embark on our respective spring break travels. Ciao, Roma!

Looking back, I see this trip as the perfect anchor for my semester in Catania, because it provided both a bonding experience for the group and a better understanding of how Sicily fits into the broader context of Italian history.

Edited by Janet Lawrence, Resident Director.