The Mount Etna Miracles

Written by Janet Lawrence, Resident Director

Mount Etna may be best known for its eruptions, hot lava, and destruction, but it also has a niche in the miracle department.

This Saturday, CET Catania united with CET Siena and CET Florence for a tour of Catania's mistress from above, Mount Etna. It was a rainy, misty day and our guide Sandro worried the fog would obscure the view of the summit.

During our tour, the group traced the oldest vestiges of Etna's volcanic rock on the shores of Aci Castello to its newest output at the volcano's summit.

The 500,000-year-old volcanic rock on the shore has been smoothed and rounded by the

Mediterrenean water so that it interlocks

like cobble-stones. Quite different from the brand new, flinty charcoal-like substance that we would find on the volcano's summit. It erupted from the volcano just a few weeks ago.

As we made our way up the mountain, we learned about Etna miracles. The veil of Sant'Agata was said to have shielded sacred objects from oncoming lava at various moments in history. Then, during the 1991-93 eruption, the town of Zafferano was nearly overtaken by hot magma.

Our students visited the site where the lava flow miraculously stopped--just a few short kilometers from the city center. Of course, Etna's inhabitants haven't always been so lucky--we also saw the rooftops of homes that were swallowed up during eruptions.

Then our very own miracle--the thick fog parted as we made the final ascent to the Silvester Craters, near the summit of Etna. A corridor of blue sky emerged through which we had an unobstructed view from the craters to the Mediterrenean shoreline far below.

Sandro, a man who has made a career of studying this feisty volcano, said he had never seen the view look so particularly beautiful.

Are You Hungry Yet?

Written by Ariel Goldenthal, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

First of all, let’s be honest. The reason for the large number of students who choose Italy as their study abroad destination is the food. Sure, the weather is heavenly—especially here in Catania—and the history, art, and architecture are beautiful, but Italian cuisine is legendary.

Having been here for a month now, the five other CET students - Tess, Sam, Angela, Julie, May - and I have gotten to experience quite a range of pasta. The pasta that dreams are made of. Admittedly, our first night cooking was not particularly successful. For a few of us, this is the first time living in an apartment with other students. We quickly realized that cooking for eight people was going to be a challenge. We started out simply, just pasta with sauce (or salsa, as it is called here) and spinach (spinaci). Our table was set, we had bought bread from the local panificio (bakery) and we were quite proud of ourselves.

The pasta wasn’t perfect; there was a bit too much spinach and just not enough sauce. We gobbled it up anyway.

But we have improved since then. Our resident chef, Julie Hooper, maintains that cooking is relaxing, therapeutic, and, simply, what she wants to do. And try as we might to keep up, the rest of us can’t compare. Several conversations regarding dinner have consisted of us trying to explain to Julie that we don't know how to just throw something together! But we keep trying, and hopefully soon we will soak up Julie’s culinary knowledge through our stomachs.

Over the past month, we've moved beyond pasta and sauce. We are trying new things; after all, that’s what study abroad is all about! Our first step was to branch out and start buying food the Italian way: at one of the outdoor markets in Catania.

On a recent Saturday morning, we decided to brave the famous fish market. True to the stories, we started to smell the fish market as we began to cross the Piazza del Duomo and head down the steps into the extremely crowded mercato.

We tried to dodge the puddles of questionable, fishy liquid on the cobblestone ground as our minds reeled from the crowd. Although we couldn’t quite understand what the fishermen were shouting in Sicilian dialect, we did understand that, much like learning to cook for eight people, this too, was going to be a challenge. As we eyed the abundance of fish: skin, bones, eyes, and all, we all wondered how on earth we were supposed to cook it.

While we considered what we would cook that evening, we split up and wandered through the meat, fruit and vegetable sections of the market.

Finally, we rendezvoused with a plan: artichokes and swordfish for dinner. Since the cuts of swordfish available were in steak form, we felt confident that we could cook them.

Well, the other students felt confident. I keep kosher, and so I was exempt from the swordfish venture. I assigned myself to artichoke duty.

About an hour later, we were all sitting happily at the table. Our neighbors probably heard the compliments that filtered out of our kitchen: the swordfish was a hit. It turns out that while learning to cook in Italy, it’s best to take Miss Frizzle’s advice: “Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!”

As long as we don’t end up inside a swordfish, I’d say we’re doing a pretty good job.

Edited by Janet Lawrence, Resident Director.

See ya Starbucks, Wine and Book is the place to be

Posted by Tess Raser, Student, CET Intensive Language and Culture Studies in Catania.

As a college student, I am used to grabbing my books and heading to Starbucks when I desire a social studying environment. I can cram for the next exam, write that final paper, or meet with friends and chat over our favorite java beverages.

In Catania, it’s a little different. Of course there are more cafes serving delectable espresso drinks than I can count. However, the place where I go with fellow CET students to study and reflect on our Sicilian days, is called Macondo Wine and Book Cafe.

The first time I saw the small shop’s name, just a block away from the Residence, I was intrigued. It stood out among the panificios (bread shops), pizzerias, and gelaterias. And it seemed that every time we passed by, the shop was closed. That is, until one Wednesday night when May, another CET student, and I walked past it and saw the lights on. Excited, we ran home and grabbed our compiti (homework) and returned with painted grins.

When we arrived the door was locked even though minutes before a man had been standing inside. The lights were all still on. All we could do was stare through the window and watch a computer’s screensaver, a fake flickering fire with candy corn in place of flames and pretzel sticks in place of logs. A couple minutes later, a hip-looking couple arrived on a Vespa and casually said, “He probably just went for a walk or something.” At that moment, May Bayer (middle, pictured with Julie Hooper and Angela Pisoni, CET 2011) and I remembered that we were still in Sicily. This was not unusual.


Eventually the man returned, and we were finally able to enter the mysterious shop. The walls are bright orange and covered in tall, wooden bookshelves, which hold hundreds of books—some old, some new, some tall, some short, some green, some written by Spanish authors, some by Japanese. The only book we could focus on was the wine menu on the table in front of us. There are wines from all over Europe and Sicily in particular. We got generous-sized glasses of wine and a plate of fresh bruschetta; the perfect accompaniment to Italian language homework. Of course, we couldn’t do homework forever and soon were distracted by the shopkeeper’s dog.

Since then, every time we’ve returned to Wine and Book, there has been a different dog there. On our first visit, we played with what I think was a very chubby pitbull, pictured above. That day, while we smiled, smitten, at the dog, an older man sitting across from us was also smiling at the dog. Perhaps because of our mutual love of dogs, he asked if we wanted to play with the checkerboard set on his table. Instead, we challenged him to a game. Embarrassingly, May and I lost. It was a two-versus-one game, but he was a particularly tricky opponent.

Still, the defeat has not stopped us from returning to Wine and Book, and we have gone back several times with our other housemates. We hope to get through the whole wine book. After all, the only thing more embarrassing than losing that checkers match, would be returning home from Italy and not being wine connoisseurs.

Edited by Janet Lawrence, Resident Director.