"Chi vuole poesia, venga in Sicilia"

Blog #1
September 11, 2010

“Cu’ voli puisia, vegna n’Sicilia” (dialect)

“Chi vuole poesia, venga in Sicilia” (Italian)

A clearer translation; those who seek poetry come to Sicily. Words that once rang true for me, but now, as I return from my first walk down the beach, I have the taste of disappointment and salt in my mouth.

My first week in Piacenza has come and gone, and I have yet to process the emotional roller-coaster I’ve been taken on. Putting aside the sadness of saying goodbye to friends and family at home, ‘settling’ into a new city, new apartment, and new school has been draining on many levels.

Thinking it would be comparable to moving to Boston, I feel that the totality of the whole concept has become very clear to me now. EVERYTHING has changed, and will continue to change as these initial weeks go by.

Last summer when I visited Piacenza for a day, I was able to get a general feel for the area. Being from Southern Italy and having grown up in that culture, I knew last year that Piacenza was a whole different ballpark. Even knowing this in advance, I was still shocked by how early everything closes and the ‘keep to your-self’ kind of New York mentality. It’s hard to describe in adjectives, but I can give an example: I asked a woman in the street where I could buy wine at 2pm, and she replied that she didn’t have time for a conversation and rushed away. Obviously one woman’s attitude doesn’t reflect a whole city, but as more and more of these ‘non-typical’ Italian experiences occur, I’m beginning to understand that Piacenza is not the Italy you see in the movies. It’s a normal, non-tourist town with plenty of history, but no real crowd-drawers. It is genuine Northern culture at best. Signs of hope? Pockets of immigrant areas, €1.30 cappuccinos from heaven, and students from all over the world to arrive in the next week or two. Don’t be mistaken, I’m not complaining. Simply searching for similarities and differences to my own cultures in order to cope, discover, and adjust. Once school begins, and I have a routine, I know I’ll feel more at ease.

The most stressful day so far was moving into the apartment and meeting the landlords. The three of us, Bobby, Beth and I had to shelve out an additional €600 for a security deposit we had not anticipated. Being that we had no choice and really liked the apartment, we paid the extra and signed away. We did a lottery at random to pick who got each bedroom. Luckily I chose one of the two big ones. It’s looking very bland right now, but I hope with time to make it feel more like a ‘home’. So far I hung a poster of Manhattan, my Yankee hat, and rosary beads. What a summary of me! Unfortunately there are very strict rules about hanging things on the wall in my lease. I tried to use that putty stuff, but it won’t hold some heavier things up like a photo calendar my friend Amanda made me before I left. And it’s already leaving a residue on the walls. Goodbye security deposit!

Back to the present- why am I so disappointed about Sicily? I guess I had expectations based on the last few times I was there. For me, the only way to describe it is: when you look at something very closely, after all the beauty and excitement has been stripped away, sometimes it’s not so perfect anymore. The flaws are more evident. This applies to people too.

I saw Castellammare after all the festivals, after the tourist season, the summer economic boom….and what was left? Completely empty shops and restaurants, polluted beaches, and the feeling of ‘they came, they saw, they conquered’. I guess what I’m trying to say is that while I’m glad I went, had some fun experiences, and visited with family, the magic of it was not there this time. It’s like going to Disney World without the music and characters.

I guess the lesson is not to have too many expectations. But that’s part of what makes us human. We dream, we hope, and then we plan. Sometimes we get lucky, and if not, we start the dreaming process all over again.

Jackie <3