The Month Of May

On of these days I will explain to you with a proper story, why I hate helicopters. The particular specimen was observing and maintaining order at the Noto flower festival. 

This song goes some way to explaining it and can be the sound track for this blog entry.

Multimedia baby.

This month began with an unexpected religious parade on my way home.

One night we stayed up late in the cave singing beatles songs. 

It was nice.

Here's a view of the cave from the outside. 

                                                                                                                

It's kind of like indoor camping. 

Mikey G conquers the moon. 

Observing his kingdom in all it's wonder, his stance reflects the intrepid determination and courage he has shown in undertaking the mighty task.

                                                             Ch-ch-check out the view.

 A concert on two balconies as two separate artists battle, track for track, on the old Baroque architecture.

 This is English lunch (language not food).

A long time ago Arci used to be the cultural department of the communist party. It since broke off and does lots of activities and events. My other EVS mates do their volunteering at the Arci.






The English lunch can result in all sorts of capers. Like the time I hilariously put  an orange peel in my mouth.

"Just keep it in there" They said.

Hilarious.

Football!

The bus to football.

Here's my lawyer mate Antonio on his scooter. Asking for directions - Sicilian style.

My good friend Kaj defying gravity.

 In your face gravity.

"Bufalo mozzarella... born to conquer the world."

Question mark.

Me and my main man Mamadou.

But where is his hand?

Climbing up a rock.

Mr Aziz.

AKA

                            Mr Ro...

                                                                Ro...

                                                                                                  ...RoMANTIC

Flower festival in Noto.

Twins.

I stood near them for a bit and they didn't speak.

I think they communicate telepathically.

Amusing ourselves with little wind mills.

The most hectic ordering of sandwiches possible.









"You are here."


Sicilian Style.









New sound track related to my discovering new aspects of Italian culture. Press Play.

Posing.

Posing with Samy

Posing.

Posing with the Barrs.

 Posing.

Posing on a Rock.

 Posing.

Posing on a beach.

Posing.

Posing with Mr Lover Lover.

Posing.

Posing a threat.

Things I Did in April.

Played some music in Mistero Buffo; a cultural centre where my friend Kaj does his EVS. I've not been playing much here, instead focusing my energies on writing...











...in my cave! This was when I was moving in. Not a great picture, but I'll give you the full tour sometime. This is in Acireale, where Mistero Buffo is, a bit out of Catania. Since I've had this place my mental health has improved significantly.

Spent a day with the anti-mafia caravan. Very interesting.

 "If you know how to count, start walking." The theme was to tie the crisis into problems caused by the mafia. One of the most surprising things I've learnt here is how much the mafia supports capitalism.










I worked at the Centro Astalli as usual. This is one of the doctors posing with one of his patients. I think they get on pretty well.

Saw this thing in a restaurant. Waxtastic.

 Went to a minifestival at a big park with this view. Jealous? You should be.

Watched Etna explode.

Again.
  

Got rained on by volcanic dust. These are piles of it in Acireale town square.















 Went on a mission with Lillit and my new BFF Joe. Great guy. Gone now. She's ok.

Explored a town famous for it's Pistachios called Bronte. Didn't see any pistachios. Did see hanging rubbish. Apparently Nelson's descendants have an estate around here? Sicily's history is unbelievable.

Spent a lot of time with this Cuban scallywag.

 

That's basically it I think. May will be up here soon. Let me know if there are things in particular you want to know about life here... I'm intending to do a couple of entries about my daily life.

I miei

In April my parents came to visit. If you haven't met them, I will introduce them to you.

This is them looking at a shrub.

This is my mother; Annalisa. She is from Biella, in Piedmont. In this picture she is playing with an instrument which makes noise a bit like thunder. Or a volcano.

This is my step father; Roberto. He is from Civitavecchia, near Rome. In this picture he has just peeled us all an orange. After meal times he always peels and chops some fruit for everyone. 

These are my flat mates/sisters . I haven't introduced you to them yet in this blog. Their time will come. I did introduce them to my parents though and they got on like a house on fire.

 

This is an important photo because it captures the first time I drank coffee with my parents; an important moment for any young Italian. I was only about 10 years late but there we go.

(It was actually decaf cappucino but I still think it counts)

This is an important photo because I love ice-cream. 

They were very good guests. They cooked all the time and the bathroom had never been so clean.







Together we went up Mt Etna who was grumbling very loudly that day (and then erupted later that evening).

We went into a cave. But only for a bit, because it felt like it was about to fall down.







Incredibly, we saw her blow a smoke ring! Mad skills Etna. Mad skills.

I took them to my Grotto, where I do my writing in peace and quiet.

They took a nap.

We went to Taormina and had a nice chat. The view of Etna from the Roman amphitheatre was incredible. They sometimes do concerts here, which must be pretty cool.

In Sicily there is a long tradition of plays acted out by puppets, called 'Pupi'. We went to see one of these plays. It was epic. The voices sounded like God, the heroes were noble and the fight scenes were classic. Bit long but I loved it. 

In this scene, an arab warrior just slayed a few European, but then gets taken down by an angel. Awesome.

I was happy to have them visit because I had not seen them for two months. When I was a long way away I missed them loads so now I try not to stay away from them so much. Or so far.

Ciao mamma, ciao Roberto.

Typical Sicilian dish. Translated into English.