Sicily

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Hello Everybody!

I am planning to study in Sicily-Italy for one year. Next week we will go there as family and see the island and we are wishing to have some good time there. But the problem is, things people say about Sicily and Sicilians are not good. I wonder if anyone can help me about it? I will go and see how it is next week but before that i want to know what you think. Anyone ever been in Sicily? What do you think about life in Sicily, Sicilians?

Thnak you!

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@grasshopper,

One of the reasons to travel is to dispel preconceived ideas about a nation or a people. I suspect that once there, and with the usual care and precautions that visitors to any foreign nation should take, you will find the people of Sicily just like the people in your own town---no better and certainly no worse!
Have a great time.
John

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@grasshopper,

grasshopper;80314 wrote:

Hello Everybody!

I am planning to study in Sicily-Italy for one year. Next week we will go there as family and see the island and we are wishing to have some good time there. But the problem is, things people say about Sicily and Sicilians are not good. I wonder if anyone can help me about it? I will go and see how it is next week but before that i want to know what you think. Anyone ever been in Sicily? What do you think about life in Sicily, Sicilians?

Thnak you!

Hello Grasshopper, do you speak the language, or at least have a rudimentary understanding of it?

William

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@grasshopper,

jg's advice is the best for any adventure, absolutely.

from my experience of living in a foreign country, i can say that no matter what you will have heard or read, there will be no comparison to what you actually experience and learn for yourself. a year is good so you will have time to collect some meaningful ideas. if you stick with the students, you can do little but compare their impressions of sicilians to your own-but if you choose to immerse yourself in the sicilian culture you will learn the most. just be careful to get an idea of their etiqeutte first so you dont overstep any bounds of courtesy.

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@salima,

salima;80341 wrote:

just be careful to get an idea of their etiqeutte first so you dont overstep any bounds of courtesy.

Don't exagerate too. No need to kiss the hand of every older man. But if you do, perhaps you will be asked to do him a little "favour". And be careful with the girls, some have a bad-tempered fratello. Hm, you know to handle a knife no?

Ah, Sicilian Pride and Western Prejudice... Laughing

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@Catchabula,

My youngest son is married to a Sicilian.Dont worry if your a student,your of very little interest to the mafia.They,i hear, select only the very big companies for attention.Like every country,do as the Romans do...

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@William,

William;80329 wrote:

Hello Grasshopper, do you speak the language, or at least have a rudimentary understanding of it?

William

I am a current Italian Scientific High School student here in Istanbul. We came here today and well, once more, i experienced that people talk talk talk talk.. without knowing anything at all! Yeah well it is a poor place respect Florence, Torino ecc.. that i have visited before but people and food are better than thoose places that people say that are more developed- My only problem(at least for now) that i may be bored here but not having many places-chances of entertainment i may actually start reading more books and hang together with old people here(since there are many!) and listen to them stories 'when i was at your aggggeeeee...'
i may even get back home as a mature person, that knows a lot more about herself because it is silent here, not much to do. Can you believe that people actually walk to their school in MAX. 10 minuti? it takes AT LEAST 45 min. for me to go to school in the morning:) (with school bus)

WISH ME LUCK Y'ALL:)

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@grasshopper,

:perplexed: you were from italy and going to school in istanbul and you ask what sicily is like? i should think you would find it most familiar...

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@salima,

Oh my an italian asking us what a part of italys like...:perplexed:

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@grasshopper,

I wouldn't be so quick to come to those conclusions Salima and xris as you are attempting to understand grasshoppers perception. It could be understood there are significant differences between Italian thought and Sicilian thought such as can be between the Indian and the Pakistany or the English and the Irish, for instance.

William

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@William,

William;81094 wrote:

I wouldn't be so quick to come to those conclusions Salima and xris as you are attempting to understand grasshoppers perception. It could be understood there are significant differences between Italian thought and Sicilian thought such as can be between the Indian and the Pakistany or the English and the Irish, for instance.

William

I think your being generous William.I think you will find Pakistan and India are two diferent countries so are Ireland and England.Italy and Sicily are one and the same.I think you will find Italians would or should have more idea than any here.

1 Reply

@xris,

xris;81109 wrote:

I think your being generous William.I think you will find Pakistan and India are two diferent countries so are Ireland and England.Italy and Sicily are one and the same.I think you will find Italians would or should have more idea than any here.

Thank you xris for thinking my thoughts generous, but after all it is grasshopper's journey from his perspective as it indicates a difference from his "Italian" nature to that which is "Sicilian". Let's respect that for it is his journey. Let us only aid in that journey, rather than trying to influence it from our unique perspective. We are not 'grasshopper'! Smile

Thanks again,
William

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@William,

Ahh yun glass hopper needs gluidance flom the master.:bigsmile:

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@William,

William;81094 wrote:

I wouldn't be so quick to come to those conclusions Salima and xris as you are attempting to understand grasshoppers perception. It could be understood there are significant differences between Italian thought and Sicilian thought such as can be between the Indian and the Pakistany or the English and the Irish, for instance. William

hi william-
i didnt make any conclusions or statements, and i didnt mean to give the impression that sicily and italy are identical. but i thought of all the people in the world, an italian would have more knowledge and understanding about sicily than anyone else. also the language wouldnt be a problem. and i acnnot imagine the difficulties presented to someone from italy going to istanbul! so if grasshopper has already managed that, why would she even ask the question about sicily?

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@grasshopper,

No i am turkish but i study in a italian school in istanbul. my sister studied in a french school in istanbul before. there are also german, american and austrian schools here. but they are not like international schools, thoose are different. i spent one year on learning italian- so instead of studying 2. year of high school i studeied 1. last year.
that made me loose my english that i studeied for 6 years before!
and my english teachers in this school are all italian!(look at the irony:D)
I ziiink derfour i mayzt be!
and yesterday we were in city center. i asked a police which bus goes to our hotel and he said if we wait for 10 minutes he can drive us to our hotel(and it is one of the farest hotels in this city) and we were like oookkaaaay:)
i have never seen this many warm and helpfull people in one city. maybe because we are lucky. who knows!

1 Reply

@grasshopper,

You are not learning english at the moment,then?Where did you acquire your English? did it have american influence?
Its difficult working out where your from,from your posts but i wish you luck in your travels.I envy your stay in Sicily as our summer in England has been terrible it has rained constantly for weeks.

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@grasshopper,

i learned english when i was at primay school. had different teachers from different countries before-canadian, american, british and turkish. last 2 years i've been trying to figure out how to speak italian-english since we have theese teachers that speak english with italian accent. i sometimes don't understand what i say in english.
and sicily is sunny but not the best island ever to stand for one year.

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@grasshopper,

Well your written english is excellent grasshopper. Why isn't Sicily the best island to stand for one year?

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@grasshopper,

I will get bored here soon. Today we went to a sea-side city that is an hour away from the city we are staying and there isn't much to do there too. You can't even get lost in this island. People are nice but still it is boring here. During summer they have this 'siesta' hours, when they close all shops etc.. and go home to take a nap- between 13.00-15.00- I am used to hang out with my friends, have fun during summer, if we are all in the city, but i haven't seen much teenagers around. Population is old here. But i am not decided yet- hope things will go good for me.

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@grasshopper,

Are there not some sites or ruins to check out, galleries, cinemas? Smile

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