May 2, 2007
Hello from Sicily – Language Studies
& an Introduction to Sicilian History & “The Mafia”
With the images from my beautiful
excursion around Mount Etna still etched freshly in my mind,
I got ready for another day of Italian studies at the Babilonia
Language School. After a relaxing breakfast on the scenic terrace
of the Hotel Villa Nettuno,
admiring the gorgeous view over the Ionian Sea, I was prepared for
another day of school..
View towards Mount Etna from the rootop of the Babilonia Language
School
Punctually at 9:30 am our lesson started and our language teacher
Carlo taught us the intricacies of Italian pronouns and prepositions.
These are always complex topics in any language, but with all the
exceptions to the rules, Italian has definitely introduced a few
additional complexities. I really enjoyed Carlo’s teaching
style because he provides feedback and corrections in a consistent
but humorous way. After some grammar practice we got to apply what
we had just learned, so we closed our books and Carlo threw sentences
at us that we had to put into the correct grammatical form.
View of Taormina's Saracen Castle from the Babilonia Language School
Just before noon I sat down with Alessandro Adorno, the founder
and director of the Babilonia
Language School. He had invited me to have a typical Sicilian
treat: a “granita” – refreshing ice with a taste
of lemon, orange, peach, strawberry, melon, coffee or various other
flavourings. We sat down on the sunny terrace outside the “Mambar”
and each enjoyed a granita, accompanied by a sweet brioche, a favourite
breakfast for Sicilians. The brioche is dipped into the ice-cold
granita and savoured with each bite. Alessandro explained that granitas
are consumed at all times of day, as breakfast, as a snack and a
dessert. He also explained that Italians usually only drink cappuccino
for breakfast while tourists will have cappuccino at all sorts of
other times of day.
An orange and a coffee granita, with a brioche
We started to talk about the specialty courses that Babilonia offers:
programs that include hiking,
biking,
diving,
golfing,
cooking
and pottery
offer additional challenges and rewards to language students. Alessandro
pointed out that hiking often happens in very small groups or even
one-on-one which provides a very intense nature experience. The
cooking courses take place with local families and really give students
a great taste of Silician home cooking which always uses high-quality
fresh local ingredients to create an aromatic dish. During the lesson
the students help with the food preparation, and afterwards the
meal is enjoyed with the local family, providing many more opportunities
for cultural and linguistic immersion and a reason to actively communicate.
Fascinating balconies in Taormina
I also commented that the local merchants and restaurateurs that
I had met were surprisingly friendly and willing to chat with foreigners.
Alessandro indicated that this is generally their nature, and the
fact that it is not high season yet makes it easier to communicate
with the locals. He mentioned that in the summer time when Taormina gets really busy, many of the merchants are taxed to the limits
with work and there is less time or opportunity to communicate.
Flowers are blooming everywhere
Alessandro explained that Taormina
is a favourite tourist destination, and the Greek Theatre is a definite
tourist draw. He explained that Taormina Arte is a local arts organization
that brings art, theatre, music and dance programs into town during
the summer months. World-renowned musicians such as Peter Gabriel,
Alanis Morissette, James Taylor or the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
are all artists that have played in Taormina’s famous ancient
theatre. Many other events are held for free in different venues
throughout town.
Taormina's ancient Greek Theatre
I learned that Taormina first became famous in the 1800s when writers
such as Johann Wolfgang Goethe, Guy de Maupassant or D.H. Lawrence
visited this picturesque place. Alexander von Humboldt, the famous
German natural scientist and explorer discovered Taormina already
in the late 1700s. I mentioned to Alessandro that in my recent travels
in the last few years I had stumbled across Alexander von Humboldt
several times: first in Havana, then in Taxco – Mexico and
most recently on the Canary island of Tenerife. Somehow unknowingly
I had been following some of the footsteps of this famous historic
world traveler.
Church in Taormina
There was one particular topic that I wanted to learn more about:
not unpredictably I wanted to get a more in-depth understanding
of this renowned Sicilian organization: the Mafia. Alessandro has
extensive knowledge of history, politics and social science and
started explaining that in southern Italy’s agricultural south
a feudal power structure ruled by the aristocracy prevailed for
centuries. These feudal landowners put in charge so-called “campieri”
where managed their “latifundios” or large estates.
The campieri were in charge of checking and managing the territory,
administering justice and they were given absolute power as well
as weapons for enforcement. Usually “justice” was determined
on the spot and arbitrarily, without any kind of due process or
court proceedings.
The "Trinacria", symbol of Sicily
The vast majority of the population were absolutely poor, had no
education, held many superstitious beliefs and had a deeply engrained
fear of “the system”. This feudal administrative and
enforcement system represented the beginnings of the Mafia which
over the last 150 years or so has evolved into an international
business organization which includes such things as drugs, weapons,
prostitution, various illegal rackets, gambling and often the misappropriation
of public funds. The Mafia today not only exists in Italy, but throughout
Europe and North America. Organized crime from other sources such
as Russian or Asia is also often referred to as “mafia”
although this term did indeed originate in Sicily.
Views of Taormina
Alessandro enlightened me about the phenomenal economic significance
of the Mafia and gave me a simple numeric example related to the
drug trade: if of the roughly 60 million Italians 1 million has
a drug problem that might require 100 Euros a day, this would result
in a daily revenue of 100 million or 3 billion Euros on a monthly
basis. Annualized this works out to 36 billion Euros just for Italy
and numbers of similar magnitudes would have to be added up for
the various other nations in the European Union. To this would be
added the revenue from all the other branches of organized crime.
Given these numbers I was no longer surprised when Alessandro referred
to the Mafia as a “company”.
View of Isola Bella from Taormina
I learned that the Mafia comprises a large network of people in
a hierarchical structure: from the frontline drug pushers and enforcers
to drug and arms wholesalers to politicians and lawyers who, according
to Alessandro, make up the “educated Mafia”, to bankers
and financiers who generate and move money at the highest national
and international levels. The Mafia is an intricate organization
with tentacles in many cities, regions and countries across the
world.
Historically the Mafia spread from Sicily, starting in the late
1800s when a lot of Sicilians emigrated to the United States. They
were looking for new opportunities and ways to escape the ancient
feudal system, but brought many of the old ways of doing things
with them. In many ways the Italian Mafia in the United States became
better organized and looked for new business opportunities. The
Prohibition Era of the 1920s and 1930s became a fertile ground for
profitable, yet illicit business activities that involved bootlegging
of prohibited alcohol, prostitution and a variety of other illegal
activities.
Views of Taormina
The Sicilian Mafia also played a key role at the end of World War
II: the Allies wanted to organize a landing, one in the north near
Dunkirk, and one in the south in Sicily. Alessandro explained that
accordingly to recently discovered documents, former members of
the CIA contacted US Mafiosi to get the Sicilian Mafia to help with
the Allied Landing. With the help of the Mafia, the incursion of
Allied forces in southern Italy near Syracuse indeed went very smoothly
and there were no major battles until Montecassino south of Rome
on the Italian mainland.
Views of Taormina
The Allies freed Sicily and removed the Italian fascist mayors
and instead installed mayors and administrators with Mafia connections.
In this manner Mafiosi were given access to powerful political and
public positions after World War II, a situation that still occurs
to some degree today. After the War, the US often supported Mafiosi
candidates in local elections against the prevailing Communist candidates,
and this created a situation were Mafia-linked candidates were often
thoroughly entrenched in local and regional politics. As a result,
public money is sometimes misappropriated for illicit purposes.
Views of Taormina
Alessandro has a thorough understanding of Italian history and
the connections were fascinating. He also suggested that I drop
by tonight at a cooking class
organized by Babilonia, an offer I was definitely planning to
take him up on.
Interesting and useful books about Sicily:
Useful links:
Sicily
Tourist Information
Taormina
Tourist Information
Babilonia Italian
Language School
Hotel
Villa Nettuno in Taormina
Related articles:
My Italian language learning adventure
in Sicily in 2007
Hello from Sicily: Arrival in Taormina
Hello from Sicily: An
interview with the Sciglio family from Hotel Villa Nettuno
Hello from Sicily: A hike to Castelmola
and a taste of Sicily
Hello from Sicily: An excursion to
ancient Siracusa
Hello from Sicily: A leisurely
Sunday at Isola Bella
Hello from Sicily: Language
studies in Taormina and a walking tour
Hello from Sicily: A country driving tour
around beautiful Mount Etna
Hello from Sicily: A private lecture
about Sicily and the Mafia
Hello from Sicily: A Sicilian
cooking class in Taormina
Hello from Sicily: A hike up Mount
Etna a few days after an eruption
Hello from Sicily: Goodbye Taormina
- Hello Milazzo
Hello from Sicily: Starting my sailing
trip through the Eolian Islands
Hello from Sicily: Discoveries of Lipari
and Salina
Hello from Sicily: A driving tour of
Salina and Italian studies on a patio
Hello from Sicily: Explorations of
Stromboli, featuring an active volcano
Hello from Sicily: Beautiful Panarea
and a nice dinner in Lipari
Hello from Sicily: A driving tour of
Lipari and arrival at Vulcano
Hello from Sicily: Conquering Vulcano
and a final dinner in Milazzo
Hello from Sicily: Discovering Milazzo,
its long history and architecture
Hello from Sicily: An excursion by train
to the medieval treasure of Cefalu
Hello from Sicily: Discoveries
in the Nebrodi Mountains
Hello from Sicily: My final day in
Catania
Presenting:
The Babilonia Italian Language School in Taormina
Presenting:
The Laboratorio Linguistico Italian Langauge School in Milazzo
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