How could a New Englander not like a place where the winter temperature is 65+? That's how warm Sicily was for our first ten days and then it cooled off to 55. The weather was not hard to take, nor was the scenery. It really is a beautiful island, but I would not want to drive a car outside of a major city; the roads are narrow and, since Sicily is fairly mountainous, they are also quite treacherous in places.
While we took about 500 photographs of the scenery, the event that struck me the most was a talk by a founder of an anti-Mafia group in Corleone, which is not only the fictional home of The Godfather but has been the home of many very real Mafia CEOs. Gino was a very good presenter, he also is a brave guy as he and his family are at risk from retaliation by the Mafia.
But, even Gino acknowledged that the fundamental problem is economic. With unemployment at 20+% and a low wage scale for those employed, the people of Sicily feel that they need the aid of the Mafia. In addition, the island has been conquered by an amazing number of nations. While this has led to a wonderful variety of buildings and public architecture, it has also, I feel, led to a nation accustomed to being ruled by the more powerful not only from their own people but, more importantly, from outsiders. That being said I met a number of people in their 30s and 40s who seemed to recognize the island's problems and were working to solve them.
2 comments:
Welcome back, Al. I'm glad you enjoyed Sicily. The scenery is magnificent, but as you rightly point out the island does have its problems. I haven't visited since childhood, though I doubt it's changed very much.
I think it was 60 minutes that just had a piece on the Mafia in Corleone. It really would have been relevant to you.
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