Oranges, Arance

Though Sicilians are very proud about all food produced on their island, they are exceptionally passionate about their citrus fruits. Arance,in particular, are the pride and joy of Sicily. 

Here the Arance fall into one of three basic categories: 

Your classic orange colored Arancia, often referred to as Brasiliana (Brazilian), l'Arancia Vaniglia (Vanilla Orange), and l'Arancia Rossa, the Blood Orange. 

Peeling an Orange, the Sicilian Way

Whenever I ate oranges growing up, which I avoided whenever possible, it was a fairly unpleasant experience. The oranges were quartered and served with the peel still attached, and was thus eaten in a watermelon fashion. Bite too deep, you get a bunch of pith stuck between your teeth. Not deep enough and you squirt juice all over yourself.

Then I came to Sicily and discovered that there is indeed a better way to eat an orange... without the peel and extra pith. Though some Sicilians get really fancy with spiral peeling (Zia Michela once peeled an entire honeydew melon in one long spiral), the below instructions are for the basic "wedge" method of peeling.

L'abbazia di Santo Spirito

The Abbey of the Holy Spirit, the oldest church in Caltanissetta, can be found just outside of the city and right next to the Museo Archeologico. Though the exact date of construction is unknown, it is assumed to have been built around 1092. The earliest date of which historians are sure, is the year of official consecration in 1153, thanks to a commemorative plaque.

Presepe

Church Presepe frequently take up a whole wall

The Nativity scenes in Sicily are a much bigger deal then they are in the U.S. From what I've seen of the U.S. Nativity scenes, there's usually just a basic stable with the most fundamental biblical characters: Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Animals, and the three Kings, occasionally joined by Angels and Shepherds.

The Italian Presepe meanwhile is less a Nativity Scene than it is a Nativity City, filled with biblical and non-biblical characters alike. Shoemakers, Pizzaioli, figures playing cards, women doing laundry... And in the churches the Presepe gets even bigger. Not just little villages, but entire mountains and rivers with real running water and moving figures: men waving fruit in the market, blacksmiths pounding horseshoes, little boys tossing fishing lines in the river, etc.

La Campagna

One of many lemon trees in the Campagna

La Campagna, or "The Country", is used to describe a small cottage kept in the countryside just outside of the city. The Italian concept of "countryside" in this case is much more like an American suburb, though if you consider that most Italians live in crowded apartment buildings without any kind of yard or garden, a little house surrounded by a small plot of land must feel like the great outdoors.  

Making Change

Getting short changed in Italy is commonly accepted

One of the first annoying things I discovered about Italy is every cashier's extreme reluctance to break a 20. I was in Rome on a class trip, and on the first day our professors took us around to some of the museums. Naturally, having just arrived, we did not have an abundance of loose change. Each of us had whatever the ATM machines had given us, predominately 20s and 50s.

Peep! Peep!

Zia Daniela and her little girl, Martina, have come to visit.

Martina, still too shy to speak much, is sitting happily on a chair which she has commandeered all for herself, and being spoon-fed bits of cream gelato.