DAILY DOINGS - 3

The water lorry, I am pleased to report, arrived at 9.15 this morning. You cannot imagine the relief I felt, reader and I nearly kissed the driver! After a good, long soak in an aromatherapy bath of teatree and olive oil gel plus a visit to Raffaele the hairdresser I felt able to face the world again.

The outside temperature today has been 18 C and it felt very pleasant indeed. However, I still shiver indoors! A student attending a class this evening was surprised that I had the bombola heater on [this gentleman is as terrified of the things as I am] and exclaimed, "But it's nearly 20 C out there!" Well, "out there" is not "in here" and I refuse to keep a jacket on indoors. I don't think the Sicilian students know quite what to make of this strange, Celtic being who is nearly always cold.

I do like the way Sicilians emphasise their salutations, as in "Signora, buongiorno" with extra tonic stress on the second word [instead of the more usual "Buongiorno, signora"] and usually accompanied by a little bow from the men. A few of these and I am quite set up for the day!

Now here's a funny thing, not really qualifying as a "daily doing" but I will include it here as it does come under the heading of "daily life": it is reported today that 24% of Sicilian families find themselves in financial difficulty towards the end of each month; 25% do not have enough money to meet medical expenses [Italy has a free health service, of course, but you do have to pay for some procedures, such as blood tests and there are minimal prescription charges]; yet 25% of Sicilian families bought a new car last year and there is a boom in car sales in the poorest areas of the south. Sicilians also spend 5% less on food per annum than northern Italian families [but it occurs to me that this may be because so many of them grow at least some fruit and vegetables] and a staggering 35% less on other consumer items.

My Sicilians are never boring!