Happy April Fool's!
I woke up this morning to the news that I was accepted to NYU Abu Dhabi with full scholarship! What a brilliant way to start off the day!!! But I still have to focus on my Sicily project - time to work!
When we arrived in Catania, we split into our preassigned groups and tried to explore the city and ask the locals about their culture. There wasn't something awe-striking about the city, but I definitely felt good vibes. The city had a nice mixture of laid-back mentality that comes from hot weather and fast tempo that comes from a regular-sized city.
Catania's animal/city mascot is an elephant, so we could find elephants pretty much everywhere! Some highlights of the day included going to the fish market (which is shown below) and entering the duomo. Unfortunately, however, I forgot to wear long pants, so I didn't make it far before the guard politely asked me to leave the duomo. The outside was still fantastic!
For lunch, I split a plate of vongole pasta with my friend, and I was absolutely amazed by the freshness of the clams and the affordable price! I am officially in love with Catania :) Afterwards, we went to Teatro Greco, which is a testament to the Greek influence on the Sicilian culture. This is a theme that will keep coming back throughout my Sicily project.
After a brief stay in Catania, we headed for Taormina, which is located an hour north of Catania. Somewhat like Orvieto, the city was located on top of a hill. There, we went to a bigger (and more famous) Teatro Greco than the one in Catania, and the views there were fantastic!! There is a huge hole in the middle of where stage "curtain" would be, and the legend has it that Mussolini made that hole to let more natural light on stage. But who knows if that is true or not? Also, this theater is still being used after centuries since its foundation (hints the CAST ONLY sign on one of the bathroom's stalls)!
We had some freetime in Catania, so we walked around and obviously did not forget to try the famous Sicilian arancino. It is a ball of fried rice coating and meat/cheese inside. It is called arancino because it looks like an orange (arancia) from the outside! But I forgot to take a picture :(
Today was quite an eventful day, so hopefully tomorrow is a little bit more relaxing.