The Halfway (ish) Point

ALBUM - Divorce by JPNSGRLS

Hi guys! I guess it’s not so surprising that I’m still here now that this is my fourth blogpost. Today, I have decided to write about my year abroad experience and what I think of Catania so far. After having done some rough (very rough) calculations, I have figured that I am about halfway through my scheduled time here. I thought that that was a pretty decent amount of time to work on for a post. Hopefully I’ll do another at the end of my time here and compare from then to now.

So, a little background information. For those of you who are too lazy to go on to Wikipedia, I did it for you. Catania is the second biggest city in Sicily (the football to the boot that is Italy), it is said to be the Milan of the south which I honestly find laughable. Italy is the official language but since I have been here, I have picked up some words of Sicilian as well - most of them not overly helpful and more on the offensive side. Catania is a port town and so it is famous for its fish. It’s probably most famous, however, for being the city that sits in the shadow of Mt. Etna - Europe’s most active and largest volcano.

When I returned to Catania after my two weeks away in Europe, Etna was first on my list of things to do. I had heard speak of amazing views and the like, so naturally I thought I would be foolish to miss it. It rained the whole day I was there. It did not stop for a moment. The only highlight of the weather was when the clouds cleared from the crater long enough for me to snap a picture. I walked the trek on my own, following the path the jeeps took (I was not going to spend €50 to ride in a jeep - I had already spent €30 on the cable car). This was fine apart from the fact that I was unable to see a foot in front of my face, so the jeeps swinging round from behind the black volcanic rock came as a bit of a surprise.

I guess this follows on quite nicely to what I next wanted to say about Catania. Even at nearly 3000 metres of altitude, and with a jeep full of tourists, the Catanese drivers still thought it completely normal to beep at me and slow the jeeps down to a crawling speed as they passed me. At first, I thought they were just telling me to get out of the way, but I was reassured this wasn’t the case when I could see them smiling and waving. My dentist back in the UK is coincidentally from Catania and when I told him that I was coming to live in Catania, the only thing he said to me was “don’t go walking around with those legs”. I didn’t think anything more about his comment until I got here, and saw in action exactly what he had been warning me about. I don't think it's my legs specifically, but rather legs in general - men of every age from about 20 upwards, stare. You will walk past a man and as you pass he will turn so that he can watch you walk away. The staring is actually not what bothers me, it’s when they’re walking past you and ask how much you cost. In the beginning it really got to me and the definite final straw was when I got followed home from the bus station one evening. After hiding in a supermarket opposite my house, and buying and eating nearly an entire tub of ice cream to calm myself, I just sat and contemplated the mere idea of staying here even a week longer. I hated it. Two of my friends have also been followed home, one was even chased part of the way before they fortunately outrun their pursuer.

Perhaps it’s the area we live in. Both my flatmate and I have both been followed home, but we do live just on the edge of the dodgier areas. To our left, the road quickly turns into the red light district, and about five minutes away from that is an incredibly bizarre transvestite area. After a night out we took a wrong turn and found ourselves at the heart of it, walking through dark streets with pimps at every corner waiting for you to pick one of their lovely ladies. We even passed a little room all ready and waiting, with a disco ball in the ceiling and girl waiting on a chair next to the bed.

So Catania is definitely different. I think my problem is not feeling safe. Wherever I have lived before I always feel safe walking at any time. Maybe I’ve been stupidly naive, but here I certainly feel unsafe, even during the day I can feel on edge. But it’s definitely not all doom and gloom and weird night time activities. I have a great unit of friends here, my flat is great and the boredom is receding. For a long time, because I only have 10 hours of contact time a week at university, I was really struggling. I couldn’t enjoy a calm stroll in my city and there is no shopping centre to speak of, so I spend most of my time at uni or in my room. I had made it through 8 series of Friends and far too many Disney films - one day I watched a record 4 (I don’t actually know whether to be ashamed or proud, I’ll let you choose). Honestly, I started doing this blog simply to have something else to fill my days with. But that has certainly gotten easier. Now my flatmates and I are planning a trip to the ballet, and another to the opera. We went for brunch last weekend - something we thought we would NEVER find in Catania. A baking rivalry has also begun between the two nations - Anglo Saxon and Sicilian. Every week it is the new challenge to see who can bake the best cakes - they say the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest but I’m not so sure!

And from one positive to another; my Italian is coming on leaps and bounds. For two very painful years I have been struggling and getting by with my Italian thinking I would never get to a point where I could say I speak Italian without it being the biggest white lie ever. Now that statement seems like it may hopefully become true soon! And since I sorted out my courses, I am really beginning to enjoy university here. In the beginning, I realised I had chosen the wrong course and so ended up being pushed from office to office in the hope that someone might help me change my courses. This is not a new phenomenon for me, Edinburgh has a truly awful admin system which I had to deal with all last year while sorting out my year abroad. But now I am studying some courses that actually interest me and even in the last couple of week I have begun to really settle in and feel like Catania is more than a scary city where I was destined to spend a 6 month sentence. It may have taken nearly 3 months, but in theory I have only been at university for a month of that, the other time was interrailing, exploring some nearby towns and Catania itself and the exhaustive matriculation process.

When I initially got the idea to write this blogpost, I thought that it was going to be a shitstorm of why you should never come to mafia-land Sicily (the culture of the mafia is actually visible to your everyday citizen here - you need only try and park a car in the central areas). However, on reflection, I realise that some parts have been a struggle yes, but I then look back on my first couple of months in Edinburgh. In different ways I had the same general experience. Every time you move to a new city, you have to deal with the struggle of getting your bearings and feeling like you belong - something you think will never happen at the beginning. But I am proof that no matter how hostile the environment may seem at first, you find your place. Catania is a different city, I am the first to admit this, but different isn’t always bad. Sicily is a truly beautiful country with some gorgeous places to visit - Taormina was my personal favourite - and some of the people I have met from here are just amazing.

I think the best way to describe it is adapting, I now know that instead of walking home from the bus station, I will get the metro. As I always do, I walk and listen to music (making sure it blocks out most outside noise!). And now I have my blog which I will sit in cafes and plan with a cappuccino. It might be different but that doesn’t mean you can’t adapt to the differences and make them something you truly enjoy. Before I sign off, I will just explain my choice of album. JPNSGRLS’ album Divorce is a true favourite of mine and no matter what mood I’m in I always feel good listening to it. I have listened to it a lot since I have been here and therefore it seemed only right to have it as the album for this blogpost - give it a listen. Until next time!