In the afternoon, we were picked up by two of my wife’s Sicilian cousins, Agostino and his youngest daughter, Stefania. Back in 2002, while researching her roots, Christina discovered she had relatives living in Termini Imerese, a town located about halfway between Palermo and Cefalù. She’d met them twice in the years since, but this was my first time meeting them.
With us speaking very little Italian, and their knowledge of English being limited, conversation in the car was somewhat stunted. The ice was broken when Stefania and I simultaneously revealed that we were both using translation apps on our phones in order to communicate, and after getting a good laugh out of that, things went much more smoothly. Agostino brought us to a small square that still bears his family name (and that of Christina’s grandmother), and then to an elevated area overlooking the neighboring area and coastline.
At their home we were welcomed by the rest of the family, and we had an amazing dinner. The food was so delicious, I wish I had an extra stomach! Even better than the food—if that’s even possible—was the experience of meeting these wonderful people and having them open their home to us.
(To Agostino, Anna, Stefania, Elisabetta, Rita, Gino, Maria-Luisa, Rosella, Fabio, and Daniele: Thank you! Again!)