Palermo,  April 22, 2010

Dear Rose,
almost six months I wrote last time, but a lot of things have happened.

I no longer work in Mr. Gianni’s bar.
My grandmother knew the Bar of Mr. Gianni, poor man, not earning enough money, and I worked in the bar because he did a favor to her. Granny Told me that and I left the job because it does not seem right that Mr. Gianni must maintain me. Then, I am young and I can find another job.

So I thought.

The truth is, sister, that finding a job is difficult. Almost two months that I have not found anything, but maybe now I have found it. Mr. Gianni introduced me to Mr Liborio, a customer of the bar that lives in Arenella too. He needs a person for his hardware store who knows things he sells. I have to go there at weekend, sis, I hope to get the job!

In these two months I have done many things I look for a job, I knocked on a lot of doors, shops, artisans. I’ve even been on the periphery. I went to Mondello, Borgo Vecchio, Falsomiele, I shot a lot. I also did many walks and I was able to see goodArenella. I shot far and wide. Wonderful.
There are few roads and many alleys. The streets are narrow and cars have difficulty in moving.

I like the smell of backstreet Arenella.
At all times the streets smell like laundry and bathing .This is because houses are small and do not have backyards, so the houses face the streets or alleys. People hang out the laundry to dry. By late morning it feels good smell of the paste. All cooked pasta. Some eat only this. At early-night you feel the smell of cooked fish. It seems that everyone always eat fish, sis. The afternoon passed the sfincionaro with lapino selling sfincione. It looks like a pizza but is much more greasy. It’s really good and makes a great perfume. Onion, anchovies, caciocavallo cheese. Excellent and very very greasy!

I like the sounds of backstreet Arenella.
By day you so not hear the noise of cars in the alleys. The sounds you hear are those of mothers who complain that children, those who weep, children who play soccer. All day. The morning and afternoon pass street vendors. And all scream, loudly.
Each has its own way of shouting: The one that sells salt, greengrocers, and even the sfincionaro who screams: “u ùara sfuinnavi, ùara. Chistu is sfinciuni turnover ra beautiful vìaru” [Translate: "I have now churned out, now. Sfincione this is cooked in a sublime way "]. Beautiful, sis!

The evening, near the alleys, There are boys running with scooters. Have fun. But are very loud. They setup the engine, changing candal and the mufflers. I do not understand anything about engine stuffs and I’m to old to play with that too. Then I do not understand why they spend all their time running down the same street and They did not go around the town.

Alleys leads to the sea. The sea has the most beautiful bouquet of everything and gets inside you like to clean up the gut from all the crap we breathe. The sea sounds good and t seems it’s talking to you and makes you feel good, relaxed.

Alleys, noise, smells and the sea: Arenella.

Love

Frankie

Filed under: Arenella by Frankie Lipper
16 Comments » Tagged with: alleys • laundry • noise • Sea • smell

Palermo, February 23, 2010

Dear Rose,

spent more than a week after the last letter that I wrote.
I am fine and the grandmother is very good, even if I don’t how she walk all alone, that not even see us! The day before yesterday we went out and did not want the hug, she had had to go it alone.

Sunday morning I went with Mr Gianni to Isola delle Femmine ’cause We had to take the beer kegs from the warehouse of a friend who did not need that anymore.

It’s the first time I went out Arenella and it seems that I have taken a vacation, because to go to Island we took the highway as we left from Palermo.

Isola delle Femmine is near Palermo and it is just opposite the sea. But you must not think that is an island. The country is so called (Isle of Females) because it lies in front of an island with a building that looks like a tower, Mr Gianni told me it was a women’s prison. Opposite the island is the country called just Isola delle Femmine and is where we went.

Before going to the store, we took a walk on the beach with Signior Gianni. The beach is beautiful, sister. Long long long and white, you can not see the end, gets to the other country, Capaci, and gets over again. Nobody was there, sister. There was also warm and felt like bathing in the sea. Mr Gianni told me to have a bath but I told him that the water was cold. Did not tell him that I can not swim that I am ashamed, sister!

From the beach you can see even the smokestacks of a factory that throws a lot of smoke in the air. Then we went, because the store is near the factory and I realized that smoking is also stinks. Factory pocket the mountain facing the country to produces cement. Mr Gianni told me that smoking is very dangerous because it is lung cancer and there are many islanders who are sick. Poor them! He told me that they found a lot of Hexavalent chromium in the air that kills people! It’s the same as the movie Erin Brockovich, the one with Julia Roberts, remember sister? We saw it together.

I can not understand why if we know that the air kill people, people living near the factory and has not yet escaped.And I also do not understand why not even closed the factory that governments know everything. In the film, Chromium 6 stuff is learned much later that it was not known well or what they wanted to hide, but here things are known, but nobody does anything.

But if I turn away and watch the sea and the beach is beautiful enough, I also understand why people do not want to leave, it opens its eyes and its heart swells.

Love

Frankie

Filed under: Island by Frankie Lipper
1 Comment » Tagged with: beach • Cement • Chrome • Hexavalent • Island • Isola delle Femmine

Palermo,  February 11, 2010

Dear Rose,

it’s late, nearly midnight and I can’t sleep , and as I liked  write you last time, I’m going to write you a letter again and again.

Truth is that I have to accustom to sleep  to granny’s house. I wrote into last letter that my bedroom is small, very small. Yes, bed is small too. It barely fits me. It’s a bunk bed, and I sleep downside where mom used to sleep.  Sheets are torn, hand sewn, hand-sewn again.

I know that everybody think Sicily is always Sunny-covered and heat, but it’s still winter, and sheets are wet becouse humidity.  Unbelievable. Humidity is everywhere: into sheets, into walls, into gates, into  the whole house. My bedroom’s window looks on the street, which is not exactly a street but it’s an alley so cars can’t pass near my window, only people can walk through the alley;  when it rains water come into my bedroom’s external walls. Under the window there is a  big black stain because humidity. Granny, my poor granny that I do not know how can she deal with this, gave me an electric heater but I’m not confident tu turn it on, sis, because  humidity plus electric wires are very dangerous. I prefer to feel cold,  I prefer to be sick, I prefer to have a shorter life, so, I prefer to live!

But this cold matter it’s not only a Granny’s house matter. The day before yesterday, bar was open till late,  so Mr Gianni  asked me to stay with his family to have  a dinner  ’cause He was disappointed that I coudn’t have a dinner with my granny. They were in the habit to  dine late, because they usually close the bar after 9:00 pm. Mrs Ancilina, that is Mr Gianni’s wife, who treasures bar’s cash, cooked a good lentils soup  and then we ate good caciocavallo-cheese with bread.

Mimmo and Caterina are their sons. Mimmo the grown-up son goes to College and  Caterina, the youngest one, goes to High school. They speak a good  italian and they ask me a lot of questions about America.  They asked me things I didn’t know. They did not feel cold because they are used to be so, but i feel.

It made the cold of Grandma’s house, but more than 15 degrees celsius (60 degrees F are almost, I still have to get used to this thing of degrees). Had put the stove in the living room and did a little ‘warmer but for me it was not enough, was always too cold.

They told me that every house is so old and in those who are the most modern radiators but people often take them off since winter is normal that there is no heat in homes and also to save money.
This thing is very strange, sister. In Palermo in homes is cold. Even colder than outside.

Who would tell me that in winter in Palermo there is all this cold?

Love

Frankie

Filed under: Arenella by Frankie Lipper
7 Comments » Tagged with: Bar • bed • caterina • cold • humidity • mimmo

Palermo, February 8,  2010

Dear Rose,

it’s just one month I came to Palermo and only now i can write you. I hope mom feels good and daddy get over my departure from hardware shop.
Are you ok, sis? Is everything all right? I feel good.

Everything is small in Palermo. Streets, cars, buildings, houses. Everything is small. Funniest things are cars. There is one car, named Smart, that is tiny and barely fits two persons. Biggest thing, instead, is the sea. I never saw before a so large sea. That’s because other things are so small, and the sea looks larger.

Granny’s house is small too. It’s tiny! It has living room, large living room (they called it like ‘hall’), kitchen, bathroom, small bedroom, “large” bedroom. Granny’s bedroom is the big one, my bedroom is the small one where mom and aunt sleeped. How could they sleep in a so tiny bedroom? Gas-cooker is ancient and I don’t know how it could still works.

House building is old, there are old electric wires and when I will have enough time to spend, I will do an hard work to fix it according to law, because it’s dangerous and it could short-circuit.

Granny spends every day at home except for a small walk she takes. She visits a neighbour, a girl friend. I never understand why newighbour never visits my granny. She said that neighbour can’t go outside because she can’t go out alone , and she can go out escorted by her husband. Granny, instead, goes out alone.
She goes out when it rains too. The day before yesterday was raining and granny went out. She doesn’t want me to escort her. She says that she lived twenty years alone and she will live twenty years alone too.

Granny found me a job to Square’s bar, owned by Mr Gianni’s that knew granny very well, he remembered very well young mom. My job is hard. I scrub the floor, work to the counter, carry out orders to customers in houses or shops. Tips aren’t good, but it’s the beginning, customers have to know me before. I work so hard, sister, but i have to gain money because granny’s pension is not enough to live. I work every daym except on Monday.

Monday I play ball with neighbourhood boys, We play soccer which is different from US football, but it’s funniest. Boys took liking to me and they named me Flipper the american, so Frankie Lipper became Flipper which means Pinball machine and they enjoy because when I play soccer i run like a pinball ball.

There are so many things I have to say, but I’ll write them later on another letter. Palermo is very nice, but there are many things i really do not like.

Love

Frankie

Filed under: Arenella by Frankie Lipper
23 Comments » Tagged with: Bar • Flipper • Granny • House • Sea • Soccer