Becoming Ragusana: Home Sweet Sicily The City of Sicily Awaits An Authentic Italian Experience Exploring Italy Through

Its People By: Mary-Celeste Lewis Word Count: 1467 Ciao, baby! a loud male voice yells cheerfully at you. It may be the only English word he knows. It calls your attention to an eccentric restaurant in a truck. The side reads Ziu Pinu (Uncle Joeys in Siciliano) and the friendly tan man who called to you leans out of this portable kitchen over a case of raw meat to beckon you forward. The bouncy music playing pumps through your veins and you cant help but feel welcome as you take your first bite out of a steaming sandwich as big as your face. This is Sicily, one of the friendliest places on earth.

Comment [NT1]: Mary-Celeste, This is such a great piece. I mentioned this in my critique, but your passion and knowledge for this region is so evident throughout the article and it helps readers to get excited about it, as well. Below are some comments and suggestions I made as well as questions I had while reading through this piece. Overall, look for and maybe implement clearer transitions and references to pronouns. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns after reading through my comments. Best of luck on your next draft; I know it will be great! -Natalie Comment [NT2]: I know these are terrible, but maybe theyll help get some more title ideas flowing.

La bella Sicilia We've all seen the movies that take place in those small, sleepy Italian villages where the old men wear plaid suits and flat caps and sit under gazebos in the park playing cards. Where the laundry hangs from balconies and swings in the breeze, and fruit vendors drive through the streets, shouting out their wares. More than anywhere else in Italy, Sicily has maintained this feeling. The whole region seems like a land from days gone by. Theyve really kept their traditions. Its very different from the North, says Jessica Rosato of Como, a city just outside of Milan. However, when you ask travelers which cities they visited on their last trip to Italy, too many say only, Rome, Florence, and Venicehot spots for tourismbut hardly ever will you

Comment [NT3]: Im not completely in love with this lead. I definitely see improvements since the first draft, but it still feels a bit disjointed to me. It feels like theres too much going on, and I dont think thats the feeling or tone were wanting to create for this article or for this town. Is there another scenario we could illustrate? One that really exemplifies the ideals and defining characteristics of Sicily or introduces some of the features the article focuses on (food, agriturismo, slow-paced lifestyle)?

Comment [NT4]: What feeling, exactly? Comment [NT5]: [The people of Sicily] have

hear of a vacationer visiting Sicily. Why don't we ever seem to make it down there? La Bella Sicilia still awaits intrepid adventurers seeking a real Italian experience. In popular tourist destinations it can be hard to see past the guided tours and into the lives of the real people who live there. In Sicily, however, its thoroughly possible.

Welcome to Ragusa Annette Marshall, the Australian granddaughter of a pair of Ragusani (natives of the city of Ragusa), had to wait years for her opportunity to make a pilgrimage to her familys homeland, and she wasnt at all disappointed when she arrived. My grandmother taught me that love is the most important thing in the world, and it starts with family love. We always opened our hearts and our doors to anybody that came in our lives. Marshalls nonna (the Italian word for grandmother) exemplified that commitment to respect and to the warm, friendly nature typical of the people of Ragusa. That affection and welcoming feeling is exactly what she found when she returned. Rosato describes the feeling in Sicily as how youd feel in your own home. Everyone is social and cheerful. Describing what makes the small Sicilian city of Ragusa special, elderly lifelong resident Mrs. Rollo says that the Sicilian people, especially those from Ragusa, are more accogliente (welcoming and friendly) than people in other places. As if to illustrate her own point, she repeats several times during a brief telephone conversation, I hope youll come and see me when you take a vacation in Italy. Even the air is different in Ragusa. The feeling changes from bustling to laid-back upon setting foot on the island of Sicily, and it slows even more dramatically during the hour and a
Comment [NT10]: What was bustling/where was it bustling before? Where were we coming from? Comment [NT11]: Again, be clear about when youre talking about Ragusa or Sicily as a whole. We start this paragraph by talking about Ragusas air, and then next we are talking about the feeling of Sicily. I think we might want to move the second sentence somewhere else in the paragraph? Comment [NT8]: I love these vocab words you pepper the article with. I think that the word is Italian is implied, so maybe just nonna, or grandmother, exemplified could be just as clear. Comment [NT9]: I think the syntax here is just a tad confusing. I had to read it several times to understand what it was saying. Just play around with it a bit, youre a pro. ;) Comment [NT6]: Where is Ragusa? What does it have to do with Sicily? I feel a little lost here, simply because its not clear to me why were jumping to another town that hasnt been contextualized yet. Comment [NT7]: Who is she referring to here? She and her grandmother?

half drive to the heart of the Sicilian countryside. Whereas most of northern Italy has become thoroughly industrialized, southern Italy has maintained its agricultural feeling. Much of the produce used in Rome and northward is grown in Sicily, especially the oranges. No matter where you go in southern Italy, the agricultural communities seem to move slower and breathe deeper, and the area around Ragusa is no exception. These are little towns trapped in time, and though they boast baroque architecture as beautiful as anywhere else, the people there are humble, faithful, and steeped in traditions that are rapidly disappearing in the larger cities.
Comment [NT12]: sold?

Buon appetito! Theres a reason Sicilian cuisine is famous. When wed get home [from church] Id help Nonna in the kitchen and wed have great Sunday lunches, and that was tradition, Marshall said of her grandmothers legendary cooking. She loved her stay in Ragusa partly because, even the food, the things that I ate, everything reminded me of Nonna and I realized how much shed kept up the traditions of the food, because everything tasted like Nonnas! Ragusa has several delicious culinary traditions unique to the provincesome are not even available elsewhere in Sicily! Youll find delicious cannoli (sweet ricotta-filled fried pastry shells) at Dolcemania in via Paestum 36 and arancini (fried rice balls filled with meat sauce) at the Pasticceria Giovanni di Pasquale in the piazza (town square) near the cathedral. Limpanata Ragusana is a creation made with very thin layers of dough wrapped around flavorful toppings like tomatoes, ricotta, and sausage. It's reminiscent of hand-held lasagna and can be found in most paninerie (bakeries) throughout the city, along with Cassata Ragusana (sweet and simple ricotta-filled pastries). Modica, Ragusas sister city only thirty minutes away, adopted the practice hundreds of years ago of preparing chocolate by the old Aztec method and continues to
Comment [NT15]: I think the parentheses throughout the piece start to get a little distracting at this point. Maybe here you could make this more of a list using commas to form appositives and then semi-colons to separate the different items. Comment [NT13]: Im a little confused. Was this in Italy? Do her grandparents still live in Ragusa or did they move to the states? I think making that a little clearer, perhaps in the first Ragusa paragraph, could help forgetful or slow readers like me Comment [NT14]: Ok, I just had to keep reading. But I still think it might be helpful to address some of those questions sooner.

employ it today. In this process the chocolate is never heated, so the texture remains slightly gritty. Cioccolato di Modica (Chocolate of Modica) is famous throughout Italy for its rich flavor. The pizza is every bit as delicious as youd imagine authentic Italian pizza to be, and the panini, sandwiches made with fresh grilled meat, are beyond compare, especially at Ziu Pinus restaurant. The stone pathway from Ragusa to Ragusa-Ibla, the hilltop village next-door, winds down dozens of stairs and through twisting, crumbling passageways covered with romantic graffiti from generations of love-struck teenagers. Be sure not to visit between the hours of one and fourRagusa-Ibla keeps a traditional schedule, and all shops and churches close promptly at one. Everyone goes home then to have a big lunch with the family. A three-course meal followed by dessert and a long nap is a rigorously followed Sicilian tradition to this day, especially in small, sleepy towns like Ragusa.
Comment [NT16]: I love that you have so many great foods to describe/recommend. Though, I think we could use a bit more variety in this paragraph. Instead of listing each of these items and then describing what they are in English, is there a way you could group some of them together, add a quote, or something else to break it up a bit? Comment [NT17]: This is a great little side note, though Im not sure how it connects to this food section. Is there a better place for this info? Comment [NT18]: Visit where?

Agriturismo For those of us who want to try traditional home-cooking but dont feel comfortable inviting ourselves to a strangers house for lunch, there is agriturismo, agricultural tourism. Agriturismo is more than just visiting farms; its putting yourself into the lifestyle of a countryside Sicilian for a few days, though without all the work. This method of vacationing is steadily growing in popularity in Italy and throughout all of Europe. People escaping from city smog can often rent rooms in renovated farmhouses. These places usually have traditional kitchens that open to curious visitors from all over. Angela and Alessandro of Florence, Tuscany wanted a relaxing holiday, so they tried staying in a refurbished farmhouse in the Sicilian countryside called Tenuta Carbonara. It was truly unforgettable for us, they raved, but the best
Comment [NT20]: Is Florence a city in the region of Tuscany? Is this the city of Florence? Because I think it might be clearer without Tuscany. Again, I dont know a whole lot about the country so I think we may need to be a bit clearer for our less informed readers. Comment [NT21]: When? Comment [NT19]: I think once youve defined a foreign word, you dont need to italicize it after that. I could be wrong, though.

part of their stay seemed to be their ever-hospitable hostess Nella Tuminello, who runs the Tenuta Carbonara establishment. Nella is a one-woman wonder. She cares for her guests and makes sure they feel at home in a laid-back environment. Her traditional home-cooked Sicilian meals are met with rave reviews by even the stingiest of critics. In fact, for those who cant get enough of her cooking, Nella teaches cooking classes. In these two- to three- hour hands-on demonstrations, Nella guides you through the steps of making cassata Ragusana, limpanata, or other regional delicacies, like ravioli stuffed with fresh local ricotta. She doesnt speak much English, though, so be prepared to watch closely!
Comment [NT23]: I feel that readers wouldnt necessarily want to seek Nella out individually (thats not what this article is about), so instead of offering suggestions in regards to her specifically, I think a nice way to wrap up this section might be something along the lines of Nella is just one example of the many great agriturismo hosts you might find in Sicily. Comment [NT24]: With so many Italian words, maybe adding a really short description of these places to remind readers would be helpful. the (adj) town of Ragusa, the (adj) town of Modica, or the farmhouses in Tenuta Carbonara Maybe something along those lines? Comment [NT22]: What kinds of stingy critics is she faced with? Do we have some sort of evidence for this?

Taking it Slow Sicily, as its laid-back reputation will hint at, is best enjoyed at a leisurely pace. You dont necessarily need to go to Ragusa, Modica, or Tenuta Carbonara in order to find that mysterious it factor that makes Sicily such a wonderful place to visit. It could be the beautiful Mediterranean climate, or the regions tenacious hold on its traditions. It could be the cracked and crumbling plaster finishes on the houses, the lazy palm trees swinging in the breeze over Baroque wrought-iron balconies, or the food culture that causes the streets to empty at mid-day to allow for big plates of pasta, meat, vegetables, fruit, and dessert. It could be the sun-dried tomatoes and bottled olives still prepared by hand at home, or the young men sitting right next to the old men playing cards in the park, hinting that this quiet Sicilian way of life is here to stay. I came home and I felt more alive than Id ever felt in my whole entire life, Marshall says of her life-changing trip to Ragusa. If you're looking for high fashion, busy people, and a cosmopolitan lifestyle, try Milan or

Comment [NT25]: This chunk feels a bit too long, and Im not quite sure what it means, either.

Comment [NT26]: Great paragraph. Love the descriptiveness.

Rome. But if you're looking to slow down, enjoy life, eat some wonderful food, and be inspired, head down to Sicily. It's waiting for you.

La bella Sicilia: beautiful Sicily buon appetito: enjoy your meal!