The Sabbatical Project Logs - The Story of Silence

Interviewed my grandmother’s cousins, Giuseppa and Maria who will be 102 years old October 5th. Maria unfortunately is primarily in bed stay and does not speak much and is cared for by a family member and her sister Giuseppa who is 88 years old and spoke with great detail.

Maria. 101 years old. Born Bagheria, Sicily. Currently lives in Bagheria.
Giuseppa. 88 years old. Born Bagheria, Sicily. Currently lives in Bagheria.

only Giuseppa spoke and began immediately with her memory of planes bombing Palermo. She had a brother that fought in the War and remembered everyone being concerned for him being stationed in Palermo. He was wounded and Maria, her sister, walked 13 kilometers to find him. Giuseppa also spoke of the bombs going off in Bagheria and told her story and what she remembered about that day that my grandmother had spoken about many times. As Giuseppa spoke her sister Maria broke out in song. She sang a biblical song and I immediately got it on video—it was spontaneous and touching to see and hear. As soon as she finished she looked tired and sank in her chair. She was quiet yet appeared to be listening to every word her younger sister, Giuseppa said. The last question I ask in every interview is what is the biggest difference in generations—in your generation compared to the generation of women today. Giuseppa’s answer touched me. She said that in her observation and experience with this current generation is that they lack nothing, yet want for nothing—meaning, they haven’t the desire nor want to work and therefore don’t understand the reward. Today, she said, they ask and expect to get it without reward of their own, their own effort, their own sweat. They want something for nothing because they get their information so quickly, without seeking or searching for it on their own—they can now click a couple buttons and their it is…don’t get me wrong, she said, there are benefits to this but what it strips is passion, desire and want and leaves youth with talk and no walk to back it up…I thought, wow, that’s a pretty wise and hip response for an eighty-eight year old woman.
The interview caused me to pause and reflect. Firstly, I had never met an almost 102 year old person—as I looked at her, I thought how much she had experienced, how many world changes she had seen, it was, to put it colloquially, pretty cool. Her impromptu singing was pretty amazing too. It was however sad to see that her mind and her body were not fully functioning. She was now living in bed rest for most of the day, sitting in a chair periodically and speaking very little if anything.

I contacted Settimanale Bagheria, the local newspaper in Bagheria and emailed Giuseppe Fumia the author of the story written about the Bombings of 1943. The story was written with the help of a Mr. Rizzo, a retired police officer from Bagheria. He had done most of the research and Fumia wrote the article. Hence, Mr. Fumia told me he would pass my information to Mr. Rizzo. I now wait for his contact.

I Went to the library this week and asked the information desk if they had any information about WWII, specifically about Bagheria and/or Palermo. There were 3 people, mid-age, sitting behind the desk and seemed extremely perturbed that they had to get up and help me—after some chatter of look in this book, look at that one, check that book behind the counter, etc. The woman apologized and said; ‘sorry we don’t have any information.’ I was wide-eyed and said ‘no information about WWII and your capital city of Palermo?’ I was shocked yet somehow not surprised. They still used a card-catalogue system, had no computers and a very small collection of books. The latter however surprised me the most. Bagheria has a population close to 60,000 people, almost everyone has a cell phone, including the elderly, and the majority of the population is Internet ready and connected and I thought to myself why such a small resource of books in a building that should carry many of them --especially a building that has no computers and no Internet (at least that is how it appeared to me). Then I thought about the card catalogue and wondered if my students today even know what or how to use a card catalogue? Could my students fathom a library with no computers and possibly no Internet? Could they limit themselves to the use of books and only books no matter how small the collection? We have so much information and resources available today; however, I wonder if we are any smarter. do we have imagination, drive, a hunger to learn for learning sake, to explore and to contribute to society in unselfish ways? did we when all libraries had card catalogues? It just made me wonder. Is the library as it is in Bagheria a possible FORESHADOWING? Is the library, as past generations have known it, going to be extinct? Then I thought if something doesn’t adapt with the changes, does it go extinct? Books are going EXTINCT. Yet, when there aren't the modern conveniences of the computer and the internet, how is it that you find information? How is that you explore and learn new things? This leads me to think about the generation of women I am interviewing. They have seen a multitude of change and have adapted, have grown with and changed with the world’s changes. it’s their memories, the past, their past experiences and their stories that have so much to teach us, so many lessons we can adapt in our Today. Could the library in Bagheria as it is without computers and Internet, teach us something too? How would it be for our students today to find books using a card catalogue system? How would it affect their brain functions, their mobility, their way of thinking and analyzing information in comparison to how they function, move and think today? Just thoughts, just thoughts and reflection this library, its card catalogue, no computers nor Internet, and its limited books caused in me...
So back to the library experience in Bagheria… Now, I did discover they had WWII books but not specifically in regards to Palermo or Bagheria. One attendant said to me that I wouldn’t find any information due to no ‘real’ war or battle in these parts. Again, I was shocked and showed him the article that was written in their local newspaper two years ago about the bombs that went off in 1943. The man skimmed the article and said, ‘oh, yeah, that was a mistake. The Americans bombed us by mistake. That shouldn’t have happened.’ Fascinating I thought and again was slightly shocked—a slight Sicilian cultural shock—and must admit, a bit appalled by the ignorance possibly due to the lack of computers, internet or the EXTINCTION of books.

Went to visit my great aunt Maria, otherwise known as Zia Maria. As we sat at her kitchen table and she made me coffee, her neighbor Rosa stopped by. Talking, coffee, and more talking led me to interview Rosa.

Rosa. 82 years old. Born in Bagheria, Sicily. Currently lives in Bagheria.

Rosa told her story of what she remembered when she was around 9 or 10 years of age. She didn’t have a story, per se, but clip-its of memories that came to her as she spoke. One memory in particular that seemed to cause more emotion, more facial expression and a slight change of tone was one where she recalls waiting in lines at a ‘cucina economica’ (a soup-like kitchen) to get plates of spaghetti. She then smiled and said, ‘si, si, mi ricordo la vita’ (yes, yes, I remember the life) and then pauses. I’m not sure why she smiled. Maybe it was the memory of something she seemed to enjoy. She was a little girl, waiting in line with other children, they played as they waited and then were given a plate of spaghetti, as the War became backdrop. The interview was brief, very brief and I may not use it in the overall project yet her story just like all the others made me reflect, pause, and ponder how ‘la vita’ truly was for these women.

I made plans to do some research towards the end of the week or next week at the local library. The problem is working out a schedule to go. The library hours are not consistent and there are only afternoon/evening hours available twice a week, at least that is what is printed on their website; however, on my way to the train station the other day I had passed the library and it was open. According to what was stated on their website they should’ve been closed…hmmm. I asked a local living near the library and he tells me; ‘it appears they open whenever they wish to be or whenever the library attendant shows up’--Culturally Sicilian.

I began researching hosts for the website I would like to create for this project. I plan on putting all these logs on the site and hope to add links to some of the interviews and the finished final project. I will then have a complete format for my students to refer to as an example Oral History project and the initial creation of future lessons for my classes.

Every morning my grandmother and I drink coffee and have biscotti on her balcony or in her kitchen. We chat, we sit and watch the activity of cars and Vespas zipping along her street, and we reminisce about when she lived in the States. I believe she misses it. On this particular morning we spoke instead about when she was a little girl during WWII and the date 7/7/1943.

September 8th, 2015

Graziella. 84 years old. Born in Bagheria, Sicily. Currently lives in Bagheria.

This is the 3rd time I interview my grandmother. I first interviewed her five years ago. I always ask her to tell the story of her tragic loss of her sister, aunt and grandmother to a bomb that went off on July 7th 1943. I decided to interview her a 3rd time retelling the same story and noticed more memories exposed, sometimes more detail, and more emotion. The story does not change but it becomes deeper, fuller and more defined—dates are remembered, names and places mentioned that hadn’t been before. I never tire of hearing this story. Yes, it is sad, yes it is tragic and speaks of loss but it too speaks of survival, of love and of life and it’s fragility. It makes me think of quotes and sayings I see today about living life in the moment, about being grateful for what you have, and about love and kindness. I see these sayings written on websites, social media or framed on people’s walls and I wonder—are they words, just words, or are these people who post these quotes or frame them, people who have experienced tragic loss, experienced a War in their country, have fled their homes for nearby fields to avoid being buried alive by a falling building, bomb or gunfire? Then I wonder, do you have to truly experience such tragedy to feel such love and gratefulness. Do you have to experience loss in order to truly understand living life in the moment? I wonder if to feel deep and overwhelming truthful joy, one needs to have had the experience of feeling the opposite feeling? Do words have more meaning through action and experience? Maybe it’s a bit like faith—believing without needing evidence—it just is. Maybe it’s just human nature. We sometimes forget what is important and valuable until we’ve lost it. It’s like a certain food, a burger for instance, we’ve eaten everyday—it’s just not as good as if we had eaten it for the first time. The experience changes a perspective. I am of course generalizing when I say ‘we’ or ‘people’. I have no idea what happens in the individual lives of many and it is a bit presumptuous of me to imply in any way that one needs to experience a tragedy in order to truly know what it means to live life in the moment or be grateful but I believe an experience adds a depth, a fullness and definition to words—experiences, good or bad do that. I believe the telling of the experience, the Story, also adds this kind of depth to words, especially when told directly by the person whom had the experience. I believe hearing a story enhances its depth, it’s reality, its truth—words spoken have a different effect than words read. I feel like I am now rambling—I guess my grandmother’s interview ignited many questions and reflection. I feel grateful every time I hear her story and know that life is truly a precious journey. It’s that sometimes in the day –to- day minutiae, I forget it and these stories help me remember—I think a story just has that effect

Anna C.

Instructor of Italian language and culture at OPRFHS

**Throughout the logs, highlighted and underlined in yellow are links that will lead you to resources about Italy, WW2, and many other miscellaneous topics that may help you utilized the site in a more effective way**

the sabbatical logs

the sabbatical logs

the sabbatical logs

the sabbatical logs

Anna C.

Archives

Categories