From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

The island of Sicily off Italy’s southern tip has a rich culture distinct from that of the mainland. The island’s unique culture developed over millennia and reflects the island’s geography and history. Sicily’s strategic location in the Mediterranean Sea lured successive waves of conquerors and settlers to its shores. Originally inhabited by over a dozen ethnic groups, including the Siculi, who gave the island its name, Sicily was soon settled by Phoenicians, Greeks, and Romans, and later by Byzantines, Arabs, and the Normans. The island became an independent kingdom in the 12th century before being incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy in 1860, and it finally gained regional autonomy in 1947. Currently one of five autonomous Italian regions, Sicily has been indelibly marked by its various conquerors and settlers, resulting in the island’s unique culture and customs. In addition to its wide array of ancient ruins and medieval monuments, Sicily offers a cuisine that is “an intoxicating mixture of cultures colliding on a plate” (140).

Despite its rich culture, Sicilians are often discriminated against by Northern Italians, largely because of the island’s high unemployment rate, poverty, and diverse racial heritage. Tembi describes these prejudices in detail in Chapter 3, stating:

The social hierarchy in Italy relegated Sicilians to second-class status when compared to the perceived cultural superiority of their northern countrymen […] Sicilians were looked at as barely a rung above ‘North Africans’, which was cultural code, a way of dismissing them as both non-Italian and non-European (88).

This pervasive cultural attitude is further demonstrated when Saro, attuned to the prejudices of northerners, insists that Tembi make the arrangements to rent their wedding venue in Florence, fearing the owner would discriminate against him upon hearing his Sicilian accent.

Sicily’s position at the bottom of Italy’s socio-economic hierarchy relates to some local customs and attitudes. According to Tembi, Sicilians are “characterized by an openhearted skepticism” (140), which she finds both endearing and vexing. Locals in Aliminusa are generally wary of outsiders, but they show her kindness because of her connection to Saro’s family. During her first summer in Sicily after Saro’s death, for example, members of the community give her small gifts and offer their condolences when she passes them in town. Outsiders without personal connections to the community, however, do not fare as well. In Chapter 17, Tembi describes being called to the scene of a car accident to resolve a conflict between an Englishman and a local. Although the local is technically at fault, the Englishman leaves without an insurance claim because witnesses refuse to take his side. As Tembi states in her memoir, “The Englishman gave up his pursuit of logic and submitted to the fact that he was in a town of Sicilians. People who would never betray one of their own” (287).

The incident with the Englishman underscores the strong sense of community in Aliminusa. Local women regularly drop by unannounced while Tembi is at her mother-in-law’s house. Further, Tembi is comfortable letting her daughter play in the streets unsupervised, which she never did in LA. The most striking example of community, however, occurs within moments of Tembi’s arrival in Aliminusa after Saro’s death. Tembi states:

The first thing I saw when we turned left on Via Gramsci was a stoic brigade of aging women and widows lined up on a bench along the stone sidewalk. The widows, as is customary, were dressed in all black […] They were prepared for mourning (103).

Alongside Saro’s mother, the women of Via Gramsci usher Tembi into the house, “moving us all as one mournful herd” (103). The support from locals continues during the wake and official lament, which Tembi describes as “a chorus of prayer” (108). The mourning rituals of Aliminusa’s Catholic population, which also include funeral Masses and processions, underscore the town’s strong sense of community. This community eventually embraces Tembi, treating her as one of their own.