We Swarm Together!

Preface for today's blog: 

For interest, my friend and personal translator (thank God...) Cassandra, have decided to create a kind of Palermo/Sicily focused blog - dialogue that explores her seasoned, dare I say Palermitani perspective on gastronomy, music, culture, architecture and design, with my own observations. As a foreigner, I have no personal history in this country. I can therefore see its potential without the influence of political and economic bureaucracy. However, I am not naive. I am aware that a bureaucratic labyrinth exists and is interwoven into the fabric of Sicilian society. Like any other major social system, the mechanics are complicated. As a Californian and Silicon Valley native, I remain perpetually optimistic and maintain the belief that anything is possible! It will be interesting to see how my view of Sicilian life compares and contrasts with that of Cassandra's as this American blog adventure unfolds.

Here is Cassandra's blog link, in case you missed in the first post!

Episode 2: 

My first few days in Palermo have been really exciting! Cassandra and her partner Manlio have been exceptionally generous hosts offering me a spare bed for a couple of days to acclimatize before heading over to the Tasca Lanza farm, Saturday morning. I'm very much looking forward to meeting Fabrizia Tasca Lanza, the estates proprietor. She runs the estate as well as the acclaimed international cooking school there. And although my duties will be centered around creating a wild plant herbarium, I hope I have the opportunity of diving into the kitchen from time to time to catch a cooking lesson or two! 

Many of Fabrizia's famed recipes use a combination wild plants from around the estate, which is why there preservation is essential. I love this earthy style of cooking. A strange comment to make, perhaps, because all food should be earthy, right? Not exactly. If you have any basic knowledge of our global food system, then you know that much of what we eat is hardly homegrown or wild for that matter. Another blog entry for another day! I'll provide more details of Fabrizia, the Tasca Lanza family and the farm after I settle in over the weekend. For now I'll give you an update on Sicily's mother city, Palermo!

Palermo:

Everything about this place has that new book smell. The street food, animated flow of arterial roads, stunning piazza's, sub-tropical fauna and mix of architectural history all have the aroma of fresh pages being thumbed beneath ones nose. Yet, while the experience might be fresh to my senses, the pages certainly are not. Many of the pages are torn and unfinished, but that's part of the regions charm. Palermo is still an urban city with almost 3,000 years of history under its belt. Tucked in the creases of each page are stories of love, conquest, death and of course a great Italian icon, the Vespa!

Unfamiliar with the history of the Vespa, I conducted a thorough investigation using the most up-to-date research technology available, i.e Google. I found through very reliable sources (wikipedia) that the original Vespa design was inspired by the Pre-world War II Cushman scooter. The Cushman scooter was made by the Cushman Company in Lincoln Nebraska, as an alternative to automobiles for U.S military troops fighting abroad. 

In 1944 renowned Italian engineering company Piaggio took the Cushman scooter concept and re-sculpted its features into a sleek, polished piece of machinery that ultimately provided the Italian public with a practical means of navigating the war ruined city streets. The Italian Post World War economy and infrastructure simply could not support the automobile. Vespa would remain, forever, in the hearts and minds of Italians as a symbol of freedom.

The allure of Vespa continues today as the brand conjures images care-free bliss of romance, of young couples zipping down sun-washed cobbled streets. At least that's the scene I always had in the back of my mind, painted by decades of indie films. That is, until I witnessed the darker side of the wasp. 

Clouds of Vespa brotherhoods, swarm the streets under and over-cutting traffic from every direction, their owners, completely oblivious to any rule or law governing the road. Clearly defined road lanes don't mean much. The notorious "California Stop" pales in comparison to the Scicilian Roll. Single lanes quickly become two, sometimes three, while Vespas and motorcycles pour in from right, left and center, filling empty spaces, a symphony of micro-horns ablaze. 

Drivers play their part in the orchestra of organized chaos as well. They pay little credence to turning into the face of on-coming cars to over-take a slower vehicle, in hurried traffic, in the rain. Yes the on-coming traffic might be barreling in at 40 mph an hour, but there's time! To an Italian, there's always time! I love this about the culture. They have this uncanny ability to slow down time while simultaneously move through it at the speed of light! It's incredible.

Italian drivers are pillars of calm. What I see as outrageously risky behavior are calculations to the trained eye, their senses and reflexes tuned for precision driving. It makes perfect sense that many of the top Formula 1 race-car drivers in the world are Italian! There could be ten-thousands obstacles outside of a moving vehicle on any given day - slashing rain, black ice, mountains of slippery dog mess, clueless people, man eating plants, puppies, kittens, mortar shells, you name it, but to a steady mind, inside the cockpit of a 1989 Fiat Panda....the operatic ballads of Enrico Caruso, resound. As an American, I'm far from used to this way of life. I yearn for some semblance of order, straight lines, organization and yet I reject it at the same time, because I know that great design and great art are both born out of this chaos. I identify with the process. Palermo is a little crazy, but then, heck, so am I! In Palermo, no matter how much you resist, one eventually becomes part of the swarm. Whether you're in a car or straddling a wasp, Sicily is a family and Sicilian families, fly together!

In my next blog I will recant my first ever ride on a Vespa through the very streets I've described above. It was both the most thrilling and terrifying experience of my life! And share a bit of the delicious food and sites I've discovered so far - thanks to Cassandra. Stay tuned!

From London to Sicily

This American Blog... in Sicily

Episode numero uno: Where does one begin with writing a blog?! I suppose I should introduce myself and provide some context for the who, the what, the where and the why...here goes nothing.

The Who:

My name is Andrew Sundling (Handsome Andy) for those who know me best. And no it's not a nickname I've bequeathed to myself. It was bestowed upon me one morning while I was working with the Arancini Brother's, (a fantastic street food business and coffee shop in London, owned by my two good friends Dave & Dave) at a bespoke music festival over the summer. The story goes like this:  I was supervising a dozen over easy eggs, half asleep from the previous nights shift and Dave (little Dave) was refreshing our food signage for the breakfast rush. Scribbling away he wrote "Crazy Dave's Morning Wraps!" paused, laughed....and then finished the rhyming jangle with "& Handsome Andy's Breakfast Baps!" ( For my American friends and family, Baps = Sandwich & Handsome = Me)  - Some say. Hence the name of my blog. With that said, welcome to the Adventures of Handsome Andy! My first blog, from Sicily. More on that in a moment...

The What: London

2.5 years ago I left the warm, temperate, Mediterranean climate of sunny California for the cold, wet, very wet, busy streets of foggy London. Air quality in London is much safer and cleaner then it was a hundred years ago, so there isn't much fog...but the streets and lifestyle of most Londoner's is certainly still very busy. In fact, busy is an understatement. Everyone rushes. Nevertheless, London is still exceptionally beautiful as a city and supports many of the world's top academic universities, which is why I was there.

In 2011 I graduated from Imperial College London with a Masters degree in Environmental Technology and Business. It was an incredible experience. I'm not sure the education was worth the outrageous international student fee's and debt - There  is something to be said about a good library card, however, the friendships and experiences I've had since, are worth every penny. London might be cold and rainy 6....ok, 9 months out of the year, but one of its most illustrative facets is its ability to shine as a cultural hub, where people from all over the globe mix, brew and stew. Opportunities for adventure are everywhere if one can see through the stale rushing, corporate ladder climbing and obsessive box ticking. As it turned out, my corporate spectacles were a bit scratched. Wrong prescription. I couldn't see sh*t! Timing is everything, they say...

Rather then fight a perspective that clearly wasn't reflecting the world view I saw,  I've exchanged them for a pair that is somewhat more alternative, less mainstream, more liberating, more f*ck you, more Bob Dylan; a glass composite that combines Thoreavian meditation, with the exacting yet unpredictability of Julia Childs. Throw in a dash of Alan Watts and George Carlin for good measure. Life is not about boxes, it's about people and being human. The view through my new lenses are still a bit fuzzy at times. The unknown is a scary place to be. I crap myself on a regular basis, but it keeps me humble....and hungry. (Fist bump, Steve Jobs). At least now the bigger picture appears to be more in focus...

The Where: Sicily

Three days into the New Year I received a life changing email from my good friend, fellow American expat and honorary Sicilian, Cassandra Funsten. She's been living in Sicily as a writer for almost five years. In 2006 without knowing the language, she excavated her roots in Berkeley California and transplanted them in Italy with a pair of her own hand-crafted lenses. The women has balls! She might be a Cancer sign, but she's got the tackle to follow her dreams and her heart. Bravo! After living in Sicily for almost six years, she translates complicated academic papers from Italian to English and is raising a bilingual three year-old daughter with an artistic life-partner who directs the Palermo University Botanic Garden. His name is Manlio (pronounced "Mall-i-o"). Half hippie, half Sicilian, 100% awesome! I digress. Back to the life changing email:

Cassandra had written with great news! One of the oldest families in Sicily had asked her to find a suitable person to intern on their family estate which also happened to be a world renowned vineyard and acclaimed international cooking school for the next 3-6 months. There was a catch, she needed to know yesterday if I was in. The clock was ticking. At the time I was bartending in a great pub in London just off Regents Street, called The Stags Head and wasn't sure how I could make it work on such short notice. What would I tell my boss? "Sorry, Nigel, I'm leaving the pub, the locals and a steady paycheck for Sicily - the mafiosi - a region of Italy that is on the verge of economic bankruptcy? In addition, I had a contract on my flat with roommates who expected my portion of the rent to be paid on time for the next three months, plus my goodness, it was Sicily!? Did I really want to pack my bags for a farm in a country who's economic status is comparable to Greece? I checked out the website and calculated the risks. The photos spoke for themselves, leaving me with two words "I'm in!".  Logistics turned out to be easier than I thought. My flatmates were excited for me. I found a friend to take my room and two days ago, I literally packed my bags, boarded a plane and landed in Palermo, Sicily, just as the sun was setting behind Monte Pellegrino. Bellisimo. And so it begins...

Why:...Perch`e No!?

I am reminded of a quote:

"I think it's much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers which might be wrong"

- Richard P. Feynman -

 

We are so afraid to let go, to just be, to allow the unfolding of this marvelous life without getting in the way. Why have I moved to Sicily to work for a family I've never met on a farm in the middle of the Sicilian countryside? Because I don't want to be afraid of being wrong. Ten years from now when I'm teaching my children how to cook or chop an onion, I don't want to tell them that when I was 30 years old, I gave up the opportunity to live and work in Italy with a historic royal family, learn the language, its culture and culinary arts, because I couldn't foresee the answers. 

And even if this road leads to more questions then answers and my tambourine man ramblings fall to the unknown like a rolling stone, I'll know the truth is out there, man, somewhere, blowin in the wind, the answers, blowin in the wind...

This blog is about the beginning of a Sicilian Adventure that I hope to share with friends, family and anyone else who's interested in following along!