n. Important rituals and holidays

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Sicily is huge in traditions and values certain Holidays over others. On Christmas Eve it is tradition to celebrate the feast of the 7 fishes like in the Bible and one is required to eat seven different seafood dishes that night.


Also a huge tradition is to Easter a day in which many families stay up making easter bread.  A cross between a cookie and bread that is not to be eaten until the day of, for one should not be indulging in such food prior to that day, again this goes along with the religion of Sicily.

Above is a picture of my mother's Easter bread from this years Easter 2011.

Another tradition that is less formal that the above to is just the action of kissing one another when saying hello or goodbye on both cheeks of one's face, if you fail to do so it is considered disrespectful to the recipient. 

k. How they do business l. How individuals are situated within that culture based on their subject position m. How you are expected to relate to them based on the combination of your and their subject position

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Sicily like any other place in the world has its own style or doing business and conducting themselves in every day encounters with one another. Below are links to sites that help better explain...


http://www.todaytranslations.com/international-business/doing-business-in-italy


http://www.communicaid.com/cross-cultural-training/culture-for-business-and-management/doing-business-in/Italian_business_culture.php


http://www.worldbusinessculture.com/Business-in-Italy.html

j. Food

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If it is one thing that people recognize Italians for it there love and passion for food. When it comes to Sicily food is cherished and brings the community together. Sicilians are well known for their thick often square breaded pizza's and their arancines. Arancines are rice balls that are fried and often filled or mixed with meat and vegetables served with a marinara sauce.

Sicilians are also big on desserts like the rest of Italy and specialize in cannolis. 

Links

http://www.sicilianculture.com/food/recipes.htm

http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?fnSearchString=sicilian&fnSearchType=site

i.Religion; beliefs about humans, nature, the sacred and what is sacred

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As stated in an earlier blog most the main Religion in Sicily and the majority of Italy is Roman Catholic. It is very much practiced in proper fashion among the community and churches can be found all over the land. They value marriage and all the sacraments leading up to it from baptism to confirmation.  For more information seek the Bible. 


Sicilians value family above all and look out for one another no matter what. They have a hiarchy within each family and hold the grandparents as the patriarch and matriarch of each one realizing that they have experienced a lot in their time.


Below is a picture of my Uncle Anthony and his wife my Aunt Maria, with their children Elisabetha, Mikayla, and Anthony Junior. They reside today still in Sicily for the summer months and live in Massachusetts during the school year. Take note of their dark features and skin color, these are typical of most Sicilians and Southern Italians.

g.History & h.Time—monochronic, polychronic

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Below are sites that tell about the history and time lines of Sicily and how it came to be a world of its own in Europe. 


http://www.bestofsicily.com/history.htm


http://www.knowital.com/sicily/


http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid=ab60

f. Nonverbal communication

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Nonverbal communication is a large part of the day to day routine and language for Sicilians. One can pick up on this right from the start of a conversation with a person of Sicilian (Italian) culture. They often emphasis the words they are speaking by using hand gestures and other movements of the body, doing so aids them in whatever message they are trying to express. Another nonverbal form of communication is through touch and space, in Sicily ones "personal space or box" is much smaller than in a country like the United States. They often talk to one another up close and if it is someone they have love with in some way whether a husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, child, parent, grandparent, uncle, aunt, or cousin they are customary to showing public signs  of affection. Also it is scene as a sign of disrespect to not be looking someone, more specifically and elder in the eye when you are addressing them. 


Source- My mother Theresa Maria Ruscio Beckwith 


Link1-
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a911948537


This video shows examples of Italian hand gestures that become a language on their own.

e. Rules about sex, gender and sexuality

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When it comes to sex, gender, and sexuality in Sicily many things must be taken into account. One of the main things to know is that over the years Sicily, like the rest of Italy has become well developed and has equal rights among both men and women, when it comes to education, jobs, and politics. Though out of the country Sicily and parts of Calabria are sometimes more traditional with the women taking on a role of being a housewife while the man provides for the family but never the less there is respect no matter your gender.


More over when it comes to practicing there sexuality the majority of Italy and specifically Sicily is Roman Catholic. Holding all the standard values and beliefs of the religion to a high, meaning no premarital sex and marriage is for a man and a woman only. 


Link 1-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4739154.stm