n. Important rituals and holidays

Sicily-


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

Sicily-


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

Sicily-


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

Sicily-


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

Sicily-


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

Sicily-


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

SICILY-


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

d. Individualism and collectivism

SICILY-


Individualism is best defined as societies where people keep loose ties between one another, feeling as though they are only responsible for themselves and their immediate family verses societies that are more about the belonging and having loyalty to a group. Sicily falls under individualism however they are not number one on the rankings like the United States. Sicilians care about their immediate families but also their extended members which can be seen as a group making them have a more collective way of thinking at time. An example of this is housing, referring to an earlier post many families share split level homes having the grandparents, parents, and children under one roof while having uncle and auntie only up the street.


Link 1-
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/index.php


Seen below is a picture of my younger cousins and their pappa from sicily, all of them live in the same household.

c. Social relations of hierarchy/dominance—this includes power distance, economics, caste/class, in groups/out groups, age, race, sex, gender, sexuality

SICILY-


The economy in Sicily is slow but steady and stable, for a smaller place they do well for themselves. Having their population under the poverty line being estimated only at 1% and having an inflation rate of about 2%. How do they make their money one may ask? One way is through agricultural products such as fruits, grapes, sugar beets, gain, olives, and fish. Many people in the rural places are farmers and close to the shorelines are many fishermen businesses. They too make money through industries such as tourism, machinery, iron and steel, textiles, ceramics, and clothing. 


The government of Sicily is a representative democracy, meaning they have a president of the region who leads all and they too have a legislative system that is made up of the regional government and the Sicilian Regional Assembly, which is one of the oldest in the world made up of 90 deputies.


In terms of social class they have a lower middle and upper class but in their history like the main land of Italy and England they had royalty. Though not held in the same regard today the royal bloodline still exists in Sicily.


Link 1-
http://www.bestofsicily.com/index.htm


Link 2-
http://sicilyguide.com/2010/11/01/salvatore-giuliano-is-still-a-mistery/


Link 3-
http://pti.regione.sicilia.it/portal/page/portal/PIR_PORTALE

b. Space: housing, public space; rural, urban, suburban

SICILY-

The living in Sicily is unique and embodies everything the culture represents. It is home to 5,050,486 people and its capital is Palermo. Palermo alone is fifth most populated city in Italy with around 1 million people. The types of housing is what makes Sicily distinct it has a taste of everything, being that it is an island, their are many areas along the water that resemble parts of Greece. Homes are often built upon hills and in clusters along the narrow roads. Many families live in multi family homes. Moreover this means that often the first floor or one side of a house is the grandparents and their children and grandchildren reside above or next to them in the home. This is scene in more urban and suburban areas. Verses rural parts where the houses are much bigger and spread out amongst the open space.

Sicily is home to many forests, mountains, and rivers but its location makes it have a Mediterranean climate and has warm winters with hot and dry summers this makes it a popular place for many to visit on vacation. 

In terms of cost of living it depends on the area in which one wishes to reside. 

Link1-

http://www.investsicily.com/

Link 2-

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/542800/Sicily/6651/Physical-and-human-geography

Link 3-
http://howaboutsicily.com/

a. Language(s) spoken, written

SICILY-


Sicily truly has its own identity even though it is part of Italy and this can be seen mainly through its language. Sicilians like other parts of southern Italy ( Calabria) speak what is known as the "romance language", which compromises the Italiano meridionale-estremo language. It has yet to be officially recognized as a language in this world but certainly has enough impact to be seen as one. Spoken by 5,000,000 inhabitants of the island, not including others with Sicilian roots who have migrated to new countries such as the United States of America. Though this language is taught in schools, most all Sicilians are bilingual, speaking the mainland Italian language as well, for it is the official language of the country. The Sicilian language can be broken down even further into dialects depending on the region in which one lives. 

• Western Sicilian
• Central Metafonetica
• Southeat Metafonetica
• Ennese
• Eastern Nonmetafonetica
• Messiness
• Aeolian
• Pantesco
• Southern Calabro
• Southern Pugliese

The Sicilian language has many influences stemming from Greek, Arab, Norman French, Gallic, and Spanish throughout its history. As for how the spoken tongue translates into the written language it is very similar to Italian in terms of its letter annunciations, 3 tenses, verbs, and sentence formatting. The best way to see this my viewing the prayers or poems side by side. 


Links to sites:


Link1-
http://www.sicilyontour.com/eng/language.htm


It covers the history of the language and breaks down each different dialect spoken by region.


Link2-
http://www.linguasiciliana.org/


This site I found helpful to get a better understanding of how the language is written and it went into detail about how different regions use the language when one clicks on the language tab. It is an Italian ( Sicilian) website but when using Google chrome as ones browser you can translate the page to English. 


FYI~ it is part of the spoken language for Italians to speak through gestures below is an example of an older Sicilian gentleman reciting a poem and using his hands to get the message across.