MSFS Day 1: L'arrivo (The Arrival)

Notes from the Field School: July 23rd, 2016

Students waiting to board
 the train to Milazzo.

This marks the official beginning of the first MSFS summer! The students all arrived safely in Sicily on Friday. Despite cancelled flights, lost luggage, ticketing complications, mechanical issues, and jet lag, everyone has survived their travels to the island and will be going home with stories that begin with the phrase, "Once we finally got to Palermo, everything was wonderful!".

We spent the night in a hostel near the central train station in Palermo. Saturday morning, we ate breakfast before walking to the station. Our train left around 9:00am to take us to Milazzo. For many of our students, this was their first experience taking the train...and yet they demonstrated extraordinary skill in loading luggage into the overhead racks and in retrieving all of the luggage in record time upon our arrival at our final destination. The train arrived in Milazzo around noon after 21 stops at small towns along the way. The students were able to see the mountains, the ocean, and the local architecture of the cities as the train sped away from Palermo.

In Milazzo, we were greeted by Dr. Dario Piombino-Mascali and a shuttle to take us to Santa Lucia del Mela. Following 20 minutes of beautiful scenery and winding streets, we arrived at our home for the next two weeks. The former convent where we are staying sits atop a hill and overlooks the city, providing a spectacular view both during the day and at night as the lights paint the Sicilian sky with hues of orange and white.

A view of Santa Lucia from the convent.

The first of many delicious lunches.

We were shown to our rooms and given a quick tour of the convent before lunch was served. We ate wonderful pasta with eggplant and a local cheese in addition to "chips" (french fries). We were also given delicious cheese-stuffed meatballs and fresh fruit with our meal. We had a few hours of downtime after lunch to settle in and explore for a bit prior to our evening event.

Poster announcing the reception for the
MSFS to the Santa Lucia community.

At 6:30pm, the class walked to the church to attend a reception with the mayor of Santa Lucia, Antonino Campo, officials of cultural heritage for Santa Lucia (Rosario Torre) and Sicily in general (Carlo Vermiglio), and member of the Santa Lucia general public. The above-named individuals sat at a panel with Dario and Karl and local journalist, Katia Trifiro. The panel discussed the cultural and scientific importance of the MSFS to Santa Lucia, to Sicily, to Italy, and beyond.

Reception panel discussion of the first MSFS in Santa Lucia.

Afterward, we went to view the crypt beneath the convent where we are staying and to meet the mummies that we will be working with during the MSFS. This was followed by a delicious dinner of arancini (a Sicilian dish with vegetables, meat, and cheese stuffed inside of a ball of rice and lightly fried) and pizza. The pizza were baked on focaccia or on puff pastry dough and included toppings of local cheeses, meats, and vegetables. Dessert was comprised of tarts, tiramisu cups, a chocolate and hazelnut gelato cake, biscotti, and candied almonds. The food, much like the community that came to welcome us this evening, was wonderful and we were thankful to be so well-cared-for upon our arrival to the city.

We were also invited to attend an outdoor opera concert. The performers sang beautifully. They sang from many of the classics, such as Carmen and the Turandot. This unplanned activity gave us all a chance to see an important part of Italian culture on a local level. The experience of watching an opera, perhaps even for the first time, while in Sicily is one that I am sure our students will remember for many years.

Opera singers entertaining an audience in Santa Lucia.

Strawberry-lemon
granita in Santa Lucia.

The day concluded with post-opera granitas at the city plaza. Students enjoyed the refreshing lemon and strawberry desserts before making the hike back up to the convent. The day was full of both exhaustion and excitement. The food is amazing. The people are wonderful. The culture is unique. The community is welcoming. We are all looking forward to spending the next few weeks in this beautiful place learning exciting new things about mummy studies and the relevance of such endeavors. Grazie, Santa Lucia!

Tomorrow will be filled by more excitement and less traveling. We are all ready to see what is yet to come during this inaugural MSFS here in Sicily. Stay tuned for tomorrow's notes from the field!

Written by Dr. Johnica J. Morrow (University of Nebraska-Lincoln)