Stories from Sicily: Settling in at Santa Lucia del Mela

This morning we made the trek from Palermo to our home in Santa Lucia del Mela for the duration of the field school. MSFS student, Chase Horn, shares his experiences from the day:

The Sun Sets on Santa Lucia del Mela

July 22nd, 2017

      Today was a good day. It was long and it was hot, but it was a good day. We left Palermo to head to Santa Lucia del Mela, where we will be staying for the next two weeks. We were supposed to meet to leave the hostel at 7:30am and in my usual fashion, I was the last one ready (my friends and family can vouch for me on that). However, we made it to the train station with plenty of time and only nearly got hit by a bus once on the walk over. There was a little bit of a problem at the station trying to figure out which train was ours, but we managed to get on and at 8:27am, we were heading toward our new temporary home. I’d like to brag about myself for a second and say that I loaded almost everyone’s luggage on the train (apparently college girls tend to pack heavy; Who knew?). Anyway, despite an issue with the bathroom being locked on the train and a little bit of motion sickness, we arrived in Milazzo and headed on a bus to Santa Lucia del Mela.

Lab all set up and ready for students.

After we arrived in the village, we made a small hike up the hill to the convent we will be staying in for the next couple of weeks. After getting unpacked and familiarized with the place, we were given a little bit of down time to relax. I went and visited the Poker Bar (not as sketchy as it sounds, not a "bar" and no gambling) with Drs. Reinhard, Meier, and Piombino-Mascali. I really enjoyed this part of the day personally because I was able to witness a conversation between friends and professionals in the fields that I am interested in. I've learned that it's important to pay attention to what your mentors are saying because you can learn quite a bit. After a while, we headed back up to eat our first meal of frittatas and penne pasta with a tomato sauce.

After lunch, we were given a little bit more free time while the instructors set up for our first lecture. I helped set up the lab with a few others, while I think some of the other students relaxed and hung out for a bit (Did I mention that there was no WiFi yet? Don’t worry though, we survived!).

Eventually, we started with our first lecture from Dr. Piombino-Mascali, which was a review over the skeletal system and how we can use bones to interpret information about mummies. We did get a small break to try some coffee offered to us by a restaurant down the street. The locals seem to be pretty excited that we are back for the second year of the field school.

Students have their first lecture on osteology and paleopathology with Dr. Piombino-Mascali.

After our break, we finished the lecture and got another small break until supper was ready. By this time, our WiFi was set up and ready to go!

When supper was finally ready, we headed down as a group and were treated to a meal of grilled eggplant, mozzarella and havarti cheese, ham, tomatoes, and bread, with a refreshing slice of juicy watermelon to wrap everything up. Next, some students decided to venture down to the town square, so Drs. Reinhard and Meier went ahead and took us on a field trip of sorts. Luckily for us, the locals are very helpful because Dr. Reinhard ended up getting us lost on the way down and had to ask for directions in "flawless Italian," (if you're not familiar, Santa Lucia is on a hill, and our convent is close to the top, while the square is closer to the bottom). We enjoyed some amazing gelatto and then began our sweaty ascent back to the top.
Overall, today was very fun. Friendships are being made, we are experiencing many things, and we are emerging ourselves in a new, interesting culture. Even though we traveled for much of the morning and have had to fight off the heat the whole day, we finally made it to our destination. Our journey is just beginning and I am excited to see what else Sicily holds in store for us.

Grilled eggplant, mozzarella, and tomatoes with bread.