Adventures of the Cutest Little Red Handmade Pottery Porcupine

Less than an hour’s drive through gorgeous Sicilian countryside found Dinosaur and I in Caltagirone, a hill-top village famous for it's many churches and copious pottery, as well as the famous 142-step staircase in the middle of town.  Most of the churches there are old, old Catholic cathedrals with the usual frescoed interiors and slightly disconcerting displays of the remains of saints and whatnot.  One church that we ducked into, however, seemed to be of a different denomination, and that day, it was filled with displays from missionary trips.  Also inside were three or four elderly women behind a table set  with crafts and knick-knacks for sale. 

The ladies greeted us cheerfully upon our entry and asked [in Italian] if we spoke Italian.  I answered, "Poco," ("a little"), and a particularly small and elderly woman enthusiastically dove into, from what I could gather, an explanation of what the ladies were doing that day.  I was able to understand that they were raising money for their missions, mainly an upcoming trip to Tanzania to help sick kids.  When I turned to Dinosaur and "translated" what I thought she'd said (not because I assumed that I’d understood her better than he would, but more so to see if he’d gleaned the same tidbits as I), this sweetheart of an old lady became quite visibly excited because I "understood" her and energetically led Chris and I around the church and the displays from their missions, delightfully rattling on and on about what we were viewing.  I could rarely understand what she was trying to tell us, but I was so touched by her enthusiasm that I couldn’t help but follow her around smiling and nodding, “Si, si.” 

And I’m glad I did.  If I’d gotten shy and said that I didn’t speak Italian and then walked away, I would have missed out on a valuable listening experience.  You see, during most interactions that we've had with Italians thus far, they either switch right to English or if they don't speak English, they kind of give up talking to us when they realize that we don't speak Italian (can’t blame them).  But this lady was happy just to talk and talk and talk, and it was a refreshing change.  I was able to test my ear and see how much I could decipher.  And since she was just showing us around the church (rather than, say, trying to give us directions), it wasn't of any consequence if I didn't understand a word.  But I did understand a bit, and that made me supremely happy.  This lovely old lady didn't even know what a gift she gave me, allowing me to just listen to someone speak to me in Italian without getting frustrated or switching to English.

I bought a set of pot holders and a picture of the town's famous staircase lit up by lanterns, both as a thank-you to the ladies and to commemorate the experience with our elderly friend.  Dinosaur and I are having fun seeing tourist-y stuff here in Sicily, and I’m sure we’ll go on our fair share of guided tours, but these accidental encounters while we’re out exploring on our own are the makings of what will no doubt be our most treasured memories of Italy.

The famous 142-step Caltagirone staircase, inlaid with ceramic tiles.

View from the top of the stairs.

I heart palm trees.

The church pictured above.

So, apparently at least some of the plants get changed out every day - interesting concept.