Sicily - Research Paper Example

Sicily The term Sicilian Americans has penetrated into the world science long ago. It applied to those people who have immigrated to the USA from Sicily. This research paper studies the reasons that could urge native Sicilians to leave their country. It also gives description of the way of life on Sicily. Sicily lies in the Mediterranean and it has the status of an autonomous region of Italy. Being part of Italy, Sicily gave birth to many prominent artists, musicians and actors. The culture of Sicily is quite intricate as well as its cuisine, clothing and architecture.

While being a highly-developed cultural nation, Sicily represents an agricultural type of economy. It specializes mainly on exporting orange and lemon. Moreover, the beautiful orchards of Sicily attract many tourists mainly to the rural regions. There are also places of great historical interest such as Necropolis of Pantalica and Valley of the Temples. Excavations keep going on the island bringing out new evidence from history. The Sicilian people are honored to be citizens of the islands, though they identify themselves as Italians but not Sicilians.

“Despite the existence of major cities such as Palermo, Catania, Messina and Syracuse, popular stereotypes of Sicilians commonly allude to ruralism, for example the coppola is one of the main symbols of Sicilian identity; it is derived from the flat cap of rural Northern England, which arrived in 1800, when Bourbon king Ferdinant I had fled to Sicily and was protected by the British Navy”. (Spadi 2001) The majority of Sicilians have two native languages Italian and Sicilian. Despite the relative balance between these two languages, Italian has the dominant position - it is even taught at Universities and in schools as the language of mass media.

Sicilian is mainly used by youth in every-day life. Speaking about religion it is necessary to point out that Roman Catholicism is widely spread on Sicily. The church weddings are even more popular than civil ceremonies and people usually visit church at least once a week. Jewish people, who appeared on Sicily 1,400 years ago, possess the second place in religion. The third place belongs to Islamic faith since many Arabs came to Sicily in the 19th century. And the minorities are represented by Eastern Orthodoxy, Evangelist Church and Sikhism.

When it comes to national cuisine it should be mentioned that this island is called ‘God’s kitchen’. The reason for this is the abundant amount of wines, pizzas and other meals that originated on Sicily and have become popular in the whole world. Every part of Sicily has its specialty (Chaney 2000). The food on the island is cheap enough to afford cooking specialties once a week. The food and meals on Sicily are considered to be healthy since they are cooked from fruit and vegetables with little meat and sources in it.

Surely pasta is to be mentioned while speaking about cooking, since it has become the national specialty of Italy. The family traditions are the most valuable on Sicily. In other words family relations are of greatest importance for the Sicilians. The members of one family usually live in the neighborhood, while children tend to live with their parents until they get married. Sicilians honor their traditions greatly and celebrate all holidays on a large scale. Despite the depicted ‘Paradise’, many Sicilians still want to immigrate to the USA.

It can be explained by the fact that America is still considered to be the country of wide opportunities. Another reason is that Sicilians more and more prefer to get education in the USA, since it is even cheaper that in their Native country. The next reason that makes Sicilians immigrate is the tough family relations, in other words they want to join those members who have left there. Even during the crises the USA gives an opportunity to earn extra money in other spheres that agriculture. Having earned money, some Sicilians come back since the way of life in America is quite different from their own.

Nevertheless, the main reason for emigration is to feel more freedom than on Sicily, to make career and to increase the family standard of living, with the majority of emigrants staying in the USA forever. Bibliography1. Spadi F. (2001, July 21) The Bridge on the Strait of Messina: Lowering the Right of Innocent Passage? International and Comparative Law Quarterly 50: 411 .2. Chaney E. (2000). British and American Travellers in Sicily from the eighth to the twentieth century, The Evolution of the Grand Tour, Routledge.