Ciao, I'm Maria!

         I'm a college junior engineering major who was recently fortunate enough to study abroad in Sicily for my Honors Interdisciplinary Studies minor and Hillcrest Scholar project. My family came to America four generations ago at the start of the 1900s, like most Italian Americans, and neither I nor my parents had ever seen the old country. Ironically, my grandfather (also an engineer) took a job with GE out of college that allowed him to live in Italy. I never imagined I might get my own opportunity like that.

         On this trip, my fellow students and I stayed mainly in Palermo, the capital of Sicily and the home of my ancestors on my grandmother's side. One family mystery we've always wondered was why her middle name was Rosalie. Most of us have recycled names from our elders (my middle name was the first name of both of my grandmothers), but there was nothing to explain this or the interesting spelling. Lo and behold, on a trip to Palermo Cathedral I learn that Rosalia is the patron saint of the city. Mystery solved!

         This blog is a record of similar things that I learned and saw on my adventure that I hope will help other Italian Americans, as well as bring exposure to how diverse we can look and culturally different we can seem despite being classified as white/Caucasian. In the Essays tab, you can read my final papers for the courses I took regarding the medieval history of the diverse island. In Albums, I share groups of interesting, captioned photos organized by topic. My assumption going to Italy was I would learn about cool history and food... but botany and engineering??

ALIEN PLANT**

Welcome to Sicily! I hope you learn a lot too!

**Note that photos on this site were taken by me unless they have a linked Image Source.

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