with fists!: Viva Sant'Agata!

Hello all!

So, I've been here in Sicily for over a week and it's already beginning to feel like home. Our first week here was the festival of Saint Agatha, the patron saint of Catania (and breast cancer). While culture shock is surely not the correct word, it was an experience that is not easily described. The festival seems to be a time of great unity for the city - it's spiritual, but festive - similar to Mardi Gras, minus the alcohol.

I guess it would help to describe the basic premise of the festival before throwing a hundred pictures at you. The festival takes place in Catania, and for the three days the city is packed with tourists - PACKED. I even heard people speaking English! It was nice to not feel like the only tourists in the city for a change. They even break out all of the carnival food - the streets were lined with stands - people making crepes cotton candy and candy apples. SO neat-o.

The festival, in it's simplest form, is a series of processions. On the first day, the 3rd of February, the candelore are paraded through Catania, eleven of them representing eleven different guilds. These are followed by two carriages, which represent the old Catanian senate.

On the next day, the 4th, we were allowed on the the balcony of the Plazzo Biscari (where we have our classes) to watch the procession line up outside of the Duomo (or Cathedral). This is when Saint Agatha's silver carriage, called il fercolo, makes an appearance. It's both gorgeous and massive - a bust of Saint Agatha sits on the front of the carriage covered in jewels.

The people pulling her are those that are extremely devoted to the saint, and they wear what's called il sacco - its basically a white sack that is accessorized with white gloves and a small black hat. It feels like these lines of people (pulling ropes) goes on for miles because of how heavy the fercolo is.

When Saint Agatha reached the Biscari Palace, it paused so that the devoted could watch a fireworks show (it was 10AM) that the Palace set up in celebration of the Saint. The sound of these fireworks was deafening, to say the least (as it was right below the balcony). The smoke was so thick that you couldn't see through it for minutes.

The next day, the 5th, we met after dark to walk to Via Etnea, one of the bigger streets of Catania. It was extremely crowded - everyone came out to see this. The procession was similar to the one the day before, only this time the Saint's carriage was surrounded with candles. Preceding her were men carrying these massive candles (some as large as me) to light the way. People in the crowd were handing candles to the clergy (many were needed because they burn so quickly).

OH! And there were balloons and yummy food EVERYWHERE!