She walks in beauty

“When I ask myself why so many come to Italy to find a larger version of themselves, I wonder. Is it Italy, or is this where you come when you’re about to bloom?” 

– FRANCES MAYES, WOMEN IN SUNLIGHT

It was 6pm on Wednesday evening and I was feeling pleased with my small achievements so far. I had successfully completed my first lesson with eight five-year-olds and no one had cried or wet their pants including me. I had survived a whole four days of my new job as an English teacher. And my biggest highlight so far was that no members of the mafia had tried to kidnap me which my septuagenarian granny was convinced would happen when I moved here.

As I finished tidying up the desk in the classroom, I reflected on how incredibly polite the children had been, and my heart had melted when Rosalinda, a tiny, beautiful doll of a child had stood up from her little chair and walked round the table to ask, ‘please may I use the eraser Signorina Vickerstaff?’ I smiled for a moment thinking what my little brother, Jimmy would say right now ‘please may I use the grater Signorina cheese monster?’ It was his affectionate name for me as I was partial to a anything a la fromage.

Despite the instinct to respond to the little one in the same manner I greet my springer spaniel, Fergie, I replied ‘Good girl Rosalinda, of course, here you go and well done for asking so politely. A gold star for you’ and all the children looked up eagerly at the leader board as I placed the star next to her name sending her into pole position.

I was just about to leave for my new home when Theresa, owner of the school, appeared at the door. I was always impressed that she looked catwalk ready. Adorned in a beautifully fitting navy trouser suit which accentuated her amazing pins, she brushed her golden mermaid- like tresses over her shoulder before asking:

‘How’d it go?’ she asked in her soft Australian lilt.

‘Good thank you, I think. Thanks for the tip about the stars. It worked a treat.’ 

‘Oh pleasure’ she said smiling, ‘yes it always works well with the little ones. I find they are all desperate to outdo each other which really helps to reign them in. You have to watch Catarina. She can be a bit of a madam and once she starts speaking Italian, it’s like Mount Etna erupting.’

Only a few days ago I had started my role as English teacher at the British institutes in Sicily. I had had a very easy introduction to teaching with just a couple of classes at the Institute so far but next week I would take on daily classes at the prestigious Liceo Classico in the old town. I was excited and nervous at the prospect of Italian teenagers and what I suspected would be their very dramatic hormonal surges.

Theresa seemed very relaxed about it all. She said, ‘I only have one rule in classes.’ I remember wondering what she was going to say. ‘No Italian.’ ‘Of course,’ I had agreed, thinking that would be easy. How naïve was I.

Theresa then continued ‘I have something to ask you?’

‘Of course, anything.’

We have a little tradition here of asking our new teachers to lead the Friday debates after our adult class finishes at 6 and I wondered if you’d be up for it? I thought we could debate the topic of vivisection. It’s one that really gets them going, they all love their furs and leather goods but also cry at the thought of harm coming to their precious cats. Then I thought we could all go to the pub to welcome you.’

‘That sounds amazing thank you.’

‘Well done for this week so far and have a great evening.’

‘Thanks Theresa.’

Feeling upbeat and excited by my new experiences, I grabbed my bag and decided to walk the thirty minutes back to my apartment. Via Manzoni was still bustling with people and shopkeepers so I felt safe walking back in the dark. 

As I entered my apartment, my flatmate Kelly hollered from her room ‘Good evening’ in her slightly more distinctive Australian accent, so I knocked at her door and popped my head round. She was lying in her bra and pants revealing her almost childlike figure reading her Italian grammar book.

‘How’s it going?’ I asked.

‘Good thanks. Do you mind if I tell you something? I think one of my students is into me.’

‘Cripes which one?’

‘Davido.’

‘Oh yes, I know who you mean. Leather jacket and snakeskin shoes?’

‘He’s very cute. Oh Yea, he dresses well. His family own an importing leather goods business.’

‘Are there rules here about student- teacher relations?’

‘Well yeah, I don’t think it’s really advised so I’d have to keep it on the down low. Don’t go saying anything to Theresa. She’d fire me.’

‘Of course not. I don’t know her very well, but she seems sweet.’

‘Well, I hope you don’t see her on a bad day. You won’t like that.’

Not wanting to get into anything I offered to make Kelly some risotto and then said, ‘I’m going to try and plan for tomorrow and then read.’

As I sat in my room, sipping on the English breakfast tea I’d put in my suitcase, I reflected on just how different and how full my time had become since arriving just three days ago. What surprised me the most was just how I hadn’t really thought about Luke.

On my first day at school, I had met one of the other teachers, Julian and he had invited me with his partner Patrick to the gym in Trapani. I’d never joined a gym and found the prospect daunting. Surely, it’s going to be full of Italian supermodels. But I said yes as had loved running back home but fancied trying something new on the exercise front and Julian and Patrick looked so amazing, they really sold the gym.

‘May I present signorina Rebecca Vickerstaff?’ Patrick had announced to the gym owner Tiziana.

‘Piacere signorina Vickerstaff. We are delighted to meet you.’

‘oh, please call me Rebecca.’

‘Va bene, Rebecca.’

I was enjoying all the formality of introductions. It made me feel like a member of the royal family.

‘And this is Tito. He is our gym instructor and will create a programme for you if you like?’

‘Grazie mille.’

Julian and Patrick took me into the gym which was full of life and laughter. One rather large lady had her legs akimbo on a chair with what looked like stirrups attached and was laughing moving her legs in and out. I got the jist of what she was saying with all the wild gesticulations and sounds that she was making reference to childbirth which everyone was laughing at, and Julian whispered to me ‘she’s saying it’s a walk in the park compared to childbirth.’

‘Hilarious. This is not at all what I imagined a gym would be like.’

‘You should see it on a Saturday. Everyone heads out for cannoli afterwards.’ Julian added.

‘Sort of defeats the purpose.’

‘Not to mention, it’s doing nothing got my waistline.’

‘You look amazing. You both do. How long have you lived in Sicily?’

‘We’ve been here a year. We were in London before that, and we will probably stay here. We love the life and we both enjoy diving. Have you met Susan yet?’

‘No. Not yet but I’m due to shadow one of her classes later.’

‘She and her husband run the dive school in San Vito lo capo which is also an amazing place. You should go and see her there. She and Roman are lovely. So much nicer than her.’ Piped in Patrick.

‘Now Patrick, the girl is new. Let her make her own mind up. Also, Theresa seems quite taken with her.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Oh, I’ve had a few run ins with the witch, I mean Theresa. Just be careful.’

I was relieved when Tito came over and said ‘Alora, and so I make a programme for you.’

‘Perfecto!’

‘See she is Trapanese already!’ To which the room laughed, and I laughed along too.

After the gym session which I found both enjoyable and , I thanked Patrick and Julian and said I was heading back to the school. They were driving on to their classes in a nearby town.

As I walked back into the school, I passed a lady sat at one of the class tables, marking some books.

‘Good morning. You must be Rebecca.’

‘Yes. Good morning, you must be Susan. Lovely to meet you.’

‘You too. I think Theresa mentioned you may join me for one of my lessons this afternoon?’

‘Oh yes, she did say. If you don’t mind.’

‘Of course. When did you arrive?’ 

‘Yesterday.’

‘Wow your first day in Trapani. What do you think?’

‘It’s beautiful. Where do you live?’

‘San Vito lo capo, it’s just up the coast, about a 40-minute drive from here.’

‘Oh yes Patrick and Julian mentioned you have a diving school.’

‘oh, you met Patrick and Julian. They’re lovely. Yes, our school keeps us very busy. ‘

‘How long have you lived here? Sorry I’m asking a lot of questions.’

‘No don’t be silly, I’ll finish this marking and then we have a couple of hours before class. Have you been to Erice?’

‘No’

‘Let’s go up there and grab a coffee and a cake. Give me ten.’

We drove up the narrow winding road and I sat back and felt relaxed. It was lovely to have female company from a fellow Brit. Susan looked very happy in her life in Italy. She must have been in her late forties, had the most amazingly trim and bronzed physique and a short golden cropped haircut. Susan and I chatted about home in England and our steps to being here in Trapani. We chatted about how she had met her husband Roman on a scuba holiday in Egypt and how they had lived in Rome before setting up the dive school in San Vito. Susan told me all about the house she and Roman had built on the cliffs at San Vito. ‘You’ll have to come and see us.’ She also had a lot to say about some of the quirks and annoyances of living in Sicily.

‘Some of the teenage boys at the high school need to watch it. They walk into the room and say ‘ciao’ and I have to correct them and say ‘no Giuseppe, e Buongiorno. They need to learn the polite forms.’

Susan then went on to tell me about some of the curiosities in Trapani.

‘I don’t know if you have seen a few buildings on San Francesco Crispi, but they look completely abandoned. However, if you pass them after 6pm on a Friday and Saturday night, and give three taps, you will discover the most amazing bar behind the walls. ‘That sounds wonderful’ I replied.

‘A lot of Sicilians have one room which is always immaculate and ready to welcome guests. I’m sure you’ll discover.’

As we arrived in Erice, we parked inside the fortress which encased the village. I hadn’t realised how chilly it was, so Susan very kindly offered me a thicker sheepskin coat that she had in the back.

‘Goodness it’s nippy.’

‘It is, it is particularly chilly in January and February but during the summer it’s quite a nice respite from the heat especially in august. Do you know how long you’ll be staying yet?’

‘My contract is for six months so we’ll see.’

‘Yes, exactly I’m sure Theresa will offer to extend.’

As we walked along the fortress, we entered a beautiful square with lots of tiny side streets leading off it. 

‘And this is the Chiesa di San Martino…Rosaria at school is getting married here in May.’

‘Wow stunning. It’s like a scene from a film.’

‘I know beautiful.’

We wondered down one of the side streets littered with pottery shops and came to a restaurant called La Pentolaccia.

My tour guide continued, ‘This is a restaurant inside what was a monastery. The monks were famous for creating sweet treats and the tradition has continued. Do you fancy a coffee and cake?’

‘That sounds wonderful.’

‘Buongiorno salve.’ We were welcomed by a very upbeat host.

‘Buongiorno salve.’

‘Ecco…’

Susan asked for ‘due expresso e qualcosi dolci.’

As we were shown to our table which overlooked the old fortress walls and beyond over to the sea and nearby islands, I had to just take a moment to soak up the beauty of it all. 

Massimo, our host brought us our expressos in beautifully decorated cups and two cannoli.

‘Goodness I’m going to have to live in that gym with everything I want to eat.’

‘You don’t need to worry, there is nothing to you.’

‘I’m sure in six months I’ll be rolled down Via Manzoni.’

‘Ha ha.’

We sat and chatted about where we had both grown up and our mutual love of the sea.

We then headed back to the school, and as I sat in on Susan’s class with the advanced group, I felt so relaxed and really loved watching the interactions. The students were focusing on business English and role-playing interview scenarios. Although I sat in the corner and took notes, members of the class joked and said ‘please may I ask Rebecca for help’ to which Susan smiled and then replied with a fork ‘no and its Signorina Vickerstaff to you.’

At the end of the class, Theresa knocked at the door and said ‘good evening, everyone, we’re delighted to have Signorina Rebecca Vickerstaff here with us for the next six months and as is tradition here, Rebecca will be leading our debate this evening and only one rule:

‘No Italian’ echoed the class.

Theresa laughed and turned to me, ‘you see they do listen sometimes. Over to you.’

‘Good evening and thank you for allowing me to be your host. Goodness where to begin.’

I turned around to the board and wrote out Vivisection

‘Does everyone know what that means?’

‘It’s when you chop the animals to learn.’ Said a sweet looking girl at the front.

‘Yes exactly, let me out the meaning on the board:’

the practice of performing operations on live animals for the purpose of experimentation or scientific research

‘Ok we’re going to divide the class into 2 groups and I want you six to convince the room that vivisection is something with purpose and the group here are going to put the case against vivisection. You have twenty minutes to discuss your argument in English. I’m going to check in with you both and Theresa will decide the winner based on who has the best argument. For every Italian world, you can buy me a pint in the pub after.’

The class laughed and started on their task.

I mingled with them all and was rather relieved that they all spoke up and had lots of ideas.

After lots of debating, we headed to the Irish pub and Theresa and her husband Giovanni were excellent hosts. They ordered round after round of drinks for us all and by the end of the evening, Maria, Tony and Pietro were tasked by a rather squiffy Theresa with showing me the best time in Sicily. I didn’t need to reply that the place was already getting under my skin and I was excited about all the experiences.