The Sicilian Omaha Connection
(looks nothing like Omaha!)
This past weekend, my friend Pat invited me to stay overnight at an agriturismo call Borgo Nocchiara near Carlentini, between Catania and Siracusa. We were meeting a group of other friends and colleagues the next day for lunch at yet another agriturismo in that area, so I agreed to the mini-getaway. We drove there after school on Friday and checked in, drank some wine and relaxed, had a wonderful dinner and a peaceful, restful night in the country.
The next morning, as we ventured into the dining room in search of breakfast, we heard someone loudly speaking English in the hallway. That someone turned out to be a hard-of-hearing, white-haired little man who came our way.
I said something to him, and he said, "Hey, you speak English really well!"
"That's because we are Americans," I told him again.
"Oh," he said, "what are you doing here? Where are you from?"
I explained that we lived in Sicily and worked on the Navy base. I asked him where he was from, and he said, "Omaha."
"Omaha?" I said. I have been to Omaha, and I'm always surprised to find anyone who actually lives there willingly. Meeting someone in Sicily from Omaha was really mind-boggling. It was so incongruous.
He then went into a lengthy story about how his parents or grandparents had come from Sicily and settled in Omaha along with many other Sicilians. This did not fit my mental picture of Omaha. I couldn't even remember seeing a single Italian restaurant that wasn't a chain, athough I had eaten at a pretty good German one. The man told me how he came back here often to visit his relatives, how his son was with him, how this was their first time staying at this place, and on and on. Eventually he left, after explaining to us that they would make us a cappucino "fresh!" if we wanted one.
Today at school, when I related this story to my friend Lynn, who is married to an Italian and has lived in that area for quite a few years, she corroborated his story: "Oh, yes, it seems that nearly all the Sicilians from Lentini and Carlentini emigrated to Omaha! They are always coming back here to visit."
"But why Omaha?" I asked. "I've been there, and it's, well, not the most exciting place on earth. It's not anything at all like Sicily."
"It's just like every immigrant group. Someone goes there, then others from the family or town follow, eventually building up a community," Lynn said.
"Well, yes, I know that's how it happens, but Omaha?" I said once again.
"You can quote me on it," she said. "Just put it in your blog."