Me, in Palermo, Sicily

I was invited to participate in this particular project in Sicily, because of my experience in enterprise and entrepreneurial skills development. I work across NGO, Third Sector and Private Sector Business development.

The two of us, seated across three seats, is always going to be a lovely flight for me. My neighbour, was seated at the window, and me in the aisle seat.  She kept trying to strike up conversations with me in Italian. She was very jolly, so a lot of gesticulation and laughing ensued, as we mis-communicated excitably. Most times, I am just grateful that not everyone is as shy as I am, to talk to strangers.  I said Si a lot, when I ought to have been saying non capisco.  I am sure at one point, she was trying to find out my destination in Palermo, and how I was getting there. She mimed ‘steering a wheel’ as she talked. We giggled and she threw her hands up, and I shrugged my shoulders as we hit yet another wall. It was a few days into my visit before I fully understood, the richness of her gesture.

I bounced over to some airport staff and said ‘bonjourno’ with a big smile. They looked at each other, then one of them beckoned to another a few feet away, and he came over and spoke to me in English. My simple question was where to find taxis. It was 21.30 and I realised the following day that I had actually said ‘good morning’ to them.

I approached the taxi rank and a smart looking man, took my luggage.  I showed him my address, asked him the fare, and he barked 50 Euro, and turned on the ignition.  As I queried this price, he started to drive. I shouted at him to stop, as I needed to verify that price with my hosting organisation, as it seemed to be 15 Euro more than my guide price. Well, before I could get my phone off air plane mode and 3 Mobile to recognise my location, my two suitcases were slung out onto the pavement, amidst a flurry of abuse and flailing arms, I suspect it was that Sicilian passion.  Other men gathered around to hear the ‘story’, I climbed out of the car and stood amongst them, as they looked at me, and me at them…and I wondered …now what? Would anyone take me?

Then a man took my luggage, and beckoned to me to follow him… of course all the while I imagined that I was in a scene from the God Father, how dare I question the fare LOL. I moved at a trot behind this man towards the back of what seemed like a never ending line of parked taxis. By the time we got in his little battered car, my phone had connected, and I informed people that I was in a vehicle.  I quizzed my driver on his legitimacy, ‘legal’ he understood, and chuckled. I asked why I was slung out of the other car, his word I understood, was ‘premier’. Say no more. He was lower down the food chain, and I paid him 40 Euro for taking me, not the 35 we had agreed on, and he beamed from ear to ear.  

I was relieved to reach my destination 40 minutes later, and was made aware that I probably did have a brush with the Mafiosi in my experience.  So much here is ‘controlled’ in a way which makes the experience unpleasant. I had one other frightening taxi experience at night, which cost me 28 Euro for a journey I could have walked in 20 minutes max, if only I had felt it was safe to do so, and had known the route. I had to shout and bang, to get this particular hoodlum of a driver to stop driving around in circles, so that I could walk the 5 minutes to my destination, after he had whizzed past it deliberately a few times at breakneck speed without stopping.    

What’s really exciting here though, is the growth in Social Enterprise Businesses, and the redistribution by government, of confiscated mafia property for public good.  One organisation I am working with has a ten year free lease on a building used for training the disadvantaged and migrant communities in sewing and up cycling garments and fashion retail.

SHOW ROOM reclaimed building – Sartoria Sociale

The Dalai Lama visiting Palermo, 16, 17, 18 September 2017. Buddhist Center Muni Gyana a few months ago found a home in Pizzo Sella, a confiscated possession of the mafia and assigned by the Municipality of Palermo.  Stunning Building up in the mountains overlooking Palermo City