The Real Carnevale

Carnevale arrived in Sciacca on Thursday night. As expected, it was a dark and stormy night, that is one of the stories of Carnevale here. For the second year, the main procession was going to be held in La Perriera, a relatively new section of the city, instead of the Historic Center, from which it was moved when the main Piazza was being repaired. The first two nights of Carnevale, they were not going to parade the large allegorical carts, or cari, but only have the dancers dancing to the music of Carnevale.

That was fine with me. I had been invited to the real Carnevale, the one celebrated by AGAPE, the association that provides day programming for differently abled adults in Sciacca, the organization that Paolo and Ignatzia give their heart and soul to, because they do so much for their daughter Guisy.

This was the third time I had attended their Carnevale party, and there were always more volunteers than parents or clients. It was always a festive mood, and everyone had a good time. But this was my first time without Fran, and that made it special for me, and special for them. Those that had not seen me around town rushed up to give their condolences, and volunteers helped clients do this as well. I was touched by it all.

We always give them a contribution for Christmas, and this year they used it to buy a large television set. When Fran died, they decided that it needed a plaque with Fran's name.

When it was time to eat the arancini and pizza, two of the clients made sure that I was fed, and fed, and fed. Then the parents tried to bring me even more to eat. (When I was leaving, another parent stopped me. He had a large bag of arancini and pizza for me to take home and eat for the rest of the week, because Fran would not be there to cook for me. It was really touching.

What was even more touching was the good time we had. We celebrated the end of the time of meat eating, and got ready for Ash Wednesday with a great celebration. Everyone enjoyed each other's company, danced, talked, watched TV Francesca, and had a good time. It felt like family to me, probably because in many ways it is one of my families here in Sciacca. And that is good. I am so pleased to have them, and to celebrate with them. Another wonderful part of Sciacca that Fran and I came to love.