Author: Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Italians and their food

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

As far as I know, all Italians love good food. However, what seems to set Sicilians apart is the sheer quantity of food they love. In Sicily last week, we went to a restaurant in Agrigento, ordered what we thought was a normal meal, and received four plates, each one containing enough pasta to feed our entire family. Tony’s is pictured above. It was tasty, although I just couldn’t shake the feeling that there was a gigantic insect sitting next to his tagliatelle. We also ate gelato four times in the six days we spent there, as well as sundry other sweets.… Read more

Life Without Internet II

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

What would you do (or not do) without the internet? My original post of this title didn’t even consider this question. It was just about the wonky internet cafe I visit when my home internet doesn’t work. Which I suppose is directly related to my inability to even consider a single day of life without internet. I’ll amend that. I’ve gone for a single day without internet many times in my life. But I’ve typically spent that day scheming about how I would get internet tomorrow.

Especially as an extremely mobile expat, I keep large areas of my life online. And since people keep arriving at my blog lately in search of answers to the thorny problem of Life Without Internet, I’ll give you my thoughts. … Read more

The O’Bamas of Ireland

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yesterday evening my Irish facebook friends were swooning over President Obama’s visit and speech in Dublin. So of course I had to go read it. Like most Obama speeches, it was a masterpiece: eloquent without loquaciousness, inspiring without mawkishness, and peppered throughout with his own charming brand of self-deprecating humor. He complimented the Guinness, invoked George Washington, Fredrick Douglass, and John F. Kennedy, and prophesied a grand future for both nations.

And get this: he was in Ireland in the first place to rediscover his Irish roots. A great-great-great grandfather emigrated to the United States when the potato famine hit his tiny town of Moneygall.… Read more

In the Valley of the Temples

In the Valley of the Temples

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I have now visited ancient Greece, although we have not left the Italian island of Sicily. I can happily report that “one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe” lives up to its reputation. Magnificently. Even glimpsed from a distance, as we have seen it every day on our walks through the eucalyptus grove near Stathis and Elettra’s house, the “Valley of Temples” looked like something so lovely and classical as to seem almost unreal. And actually standing in the shadow of those temples was even more awesome than I had imagined it would be. Ancient Roman ruins impress me, but ancient Greek ruins move me.… Read more

Happy Hour, Italian-Style

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

It’s the Bohemian retreat you’ve always wanted to visit. Our delightful friends, Stathis and Elettra, have invited us to spend our Sicilian week at their house, and the house is as interesting and hospitable as the hosts. On the desk where I’m writing this, a small Yoda stares across my computer at an eight-inch-high Eiffel tower. Nearby, a lava lamp presides benignly over a miniature zen garden that hasn’t been raked in weeks, and is now home to a large cowrie shell and a lavender silk rose. Elettra is an artist, and her colorful paintings decorate every room, paired with movie posters, photos of her all over Europe, and hand-lettered quotes.… Read more

All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely . . . puppets

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Conclusion #1 from yesterday is that I do not like the overnight ferry. At least the overnight ferry as it was accomplished by Grandi Navi Veloci (our ferry company, literally “big fast boats”). It was a boat. And it was certainly big. It might even have been fast once it got out of the harbor. But we took so long to leave Tunis that we ended up arriving in Palermo somewhere in the wee hours of the morning. Fortunately, we were in our own cabin, so we just went to bed at our normal hour. In the middle of the night we were awakened by banging on our cabin door, presumably to let us know that the ferry would be docking soon in Palermo.… Read more

Our Last Pizza Before Italy

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Well, it turns out we will not be making it to Church in Sicily after all. Due to the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in Tunis, our ferry was delayed. It was supposed to depart at 10 p.m. on Saturday night, but ended up rescheduling for 10 a.m. on Sunday morning instead. Or to be precise, we got up at 5 a.m. so that we could arrive two hours earlier than the ferry’s scheduled departure time. After having our passports scrutinized at no fewer than six checkpoints between entering the ferry terminal and boarding the ferry, we finally stepped onto the polished marble and granite deck (of course.… Read more

Get Me to the Church on Time

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

When Tony and I lived on BYU campus as newlyweds, we pretty much walked straight out our front door into the Mormon chapel, which was also on campus. Forgot an extra diaper? No problem (please tell me I’m not the only mother who’s ever done this). There was no hassle if one of us needed to be at Church early. And home/visiting teaching was a piece of cake. Tony still loves to tell about his Elder’s Quorum President, who stood up in opening exercises one morning to recount a conversation in which his father (also Elder’s Quorum President in his own ward) begged to know his secret for achieving 100% home teaching.… Read more

Italian Flashbacks

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Apparently, our internet company has reached a deal with our landlord. For the next week, our internet will be on from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. every day. Too bad we haven’t had jet-lag in over a year. But I guess it’s better than nothing. Fortunately, my clever husband already schedules some of his work time from 5-8 a.m., so it’s not completely wasted. We’re spending next week at a friend’s house in Sicily to rewind our visas, so hopefully everything will be straightened out by the time we return. Just for fun, I checked to see if my Italian residency document is ready to pick up yet, but no dice.… Read more

From Paris with Love (and Revolutionary Zeal)

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

The facts are these: Tunisia is in a bit of a funk. Last week the former Interior Minister made a snide but serious jibe about an imminent military coup. After hundreds of protesters took to the streets amid clouds of tear gas, the interim government responded by announcing the possible deferment of the all-important constitutional election in July. The purported reason for the delay is “logistical problems.” Unfortunately, everybody knows that the main “logistical” problem is that the Islamic party is currently favored to win the election. In fact, that very probability was the impetus for the former Minister’s joke/threat in the first place.… Read more