Saturday, January 17, 2009

Charming the Local Police


In Sicily we listened to a lecture about the history of the Mafia. It was given by a professor from some school and was very scholarly and very neutral. Of course, Susan couldn't leave it alone and had to privately ask our tour guide, Rosa, if Sicilians were still watchful about the Mafia. Rosa rolled her eyes ("Another question?") and told Susan 1) that if it wasn't for the Mafia, nothing would work in Sicily and 2) don't do anything to cross the Mafia, which is just like the Polizia.

A few days later we were in a small town, heading back to the bus and Susan saw this guy and told Rosa she'd be right back, she wanted me to take her picture with him. Rosa freaked out. "No, you canNOT do that! Do not go near him! Don't even look at him. He is Polizia, he is Police. They do not talk to tourists. It is worse than Mafia. No! No!"

I missed getting the picture of them shaking hands.