erin brockavich.

marilia's family is full of cancer. they live in catania and many people there have the same kind of cancer. it is because of the petrol plant there. some days early in the morning you can smell it because they release too much into the air. they do it over night so people wont smell it.

marilia's father at lunch was talking about his town which has become overrun by mafia.

the little orphan girl who marilia takes care of has to be gone from her mother country 6 months out of the year because of the nuclear plant that exploded and the radiation. marilia says when marina, the little girl, comes back she is always very thin, and then they have to fatten her up.


at lunch i said yes to red wine and after two small glasses was getting woozy. i looked and the bottle was 14% abv. alcohol at lunch. drunken babysitters. never again.


i saw a cat while walking with francesco, whom i spoke to all night in only italian because i dont speak arabic and he doesnt speak english and neither of us speak italian very well. it was on the roof and i pointed it out, look how funny that cat is sleeping on the roof. he said it is not sleeping it is dead. and i became very sad, because people were just going about their own business and here was this dead cat hanging half off the roof.

many strays here are very small and sickly.