A CHOCK-A-BLOCK SICILIAN WDDING

University exercise — 24/8/17

Text: Will Watson

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FRANCESO Guastalegname is sitting on the opposite side of the table, arms folded. He looks vaguely Mediterranean, with dark hair and olive skin. In a room of 20 somethings from various backgrounds, he’s not someone you’d easily single out. But at a large Sicilian wedding, that might be different.

“We stuck out like sore thumbs,” he says. “It was my cousin’s wedding, I was like 12 or 13 I think.”

Frankie, as his friends call him, can speak “a small amount of Italian” but that was no help in Sicily. And when it came to local customs, Frankie was particularly out of his depth. 

“I asked for butter for my bread and the waitress just gave me this look,” his says as his face contorts. “Apparently you’re not meant to have butter on the entree bread there.”

With extended family from all over the world, “the whole venue was chock-a-block.”

Frankie, 18, was born in Australia. His father is Italian and his mother Sicilian. Although technically born in Australia, his father has strong family roots in the northern Italian region of Calabria.

His parents were an odd pairing — Italy and Sicily are usually sporting, political and cultural rivals. Initially, Frankie’s Sicilian grandmother was not pleased, telling her daughter, “You can marry anyone you want except a Calabrian.” 

Sicilian family expectations are a strong and he initially planned to become a lawyer. 

“My family wanted me to do [law] because it’s a high paying job, it’d make them proud and has prestige and all that,” he says. 

But halfway through year 12, he decided to instead take a journalism degree. Although his parents are proud, he says it is clear his mother still wants him to pursue law. He speaks slowly, choosing his words carefully. As with any Sicilian or Italian family, his parents mean a lot. 

“She’s always like ‘Oh did you see this law open day over here?’” There’s no chance he would choose law now, after spending a semester studying journalism. 

“Law’s just not for me,” he says. “I’d rather be out of the office, doing things.” He believes journalism gives him far greater opportunities. And a greater chance to see the world. 

“it’s an excuse to travel,” says Frankie. “Who knows, I might even end up in Sicily again…”