First day here in Palermo and I can already feel myself melting, the sweat pooling in undesired locations. Never thought I would miss the rather stable cold winters I got in Maine. Also my feet hurt, but none of this information is relevant to what I got out of today in reference to day 1 in Sicily. Today we explored the financially neglected part of Palermo, where we were able to learn about Mafia relations with the community at large. For decades, the Sicilian mafia groups have had a controlling atmosphere over shop owners and families as they require these shop owners to pay what is called a “pizzo”. “Il pizzo,” is a small percentage of what these shop owners make and in return the mafia group being paid decides to offer protection as long as the pista is paid. If the pizzo is not paid, mafia groups tend to threaten the lives of shop owners by gifting them with animal carcasses, by breaking into and ransacking their shops. In a way, the mafia controlled the financial standings of many families. However, in the early 2000s a group of antimafia activists went around collecting signatures from shops that would collectively agree to no longer paying the pizzo in order to liberate themselves. Since, the mafia’s presence has decreased, so has the number of those refusing to pay the pizzo. I had 1 cannoli.