The Sicilian

Hello, my name is Sebastiano La Rosa. I am 38 years old. I am happily married, and I have got three children. My wife doesn't work, so I am taking care of our family. My profession had involved industrial chemistry, but almost 15 years ago, there weren't enough employment opportunities in that sector, so, since then, I have had another job in a different sector. I have been working as a chef in a restaurant.

I am from Sicily, and I'm very proud of it. My parents divorced when I was a child. In Sicily, divorcement isn't taken kindly, but still my mom left us. I was raised by my father and grandmother; despite not seeing my mother for years, I didn't feel her absence, thanks to my grandmother.

My father is the one who published La Portobella Liberta newspaper for the first time, but I always wanted to be a firefighter, like my uncle, when I was a child. Of course, it didn't happen. After I finished my schooling, I went to Rome to become a soldier. In my years of duty, Abdullah Öcalan was in Italy with diplomatic asylum, and I was in the team that guarded him at the Inferno District in Rome. Afterwards, I wanted to continue in the military because the wages were good and I could retire from it, but my father didn't want me to get involved in wars and other incidents, and asked me to come back to Sicily.

In the future, I want to establish my own firm, and to do this, I improve myself at cooking every day. I like travelling very much, too. I wonder about Turkey and Romania most. I like Turkish deserts very much. My aim in 2019 is to explore all of the Mediterranean countries with my family by cruise tours.

Honestly, I don't like to be away from home. When I return to my country and see the statue of Mother Mary, I feel very relieved and happy. I could never give up Sicily. I was born here, and I will die here.

Sebastiano La Rosa
Siracusa, Sicily, 31 December 2018