A New Life In Sicily: Vineyards, Volcanos, and Chickens

I am pleased to add this interview to my Taking the Plunge series

Here is Rachel Villa who moved from California to Sicily

Where do you come from and when did you first have a connection with Italy in your life?

My father was an officer in the US Navy, and we lived in Florida, California, Hawaii, and Japan. But I had never been to Europe. When I was 18, attending University in Pensacola Florida, I had an internship through the US Navy MWR (Morale welfare recreation) program, and my neighbors were Italian Naval officers attending flight school. They were a lot of fun and they spoke English. This was my first connection with Italy.

Fast forward to when I was 34, living in California working for the US Navy Child Youth Program. I was in Santa Barbara’s wine region and I loved the farm-city-sea-wine lifestyle. But my job paid very little, and California had become prohibitively expensive. I was concerned about affording to live there so I began to think of other places I’d like to live. Out of the blue I thought of Italy. It was a wild thought, but it didn’t seem impossible.

When did you move to Italy, what motivated you to make the move, and what location in Italy did you choose and why?

That same year, in 2015 when I was 34, I went on my first trip to Italy. I was traveling solo and didn’t speak any Italian, but I wasn’t scared. I wanted to experience it all. The good, the bad, and the pizza. 

Back in California, as if I willed it from the universe, my job with the US Navy Child Youth Program sent me on a temporary assignment to the US Navy base in Sigonella, Sicily. I hadn’t thought about Sicily as a potential place in Italy to live. The assignment was for 90 days. I had remained friends with one of the Italian Naval Pilots from my Pensacola days. He was stationed in Sicily but was away on holiday, so he asked his friend Marco to show me around. 

Each night after I finished work, Marco showed me Catania: The Greek and Roman ruins, the scars of bombs from WW2, and secret underground rivers. On weekends we hiked Mount Etna and toured wineries. I clicked with Sicily, and with Marco. 

When my assignment was complete, I returned to California, determined to find a way to return to Sicily and be with Marco. I applied for dozens of ESL jobs, but each required me to have legal residency already. Nobody was offering a visa—it was very frustrating. Finally, I secured a job in Naples with the Navy Child Youth Program as a Management Intern. It was as close to Marco as I could get. I commuted between Naples and Catania every weekend to see him. 

In 2018 Marco and I purchased a home in a village on Etna and in 2019 we married (which was made unnecessarily difficult by Italian bureaucracy) and had a baby.

In 2020 we were separated by the pandemic. I was in Naples with our newborn son, and Marco was in Sicily. The separation motivated me to renew my search for work in Sicily. Finally, by June 2021, I secured a job working with the Navy CYP at the Sigonella base in Sicily and was able to unite our family.

Tell us about the eco-farm/vineyard/winery adventure that you and your husband are embarking on. Why did you choose this business, and what are your hopes and goals for it?

My husband is an agricultural scientist, so he is an expert in wine making. When we met, he had a vineyard in the DOC wine region on Etna. His winemaking was only a time-consuming hobby—he wasn’t selling it. When I lived in Santa Barbara’s wine region, I longed to have a vineyard of my own. It wasn’t a possibility in California, but in Sicily it was. I used all my savings to buy the vineyard adjacent to Marco’s. By joining the two vineyards, we had enough for a decent production. I learned about wine and grapes and farming from Marco, and I took some sommelier courses.

While visiting eco-agriturismi and wineries over the past few years, Marco and I saw some gaps that helped us formulate what we wanted to offer. Often at agriturismi and wineries we couldn’t find any workers because it was not a real farm. It was a show. The fancy wineries didn’t deliver an authentic experience because they had moved beyond the rustic, traditional process. 

One of the things I loved about California wineries was the wine clubs, and the hands-on opportunities they offered their members. Marco and I wanted to offer participation to our guests, and we began to invite people to the vineyard whenever it was time to turn the grapes, bottle, or prepare for harvest.

We had our first vendemmia open to the public this year. We advertised the event on Facebook and word spread quickly. It was raining and everyone still came as planned. After a safety brief everyone was handed a basket and scissors and let loose on the terraces. We ended the harvest with a traditional meal, and all the food we served came from our friends’ farms in the area, and of course the wine was ours. 

What are the upsides and downsides to living on Etna—an active volcano?  

The first glimpse I had of Etna was in 2016 during the plane’s descent. The black streaks spilling down the slope seemed to blot out any errant greenery. But when I hiked it, I saw that plants exist in every crag, and I learned that Etna’s soil is fantastic for growing produce. In fact we have an abundant vegetable garden where veggies grow without much coaxing. 

It wasn’t long after we moved into our home on Etna that we experienced an eruption and were sprinkled with about an inch of ash and pumice overnight. I noticed a few days later that fresh grass had sprouted through it. What we swept from the porch and cast to the yard became the preferred bathing site for the hens.

This ash-pumice mixture is perfect for scrubbing out our large demijohns, and I have sent baggies of it to my friends in the US for their kids to share at school.

The day after Christmas 2018, a large eruption devastated neighboring villages. My village was shaken but did not suffer major damage. I fled the house in my pajamas, barefoot and trembling. 

What was your biggest fear in making the move, and looking back was it a valid fear? 

I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to make friends because I don’t speak much Italian. After four years I can barely order at a restaurant. I work with Americans and only speak with my husband in English, so I haven’t developed my Italian language skills. 

My fear was not valid because Italians are friendly, and food and wine are a great way to make friends. Marco and I love to host parties. I am outgoing and I make an effort to communicate even if it needs to be with Google translate.

What’s been the most challenging aspect so far of living in Italy?

Getting things done in a timely manner. I bought a house in California in 20 days, and sold it in 15, but in Sicily it took me six months to finalize the purchase of our home. Every signature took a week to do. And then there were the holidays and inevitable clerk illnesses that held up the process.

The process to marry as a foreigner in Italy was so bureaucratic that Marco and I abandoned our effort to legally marry in Italy and went to Denmark to do it, which was an easy, straightforward experience. I absolutely advise going to Denmark if you want to marry an Italian and you are not an EU Citizen. 

What is something you have in Italy that you did not have in your home country? 

I own my own vineyard! Which as I mentioned, was not possible for me to afford in California. I’m now a vintner, a farmer, a wife, and a mother. And I have 30 chickens! I had none of these things in California.

There’s been a surge of interest in moving to Italy on the part of people in the US. (And perhaps from other countries as well). Any advice would like to offer about what it is actually like to be an expat/immigrant in Italy?

It’s NOT for everyone. Immigrant life is not easy. You might think you want to live here but you may not be equipped. As an American, it can be really frustrating to not have immediate results. It can be isolating when your friends and family can’t or don’t visit. A European vacation is often a once-in-a-life time trip for many Americans and thus years may go by before you see family from home. If you move on your own, and if you love places and people back home like I do, the sense of severing from that can be painful.  

What’s your favorite quote about life, as related to your move to Italy?

“Let it go.” My frustration with Italy can get in the way of my enjoyment of Italy so I remind myself to “let it go” so that I can get back to loving it here. 

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