A Connection Across Continents

By Nancy Italia, 8-time traveler from Laguna Niguel, CA

In 2017, my husband, Terry (who is from Omaha, Nebraska), and I took the O.A.T. Sicily trip around the island. All four of Terry’s grandparents were born in Carlentini, Sicily, and all four made their way to meet and marry in Omaha. We live in California, and while we had been to Sicily twice before, the O.A.T. trip gave us a very in-depth exposure to Terry’s roots. He grew up hearing the original Sicilian language version of Italian, and some of the older Sicilians we met on the trip still used the various words and names of things in the old language. Terry was thrilled by this familiarity.

Nancy and Terry pose with their Trip Experience Leader, Eleanora, who just happened to be from the same city as Terry’s ancestors.

One day, in the town of Ragusa, our O.A.T. leader was a young woman named Eleanora Formica, who, it turned out was from Carlentini. Terry and Eleanora had a terrific time talking about this coincidence and Terry told her that 70% of the large Italian population in Omaha had their roots in Carlentini. (Many Carlentinese immigrated to Omaha in the early 1900s in order to work on the Union Pacific Railway.) Eleanora took special note of this information and over the next several years, unbeknownst to us, made it her mission to work with Carlentini leadership to forge a Sister City Relationship with Omaha.

In early 2021, Eleanora emailed my husband to thank him for, as she put it, "changing my life" regarding the connection to Omaha and to inform him of her mission to form a Sister City arrangement. Terry immediately made some connections to old high school and college friends in Omaha who shared the Carlentini roots and who also held various leadership roles in Omaha. Upon Terry’s encouragement, they took up the charge to explore this possibility. Over the past year, the plan to create a Sister-City relationship has made its way through the various Omaha and Carlentini agencies and organizations. Originally there was a plan for representatives of each city to meet, but COVID ramifications made this not yet possible.

Through perseverance (and bureaucratic challenges) from both Omaha and Carlentini, I am happy to tell you that Carlentini and Omaha, as of September 2021, have officially signed a Sister City Friendship Agreement, a first step towards the more formal Sister City designation, which will soon follow once delegations have had the chance to visit each other.

And all of this because an O.A.T. Trip Leader and an O.A.T. traveler met in Ragusa four years ago. O.A.T. provides many wonderful experiences and relationships, but I am guessing this is the first time a Sister City relationship has resulted.

Whether you are Sicilian or not, you never know what connections you will make when you join us on our Sicily's Ancient Landscapes & Timeless Traditions adventure.