Away with those Evil Eyes!

I'm in Ireland for the summer, escaping the ferocious Sicilian summer heat. Mio marito came over to visit last week, just before the high season began. He had hardly been here two days when he got bad news from the restaurant: our main waiter had had a bad accident with his motorbike and was in intensive care.

While we're all still very worried about him, he'll recover. He's young and strong, but it will take time, poor guy. This week mio marito tells me our barman has hurt his leg and can't work for a few nights - now that it is high season... It is very difficult to find good replacements at this stage because everyone has found work for the summer locally or on the Aeolian islands.

"You've got the Evil Eye," I tell him, more Sicilian than the Sicilians. "You've got to get rid of it before more disasters happen this summer!" Luckily, a friend's mother can perform this healing ritual. She pours out the oil, salt and water in a bowl, and it turns out there's not just one, but MANY Evil Eyes afflicting my husband (most likely his competitors in the Borgo. Not that there's much to worry about, it's been a fairly quiet summer so far).

With composure and confidence, the lady chants her incantations and frees mio marito from those bad boys.

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