Posted by memishc on Monday, May 30, 2016 in Blog posts.

As I sit at a table in the Duomo, I realize that I have only been here one week, but I already recognize some familiar faces of strangers that I have never met and will probably never meet. I recognize the middle-aged man that only seems to have two hobbies in life: smoking and walking his oversized German shepherd. I recognize the four elderly men that always seem to be able to squeeze themselves all onto one wooden bench in front of Dolci Confezioni. I also recognize the young boy that is constantly holding a bouquet of roses trying almost hopelessly to sell one to anyone he passes. Lastly, I see the one-legged beggar with beaming blue eyes that will always seem to hobble faster than you can walk just to get a euro or two. Although these familiar strangers I have been observing have only been men, there are countless other women that I can recognize as well, but seem to not be situated here on this bustling Monday late afternoon.

All of these people to me are frozen in time. I know this might seem like it is a bad place to be in, but I look at it as both a negative and positive thing.

In a negative light, I think that when I look around at all the familiar strangers I notice that there isn’t much diversity in Cefalu. Most people here have white skin and brown hair. I think I could count how many black people I have seen roaming the streets of Cefalu, and most the Asians here are tourists and stand out very easily. Like we discussed in class, it seems like the locals in this town have been here their entire lives and have never left, or have left only to come back here to retire, and if there are nonlocals they are only passing by on vacation and never seem to be moving in.

As I look around again, the German Shepard man seems to be wandering aimlessly, which is how he looks whenever I see him. That always makes me wonder does he have a job or any responsibility that he has to take care of, or is this what he does all day? He always wears nice pair of sunglasses on his forehead, and a fitted leather jacket, which would make it seem like he is fully employed with a good job. However, how could someone with a full-time or part-time job be out wandering all the time? I often wonder this when I walk down the boardwalk and look at the numbers of people, mostly adults, sprawled on the beach on both weekdays and weekends. I know Cefalu is a tourist town, but I have to believe that some of the people are locals.

It seems like most people are unemployed here. But this kind of unemployment is a debatably a little different than the kind that we have in America. The people who are unemployed here seem like they have no worries about going out and finding another job. This may be because they are reaping the benefits from the unemployment payment and look at this as their main supply of cash, or maybe it’s because they don’t worry as much about the future as we do in America.

Another thing that the German Shepherd man made me notice is that smoking, and also drinking, are much more lax and common in everyday life here than in America. I feel like in America most people know that smoking has a direct link to cancer and other detriments to one’s health. Therefore, it always seems to me that less people smoke within America than other countries. Obviously it is not totally eradicated within America, but I feel like the trend has slowed down since when I was younger. However, here in Cefalu, everyone smokes. Sitting in the center of Piazza Duomo I have already seen a couple of shop owners leave their stores for a couple minutes to smoke a cigarette. Additionally, drinking here is so much more apart of everyday lives than in America. It is an unspoken rule that one should not drink during the workday. If you have a lunch break, most employees would opt to drinking nonalcoholic beverages because it isn’t proper to go back to work buzzed or drunk. However, in Cefalu most people drink wine during their four-hour lunch break, and at other times during the day.

On the other hand, there is another way to look at these familiar strangers. Think of the group of elderly men sitting shoulder to shoulder on a bench to my left. They are completely and utterly happy sitting there on that squished bench for hours on hours just talking. When was the last time we made times in our busy lives to just stop what we are doing and allot time in our days to talk to our loved ones? I look at these men and I think of how I want to grow old and be able to do that everyday. I think of how I don’t appreciate my friends and family nearly as much as I should have just because I think that my busy life is more important the wonderful relationships with the equally wonderful people in my life. These men sitting on that one bench seem to truly indulge in their relationships, and put everything into their conversations, and I appreciate that.

In addition, I think of that one teenage boy who is selling roses. He doesn’t seem like he has a solid plan for his future yet, which I almost envy. Amidst the crazy and competitive lifestyle we live in at Vanderbilt, it seems like if you don’t have a plan for your next job or internship yet you are already way behind. However, it is nice to take a step back from the mess of it all and look at our surroundings and be grateful for where we are already and how our future is unknown. I think that is important because we have so many choices as American citizens and Vanderbilt students, and not knowing what is to come is scary, but extremely exciting.

Lastly, as I turn my head to the right I see the one-legged beggar. Although he only has one leg he debatably walks faster than I do, and I am a naturally fast walker. This made me notice that people here move much slower than they do in the states. It seems like people on the streets have no immediate place they need to be, therefore they don’t need to walk very fast. I have also noticed that old men like to just stand on the streets and watch what is going on. I often see them when we walk to the train station or walk to class early in the morning. They are often just standing by themselves observing, which at first was very uncomfortable, because it felt like someone was always watching me. On the other hand, all older women are on their balconies gossiping to the other older women on adjacent balconies. They always seem like they are having a great time with whatever they are talking about, and take pride at being the guardians of the Cefalu streets as well.

I’ve been sitting here for about an hour or so and everything has stayed the same. Time seems to freeze in this town. It seems like the days go on forever, and the nights are short and end before you close your eyes to fall asleep. I feel as if these familiar strangers are becoming more and more part of my everyday life here. I take comfort that even though I may never hold a conversation with them I respect them for all the things they have silently taught me about this wonderful seaside town.