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

I went to Club Maljk, on the Lungomare between two and five pm. Club Maljk is a beach club, which features a bar, lunch tables, lounges, and a pool. The group I focused on was in their early to mid twenties. There were five men and three women. They were almost all brunette, except for one blonde girl, who also had braces. They varied in physical shape, one man was larger and on the chubbier side, the rest were skinny and varying in height. They all wore very different outfits, some of the men wore speedos when they swam, and others were wearing shorter swim trunks. However, none of them wore long swim trunks, which are more common in the US. The girls were wearing bikinis, and flip-flops. They had sarongs on when they left. They were all Caucasian, and they all spoke Italian. The larger man was wearing a necklace with a cross on it, so I assume he is Christian. The amount of drinks they ordered would suggest that they are doing well financially. The one man who was loudest in the group also spoke using his hands quite a bit. His voice also varied in range, he would get really loud then speak normally then loudly again. When he was frustrated with the rest of the group he made a lot of noises to express his frustration, such as “Ay!”

The larger man was the loudest in the group and took on a leading role. A lot of his friends would dive and splash around in the pool. Karly was eating near the pool at the time, so the larger man yelled at his friends to stop ruining her meal, and they did, for a bit but then continued their loud and messy behavior. The large man was very outgoing, and he was laughing quite a bit. The whole group was speaking Italian, and they were very loud, and kind of disturbing the peace of the location. The older people seemed to be slightly annoyed, one other patron asked them to stop splashing so much, because the water was hitting her while she tanned.  Finally the owner of Maljk walked out to them, blew a whistle and asked them to leave the pool. They argued quietly, until the group picked up their things and moved to the other side of the club not near the pool.

Other than the group of friends around my age, there were mostly middle aged to people in their sixties. There were even some children and one very newborn baby. It seemed to be a place for people to gather by the pool, enjoy music, food and drinks. It was both family friendly and a place where groups wanting to have a drink and relax could do so.

They were at Maljk for two hours or so, and in that time I learned a bit about my contemporaries in Cefalú. Firstly, they have incredibly different style, some wore flashy clothing and large cross jewelry, while others wore simple bikinis and basic cover-ups, there was no universal adjective to describe the fashion of the group. Also, their loudness and disregard for those around them didn’t match up to what I usually expect in Europe. Usually I expect that I will be associated with the obnoxious group, because I am an American traveling with Americans. When they were reprimanded for being loud I laughed because I was not used to it not applying to outsiders. I also noticed that the group was similar to my group of friends at home, minus the later rudeness. At first they were all laughing and they even asked me to take pictures, they were obviously giving one of the skinnier men a hard time. Two of the girls didn’t seem to have significant others in the group, and it looked a lot like my friend group at home, just dressed differently. The joy of being young and with friends is something that is apparent across both cultures. The group of people may have been obnoxious but they were with the people they loved and having a fantastic time.

 

Follow up questions

How are the youth viewed within Sicily?

What are the actual lines drawn for obnoxious behavior, are there more faux pas I am unaware of?