Posted by frommal on Wednesday, June 1, 2016 in Blog posts.

On June 1, 2016, I sat next to a table of two men at Porta Terra. I sat down around 12:50pm. Our tables were directly adjacent to each other. One man appeared to be in his 20s while the other looked to be in his 60s. The younger of the two was wearing light wash jeans, and a navy blue jacket zipped all the way up. He had black and yellow sneakers on, and he was wearing two silver rings on his left hand. The older of the two was wearing light wash jeans, a light blue t-shirt, and a jean jacket. He also had aviator sunglasses on. He had grey hair and a grey beard. Both men had keys in their hands, meaning that they may have driven there. However, based on my observations, I believe that they are both from Cefalù.

When I arrived, it seemed as if the two men had just sat down and ordered drinks. The younger man ordered a beer, while the older man ordered an alcoholic beverage. It looked like a cocktail with a lemon in it. They also got chips and nuts. However, at no point did the younger man touch the food. It was interesting that even though it was lunchtime, the men were not eating lunch. This was true of most people in the Piazza. Cara and I were the only people eating a full meal. The younger man seemed to be in distress. He was looking out at the Piazza and only talked when the older man started the conversation. Neither of the men smiled at any point. They seemed to be having a dispute, but neither of them were raising their voices. The two men talked quietly during the few times that they even talked. The younger man never made eye contact with the older man, and the older man only made eye contact when he was talking. For the majority of the twenty minutes they were sitting there, they were sitting in silence, sipping on their drinks, and observing those in Piazza Girabaldi. This was interesting to me because normally when I meet friends at a restaurant, we are engaged in conversation, and using our hands to show our excitement about whatever we are talking about. This conversation was at a much lower volume, and the men seemed to be a combination of disengaged and stressed.

Twelve minutes into my arrival, a couple holding hands walked up to them, and started talking and eating some chips. After one minute, the couple left. A minute later, another man came over and started talking. In neither interaction was there some sort of hello. When the people left however, they did say goodbye (“ciao”) in order to signal that they were leaving. Throughout the twenty minutes, a total of six people came up and started conversations. The visitors never sat down. This leads me to believe that all of those involved in the conversation were locals of Cefalù, and stopped by just to say hi to friends. Cefalù feels to be an exceptionally small town, where everyone knows each other. Just sitting in the Piazza, I saw the manager of the sushi place we have been to a few times, and an employee at Food Sicily, a place we stop by daily.

Once he finished his drink, the older man picked up his phone and keys and left. He got up abruptly and walked away at a fast pace. After he left, the younger man said “ciao” and waved to four people walking by. He also continued to sip on his beer. At no point did he look at his phone, which was resting on the table. I found this noteworthy because in America, whenever you see someone alone at a table, they seem to be glancing at some sort of technology. However, neither of the two men picked up their phones throughout the meal. After three minutes, the younger man put his beer on the table, picked up his things, and walked away. He walked down a different street than the older man did. Both men left immediately upon finishing their drinks. I expected the two men to wait for one another, but this is not what happened.