Posted by clairef on Monday, May 15, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

As I sit on a bench in Piazza Duomo, I look around the town square, taking in the local people, shops and enjoying the beautiful weather. I choose to observe Piazza Duomo at 5:30 on a Monday, to get further insight into the culture and daily life here in Sicily. As I am increasingly interested in the eating habits of the Sicilian people, so during my observation I focused on the people dinning outside.

To set the stage, there are multiple restaurants that have outdoor seating in the Duomo. They each feature a significant number of tables, and have attentive waiters. It was 5:30 when I started my observation session, and a majority of the tables were empty. As the observation continued and it approached 6:00, the tables started to fill up with people, but there were certainly still a considerable number of open tables, or at least more than you would see in the United States around this time.

The people who were sitting at the tables were older, mainly middle-aged and even some elderly. Many of the tables were filled with either a single couple, or a group of two or three couples. All of the couples that I saw featured a man and a woman. While there were groups of all males (especially outside Bar Duomo), I did not see a group of all females throughout the observation. As the time went on, larger groups started entering the Duomo. The larger groups seemed to be slightly younger than the older couples, but everyone appeared to be older on average. A group of young teenage girls were sitting on the steps eating gelato, but no children were sitting down at the restaurant tables. Many of the people dining were dressed casually. A lot of individuals were wearing long pants; button down shirts or blouses; and a few individuals were in t-shirts. Many people also carried jackets. While nobody was dressed fancy or very professionally, everyone appeared presentable. In the United States, I often see many adults dressed in business professional or business casual around this time, having just finished their work day.

The atmosphere in the Duomo was very relaxed and quiet. Everyone dining appeared to be very mellow, and nobody was speaking loudly. A few couples did not even seem to be talking, but just sitting and enjoying the environment. A few times throughout the observation you could hear raised voices from individuals dining at the tables, but not very often. Hand expressions were common, but they were relaxed and calm, not frantic and intense as some stereotypes imply. There was a group of children playing soccer in the corner, and a few tourist groups walking through the Duomo to see the Church, but those were the loudest voices in the Duomo. While conducting this observation, I also felt at peace, taking time to relax and enjoy the nice weather, as the Italians seemed to be doing.

A common theme among the individuals dining in the Duomo is that nobody appeared to be eating a full meal. The majority of diners were enjoying a drink only, and a few had ordered light snacks for the table, or were enjoying gelato. Since it was 5:30 PM, I assumed that a few people would be enjoying a meal, but they were not.

Throughout my observation, there were stark differences between what I experience in America, and what I saw here in Cefalu. For starters, nobody was eating a full meal. In the United States, between 5:30 and 6:00 PM is a very common dinner time. I am curious if the diners were simply starting with a drink and had intentions of ordering food as the evening continued to progress, or if this was simply a “happy hour” type occasion, and they may go home or go to another restaurant for dinner later. This contributes to my interest in Italian dinning habits – since they have their daily siesta from approximately 1:00 – 4:00 PM, do many of the local people eat their main meal during that time? Or does the siesta simply push their whole eating schedule back, and they eat a whole dinner later? I have noticed that on weekends Italians eat dinner later in the day, but am curious if this applies to week nights as well.

My observation session also sparked my interest in knowing whom I was observing in the Duomo. Where the people enjoying drinks all tourists? Were they local workers? Did they even have jobs, or have they retired? Is that why the crowd was older on average? If they have jobs, what type of jobs enable them to be free at 5:30 on a Monday night? Is a 5:30 drink and appetizer a daily event for people? While I tried my best to determine the answers, it is very hard to do from an outsider’s perspective. Some of the people were obviously tourists, but many individuals appeared to be of European decent, and I could not differentiate whether they were local to Cefalu, or visiting.

Another aspect that intrigued me was the lack of children present in the dining areas. While I have seen some children here in Cefalu, they do not seem to be as present as young children in the United States. I wonder if the couples dining had children, and either left them at home, or their children had already grown up and moved out. The lack of infants is understandable, as many of the individuals dinning were older, and it makes sense that they would no longer have young children. The fact the many of the individuals dining were adults helped keep the volume level in the Duomo very low. In restaurants in the United States these days, you often see children of all ages – from infants to teenagers. This contributes significantly to the loud volumes, as I often feel like I have to yell to hear the people that I am sitting at a table with. That was certainly not the case at this time of day in the Duomo, and was a welcomed change of pace.

The relaxed and mellow atmosphere confirms the stark contrast between here and the United States. In the United States, meals occur early, are often rushed, and many times feature larger portions than we really need. Dining environments are crowded, frantic and often times a hassle, especially in town-square settings similar to the Duomo. This speaks to the larger concern that we as Americans are often times unnecessarily stressed, tense and unable to enjoy relaxing moments with our families and friends. The people dinning in the Duomo were barely even eating, and did not appear to be in a rush to go anywhere anytime soon. It didn’t appear to be about the food, but the people. Additionally, nobody dinning with other people was on their phone, which is unseen in the United States these days. While I saw many more people arrive during my observation, I did not see a single group of individuals leave. The waiters here in Cefalu are very attentive, but unlike the United States, I have never once felt pressure to finish dinning, and the waiters have never once brought a check to the table unless asked.

In conclusion, this observation session showed me the benefit of taking time to pause, relax and enjoy the company around you. Especially as students at a competitive university, we can all benefit from taking some time and not worrying about the next things on our to-do list. If there is anything I want to take away from the culture here in Cefalu, it is the ability to de-connect, relax and enjoy good company!