Posted by seryna on Saturday, May 20, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

Before coming to Sicily I had been told by all of my friends who went abroad that communicating with people back home was going to be difficult. While I listened to their warnings, I did not necessarily believe them that it would be that difficult. I was very wrong about how it would be trying to communicate with people back home and use technology while in Cefalu.

When I am home I would say that I am constantly connected to some form of technology. I am either texting, calling someone, or scrolling through social media at pretty much all times. Also, this is also how all of my friends are. Whenever we go out to eat, most of us spend a lot of the time looking at our phones, snap chatting, and talking over our technology. Coming to Sicily has been a completely different experience. I lost service as soon as I took off from JFK and I can only really use my phone when I am connected to WIFI. Even though I have the ability to send text messages, all of my friends and family are nine hours behind, so we are on completely different schedules. There are really only a few hours a day where we are awake at the same time. This time difference and lack of ability to use my phone has left with me no option except to disconnect, and the experience has been great. I feel as if I have been able to really enjoy the people and experiences I have been having in Cefalu that I may have not been as invested in if I was constantly looking at my phone. Also, whenever my friends here and I go out to eat dinner, or do pretty much anything, none of us are on our phones and it makes us live in the moment and appreciate what we are doing. It has been interesting to compare the differences between home and Sicily. At home I feel as if I am kind of stuck between two worlds-my phone and what is going on around me. In Cefalu, I immediately noticed how engaged people were with each other and their experiences and it was foreign to me at first. However, now I understand and appreciate the disconnect from technology and engagement in people. It has been so interesting to be in a community where everyone is more engaged with each other than with technology. It feels as if everyone is living a different pace of life and appreciate everything they do. I am so happy that I have been able to adopt the Sicilian way of life and really appreciate my time here relatively technology free.