Posted by evan on Saturday, May 13, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

Experience Blog 1

Over the past week, I’ve learned more about Sicily and Italian culture than a semester of classwork could teach me. From our field trips to wandering around the town of Cefalu, I’ve been able to truly witness the amazing culture of the Mediterranean as well as see how Sicilian culture and history compares to its American counterparts. Mainly, I wanted to see the differences between the town of Cefalu and my hometown of Marietta in Georgia.

When we first walked through the streets of Cefalu, I was floored by the proximity of the shops and how friendly everyone seemed; owners and clerks were standing outside greeting bystanders and talking to other locals. In Marietta, the shops are so spread out and even the close stores never had their clerks outside watching passerbys. Granted, Marietta is much bigger than Cefalu but it was clear to me that stores in Cefalu were much more focused in interacting with the tourists and locals.

Building off that, I also noticed a more relaxed atmosphere in Cefalu. People slowly walked through the streets, relaxed along the beautiful beach along the boardwalk, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the experience of the town. While I certainly love my hometown, the culture there promotes hurriedness, using cars to rush from work to restaurant to home. In Cefalu, I spent two hours in class, two hours eating at a local pizzeria, an hour relaxing at the beach, then the rest of the night walking with my friends and exploring the nightlife and shops. I have rarely felt this aura of carefreeness and relaxation in my hometown and I am so glad to be spending a month in this town.

While the history of America and Sicily are difficult to compare, I was thoroughly impressed by the preservation of landmarks over 2000 years old. Particularly, the ruins of Segesta boasted a still-standing skeleton of an ancient Elymian temple. Sitting at the top of a hill (though strangely not the highest as most Sicilian temples usually are), the temple’s shadow loomed over us as our tour guide gave us the run-down of the history. Following that, we visited the next hill to see another beautifully preserved theatre. I marveled as we listened to our voices carry across the theater, thanks to the acoustics of the structure. Even more, some of our group hiked up to the theatre, more grueling than it looked but quite a fun hike!

This first week in Sicily has been a spectacular one as I’ve seen countless new examples of culture differences between Sicily and America. I love the lifestyle of the Sicilians as they take a more relaxed approach to life. It’s so much fun to walk through the streets and see the various restaurants and shops in such a small space. At the same time, the ancient ruins provide a rich history to look back upon and see a piece of history unique to Sicily.

Evan Mercer