Posted by carolineh on Wednesday, May 24, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

After spending two and a half weeks in Cefalú, I feel as though I’ve become accommodated to the flow of daily life here. For example, at this point it neither surprises nor scares me to see a motorcycle or car come racing down the street half a foot from where I’m walking. I’ve become used to sharing tight spaces with vehicles as they weave their way through crowded streets. However, spending yesterday in Palermo, with its paved roads and traffic lights, reminded me of how different the traffic flow in Cefalú is from what I am used to in Atlanta. In Atlanta, as well as every other city or town that I’ve visited in the U.S., traffic lights, stop signs, and lane lines are commonplace. There is a clear divide between the sidewalk and the street, and you can even get arrested for walking in the street outside of a designated crosswalk. Here in Cefalú, that is definitely not the case.

 

When walking the streets in town it’s every person for themselves. There are no lane lines, no stop signs, no crosswalks. Most vehicles don’t use their horns, even if they’re speeding toward you without your knowledge. Crossing every corner is a risk because you don’t know if a motorcycle, car, or bike will appear from the side street as you step into the intersection. When I first came to Cefalú, sharing the streets with motorized vehicles was really frightening. I noticed, though, that the people around me didn’t seem to be bothered by it. They stepped aside or continued walking without giving the vehicle a second thought. At first, I could not fathom how they were able to go about their day without sharing my concern for my safety. Over the past two and a half weeks, though, it became so normal for me that I was actually surprised to see traffic lights in Palermo.

 

In my Introduction to Adult Development class this past semester, we discussed a quote by anthropologist Ralph Linton: “The last thing a fish would ever notice would be water.” We tend to get so adjusted to our own culture that we don’t notice its unique qualities. Stepping outside of American culture has helped me distinguish things, such as the traffic flow, that set us apart from other places in the world. I have developed a greater awareness of both my own culture and Sicilian culture because of this experience, and I have found aspects of both that I value. Although I am used to it now, I feel much safer walking the sidewalks of Atlanta than I do on the streets of Cefalú. Nevertheless, the passion for food, connection, and conversation that I have experienced during my time in Cefalú makes me wish that these things held similar importance in American culture. It has given me great pleasure to pick out the subtle (and larger) cultural differences between these two places that I have called home, and experiencing both has changed my perception of what is “normal” in the world.

Cefalú street

Atlanta highway