Between the jet lag (it definitely seems harder to recover going east to west) and the return to work and the routine of home life, for some of us, returning from a vacation can be an occasion for reflection. We ponder the things that we have seen and heard and eaten, we uncover in remembering the trip, things that we didn’t even know we were experiencing. Hopefully we discover something about our everyday home life too. While we were there, Sicily was chaotic and more foreign than I was expecting. The nearly complete lack of English speakers was a bit of a surprise. The absence of signage on the roads caused some real consternation. In retrospect I think the difficulties we had finding our way caused us to be more aware of our surroundings and the see more of what we were looking at. The dirt and the shabbiness might also have had something to do with how pristine and luxurious the US seems when one returns.

It is always kind of an adjustment returning from a trip to a foreign land. The ease of being in familiar surroundings lets one’s mind wander back through the trip and see things that you didn’t know you were seeing at the time. There were a lot of things about Sicily that I didn’t expect. First and most noticeable was the shabbiness. I was expecting Sicily to be poor but I was not prepared for the garbage. There is a lot of garbage on the streets and along the roadsides. This struck me time and time again. It is one of saddest parts of the economic stress that Sicily suffers from. There are many many abandoned and decrepit buildings as well. Side by side with the glorious architecture and the stirring ruins of Greek temples and theaters there are bleak post war concrete husks of buildings with their broken out windows and overgrown grounds. There is however what seems to be an immutable spirit under it all. The people. Everyone tells you before you go to Sicily that the people are suspicious of strangers and will stare at you with undisguised wariness or distrust. Sure enough, there were a lot of very dark stares, from strangers on the street for the most part. Anyone that we interacted with, such as shopkeepers, restaurant staff, B&B proprietors, was very friendly. I made a point of nodding and smiling… greeting people in the street and for the most part the common response was a smile and greeting in return. Except for some of the darkest old nonas… The feeling I got was that despite the pall that hangs over the island… the poverty and the grime, there is a warmth and an enthusiasm just under the surface.

I think it would be great if one could take a break in the midst of a vacation. In the future I will try to plan a day in the middle of a vacation to absorb and process the differences… thus appreciating and adapting instead of just coping. The joy of travel for me is the exposure and experience of everyday life in a ‘foreign’ place. I often feel somewhat sorry for those people who are obviously checking off items in a guidebook, looking as much at the book as they do at whatever landmark…