A couple weeks ago we hit our 1 year anniversary of living in Sicily. Its amazing that we have been here this long… it has really flown by. Moving here was a huge leap of faith in that I had never even been to Europe before moving out here. Jess had some experience from living in Spain for 6 months with a study abroad during University, but overall we were coming into Sicily blind.
People’s reactions to our plans were always mixed. Some were completely confused why we would leave everything in San Diego for a “mobster” Italian island, while others were on the same wavelength as us. We tried to keep low expectations before our big move over here. We expected to be living in a one bedroom apartment in a cramped city with our clothes hanging on clothes lines connected to our arguing neighbors windows… you know the stereotypical Italian scenes. Luckily this was not the case.
The people here have really made our transition a lot easier. The Sicilians really go way out of their way to help out. And they love Americans and especially people from California. As soon as you start stumbling with the language they always smile really big and figure out what your trying to say. And if they can’t figure it out there is usually another Sicilian nearby that joins the fray and helps out. Its always a funny scene, which usually ends with them asking where we are from and their BIG response of “California Bella!!”
I put together a list of pros and cons to summarize what we have found after a year:
Pros:
- A lot more house for your money. Rent for a house with ocean views is 3 to 4 times cheaper.
- Launching pad to other European locations
- Sicilian cuisine
- Sicilian historical sites everywhere
- Sicilian beaches and crystal clear water
- Super fresh Veggies and Fish
- Access to the base is like a “little America” on Sicily
- The people of Sicily are friends before you meet them.
- No signs of mob 🙂
Cons:
- Trash – For some reason they cant find a trashcan
- Graffiti – I don’t get it, but you will see an unbelievable fountain on the right and graffiti across on the left.
- Sicilian drivers – Nicest people in the world until they are behind a wheel
- Learning the language is turning out to be harder than we thought.
- Lack of food variety – All Sicilian everywhere! And I mean ALL Sicilian.. not like the US where you can travel the culinary world on one street. Luckily we can still cook up our own variety.
- Stores are not open conveniently. Still haven’t figured out the hours of the smaller grocery spots.
- Air conditioning is MIA in many places. The Sicilians have a much higher tolerance for heat. 🙂
There are some Americans here that definitely get hung up on the cons that I listed above. This is sad because they are not seeing the forest from the trees. Most of the time they are deciding to hold onto the American culture and not let go and embrace where they live.
I would be lying if I said that each of the cons haven’t bothered me at one point in time, but the reality of living in Sicily makes me get over it and smile. We have definitely enjoyed ourselves here so far and we still have a bunch of places to see just on Sicily. Its amazing that after a year we haven’t seen everything just on the island here. Sicily has exceeded our expectations and we are looking forward to another year.
Enjoy your time there! Even with the cons you listed I loved my time I Sicilia & miss it every day!
Hard to believe it has been a year… Congratulations! Your experience parallels ours exactly…good overview!
Hey guys, I have followed your guys site for awhile now as I stumbled upon it as about the only Sicilian website from Americans. Out of curiosity, what brought you guys to Sicily? Most Americans I have met in Sicily are stationed at Sig, the navy base. My grandparents have a place in Vizzini and Marina Di Ragussa and I spend every few summers in the area. Good to see some fellow Americans getting to enjoy the intricacies of the Sicilian lifestyle.
Hi Michael,
Glad your enjoying the blog! We aren’t stationed here, but our presence is related to Sig. Its been a great experience so far. We love Marina Di Ragusa. Good surf spot as well, when there is a swell.
I see. That’s what I would have guessed. If you don’t mind me asking, are you doing contracting work?
Marina Di and the surrounding areas can definitely get some good waves it just tends to be rare. I had a great surf experience about 15 miles east of Marina Di Ragusa a few years back. By far the biggest waves I had seen in the area. I thought it was cool to see that you guys were getting to do some wakeboarding. I had no idea the Sicilian’s even knew what it was. I will be back for about 6 weeks this summer and may have to ask around my grandparent’s hometown to see if anybody knows where to get into it.
If you haven’t done it yet I highly recommend checking out Caltagirone. It’s a great area with a lot of cool stuff to do. Climbing the stairs is a must. Also, I have a soft spot for Comiso. Not much to do but it has the small town Sicilian vibe that makes the area so special. If you get the chance stop by the Ciao Bar on your way to Marina Di the next time. I will keep in touch through the blog. Maybe we can catch some waves next summer.
Yes on the contracting. Im going to be writing a post about surfing in Sicily soon. Just let me know about catching waves sometime. Thanks for the travel tips! We have been to Caltagirone, but not yet Comiso.
Will do. Also check out sicilsurf.it. I get on there every now and then and it seems to be a pretty good reference for the island. I don’t know if it will be any benefit to you, but you may run into someone on there or use it to put you on some good waves.