Staying in Cagli has been an interesting adventure thus far. I’ve never traveled to a city where nearly all of the signage, products, and spoken language aren’t in English. I found it fairly overwhelming, so on my first few days I coped by blocking out what I found confusing.
On the second full day, a film crew arrived to town and began shooting a film in and near the piazza. Walking from my apartment towards the piazza, I was deep in thought, the class assignments weighing heavily on my mind. I wasn’t paying attention to the sights and sounds around me. Suddenly, I became aware that the shouts and stares were directed solely to me. Jolted back to the present, I looked around, and began to feel my face getting warm from embarrassment. A man about ten feet away turned around and abruptly faced me, wearing a puzzled look on his already worn face. He looked familiar, and as my mind searched to make the connection, a woman jumped between us, her eyes narrowed, nostrils flared, and speech quickened. While I didn’t understand her words, her nonverbal communication made it clear that she was furious at my interruption. “Mi dispiaci, mi dispiaci”, is all I could weakly muster, before turning and darting away, head down. As I passed by the Cagli locals, I caught the eye of an elderly man in a stained tank top, tufts of salt-and-pepper hair sprouting from the shirt’s neckline. “Tsk, tsk” he said, wagging a wrinkled finger in my face. It occurred to me that the man was actor John Turturro, and I just walked through a movie scene. Mortified, I slunk around the nearest corner to catch my breath.
I soon realized that if I had been paying attention, I wouldn’t have made this mistake, despite the language barrier. The most obvious cultural mismatches in this situation are language and non-verbal. Since I couldn’t understand the conversations taking place around me, I mentally checked out, as I wasn’t sure how to handle myself in the situation. As a result, I missed cues and didn’t catch verbiage that could have otherwise allowed me to avoid the embarrassing situation. It will make for a great story to tell when I return home, however!
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