Saturday, July 12, 2014

Culturally Lost

by Jessica Silva 
This week we enjoyed a group barbeque and a rousing game of bocce ball. Eager to get our “bocce on”, a group of us met in the piazza to make our way over to the bocciodromo. Giving ourselves a half hour, we thought we had plenty of time to explore new Cagli and make our way over to the stadium. Over an hour later we arrived at the bocciodromo, tired and frazzled.

Little did we know as we embarked on our journey to new Cagli, that we were going to get lost in the small town for over an hour. Confident in our map reading abilities, we set out on the quest ready to explore. As we made our way across the bridge our confidence quickly began to fade. Trying to recall the instructions provided to us, we made our best guess and followed the main road up. As we weaved in and out of neighborhoods we realized we were going in the wrong direction and chose to turn around.

After getting lost a few more times, we came across the local fire station. I ran in and was greeted by several vigili del fuoco – or firefighters. The men were pleased to offer us assistance and helped get us back on track. Unfortunately, as we approached the recommended turn, a sign labeled “bocciodromo” was pointing in the opposite direction. Going against our better judgment we decided to follow the sign; yet another bad decision. Twenty minutes later we realized we were never going to find it and we turned back around. This time we decided to follow our instincts and finally made it to the bocciodromo.

This little adventure not only showcased that my friends and I are directionally challenged, but it also proved we had gotten much better with our communication. We were able to decipher directions from our Italian speaking firefighters and eventually find our way. The mismatch occurred when we came across the directional sign. Culturally, we are used to roundabouts. When you approach a roundabout in the U.S. the sign pointing forward suggests you follow the current road through. However, as we learned last night the arrow pointing forward implied the first exit, not the through street.

Although we were successful in our communication efforts, our American filter hindered our abilities to decipher the signs accurately.

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