Summer 2015: First Days in Sardinia

We have had an amazing weekend in Sardinia so far!

Before getting into how wonderful of a time we are having, I should cover some housekeeping: I will most likely be posting on Sunday and Wednesday evenings, FaceTime has not been working well, and neither has Whatsapp. Additionally, this is the first free time we have had so if I have been hard to reach, I apologize.

We arrived in Cagliari on Thursday evening. The view from our room is AMAZING (see picture below). After unpacking,we all went out to dinner and gelato then straight to bed because we were exhausted.

On Friday morning, we got up and went to our first day at Università di Cagliari. The hall we met in was absolutely beautiful as well, although I forgot to take photos. There we met with students from the Università di Cagliari and Università di Padova. We learned about their schools, what classes they take (fun fact: my spring semester was exactly the same as the first year master students from Padova), and what they do for fun on the side. After an absolutely delicious lunch that had about 4 courses, we reconvened for lectures and group discussions. The Italian, Sardinian, and American students split into groups and discussed topics such as written vs oral exams, one test or multiple tests, and working near home or going abroad to work. It was very exciting to hear everyone come together and the differences and similarities in our education. The other fun part was my group was the jury and got to decide team winners. I think the best part of the experience was that we got to make new friends and see that, in a way, that where ever you are in the world you can make new friends and find a new home, more to come on that later.

On the way back we stopped at a staple of ancient Italy, an amphitheater (see photo below). We also passed a lovely botanical garden that was about to close so we are planning to return to it at a later date, stay tuned! As we wondered back, we found a pharmacy and bought essentials, such as shampoo, sunscreen, and sunscreen. It was very fun to walk around Cagliari, get a little lost but still safely find out way back.

Although the day was already full, Friday still was not over. We went to a local restaurant, Ristorante Antica Cagliari at stayed for hours eating many delicious courses. I ate ALMOST everything... There was one large shrimp thing I didn't eat because I was too full but I tried everything else, even the fish bladder (before and after photos below). My personal favorite dish of this 11 course meal was the tuna steak and fried zucchini. I also had my first cappuccino and took forever to fall asleep... live and learn.

Before:

After:

The next day, Saturday started uneventful, we got breakfast at the place that we will be eating at every day then played some cards because it was raining and too early to call home. Then the day got nicer so I went for a walk with the awesome Ted Stimpson (check him out at http://tstimpson20.blogspot.it/), then got stuck in the elevator for a half hour.... That wasn't very fun, especially when the woman on the other end of the call button didn't speak English, and if she did we couldn't understand her. A half hour or so later we were out, squished into an Italian car, and headed to the beach!

We went to the beach at Geremeas, staying at Prof. Cossu's house who was one of Annalisa's professors in Cagliari before moving to Padova. There we met with students from Cagliari and Padova again. The water was absolutely beautiful and Anna Murphy (our TA who is running the dialogue's blog http://cagliaridialogue2015.blogspot.it/) stayed in until my fingers lost all the blood... definitely worth it. Dad, there were big waves but they broke on the shore so it wouldn't have been great for surfing, though we tried body surfing. From there we went back to Prof. Cossu's house and ate so much more wonderful food. The party began after dinner and we taught the Italians how to play an American game, Flip Cup. There are no further details on the games.

When we went to leave the students from Padova invited us to stay with us along our travels after and Prof. Cossu invited us to use his house in Venice. We are looking into making this possible.

Today, Sunday we had a field trip to Casa Zapata, Barumini, and Parco della Giara. They were fantastic but I am running out of time so I will just post pictures so you can see for yourself. Meme, I found m first church and made a wish so check out the pictures!I apologize in advance that everyone looks so miserable... All and all we are having a fantastic time and miss everyone back home!

Casa Zapata