Overcoming Adversity: Poetto Forever

Thursday and Friday of this week were filled with class and homework. On Thursday we spent most of the day finishing up a project that was due Friday. On Friday we presented our second project in the morning, had a quick lecture, then had an exam in the afternoon. Our project studied Rotterdam's waste management system to see how the city's goals will change their carbon emissions and energy consumption. It was interesting to see the significant impact a reduction in the overall waste stream could have on the emissions and energy consumption. As mentioned in prior blogs, reduction is truly queen of the waste management hierarchy. 

This weekend we had completely free. Both days I had a cappuccino and both days we ended up at the beach... an awesome weekend!

Saturday we started souvenir shopping in Cagliari. I was able to justify this spree with the belief that shopping is a part of Italian culture. I don't want to ruin the surprises but so far I think everyone will be happy and Audriana and I will definitely be safe with our combined artillery. As a whole, it was just so fun to walk around the city and see places I've never seen before. I have found my best experiences have been from observing and Saturday was a great morning for it. 

Now back to the beach. The water is still warm and beautiful. I love soaking for hours, washing away the rush of home life from my skin. I feel like I've been able to let go of the chaos I am used to in Boston for a more relaxed beach girl. As an experienced beacher, this is a huge proclamation. A part of me feels guilty for not using this weekend to sightsee or do touristy things, but at the same time this entire European experience is a chance for me to be myself without reservations. Even though our few weeks here have been short, I feel like I am growing into a calmer, slightly tan, and satisfied person. 

The beach we go to is called the Poetto. The sand is very white, though apparently it used to be even whiter. When our professor was in high school there was a major beach nourishment project that brought in tons of sand to maintain its size and stability. She has told us that the sand that was added to the beach was of a gray color complete changing the look of the beach. It still seems soft and beautiful to us, but I think she has a small grudge. I tried to find some pictures but I just have to steal some from Audriana (http://italianaudriana.blogspot.it/).

Italian Audriana and me at the Poetto

When we were swimming Eli found a starfish. Going back to the sand, it seemed gray like the implanted sand. I have no idea what the truth is, but it looks like the starfish might have changed colors to match the new sand. We started looking more and found over twenty starfish. It was so fun! On the beach there are also tons of shells that I collected. All this souvenir and shell collection puts my bag space at high risk, but these are considerations for another day. 

Half of my shell collection

In other news, we rented stand-up paddle boards today for €10/hour. It seemed like a deal, but I still prefer my mom's board. The only available boards were 8' 11", the 11-footers were taken and we would have had to waited a while for them to return. It was a lot of fun floating around in the water.

After the beach today we spent almost 2 hours waiting for a bus home. There were 5 pairs of buses that passed us and every time we would say: "no matter what we're getting on this one." I didn't get sunburnt until that wait for the bus. At that point we decided to walk home. Another hour and a half later, after over an 8 kilometer (about 5 miles) walk, we sat down at the cafe for dinner. It was the best dinner yet because it was the most deserved. Finally, for the title of this blog we overcame adversity and I think there was a sign out there that we should have stayed at the Poetto forever. On that note, I deserve gelato and am headed off to treat myself... Happy Sunday :)