So sorry for not updating in so long!  How long has it been since I updated? More than a month??  Well needless to say, this blog is going to be pretty lengthy and rather random.  So, sorry in advance.  This time, I decided to add sections of significant occurrences in my exchange over this period, so it may be more enjoyable to read.  Here we go!    

Allergist Convention

On the first weekend of November, my host family took me to an allergist conference at a hotel-resort in the town of Guspini, near my host dad’s hometown of Gonnosfanadiga.  Guspini is a town of 12,000 or 13,000 inhabitants, while Gonnosfanadiga is a small town with under 7,000 inhabitants.  The towns are located northwest of Cagliari.  In Guspini, we stayed at the Sa Rocca Resort, which included an outdoor pool, a resort spa, a gym with an indoor pool, a restaurant, and a bowling alley, all surrounded by hills and mountains.  The first day we were there, we listened to some of the presentations (including my host dad’s presentation on allergies to metals, in which included English terms that I taught him to pronounce!).  Later that night, we went into Gonnosfanadiga and ate a very fancy dinner at a local restaurant.  The dinner included a ton of things that I had never tried before.  For the first time, I tried oysters (a very expensive kind I was told) as well as another type of shellfish that I don’t remember the name (sorry for the vagueness).  I wasn’t a huge fan of either of the two, but I’m really glad I tried it.  We also ate some more familiar foods, such as shrimp, mussels, octopus, cured meats, cheeses, breads, wines (some rather expensive; apparently Italian allergists love to celebrate), and of course pasta.  It was insanely delicious.  By the end, I was so exhausted I could barely keep my eyes open. 

            The following day, my host family, some family friends, and I visited the spa for the late morning.  We all did a session together.  We had a huge room all to ourselves with a large, cold pool, a large hot tub with various messaging jets, a Turkish bath, a wooden sauna.  It was something I had never done before, but it was very enjoyable and relaxing.  After that, we left to see an old abandoned mining complex.  We saw the living quarters of the workers as well as the mansion of the highest official of the complex.  It was extremely interesting to see the contrast of the two. 

            The next day, on our way back to Cagliari, we visited an agritourism hotel for a lunch of traditional Sardinian foods.  The meal included different types of meats and cheeses, breads, small antipasti including one with eggplant and parmesan, various types of pasta and risotto, roasted lamb and pork (a whole lamb and a whole pig, complete with the heads, which I’m finding more and more common here), wines, and a dessert of tiramisù.  Needless to say it was delicious.  Afterwards, we drove through the Sardinian countryside and mountains on the narrow and curvy roads, saw the coast of Sardinia near that area (which is dotted with giant sand dunes), and back to Cagliari. 

           

Sa Rocca Hotel-Resort

Spa facility that we used

Workers' Quarters at the abandoned mine 

A room in the highest official's mansion

The dining room of the mansion

Fieldtrip!

            A few weeks later, my class took a field trip to two different mines outside of Cagliari.  The first, named La Grotta di Santa Barbara is a cave near Iglesias with giant stalactites and stalagmites.  The second was La Miniera di Porto Flavia.  The actual mine consisted of the typical tunnels and carts you think of when you think of mines, but it was dug into a cliff on the coast.  A tower was set into the side of the cliff and a port for loading ships with the minerals was also built in the cliff.  However, the mine is not a functioning mine today.  After we saw the mines, we spent some time on the beach near the mine skipping stones and just sitting.  

La Grotta di Santa Barbara

the tower on the side of the cliff of La Miniera di Porto Flavia 

View near entrance to La Miniera di Porto Flavia 

View from the tower on the side of the cliff

Thanksgiving in San Sperate

            On Thanksgiving Day, my Italian friend Sara invited Matthew, Natalie (exchange student friends), and I to her hometown of San Sperate for the day.  After school, we all took a bus to the town.  When we got off, we all immediately liked the town.  The town is basically one huge mural.  Everywhere you look there are murals of all types of art, including one with a group of whales and dolphins with castles on their backs as well as realistic scenes, abstract figures, and murals including poetry in Sardo (the Sardinian language, which I have yet to learn), Italian, English, Spanish, and Latin.  We walked through the town towards Sara’s house, and as we made our way there the townspeople would smile at us and say “Ciao”.  Whether they were smiling at our obviously foreign ways or because we were in or a part of their town, everyone was genuinely friendly and happy to see us.  We arrived at Sara’s house, and met her extremely friendly parents and dog.  We sat down for a delicious “Thanksgiving Meal” which included an excellent chicken risotto, pecorino, marmalade, honey, bread, vegetables, chocolate cake, and caffè.  After the lunch, we left the house to meet with a group of foreign teachers, along with a Vice President of our school, for a tour of the works of a local artist of San Gavino by the artist himself.  The artist’s name was Pinuccio Sciola, and he was known for carving stones, and particularly for carving them in a way that they could be played almost like a xylophone.  We got a tour of his “gallery” which was a field dotted with orange trees and the stones he has carved.  He played a few as demonstrations, and then we made our way to his house.  His courtyard of his home was basically a workshop, filled with carved and un-carved stones and carving instruments.  He gave us another demonstration on a smaller stone, which he played with his palms.  Here are some videos of him!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xto24oUYKDk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUaPeyxjKgE

After we ate some of the complementary food and drink, we headed back to Sara’s house, got a tour of the entire house, and headed back to Cagliari.

The "Gallery" Orange Tree Orchard

Sciola playing his work of art! 

Streets of San Sperate

One of my personal favorite murals

Sara's House

Natalie, Matthew, Sara, and I and the dinner table! (Sara's mom is behind us)

Alghero

            On the first weekend of December, the other Rotary exchange students in the Cagliari area and I made our way to Alghero for a Rotary convention.  We left at 7:30 in the morning, so I had to wake up the earliest I had woken up in a very long time.  We drove all the way to the Northwest area to Alghero, a city of about 44,000 inhabitants on the Northwest coast of the island.  We arrived at the small hotel where the meeting was to take place and took our places.  Apparently, I was to give a bit of a speech at this meeting, along with my friend Natalie.  So we prepared something very simple as we listened to the rest of the meeting.  When our turn came up, we made our way up front and improvised a simple introduction speech.  It was a bit rough, but I would say it was excellent for our first ad-libbed speech in Italian! After the meeting, we met the other Rotary exchange students on the island, and went to a seaside restaurant for lunch.  We ate risotto, patatine (which are basically french-fries and are surprisingly rather common hear), a platter of a variety of meats, and caffè.  After the meal, we walked outside on the beach for a bit and talked, and left for Cagliari.  We didn't really get to see much of the city, which was a bummer, but it was a fun experience anyway!    

Beach at Alghero

The whole group!

Here’s a list of other random things that happened!

-          I joined a choir at the music conservatory in Cagliari.  It’s very different following directions in another language, but it definitely helps my listening.  Generally, I understand perfectly and feel very comfortable with what to do. 

-          A friend of mine and I made Pancakes for Ale and Silvia (my host siblings), and I made Minnesota Wild Rice Soup for my entire host family.  They loved both the pancakes and the soup, but I think they were a bit unsure about the packaged soup.  They seemed to like it anyway, though! 

-          A few exchange students and I visited Castello di San Michele, which is a tower on top of a large hill overlooking the city.  It was built in the 12th Century.   

View from the top of the hill on which sits Il Castello di San Michele

Il Castello di San Michele

-          I haven’t had actual dreams that I can remember in Italian yet, but I have spoken in Italian in my sleep to my host brother.  The first time, I said “Cosa significa?” which means “What does it mean?”  The second time, I had apparently been having a nightmare and I woke up with a start, shined my cell phone around the room, startling my host brother and here’s the conversation we had while I slept, in Italian:

Me: “I thought I couldn’t stay here…”

Ale: “What do you mean?”

Me: “I thought…oh nothing…it’s hard to explain…goodnight…”

Ale: “Goodnight…”

I’m not exactly sure what it means and it’s rather simple Italian, but at least I know I’m thinking and capable of speaking in Italian in my sleep!

            I strongly urge you to look up some of these things on the internet, because my photos do not do them justice.  Also, I apologize again for my long and infrequent blog entries, and I know how annoying following a blog like this can be.  I promise to update more often.  But then again, who knows how long that promise will last….I will do my best! 

A presto!

Daniel 

A Little Bit of Everything

Here’s the second part of my giant blog! 

            Last Thursday, I was able to go to a Symphony with Nonno at Teatro Lirico di Cagliari, which is a beautiful concert hall in Cagliari.  Ale and Nonno have season tickets to the Symphony, but Ale couldn’t go that day so I got to go in his place!  The music was great, and Nonno was so friendly.  He told me that the concert hall also holds ballets and operas, and that the opera Carmen will show soon.  I hope I get to go, because I have never been to an opera before.  And how amazing would it be to have seen my first opera in Italy!?

On Halloween, I visited my friend Natalie.  I met her host family, and I joined them for a lunch of Pasta alla Carbonara, a pasta dish that I have had on a few occasions with eggs, cheese, and pancetta or bacon.  Later, I helped Ale make a mad scientist costume for himself.  In our bedroom, we splattered ketchup on a white doctor coat to make it look bloody and dried it with a hair dryer.  I think even now our bedroom smells of ketchup.  Silvia splattered some nail polish on a surgical mask.  It turned out excellent!

            The next day (We had a mini fall vacation of Sunday-Wednesday), I was going to meet Christine, Matthew, Natalie, and Suzanne, a few exchange students at a certain piazza in Cagliari so we could all walk to one Christine’s host house to eat lunch and meet her family.  I waited for the most convenient bus by my house for nearly 20 minutes, but it never came and I never saw one passing in the other direction.  So I walked the 15 minutes to the other side of my house to catch the less convenient bus.  I had been waiting for 15 minutes when my host family drove up, on their way to Nonno and Nonna’s for lunch.  They asked me if all was well and I said I was just waiting for my bus.  It was a rather awkward meeting, because I could tell they were worried.  They left, and I waited for about 10 more minutes at the stop.  I was about to turn and walk towards the meeting place (a 45 minute walk more or less) when the bus finally arrived.  I rode that bus and got off to catch another.  I waited for that bus for nearly 10 minutes.  I usually don’t have to wait even that long for a bus, but maybe I have just had good luck with buses before this.  I finally arrived at the meeting place, an hour later than planned.  I apologized many times and we began to walk towards the house.  We finally arrived, much later than planned, and again I apologized many times this time in Italian to her host family.  We met her host parents, her host grandma, and we talked with her sister and her friend who we had already met.  We were given a tour of the house, which was extremely nice.  Christine’s room is a really cool shed (shed is such a negative term for what this is) on the roof! 

            Later, we were served a dinner of malloreddus (a dish of small grooved pasta with tomato and meat sauce; I recommend that you look it up, because I don't have any pictures), roasted lamb, salad, 3 types of cheeses, assorted fruit, finishing with tiramisù, 2 types of cakes including a type of raisin cake, and of course caffè.

From left to right around the table: Christine, Chiara (Christine's host sister), Natalie, Michela (Chiara's friend), Christine's host mom, Christine's host grandma, Me, Matthew, Christine's host dad

These pictures of this meal courtesy of my exchange student friends!

Variety of cheeses

bread served to us at lunch

Tiramisù

 

While we ate, the host grandma seemed to grow fond of Natalie and me.  Once, she grabbed my hands and said to me, “…che bel ragazzo!” which means “…what a handsome/great boy!” along with other stuff I couldn’t understand after I helped hand a tray maybe a foot to the host mom that she had been trying to hand to her herself.  Also, she called Natalie “dolce”, “carina”, and “simpatico”, which mean sweet, pretty, and nice.  Over the afternoon, Christine’s host grandma laughed at Matthew for saying “Chicago” in an Italian accent because apparently it sounds exactly like an Italian phrase pertaining to taking a shit (cagare is a vulgar verb meaning to crap or shit), she told me to be aware of the girls, she told Natalie to be aware of the boys, she told both me and Natalie to be aware of the bad people in the world, and she said that Natalie looks Asian (which was actually a joke between all of us before she said it, which made it all the more funny).     

Me and Christine's host grandma!

 

We said goodbye, got a few pictures with Christine’s host grandma.  After a few choice pieces of advice from Christine’s host grandma to me and Natalie, we left and were on our way to San Gavino!

            We had planned to leave after lunch for San Gavino, the village where Matthew is staying about an hour away from Cagliari.  However, we missed the last train, so is host dad picked us up.  We arrived in San Gavino, a town of nearly 9,000 people (according to Wikipedia) but I saw maybe 10 people in all.  We walked around later that night, seeing the small piazzas, churches, and stores.  We went back to Matthew’s host dad’s house, and we had a night of music, eating, picture sharing, and movies.  It was kind of like a self-organized exchange student camp. 

            The next day, early afternoon, we left for the train station to catch out train back.  We bought our tickets, said goodbye to Matthew, boarded the train, and left.  We saw a few strange people along our journey home.  One man heard us speak English and as he walked by said “OK! English!”  Another man ran through our car at a stop, and we suspect that he wanted to get off without being caught without a ticket.  Regardless of the strange encounters, the trip was fun. It was only my second train ride.  It was beautiful watching the countryside as we headed for the city.             

On Sunday the 30^th of October, a few weeks before all of the previously mentioned stuff happened, I had gotten out of the shower and had just dressed when I got an email from my parents saying that they had to put down our Border Collie mix JoJo.  She was over 14 years old, but she seemed perfectly healthy when I left home.  It came as quite a shock for me, and needless to say I was and am very affected by it.  Apparently she had a tumor that was infected and getting worse, so my parents had to put her down on Friday the 28^th of October.  She lived a great and long life, but I really regret not having been home, regardless of the fact that I am having such a great time here.  I think it will take a very long time for it to sink in for me, especially because I’m not there at home.  My family has had her since I was 5 years old, so I don’t remember not having her.  I grew up with her.  She was a part of the family.  I’ll miss you JoJo.

I Nonni, Bistecca di Cavallo, in Giro, and Friendly Neighbors

I apologize for not having written for a while, and needless to say this is going to be an information packed entry! 

            It has been well over a month since my last entry, so obviously a lot has happened since then so I think I will separate it all into 2 entries.  As I try to remember it all, it kind of blends together, and it’s difficult to separate the activities into their respective days.  But nevertheless, I will do my best to recount the past month in as organized a way as possible, and I will try not to leave anything out!

            One Sunday in late September, Ale, Silvia, and I went to Nonno and Nonna’s house for lunch, the same grandparents that I had met at Geremeas.  I visited with Nonno, Nonna, and Zio Marco for a bit, and then I was taken on a tour of the apartment.  The apartment was extremely nice.  In one of the rooms was a very old and beautiful looking white piano, and I was told that Nonno was an excellent pianist.  The upstairs, which was almost separate from the rest of the apartment, is the roof level of the building.  It consists of a good sized room with two doors leading out to the roof.  The outside portion is filled with different plants, including small olive trees and other fruit plants.  The roof provided an excellent view of the city as well as a park across the street. 

            We washed up, and ate a giant and delicious lunch of pasta, roast beef, potatoes, green beans, a variety of beverages including water, coke, wines, and juices, and a dessert of gelato (I really need to start taking pictures of food – it is so good).  Afterwards I felt incredibly content, but also incredibly tired.  Ale and I watched a soccer game (Lazio played, but it ended in a tie).  After that first visit, I’ve spent nearly every Sunday lunch at Nonna and Nonno’s house.  They have become like real Grandparents for me! 

            After the game, I decided to go for a walk in the park across the street.  It was a very beautiful park, with ponds filled with different types of ducks, geese, fish, and turtles.  There were quite a few pigeons and stray cats, like much of the city, which is rather strange for me.  Nevertheless, the walk in the park was very relaxing and scenic and I hope to return again. 

            Later that week, I got the opportunity to help teach an English class at a local program.  So I looked up the directions, and left for my first real excursion in the city on my own!  It was an excellent way to get more familiar with the city, as well as to see parts of the city that I hadn’t seen yet.  Some of the streets that I walked through seemed to take me back in time, and I could tell they were built before cars.  It was absolutely amazing.  I finally arrived at the site, after having been a bit lost I admit.  I helped a girl around my age teach English pronunciation to a small class of mostly middle-aged women.  I was expecting to help teach a class of children, but it was rewarding and fun nonetheless. 

            Also, not long afterwards, our neighbor brought over some homemade sweets including crepes and some sort of Sardinian treats that resembled some sort of sweet cheese pastries that are usually served with honey on top.  The crepes we ate with Nutella (I am growing to love Nutella here) and, unfortunately we didn’t have any honey, we ate the pastries with sugar on top.  I was able to try them with honey on top later, and they were delicious! 

            Another night, Ale, Robbi, and I went to meet Robbi’s sister and her fiancé at a small restaurant.  Robbi’s sister and her fiancé were extremely friendly and fun and I enjoyed myself.  I also tried horse steak!  To me, it tasted a lot like beef steak, but much tougher.  It had a slighter different flavor which is hard to explain.  When I told them that it’s uncommon to eat horse meat in America, they looked surprised but also like they understood why.

            School is still a bit boring.  It’s quite difficult to pay attention when you can’t completely understand the language.  I can understand almost everything when I work at paying attention.  I tend to devote myself to paying attention and understanding for maybe 10 minutes into the day, then my mind begins to wander and I get lost in my own head.  Then I catch myself, and my mind snaps back to focusing on listening, and the cycle just begins again with my mind wandering a few minutes later.

            There are quite a few differences between school here and school back in Northfield.  Here, you stay in the same classroom with the same class of students all 5 hours of the day; the teachers move rooms.  Classes here consist more of the teacher simply lecturing, whereas in Northfield classes were more active and diverse day-to-day.  At Northfield High School, we would have days where we would do group projects, watch movies, or leave for field trips.  In addition, school in Northfield is much more social, or rather school is where the majority of socialization takes place or starts.  At NHS we have Homecoming week, Snow week, Prom, school sports and activities.  However, at school here, you sit through class and that’s all.  Here are a few other differences, big and small:

           

-          Here, when a teacher isn’t able to come to school no substitute takes their place, the class is simply cancelled.  So my class has had several days with either free class periods, early dismissals, or late starts.

-          Here, there is no soap or toilet paper in the bathrooms (or at least the boys’ bathroom).  You have to either ask a certain office near the bathrooms for toilet paper, or bring facial tissues, which is what a lot of the kids in my class seem to do. 

-          The subjects here are different.  I have never really studied philosophy and Latin before.

-          Here, after the third hour of school has started, you can’t get into the school if you are coming in late.  I learned this when my host mom and I had to do the Permit of Stay deal.

-          Here, almost daily, a chosen few of students have to go through what is called an Interrogazione, which basically involves the teacher asking 2-4 students individual questions about the material in front of the entire class.  At the end, the students are evaluated on their answers on a 0-10 scale, 10 being the best.  The score is pretty important because the only “grades” that are counted are those of Interrogazioni and Compiti (written tests or essays).  The first time I witnessed this, the teacher walked through the isles of the classroom deciding who to pick.  Even though I knew I would not be picked, it was pretty intimidating and stressful.  The closest thing we have to this in Northfield is class discussions, which really aren’t as big of a deal.  We do have teachers that ask individual questions, but it is definitely much more casual and it doesn’t put our grades as much at jeopardy. 

-          Here, homework as we know it at NHS (math problems, worksheets, etc.) isn’t given out as often.  Much of the “homework” consists of basically reading sections of the textbooks (with the occasional small bit of homework as well) similar to homework in AP courses at NHS.    

Regardless of all the differences, most of my teachers are fun, helpful, and enthusiastic.  One teacher in particular, the physical education teacher, has us do a sort of pilates everyday.  My first day of physical education class, she picked some thyme from a bush in the school yard, smelled it, and said, “It helps you wake up”.  So she proceeded to hand out bits of thyme for us to smell as we did our pilates.  She’s also a big fan of speaking English with me, which is very entertaining because she’s a very interesting person.  My Italian teacher is extremely generous, and has agreed to give me Italian lessons, which I have been doing for a few weeks now.  Also, when we take written tests, she writes a slightly altered version for me to take.  A few days ago, I was given a Latin test (she also teaches Latin), which I completed with some difficulty but learned a few Latin words along the way!  My English teacher is also extremely fun and helpful.  He likes to speak with me in English and looks at me whenever he mentions some sort of English slang (which is often British slang, which I have never heard) or other figures of speech that are more difficult to understand.  I really like his energy and his teaching style, as well as the material he teaches, but his accent is a weird mixture of British and Italian and it is quite difficult to understand sometimes.  I love my classmates.  They are all very friendly and inviting, and they invite me to events and just generally include me.  But, as I don’t quite completely understand the language and I can’t communicate very thoroughly, I’m afraid they will find me stupid, boring, or unfriendly.  However, as I get farther along with the language, the better it will get. 

            A great way to learn a language, I discovered, is watching familiar movies in a different language.  Since I arrived here, I have watched Forrest Gump, King Kong, Big Fish, I Robot, The Shining, The Gladiator, The Sixth Sense, The Village, Jurassic Park, Troy, Van Helsing, Cast Away, (I’m positive I am forgetting others) all in Italian.  I also watched one of my favorite movies, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, in Italian.  It was very interesting, but also very weird to watch.  The different voices were quite strange to listen to, having gotten used to the same voices of the same actors since the first movie.  Another strange thing was that the names of some of the characters were changed for the Italian dubbed version.  Albus Dumbledore was changed to Albus Silenzio, Severus Snape to Severus Piton, Minerva McGonagell to Minerva McGranitt, among others.  It’s strange watching dubbed movies, especially with movies you know well.  I can’t imagine Star Wars or The Lion King without James Earl Jones…       

Streets of Cagliari

Soccer, Geremeas, Il Poetto, La Scuola, Rotary Meetings...

A few days ago, I saw my first soccer game in Italy on TV; Lazio vs. Milan.  Beppe and Ale (Alessandro) are HUGE fans of Lazio, a team that comes from Rome.  During this game, I heard some of the fastest and most emotionally charged Italian yet.  With every goal the Lazio made, a roar of cheering erupted from the two, and with every missed goal by Lazio there was an explosion of disapproval from the two.  The game ended in a tie, 2-2.  

            Later that night, we left for the country where the family has a house in a small gated community called Geremeas Country Club.  Geremeas was beautiful, with small narrow streets separating the many houses.  It was surprisingly green for the climate, and flowers and other plants grew on the fences that separated houses from houses and houses from the streets.  Around midmorning, after a quick breakfast and a short 3 minute walk, we arrived at the beach.  It was so amazing and beautiful!  The water was a bright blue, almost turquoise, and on each end of the bay, small mountains rose. 

The house at Geremeas

The yard of the house at Geremeas

A street in Geremeas

The Beach

 Later, we returned to the house.  We began to notice some smoke that was coming from an area pretty close to our house, so Ale, Silvia, and I went to check it out.  It turns out that it was a small wildfire, which is apparently fairly common here (as I picked up by the rather casual way people would watch as the firefighters put it out). 

            For lunch, we ate salad of lettuce, chicken, herbs, tomato, eggs, olive oil, and salt along with water, orange juice, pecorino (sheep’s cheese; famous in Sardinia I’m told), and a type of rice cracker.  It was simple but very delicious. 

            Later that night, we had a GIANT multi-course seafood dinner.  The first dish was a dish of spaghetti with mussels which Nonna made (my host grandma).  Next was a dish of octopus tentacles with different herbs and (I believe) olive oil, which Ale’s girlfriend Roberta made.  After that, we had completely whole shrimp, or gamberoni, shell, eyes, antennae, and all, which I had never had before, so Ale taught me how to eat them the Italian way.  First, you start by ripping off the legs with fork and knife.  Then you cut off the head, followed by the shell of the body, and then you eat the body.  Ale also taught me to suck off part of the head, and as you do so the antennae of the shrimp dangle out of your mouth, which I thought was pretty comical.  For the next dish, we had some sort of salt water fish, again whole with scales, eyes and all.  Again, Ale taught me to eat it, making sure I didn’t forget to eat the cheek, apparently the best part.  Last of all, we had something familiar – watermelon.  Everything was incredibly delicious!!  I wish I would’ve taken pictures! 

            The next day, Ale, Ferdi (Silvia’s friend Ferdinando), and I were going to go to place where we could snorkel and jump off some rock into the sea, as I understood.  We left late morning with wetsuits and snorkel gear, passed a view of a beautiful Sardinian beach with brilliant blue water and several sail boats further out in the bay, and we arrived at the area where we were supposedly to jump off the rock into the sea.  We climbed on a cliff of jagged rocks which overlooked the bay that I had mentioned, and arrived at the rock that we would jump off of into the water.  I looked down nervously, seeing turbulent white water crashing against the cliff, and I quickly became unsure of all this.  Ferdi tried it first, but struggled to climb back onto the rocks form the water because of the turbulence of the sea.  Ferdi and Ale decided that it was too dangerous for us to jump, and that we would return another day.  So we returned to the car, drove back to Geremeas, walked across the beach, and arrived at another rockier beach where we would snorkel.  We got our gear on, and snorkeled over to a rock about 10-20 meters out, which they told me we could jump off of.  I was a bit unsure of this because the water depth was not quite 2 meters, but after a few jumps and shallow dives I got used to it.  It was pretty amazing!  Later, we snorkeled in search of ricci di mare (sea urchins) and some type of mussel.  I was shown how to find out the gender of the ricci di mare (you cut it open and check for the bright yellow-orange egg sacs; if it has egg sacs it’s female, if not it’s male).   I also learned how to harvest the mussels by slipping a knife quickly between them and the rock that they’re sticking to.  If you’re too slow with the knife, they attach themselves more tightly to the rock.  Later, Ale found a jellyfish and showed us (after seeing it, I was a little nervous of one sneaking up from behind me as I snorkeled). 

The beach where we snorkeled and the big rock that we jumped off of

The beach where we snorkeled

The Mussels

Ricci di Mare

After we finished snorkeling, we took our catch and returned to Geremeas.  We had lunch at my host grandparents’ house.  We had pasta, some sort of roast beef, Sardinian bread (which is a sort of crispy flat bread), tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, and watermelon.  It was all delicious. 

            Later we packed up and left for Cagliari.  On the way home, we stopped for my second gelato in Italy, which was so good!

            When we got home, we unpacked and chatted with Federico on skype about his time in Idaho.  This was the first time I had met Federico.  He seemed very friendly, and it seemed like he was having a great time in the U.S.  His English was excellent as well. 

            After we finished skyping, it was a little past midnight and my birthday!  So my family sang the Italian birthday song version to me!!

“Tanti auguri a te,

tanti auguri a te,

tanti auguri a Daniel

tanti auguri a te!”

Afterwards, in celebration of my birthday, Silvia, Ale, and I watched Forrest Gump in Italian.  It was a great way to celebrate my Italian birthday. 

            In the afternoon, Ale brought me to visit Bisnonna (his great grandmother).  Apparently Ale had to help her with a problem with her TV.  After Ale finished with the problem, Bisnonna showed me various pictures of their family.  Later, she served us butter cooking, every once in a while asking “Ti piacciono?” (Do you like them?) and when I answered “Sì!” she would say “Mangia! Mangia!”  (Eat!  Eat!).  This has become a joke among my family.  Bisnonna was super sweet! 

             

            The next day was my first day of school, which was definitely a culture shock experience.  I could understand maybe a few of the words that were being said by my teachers, and a few of the teachers seemed a bit frustrated and confused as to my inability to understand.  I’ve had school for nearly two weeks now.  In school, I am in a class of about 20 students in the final year (5^th) of the secondary school, Liceo Scientifico A. Pacinotti.  We stay in the same classroom with the same students, and the teachers switch rooms.  I’m studying Latin, Italian Literature, English Literature, Mathematics, Philosophy, Religion, History, Physics, Science, Design/Art, and Physical Education.  I’m also taking simple Italian lessons from the Italian teacher of the school, which will hopefully allow me to learn the language at a faster pace.  I’ve met many new people at school, and I love how having only the one class allows us all to become pretty close. 

           

            Either the day of my first day of school or the day afterward, I went to the first Rotary meeting here in Italy.  We met at a nice restaurant on Il Poetto, the local beach of Cagliari, and in sight of la Sella del Diavolo (The Devil’s Saddle), a huge rock formation.  I met another exchange student from Utah here in Cagliari.  I also met some local students, as well as some Rotary representatives.  I was presented to everyone, and I was given a Cagliari pin and magnet.  For dinner we had delicious pizza, but it wasn’t quite as good as the first pizza I had. 

           

            The next day, I was invited to come to Il Poetto with some classmates.  We rode the bus for about a half an hour and arrived at the beach.  It was the same general area as where the restaurant from the night before had been.  It was quite beautiful, with bright blue water, and with la Sella del Diavolo in view.  There we played racchettoni, a sort of tennis-like game played on the beach with wooden rackets and a rubber ball, which was really fun!  The depth of Il Poetto (at least at the part of the beach) is extremely shallow, and you can walk meters and meters without getting your head wet. 

Il Poetto and la Sella del Diavolo

Il Poetto

            On Saturday night of that week, we left for Geremeas.  As soon as we arrived, we visited with Nonna and Nonno, but I was exhausted and went to bed immediately afterward.  The next morning, Silvia, Ferdi, a couple of her other friends, and I went to the beach. Later we returned for a delicious lunch of pasta, lamb, potatoes, green beans, bread, among other foods.   

Lunch with the Family

Afterwards, in the evening, Silvia, Ferdi, and I returned to the beach where I experienced for the first time the Sardinian cavalonni which are basically giant waves which are common in the evening.  We body surfed on, jumped over, and dove through the waves.  Apparently other days they’re much bigger.  We also watched a kite surfer, which was extremely interesting.   

Cavalonni and the wind surfer

Me, Silvia, Ferdi

 Later, we returned to the house, packed, and left for Cagliari. 

           

            On the next Tuesday, I had another Rotary meeting, this time bigger, at which I would have to give a power point presentation.  I met several other exchange students, discovered that I have the opportunity to teach English to children here in Cagliari, and ate a delicious dinner of lasagna, decorative bread, turkey, carrots, potatoes and other foods.  My presentation went well, but I (along with every other exchange student) had a little trouble with the language.  However, regardless of how hard it’s been with the language, I think I’m learning Italian quite fast, and hopefully before long I will be able to speak with ease!!  It’s only a matter of time!

A presto!!

Daniel