Arrival

Views from my host family's house

Il Castello di San Michele

            Sorry it’s taken me so long to add a post!  Here’s the first!

I have only been in Italy for 5 or 6 days, but it feels like it has been a month or more since I left home.  My traveling began with my first flight to Chicago at around 11:30 am, a four hour long layover in Chicago, followed by a long 9 hour flight to Rome.  When I arrived in Rome, I had yet another four hour long layover.  Then I had my final hour and a half long flight to Cagliari.  When I arrived in the Cagliari airport, I met my host mom (Annalisa), my host brother (Alessandro), my host sister (Silvia), a friend of Alessandro, as well as a few representatives of the district’s Rotary Club.  I was given balloons, “Welcome Daniel!” written on them with big blue writing.  That moment was my first experience of culture shock in Italy.  We stood in a circle and talked, or rather I stood in a circle with them as they talked.  I understood nearly nothing that was being said.  My host mom, siblings, and I left the airport and headed for their home.  

            My host family’s apartment is in the middle of Cagliari, in a 5 story apartment building, their apartment being on the 5^th floor.  We brought my bags up to the room that I was to share with Alessandro.  Our room contains two twin sized beads, and the ceiling is slanted. 

            After we dropped off the bags, Annalisa, Alessandro, and I went to the supermarket to buy some food that I may like, as well as some school supplies.  We bought some different types of meats, pecorino (sheep’s cheese), biscotti (cookies or biscuits), orange juice, among other things. 

            Later I met some of Silvia’s friends and we all went out to the deck right outside the bedroom that I share with Alessandro.  Basically, I listened to them talk, catching a few words here and there.  They would ask me to speak English to them, and they would be amazed at the speed of my speaking.  They told me that they thought that English has a more melodic tone to the speech when compared to Italian.  I thought that was odd, but I suppose a language may sound more interesting, more beautiful when you don’t completely understand it. 

            Later that night, Alessandro, his girlfriend Roberta, Silvia, her friend Ferdinando, and I went to a small restaurant or cafe, the owner and workers of which they all seemed to know.  I ordered a kabob, expecting, as many Americans may, a skewer of meat and maybe some vegetables.  However, I got pork, veggies, sauce, and herbs wrapped in a sort of flat bread.  It was very similar to a gyro.  Regardless, it was delicious!  Eventually, it became quite obvious to me the level of pride many Italians take in the food of their country.  Alessandro and Ferdinando told me all about the careful preparation of various meats and wines.  As I listened to their talk of Italian foods, a cook in the restaurant   that they all knew, who was apparently the son of the owner of the restaurant, brought out a complimentary dish of Sardinian bread, which is a sort of crispy flat bread common and famous in Sardinia, and pancetta Toscana, a sort of meat that resembled raw bacon but more thinly sliced.  The meat was delicious and melted in my mouth.  We left the restaurant, and went to a gelato shop, where I had my first authentic gelato.  I ordered pine nut flavor which was really delicious.  After that, the four took me for a drive around the city.  We passed by the old city from the middle ages, Il Castello (different from the picture I posted), which is surrounded by a huge outer wall.  The entire city is constructed from a type of white stone.  The entire city reminded me of the city of Minas Tirith in Lord of the Rings.  I don’t have any pictures yet but I hope to get some soon!!  Near the original city, we saw the Roman amphitheatre.  It really is quite amazing and inspiring to see such ancient structures. 

The next day, Alessandro and Silvia showed me what they typically have for breakfast.  It seems as though Italians have a rather small breakfast of biscotti, or cookies or biscuits, sometimes dunking them in Italian coffee.  In addition, caffè con latte, or coffee mixed with milk served (as I’ve seen it) in a bowl, caffè macchiato, or coffee with a dash of milk served in a cup, and orange juice are common breakfast drinks.  Lunch and dinner seem much larger in comparison.  For lunch that day, we had a dish of pasta with tomato, zucchini, and other vegetables and herbs.  At lunch was the first time I had met my host dad, Beppe.  Alessandro and sometimes the rest of the family call him “il grande cappo” meaning “the big boss (or head)”.

            That night, Alessandro and I watched King Kong in Italian with Italian subtitles.  I think watching movies that I know in Italian will be very important and helpful for me as I learn the language. 

            Later that night, Beppe, Annalisa, Alessandro, Silvia, and I went to a pizzeria for dinner.  We sat in the garden courtyard, which was beautiful.  We each got our own pizza, each about a foot and a half in diameter.  The pizzas all had a very thin crispy crust with various toppings along with cheese.  I got half four cheese, and half barbaricina, which includes (as I understood) pecorino (sheep’s cheese) and salsiccia secca (spiced meats). 

            After dinner, I was again taken to the old city, this time inside.  It was beautiful!  I learned that many of the towers of the city are named after different animals, for example La Torre dell’Elefante.  I think Il Castello is my favorite part of Cagliari so far.   

           

            I hope to update you all every couple weeks or so!  A presto! 

Daniel