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 |
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| The yard of the house at Geremeas |
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| A street in Geremeas |
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| 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).
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| The beach where we snorkeled and the big rock that we jumped off of |
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| The beach where we snorkeled |
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| The Mussels |
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| 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 (5th) 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.
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| Il Poetto and la Sella del Diavolo |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Cavalonni and the wind surfer |
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| 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
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