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| The (real) toy car I saw outside the dorm this morning. |
As I wrap up my second full day in Italy, I'm starting to think I could get used to this lifestyle. My room is clean, spacious, with lots of light and fresh air from the windows. Today was the first full day of classes. Start time: 10 A.M. I rolled out of bed a little after 9, ate some toast and yogurt in my room, then stopped for a cappuccino at a little cafe along the way to the University. Price for a delicious cappuccino: 1,50 Euro We started to dive into the material we are covering, with Professor Onnis-Hayden giving a crash course on solid waste. We ate lunch at the cafeteria, 20 odd Americans chowing down on meat, pasta, rolls, vegetables and fruit. After returning to class for a few more slides of the lecture, we were assigned our first group project, and then discussed this weekend's adventures. We're going to check out an abandoned mine, an agrotourism farm, and go to the beach! As I write, we're preparing to grab pizza for dinner, then hit the town. Altogether, it's been a pretty stress free day. Tomorrow is our first free day, and I'll probably visit the San Benedetto Market, then head to the beach for an afternoon soaking up the Mediterranean sun!
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Artist's rendition of me lounging on the beach tomorrow.
Some of my observations about Italian culture, and Cagliari specifically, so far:
- Food is CHEAP- I paid around 6 Euros for breakfast food at the supermarket yesterday. Jam, pre-made toast, bananas, and four yogurts cost less than a breakfast sandwich would in the U.S. Cappuccinos have been less than €2 everywhere, a full pizza with a drink was €11,50. It's honestly awesome. One of my concerns with this trip was the cost of eating out all the time, but that doesn't seem like it will be a problem.
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| Pizza pizza pizza |
Nobody speaks much English- It seems like very few or no Americans come the island of Sardinia. One of the Northeastern co-ops here said we were the third Americans he has seen so far in his time here. As a result, the restaurant staff have enough English for us to order, but not much beyond that. This is much different than my experience in Germany where people I tried to speak German to replied in English. We met with Italian environmental engineering students yesterday, and they had just enough language skills to hold a conversation about our cultures.
The economy here isn't that good- I'm not quite sure what I expected to see, but the city of Cagliari looks a lot more worn and tired than I expected. It has beautiful houses and hills and piazzas and castle walls- but they are all a little run down. The sidewalks are cracked and uneven, often leaving you walking perilously close to the street. Gates and fences are rusted, and there's graffiti and writing on walls all around. Don't let me paint the picture of a wasteland- the city is beautiful, it could just use a little love (and a massive investment in the city maintenance budget). One of the reasons for this is probably lack of a strong economy and jobs. When talking to the Italian students about what they will do after graduation, they laughed when I asked if they would stay in Sardinia. There are no jobs here they told us.
'Urban Decay'
I would write more but there are 7 people in my room insistent that we get pizza! Ciao for now.
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