This half of the week we continued on with a busy yet exciting schedule of classes and travelling. We had two guest speakers, one of which touched upon monitoring the pathways of nanoparticle contaminants spread from the military base Quirra. This was especially interesting seeing all of his techniques and difficulties since I too work in a lab with nanoparticles and could understand his methodology. The next day we had a mock town meeting on what should be done about the contaminants resulting from Quirra, which was an interesting experience. It is a complex, multifaceted issue with disagreement even on if Quirra is the source of the contamination in the area or if it is from abandoned mining sites. I can understand now why politics seem so inefficient at times. The next day we got to relax some time in the city and then headed out on a nice short hike that over looked our beloved Poetto beach. Below are some pictures from the hike.
The next day we continued working on our projects and then spent the second half of the day at a Sardinian festival. We first went to the starting location and were bombarded by the friendly locals with sweets and drinks. Afterwards we went to another nuraghic structure and got to see it from afar. Then, we went to the end location of the parade and watched all the people of different Sardinian villages come dressed in their traditional clothing, some on horses some on tractors, all throwing cookies at us. Though I am not a very good catcher, I caught every cookie thrown to me and there were a lot. They say you find your true self when you're abroad-I guess I found out my true inner self is a cookie monster. There was also some live accordion music and what I call recreational Italian step dancing. It was so much fun-the people here are so happy and exuberant. They represent my life goals. Here are some pictures from the festival.
No comments:
Post a Comment