It is only day 4 on the island but it feels like we've learned so much about the culture and people!
Day 1 was short-arriving on the island after a long flight ride made a bunch of us exhausted. But was still able to walk around and manage to gesture at people to be able to get pizza and gelato. I quickly learned that day that I should brush up on basic Italian. I also noticed the Italians dress very formally and feel under dressed in shorts.
Day 2 was the first full day. Despite having woken up and taking an ice cold shower, I was ready for the activities to begin. We arrived late on American standards, but were introduced to the concept of Italian time (where 10=10:45) so we didn't feel too bad for being "late". We had the opportunity to learn about the curriculum and student life of the civil engineers at University of Cagliari and from University of Padua. I was more surprised at the number of similarities - I expected the two schools to be very different from the U.S. They all do an b.s/m.s program in the same time I will obtain just a b.s. which intimidates me but sounds like they find time to have fun as well :)
It was great later to do a debate activity with them comparing different aspects of school (type of test-taking, lecturing, etc). This was great getting to really talk to the students and understand how their schools work and helped in getting to know them better as well. Overall a great experience, and great food for lunch too.
After exploring the city for a bit, I went to dinner with the whole group of dialoguers (at 8pm, which is early). Little did I know that I was arriving at a feast like Thanksgiving with seafood as the theme instead. I had all sorts of fish from mussels, to octopus to dried fish eggs and more. The food was so good I did not even notice the number of courses we ate, and enjoyed all of it (including the delicious white wine).
Day 3 was nice having a relaxing morning and then heading to the beach to Professor Kosta's beach house that he so kindly invited us to, located about 40 minutes from Cagliari. Their hospitality was impeccable, chauffeuring us from Cagliari to the house and serving us multiple courses of food. Overall a great day interacting with the Padua Italians and getting to know them more.
Day 4 was a busy day where we toured the Nuragic civilization and explored their structures that archaeologists found. It was fascinating to see how they structured their food storage to keep the food cool and hidden without the use of electricity but rather structural engineering. After exploring, we yet again ate a delicious 3 course meal. Then, we went on a trip into the woods atop a mountain about 1,800 ft above sea level in search of mini horses. Only 700 are left, but we were able to spot about 5! The horses are wild and only the fittest survive as the males fight over females and resources often. Also in the woods are shepard's houses which we got to visit. The base walls were made with brick and the top and roof part were made with branches and resembled the shape of a Native American Teepee. The branches were used to help some of the smoke escape through the holes, but some stayed inside as well. I was also surprised to hear that children started learning how to shepard at 6 and were left alone with the sheep at 10 years old! I am not sure I was even allowed to stay home alone at that age. Kudos to those kids!
Day 1 was short-arriving on the island after a long flight ride made a bunch of us exhausted. But was still able to walk around and manage to gesture at people to be able to get pizza and gelato. I quickly learned that day that I should brush up on basic Italian. I also noticed the Italians dress very formally and feel under dressed in shorts.
Day 2 was the first full day. Despite having woken up and taking an ice cold shower, I was ready for the activities to begin. We arrived late on American standards, but were introduced to the concept of Italian time (where 10=10:45) so we didn't feel too bad for being "late". We had the opportunity to learn about the curriculum and student life of the civil engineers at University of Cagliari and from University of Padua. I was more surprised at the number of similarities - I expected the two schools to be very different from the U.S. They all do an b.s/m.s program in the same time I will obtain just a b.s. which intimidates me but sounds like they find time to have fun as well :)
It was great later to do a debate activity with them comparing different aspects of school (type of test-taking, lecturing, etc). This was great getting to really talk to the students and understand how their schools work and helped in getting to know them better as well. Overall a great experience, and great food for lunch too.
After exploring the city for a bit, I went to dinner with the whole group of dialoguers (at 8pm, which is early). Little did I know that I was arriving at a feast like Thanksgiving with seafood as the theme instead. I had all sorts of fish from mussels, to octopus to dried fish eggs and more. The food was so good I did not even notice the number of courses we ate, and enjoyed all of it (including the delicious white wine).
Day 3 was nice having a relaxing morning and then heading to the beach to Professor Kosta's beach house that he so kindly invited us to, located about 40 minutes from Cagliari. Their hospitality was impeccable, chauffeuring us from Cagliari to the house and serving us multiple courses of food. Overall a great day interacting with the Padua Italians and getting to know them more.
Day 4 was a busy day where we toured the Nuragic civilization and explored their structures that archaeologists found. It was fascinating to see how they structured their food storage to keep the food cool and hidden without the use of electricity but rather structural engineering. After exploring, we yet again ate a delicious 3 course meal. Then, we went on a trip into the woods atop a mountain about 1,800 ft above sea level in search of mini horses. Only 700 are left, but we were able to spot about 5! The horses are wild and only the fittest survive as the males fight over females and resources often. Also in the woods are shepard's houses which we got to visit. The base walls were made with brick and the top and roof part were made with branches and resembled the shape of a Native American Teepee. The branches were used to help some of the smoke escape through the holes, but some stayed inside as well. I was also surprised to hear that children started learning how to shepard at 6 and were left alone with the sheep at 10 years old! I am not sure I was even allowed to stay home alone at that age. Kudos to those kids!
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