Going Home

Well, the year has sadly come to an end, and I'm now back in the U.S., though very happy to see family and friends. The day that I had to leave was very sad with a lot of tears. Many of my classmates came to the airport to see me off and my host mom, Alessandra, was very sad to say good-bye as well. Just as I left from New York, it was only fitting that I got to end there as well. My mom met me at the airport and we had a great time in the city, with a visit to the NYU campus, shopping in Soho, and tickets to 'Mamma Mia!'. I'll be home in Rapid City on the 5th of July, after celebrating Independence Day with family in Iowa. Thanks everyone for following the blog this year, and I hope you have all truly enjoyed it! Ciao!

La Costa Smeralda

Last week, Dario, a friend from Olbia (on the north shore of Sardinia), invited me to stay at his house for a week. He lives near La Costa Smeralda, which is where most of the nicer beaches are and where all the rich and famous go for vacation, so I said yes of course. He took me around the city and the beaches with his friends and we had an extremely fun week. It was definitely worth the 4-hour train ride to get there!

Venice

Last week, my host mom surprised me with a two-day trip to Venice. We left very (too) early Sunday morning and spent all day in the city, where we saw San Marco Square and took boats around the city. Venice is so unique because there are no cars, only canals and boats, so it feels like it's in another period of time, much further behind our own. We visited the Guggenheim Museum, and another museum which houses an old prison where Casanova was kept prisoner. I prefer Venice over Rome or Milan any day. A wonderful parting gift from my host mom!

Trip around Sardinia

As my year quickly comes to an end, I had a great week on vacation on the beaches of Sardinia. I and many other exchange students took a week long trip around the island, visiting beaches, Nuraghi, and many other great spots. The best day was definitely the last, when we took a boat along the coast and stopped at various beaches along the way that can only be reached by boat. This was arguably the most relaxing vacation I've ever had. I met new students from China, Japan, Chile, Germany and Australia, and we all had a wonderful trip together.

Update

Well, May has been flying by and next month will be my last in Sardinia. I've had quite a busy month traveling to Rome, running, going out with friends, and even sailing. On the May 26th, I'll start a short vacation with the program where we'll get to visit different sites in Sardinia and then at the end, we'll have another 3 days in Rome before coming back on the 6th and then finishing school on the 10th. I'll have the remaining time to go to the beach and hang out with friends before heading to Milan on the 22nd and flying to New York on the 23rd to meet up with my mom. Here are some photos from this month.

Roman Holiday

My host mother Alessandra told me on Sunday that she had work in Rome on Tuesday, and asked if I wanted to go. Well, of course!!! We had an early morning flight from Cagliari, and Alessandra took me to the subway when we got into the city and I spent the morning at the Vatican, which was incredible! I got to visit Pope John Paul II's tomb, the Cupola, St. Peter's Square, La Pieta by Michelangelo, the Vatican museum, and the Sistine Chapel. Then after an exhausting morning of walking, I took the subway back to meet Alessandra, who had just finished her meeting. Then we went to the Fontagna di Trevi, and made wishes with Euros. Afterward, we took the subway and then the train back to the airport and flew home that evening. I will have another trip again in June and I can hardly wait!!! The pictures are of me in front of Michelangelo's Pieta, and the other is of Alessandra making a wish at the Fontagna di Trevi.

Happy (Italian) Birthday!!!

Ah, what a wonderful birthday! I even got two parties! First, I had a small pizza dinner at my house with two classmates (Davide and Dario), an Australian friend who's also an exchange student (Abbey), her host brother (Enrico), and a friend from the cross-country team (Fabio). I got two Sardegna t-shirts, which are very cool, and a delicious birthday cake. Then the following Saturday, my classmates "surprised" me with a "surprise" party at an ice rink/pizzeria. They didn't do a very good job keeping it a secret! Anyway, unfortunately, I only got one photo on my camera before the battery died and then I'm still waiting for photos from the second party, so we'll just have to imagine! My awesome classmates got me Carrera sunglasses that I've been dropping (enormous) hints at all year, so I was a happy camper! I probably won't get very many Italian birthdays, so this was a pretty special year! Thanks Gran and Grandad for the extra "help" for getting to Rome as my gift. The trip came much sooner than expected!

Mastering the Art of (attempted) Italian Cooking

Usually my host mom Alessandra is at work when I come home for lunch but she always has lunch waiting for me in the fridge or on the stove. One day this week, I told her not to worry about it, thinking I could manage spaghetti on my own. I thought, "How exciting, my first Italian cooking experience!". The fact that the stove was out of gas when I started should have been a warning for me to STOP NOW, but I continued anyway. I called Alessandra when the stove didn't work and she told me to go to the apartment next door, where he mother, Nonna (grandma) Mira lives. So, I headed next door and finished boiling my water and then came back in the apartment to finish up with the butter and parmesan cheese. Unfortunately, I have never had a more disgusting plate of spaghetti, not even for school lunch. I guess I will never be "Mr. Italian Chef", and I will leave Italian cooking to the pros but I'm satisfied just eating it. I only regret that I won't be able to come home and cook everybody some Italian recipe because I fear another disaster.

A slight change

On Monday, I switched host families after "irreconcilable differences" I suppose. Anyway, I was placed with another host "family" and conveniently did not have to change schools or anything else. I live with a new host mother who is a physics researcher at the University of Cagliari. She speaks English as well as French but we tend to speak only in Italian at home. Anyway, I was able to live near friends so it has turned out very well and I hope the next two months will be filled with more fun experiences. The summer is quickly coming as the heat and humidity start to kick in and I've heard nothing but complaints about how hot the summer gets but we have a beach, so we can't complain too much. I got to race last Sunday on a beautiful course along the beach. I ran an 8K with my teammates Fabio and Mattia. We had a very enjoyable morning.

Easter

Easter is shockingly similar in Italy. We have a six-day break from school for the holiday. Italians also paint and hide eggs, though the Easter bunny is a little less heard-of. I went to an Easter vigil with friends at 10:30 Saturday night. Easter, my family took me to Nora, Italy, an excavation site in southern Sardinia. Excavators have discovered ruins from the both the Roman age (the city is thought to be the first Roman city) and remains from the Phoenicians, from which the name Sardegna came from. We also took a cave tour and hiked up to the top of castle on a very high hill. A very fun day, though I got a little car sick with the narrow roads and drastic curves.

Church

Italy is overwhelmingly Catholic and is full of old and beautiful churches. Mass is attended every Sunday but while most Italians claim to be "practicing" Catholics, it's becoming less and less common to attend mass every Sunday. I go with friends Sunday morning. This photo is of The Sanctuary of Our Lady of Bonaria, a church near the port of Cagliari that houses a statue of the Madonna that was thrown off a Spanish ship and washed ashore here near Cagliari. It was built in 1324-1329. Today it's a famous landmark in Sardinia.

Six-day Easter break... I like it.

St. Patrick's Day

I was horribly shocked to arrive at school and not see a single person wearing green with the exception of myself. Unfortunately, St. Patrick's Day is not a holiday here and I was completely bummed. No leprechauns? No chocolate gold coins? I'm going to have to wait another year now.

For those of you who are familiar with a film called 'A Christmas Story', fra-jee-lay is actually the Italian word for fragile (it's spelled the same as in English though). Who would have thought?

Paris

This past week, I had the great opportunity to go with my classmates on a school trip to Paris. We stayed for 5 days, and had an incredible time seeing all the sites and enjoying a week of break. We had the chance to visit The Louvre, one of the most amazing places in the world, The Eiffel Tower, The Arc du Triomphe and the Notre Dame, as well as enjoying the beautiful museums and streets of Paris. Definitely a place I'd love to see again!

Snow

This past Friday, it snowed in Cagliari for the first time in around 17 years. It was such a big deal that teachers were releasing their classes so that the students could go outside and "enjoy" the snow (it all melted the moment it touched it ground). There certainly wasn't a need for snow plows or anything but it was cause for celebration for everyone else. I just nodded my head and said "yep, that's cool", as we are more than used to snow in South Dakota. Ten minutes later the students came back in complaining about how cold the snow was. Shocker. Not so great is it? Turns out there was a lot more snow up in the mountains so my host family wanted to drive up and see it.

Cross-Country

I had a cross-country on Feb. 9th, and it was a cold, rainy and wet day but that makes for a much more interesting race. I placed 3rd in my race. Here are some photos of the crazy morning...

Music

I was very surprised when I arrived to hear American music on the radio. Though they don't usually know the words or what the song even means, Italians really enjoy American music, and know every artist on the airwaves in America. Because they're so familiar with our music, they were really surprised to hear that I didn't know any of the Italian musicians. One artist I've started to like here is Tiziano Ferro. Other than that, the songs on the radio are split basically half-American and half-Italian. I also find it difficult not to laugh when classmates or friends are trying to sing an American song and don't know the words, so they just make up sounds!

The Nuraghi

Nuraghi are circular structures made of stone that are found only in Sardinia, and have come to represent the island's culture. Some are as old as 1000 BC, and some are more than 65 feet tall. About 8000 still exist today on the island. The unique design of the Nuraghi, which is like that of a beehive, can only be found in Sardinia. The exact use of the buildings is still unknown today. I had the opportunity to visit the Nuraghi with the other BEC exchange students, who are mostly all from Australia. They are very fun to get lost in, despite getting in trouble from sneaking away from the tour group. Oops!

School

After middle school (scuola media) in Italy, students must choose between several different types of high schools. Some examples are Scientific, Linguistic, or Classical. However, after you've chosen a school, your classes are not optional and there are no electives like we have. Linguistic schools focus more on language learning, and students take up to four foreign language courses. Classical school focuses more on art history and language. Scientific, or "scientifico", is probably the closest to what we have, and this the school that I attend. The name of the school is Liceo Scientifico "A. Pacinotti". I take Italian, English, Latin, Chemistry, Art Design, Gym, Religion, Philosophy, and History. Some classes are easier than others. I do relatively well in Chemistry, English, Gym and Religion. However, having never have taken Latin before, I am three years behind my classmates and the lessons are in Italian. I've got a lot going against me there. Recently, my class had to move to another building for school. My school has two different buildings, via Liguria and via Peretti, where I am at now. We will switch back to via Liguria in March or April.