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.

Christmas in Italy (Continued)

Christmas in Italy was definitely an interesting experience. We had Christmas dinner with my host family on Christmas Eve and they told me that it's traditional to wait until midnight on Christmas Eve and then you can open presents (traditional or not, I went along with it, who wants to wait to open gifts?). I got some wonderful gifts including Fruit Loops and Raisin Bran, so I was a happy kid. On Christmas Day, we went to an evening mass and walked around the church looking at all the different nativity sets. Italy is much more about the religious side of the holiday, as opposed to the commercial side. I have several photos from the holiday. Some are of our nativity, some are from the beach, one is all of my Christmas gifts, and the puppy was bought by my host mother's brother while he was here and he named the puppy Casey. Casey will be trained to be a rescue dog. Happy New Year's everyone!