Farm Life

Thursday was our first free day off! Unfortunately, for most of us that meant working on our projects for school. Some headed to the food market with any extra time they had that day - Cagliari has one of the largest indoor markets Europe. I went for a run in the morning which was my second cultural mistake of the trip. I ran down towards the water to run along a walkway. Not only did I get stared at by everyone I ran by, but I got mimicked by more than a few Italians. While I was jogging in place waiting for the light to turn at a crosswalk, I looked back to a teenager exaggerating my movements and laughing with her friend. Needless to say, it was a short run! Keeping up with the Italian do's and don't's is proving to be way more difficult than I thought...

Friday we had morning class, a compost lab, then a question and answer with an engineer from a small firm that deals with solid waste management. After school most of us continued work on our projects. That night we went to check out the Friday night life. We ended up at an underground pub listening to a live band that played a lot of Bob Dylan. Clearly we tried hard to branch out...

Saturday began our cultural weekend! We drove two hours to visit a mining town. The mines have since been shut down but there is an underground museum that we were able to visit. The town was on the coast line so we had stunning views to boot. 

After a wonderful 10-course seafood lunch we visited temple ruins before heading to the bed and breakfast which would be home for the night. 

We arrived on a gorgeous farm at sunset. 

Walking around we found many friends consisting of geese, turkeys, horses and cats. We then enjoyed another fresh and delicious meal! Afterwards we stargazed and had a rousing game of cards.

Today we woke up to fresh eggs, homemade yogurt and pastries. Have you gotten the picture we are absolutely spoiled with food? In case you're not convinced let me tell you aboutv how we had a Sardinian cooking lesson. We were taught how to handmake pasta and make a traditional dessert. The dessert was a pastry with cheese and lemon that was fried and topped with honey. Next stop was the beach! (Because I really felt like getting into a bikini after multiple helpings of fried cheese with honey...) The weather held up for us which was wonderful - I was finally able to start working on my tan! We played in the gorgeous turquoise water then headed back to our home in Cagliari. Tomorrow we have our projects due, so it's definitely bustling around here. Fingers crossed for another beach day this week!

Audriana