The Movies of Italy

During my time here I have often felt like I was in a movie, wether this movie is one I have created in my mind or an actual movie it has still felt really trippy. For example, today I was in a botanicle garden and my host father showed me this tunnle under the city that led to an old roman well. Anyway while entering this tunnel I totally felt like I was in the second Lord of the Rings movie walking into the city of the dead, except it was much less creepy. Therefore going off of my list idea, I am going to make you a list of various movies I have felt apart of during my time here and give you a reason why this is so.

The Movies of Italy:
Lord of the rings (explained above)
Twilight-New moon: in this movie they actually go to a place in Italy, well while in the Castello (the oldest part of Cagliari) I felt like I was in new moon because I was in this really old part of Cagliari in front of a beautiful Cathedral. There's a seen in this movie where Bella and Alice are driving through this city to save Edward, Bella then arrives to find Edward in front of this Cathedral. I felt like I was in this seen first because of the Cathedral and second because Italians drive like desprate vampires, in other words fast and crazy.
Xena the Warrior Princess: One day I went to The ruins of this really old Sardinian Castle called Nuraghi. This castle is made out of giant uncut stones and is like 3000 years old. Well Xena finds herself in many destroyed villages/castles at one point or another and so when I was walking through the ruins of this place I started to feel a bit like Xena. The ruins had two wells and these big coned ceilings and they were really cool. With my Xena feeling I then went to this forest covered in moss in search of miniature horses native to Sardinia. Well in Xena, Xena and Gabriella are always in a mossy forest with a horse, hanging out and saving people. While walking through that forest I wouldn't have been suprised if Xena just popped out from behind a tree screaming a battle cry and persuing some fiend. Also I realize this is a T.V series and not a movie but it's okay because Xena should have been made into a movie.
Under the Tuscan Sun: Okay this is fairly self explanitory but while in Barumini (the little town with Nuraghi and the mossy forest) I saw a beautiful view of rolling hills and sheep and farm land and it reminded me of Tuscany and some of the beautiful seens in Under the Tuscan Sun. Also a few days ago in Alghero (a small city on the north of Sardinia) I saw these two sailors that looked so Italian, they were wearing those flat hats with the little knob on top. there aren't any sailors in Under the Tuscan Sun that I remember but it was still very Italian and very movie like.
Minecraft: If you don't know, this is a video game so it shouldn't be on my list but when I was walking around with my friend yesterday it really hit me how much cobble stone there is in Cagliari. This reminded me of being in Minecraft because there is cobblestone in all of my Minecraft houses/streets.
Lastly Narnia: My friend Alyssa and I were going to get some gelato and kabobs (these are like weird hamburgers, so not actually kabobs, but they are really popular here) and we were talking about when we'll have to go back home. Well this made both of us really sad but Alyssa said she thinks she'll be ready when it's time to go. That made me think of the end of the Narnia movies when they don't want to go home but they know it's time and they know that a chapter of their life is ending. Then The Call started playing in my head, which is a beautiful song at the end of Prince Casspien.

Important Lists

My list of ten things I really miss but don’t need,

1.      Cheesy Doritos

2.      Pancakes

3.      Peanut butter

4.      Any sort of processed sugar/artificial flavoring

5.      My cat

6.      Frisbee’s (They do have them but I haven’t played yet)

7.      Quarters (the American kind)

8.      Buffy the Vampire Slayer season two

9.      Netflix

10.  Dungeons and Dragons

I created this list so I could get all the things I miss out in the open and start to move on.  Sadly, a third of this list is food which is ironic considering they have the best food here; I think I’ll get over those the fastest. However things like my cat might take a bit longer.

My list of ten things I like that I have discovered here

1.      Dolce Sardo Cheese

2.      Italian Pizza

3.      Gelato

4.       The lack of processed sugar/artificial flavoring in almost everything

5.       Peach juice

6.      Una Principessa Insopportabile (an Italian children’s book)

7.      Euro’s

8.      Espresso!!!!!!/Café Latte!!!!

9.      Watching soccer and Italian Game shows

10.  The Italian language

This is an awesome list, there are other things I have discovered that I like of course but these are some of the coolest. Also all the people I have met and places I have been but that wouldn’t fit on my list. This week I made pancakes for a friend of mines birthday and I attended my first basketball match with my team! We lost but it was pretty close.  Also I have started to enjoy math a little bit because it’s one of the few subjects I understand. Next, my class mates are helping me learn Italian first of all by making me pay them one euro if I speak English, no not really but they do yell at me, and by not speaking English themselves unless they are helping me figure out the meaning of something.  My friend Michela is reading Una Principessa Insopportabile with me, too. Finally, I made my first espresso this week, it was delicious.  

Keys and Strikes

This past week I have benifitted from the strikes in Cagliari by not having to go to school! On monday I arrived at school to find all of the students outside. This was really odd so I found one of my classmates and asked him what was going on. He told me the man who has the keys to the school, Bruno, wasn't at school yet because of a workers strike. School was being delayed untill second hour to see if Bruno would show up or not so my classmates and I went to hang in a coffee shop. When second hour rolled around we walked outside to the cheering of an entire school of students. From this it was pretty obvious that school had been cancelled that day because one man decided not to show up to work. Thank you Bruno and thank you workers strikes.
Later That week on Friday there was no school agian because of a student strike. I got one glimpse of the students strike and it was one of the more impresive things I've seen. All I saw was a sea of students screaming and running down the equivalent of mainstreet with giant signs. It was quite amazing! I am truly greatful to the strikes of Italy!

School and Basketball

School started on the 12^th… it was a really intense day. I go to a school that’s referred to as Siotto but I don’t remember the full name. My classes are Greek, Latin, Philosophy, Biology, Physics, Math, Chemistry, History, Italian, Physical education, and English. Obviously English is my favorite class. The only classes I understand alright are math, chemistry and English. Sadly math and chemistry are my least favorite subjects and even though I understand chemistry class I don’t understand chemistry because it’s really confusing and I’ve never taken it before. My first day of school was pretty major culture shock; I didn’t understand anything going on. In most European schools, including mine, the teachers switch classes not the students so I stay in the same class all day.  In a way this is kind of cool because it’s pretty hard to get lost. I like my classmates, they are very helpful. They help me learn Italian and pretty much anything else I don’t understand and I help them in English class, a little. Most of the students speak alright English. However, they speak Italian on purpose so we learn. I say we because I have a girl in my class named Alyssa who is from Salt Lake City, Utah.  She’s exchanging here with Rotary as well.  In the middle of the school day there’s a twenty minute brake. School begins at 8:30 and ends at 12:30 so there is no lunch break. During most classes, especially Greek and Latin, I practice my Italian. Today I learned body parts and class room objects.

Every day after school I go to basket ball practice. I am pretty sure I’m on the short team, but that’s cool because my team mates are really nice. Also I think I’ve lost a little weight because of all the running I’ve been doing. Basket ball is the same here but learning all the terminology is pretty difficult. Ball is palla and that’s like all I know so far. I’ve discovered through the girls on my team that Jersey Shore is a shame to America. They make fun of the show all the time. Every day my Italian improves as well as my ability to incorporate charades into seemingly normal conversations. I miss home but I’m having a lot of fun here!

Italia!

Italy is so beautiful! I have been eating Italian pizza and drinking Italian coffee and both are very good. The food here is really healthy I haven't seen any fast food resturaunts at all. However, I am still adjusting to the food its really different and so even though its good I haven't been eating very much. Cagliari is so beautiful. Two days ago I went to Poetto, a huge beach, and saw the mediteranian sea. I haven't swam in it yet but I will, tomorow I might go back to Poetto or another beach. Next, all the buildings here are very old and everything is made of stone, even the walls of my host families apartment. Also, my Italian is improving rapidly because, suprisingly, people here speak little english and they all talk to each other in Italian. Theres two dialects here, Italian and Sardo. I know like one word in Sardo which is lets go, ayo (i think). It's really difficult to hear and speak Italian all day then write englsih so this post might be kind of sketchy. My room is small but I like it, the only bad thing is it gets really hot at night and last night I didn't sleep well. I am very happy and can't wait to see more of Cagliari!

Packing

Packing is a lot easier then I thought it would be. I was told to pack as if I would be gone for a week, well in that case I think I over packed. I can't wait to be in Italy, I just found out I layover in London and Rome, then on to Cagliari. That should be fun! Three more days untill I leave, can't wait!

Departure

I'm leaving for Italy september 3rd. Can't wait!!!