Drop the Mic, Walk Away

Thursday morning came, and with it, we were lucky enough to have Professor Giovanni De Giudici present to us about the militarization of Sardinia as well as nano-particles and the impact that both have on the environment.  It was an extremely interesting lecture and I was most intrigued with his discussion of nano particles and how they act differently than the larger conglomerates that we tend to see in day to day life.  It is a topic that I would be interested into reading more about.  After he presented, our final lecture was given to us by Professor Giovanna Cappai who discussed the different ways to manage waste to energy bottom ashes and how those ashed can be used for carbon sequestration from the same combustion processes.  It was interesting to see the use of a bi-product helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  It showed a more sustainable side to waste to energy facilities that interested me.  After our morning lectures wrapped up, we were assigned specific parts for the mock trial and then we all went home to prep.

On Friday morning, we went to class and began our mock trial.  I was the moderator and among us others role played parts such as shepherds, farmers, citizens, government officials, and consultants.  Overall, I think the simulation went very well and that it mimicked how a real situation would transpire.  The conclusion that everyone came to a consensus on was that regulation is the number one priority with further testing to be done to determine whether remediation is necessary or not.  After the trial, I went home to reflect upon the situation further and complete my reflection paper.  Aside from this blog post, I have written deeper reflections into the situation if anyone is interested in reading them.  Upon completion of my reflection, I worked on the project until we all went out to dinner.  We traveled up the hill into the fort to explore and found a pretty cool restaurant with a view.  The night went on and everyone found their way to different parts of the city to continue exploring.
   

On Saturday, we started off the day with free time, which meant laundry for me.  After laundry, I continued to work on the project until we took off for Sella del Diavolo.  Luckily for me and the rest of the fair skinned people, the sun was hidden from view as we started our hike.  We walked around the mountain and had a spectacular 360 degree view of  the city.  The view was definitely one of the best I've had so far.  We made our way back down the hill and then back to Cagliari as we all hunted for food when we got back.  After dinner, we all came back and hung around before we all went off to do our own things.  

Today, I woke up and grabbed some breakfast before coming back and completing my blog.  In the interest of time, I want to complete this blog this morning so that I can enjoy our excursion this afternoon as well as have time to come back and work on the project further.  This afternoon we all are going to Sarga di Santa Caterina in Orroli to experience some traditional Sardinian culture.  I imagine that there will be a lot of food, music, and dancing and that the traditional costumes that we have seen before will be adorned.  I am excited for the trip and all that comes with it.

Now that this journey is approaching its final legs, this blog will be wrapping up.  The memories I have made here will truly last a lifetime and are more far reaching than my blog can portray.  I wan to thank everyone that made this trip so utterly amazing, especially Annalisa, becasue without her hard work, none of this would have happened for my friends and I.  With all of that, I will be dropping the metaphorical blog microphone and walking away...

To the adventures that come...

Various views from the top of Sella del Diavolo

Ragazzis on Boats

To tip off the week, the group and I went sailing around Villasimius and made a few stops at some of the beaches along the way.  To date, it was one of the most memorable and fun experiences that we have had.  The water was crystal blue and you could see the bottom all the way from the surface no matter how deep the water was.  At our first stop, we swam in a little cove and passed around the snorkel masks to watch the fish and explore.  We stayed for about an hour and then headed back to the boat for some lunch.  We were served a generous amount of pasta and other food.  As we ate, we fed the occasional seagull as it passed by mid air or threw some bread to the fish and watched as they swarmed.  We made way for another small beach where some of us swam to shore and hung out exploring the rocks.  We stumbled upon some crabs and sea urchins.  After the beach, we swam back and headed home to conclude our day.

On Tuesday morning, I woke up early to finish my homework assignment and get the third and final project rolling with the rest of my group.  After lunch, we had two guest speakers; Dr. Tiziana Lai who spoke to us about ELV in Italy and Ing. Alessandro Murgia from the Sardinia EPA who talked to us about mining remediation across the island.  Both presentations were pretty interesting and it was cool to compare what we have learned from studying on our own or other guest speakers to what they presented.  After class, we headed back to continue to work on our projects.

Today, we went to Teulada for another one of our beach visits.  If you can believe it, the water here was even clearer than the water around Villasimius.  We did similar things like swim around and snorkel and explore the shoreline and rocks.  I caught up on some sleep and sun and had a blast.  Thankfully, Annalisa brought us food which I think everyone was extremely grateful for.  Tomorrow is back to school as our amazing experience here in Cagliari gets closer to the end.  I try not to think of it.

Various beach photos from Monday and Today:

 Villasimius

 Villasimius

 Villasimius

 Villasimius

  Teulada

Pula Hoop

The end of this week ended with a bang as we had another technical visit, a fully loaded school day, and a weekend off to continue exploring this amazing island.  On Thursday, we visited Campidano Ambiente and were lucky to have Professor Massidda talk to us about the companies waste collection practices and all of the associated details, difficulties, and successes.  He gave a very good presentation and I applaud him for being the one brave soul to present to us in English.  After his presentation, they were so kind as to give us an informational CD as well as provide us with lunch.  The desert tray was demolished immediately.  In the afternoon, we worked hard to finish up our next project and study for our upcoming test the next day.

Friday came and with it a busy day of school.  The morning started off with the group presentations.  I am very happy that I had the chance to work with Mike and Kestral and together, I felt really good about the way we presented.  I would have to say that I was genuinely interested in this project and was happy to report all of our findings to the class.  After all of us wrapped up presentations, we had a brief guest lecture on composting and then headed off to lunch.  When we got back, we took our midterm exam and everything went smooth.  That night we went to an Erasmus party near campus where they were fundraising for Nepal.  It was pretty cool but by the end of the day I was ready for bed.

Come Saturday, Ted, Maggie, Audriana and I went souvenir shopping in the morning.  I put a solid dent in my list and even got some stuff for myself.  After the morning shopping, we got lunch and I had my first bite of horse meat.  It was pretty tasty but unlike Annalisa, I wouldn't say its my favorite.  We then headed to Poetto again for an afternoon in the sun.  Come nighttime, we grabbed dinner and all watched as Juve lost the Eurocup.  I don't really care about soccer but it would have been fun to have a "local" team win and see the city's excitement.

Today, Sunday, Kestral, Erika, Emily, Lindsey, and myself went to Pula, a town near Cagliari.  We visited the archaeological park at Nora and went on a tour of the old Roman ruins.  It was super cool to see all of the ruins and listen to all of the history behind them.  It was pretty fascinating.  We also were able to climb to the top of one of the old towers.  Below are some of the pictures from this weekend and today.

 Sunset outside of our window Friday night 

 Preemptive Juve champions flags 

 Old mosaic flooring of one of the bathhouses that the Romans used

 The amphitheater on site 

 One of the towers 

  View from just below the tower

I wanna gooo to Poettooo

The beginning of this week has already kicked off to a good start.  We went to class, had some free time, went to Poetto, traveled to Consorzio Industriale Provinciale Medio Campidano Villacidro, and the Cascate di Sa Spendula in Villacidro.

On Monday, we had a guest lecturer come in to talk to us about remediation of contaminated sites.  It was a good reinforcement to what I have learned in some of my other classes and definitely caught my interest.  After class on Monday, we had some free time where my group and myself continued to work on the second project.

On Tuesday, the group and myself went to Poetto Beach.  While everyone was off sailing, I enjoyed a nice nap on the beach.  After lunch we all met up and continued our day on the beach where we caught some sun and played in the water.  It was an extremely relaxing day that everyone appreciated.  At night, we went out to dinner and then crashed and had a solid nights sleep.

Today, we started off the day by visiting Consorzio Industriale Provinciale Medio Campidano Villacidro, a waste management facility that has many facets to its repertuar, including anaerobic digestion.  The biogas that the facility produces from the anaerobic digestion is done in two stages, one for hydrolysis (the more robust phase), and one for methanogenisis.  Both stages produce methane due to the fact that the microbes that partake in both processes can not be totally excluded from one another.  The total process produces anywhere from 60 to 80 percent methane out of the total gas volume.  As compared to a landfill gas recovery system, this is roughly 10 to 30 percent higher.  The facility also has three landfills, a composting facility, and a waste water treatment plant.  It is interesting to note that the facility does its best to be sustainable by using certain end products from one waste management stream to facilitate the next.  For example, the effluent from the waste water goes to creating the biological suspension used in the anaerobic digestion.  The facility also had a wind and solar farm to produce energy that was then sold back to the grid.  It was interesting to note that the main reason for low efficiency at the current time being are due primarily to monetary issues and a recessed economy.  After our tour of the facility, we headed up to a park also in Villacidro where we hiked (kinda) to see a waterfall.  After our quick trip, we came home and here I am writing the blog.  Below are some pictures from the beginning of this week.
 

 Poetto Beach 

 Various organic wastes next to the composting facility 

 The view from inside the structure that houses the methane gas that comes from the landfill.  The outer bubble is used as a protective barrier.  The inner bladder was not filled.  

 The biofilter on site

 The wind farm and solar farm 

 The waterfall in Villacidro