The first week

It has been three full days since the group and I have landed here on the beautiful island of Sardinia and begun our time here in Cagliari.  So far things are amazing and I think everyone is settling in very well.  From the first moment that we saw the guest accommodations that the university provided to us, I think everyone had a strong sense of being welcomed.  This feeling continued throughout the first day as we met students from the University of Cagliari as well as the University of Padova.  Everyone made various introductions about their respective schools and activities and each of the head professors gave a brief lecture on a topic.  All of the students then got a chance to work together to form arguments and have a mock debate.  The day ended with all of us from Northeastern going out to eat in the town square.  As one would expect, we got pizza and wine.

On the start of the second day, we were fortunate enough to have some free time off in the morning to explore the city on our own.  A small group and myself walked around and saw some local attractions and found some of the necessities like groceries and pharmacy goods.  One of the owners of the pharmacy was nice enough to give Ted and myself some free shampoo too.  Maybe she felt bad for us or thought our hair was grimy.  The day concluded by going to the head professor of Padova's house.  Amazingly, he lived perched up on the beach and all of us got to go swimming in the Mediterranean.  It was funny because all of the local Italian students thought the water was freezing but we all ran straight in and stayed in.  The water was amazing and it was truly an experience.  After we dried off we were greeted with delicious home cooked food and throughout the night we ate, drank, and enjoyed the company of the fellow Italian students.

Today, the third full day, we were able to go see different Nuragi ruins, including Barumini, the largest of the ruins left on the island.  Its astounding to see the condition they are in considering they were originally built before the time of Christ.  From the ruins, we had another delicious meal and then were fortunate enough to go on a hike on top of the mountain.  We saw the infamous miniature horses and some oxen as well as the old huts that the shepherds used to live in.  Today was an exhausting day from all of the walking and sight-seeing but it was totally worth it and it was another solid day in the books on this trip.  I can't say I'm too happy about starting class tomorrow but I know it will be interesting and we will still have plenty of opportunities to travel and explore more of this crazy place.

The view from the professor's house:

The ruins: