Tre Giorni: Pizza, Dialogo, e Italiano

After only three days here in Italy, we have already explored and seen so many different things that it seems as if we have been here for at least a week. The streets that we have walked each day are becoming more and more familiar, and some of the shops that we have explored are becoming favorites.Yet, there is still so much to learn about the island, town, and culture.

The center of Cagliari from above the domitory

When we first arrived, it was definitely apparent that we were not in Boston anymore after the humidity in the air and the shining sun hit us as we stepped off of the plane. Everyone was very tired after the two plane flights, but we were also anxious to explore the new place that we would be calling home for the next month. After settling into the guest house and being slightly overwhelmed with the Italian we had barely begun to hear, we headed out to dinner as a group to the square down the street. The Piazza Yenne is a plaza down the road from our dormitory that has many different restaurants and is constantly filled with people relaxing and enjoying each others company. It's a very common place to meet people, old and young alike. Here is where we had our first dinner and afterwards enjoyed gelato while wandering down a few streets comprehending how a couple hours on a plane could result in us actually being in Cagliari, Italy.

The next day we visited Universitá di Cagliari and met with other environmental engineering students from the university as well as a group of students visiting from the Universitá di Padova which is located near Venice. Here we listened to three lectures, one professor from each of the Italian universities and a lecture from Professor Onnis-Hayden. These presentations discussed the issues in waste management and resource recovery in mostly Sardegna, but much of Italy as well. We also had presentations from students about student life and academics in each of the universities. After this, we had discussions that related to the differences in the school systems such as how the students were learning, the amount of tests given, how many tests, and the future of environmental engineering careers and whether having a job was better at home or abroad. This was a great chance to learn about the other engineering programs and how they differed from ours in the USA. We also had a chance to argue on teams about which way was better when discussing the two academic systems and learn more about the Italian system that we had no idea about. One of the major differences that stood out was how their program is three years of undergraduate work and then two years of graduate work. Almost everyone does the graduate program because of the standards of the country, whereas in the USA, we only have four years (usually) of undergraduate work and then some people go on to a graduate program. It was a lot of fun to interact with these students because we were both curious about each other's backgrounds and cultures. I thought the most interesting thing was how well they all spoke English, and even when there were misunderstandings, we were able to figure out how to communicate our ideas. That night, we had a 13 course meal that included some of the most traditional dishes of the island. We sat for more than three hours eating and enjoying all of the food and our time in Italy. A lot of the seafood I had never tired before, but it was all delicious and better than I had anticipated.

The "Antipasta" or appetizers of our 13 course meal

On Sunday, we used the morning to get some much needed rest because of the time difference. In the afternoon, we were invited to visit the Universitá di Padova students at the beach house they were staying at. Here we were able to speak more with the students and learn about them each individually and talk about cultural and academic differences. Of course, everyone enjoyed the crystal clear Mediterranean Sea and the party as well.

Mediterranean Sea from the beach house 

So far Italy has been amazing and the people have been so open and welcoming. I keep feeling bad that my Italian is little to nonexistent, but I keep trying which is what matters. In the restaurants, with the tour guides, and even with the security guard it's important to practice the little bit that I do know. We aren't necessarily here to learn the language, but I consider it to be a very big part of the culture and important in cultural understanding. Cagliari has exceeded any expectations that I had, and I can't wait to learn more about our topic as well as the long history and culture of the island.