Sardinia

I recently got back from a 10 day voyage to Sardinia, Italy. I took 12 kids from one of the schools that I work at. I don't think the "12 kids" part registered when I was asked to go to Italy for FREE. I think it finally hit when I was at the airport getting the kids checked in and it came time for me to get my ticket, I asked the agent to put me far from all the pubescent children he just checked in. Unless you are flying first class internationally or coach on Singapore Airlines, the experience across the pond can be long and mundane with the exception of free wine for everyone! The combination of three glasses of wine and Tylonal PM, put me out for much of the 7 hour journey to Rome and refreshed enough to deal with missing our connecting flight in a foreign country. Luckily, the sight of my last name and saying I was Sicilian seemed to be my get out of a sticky situation card in much of Italy. The traveling experience as a whole felt like being on the Amazing Race with the addition of 12 extra pieces of carry-on baggage that moaned and whined. This quickly led to the enforcing of two important rules: the questions "where are we going?" and "are we there yet?" were prohibited unless you wanted an extremely sarcastic and possibly offensive response from chaperone Ribods.

The trip on a whole was amazing. The people were incredible. The food was awesome (no shocker there). It was hot, it was sticky, there were no AC's or fans, but it wasn't bothersome. I mean, this is Italy! I consumed maybe 8,000 calories a day, but it was fine. Saying no to food is far worse than eating it and dealing with the aftermath. I ate figs and apricots off the tree, made bread, started a sketch book, swam in the Mediterranean, walked about a mile into a grotto, studied an artist, attended an Italian mass, and just enjoyed the life. I lived with a host family that spoke no English. Communicating became a mixture of my horrible Italian, Spanish (got me no where), and hand gestures. I'm sure I said "yes" to questions like, "do you like to eat the heart of a lamb?" and "so you are Sicilian? You know they are the dirty scum of our nation?" It all worked out though.

Here are some pictures (click on them to immerse yourself in Sardina!):

The group before catching the boat to the beach.

Mini espressos...who needs Starbucks.

The beach....I'm not sure we had a good reason to leave.

A cool tree we all ended up climbing during our lunch siesta.

My host family and fellow chaparoner. (l-r: Francesca, Ribods, Pepe, Jerry)

The church where you kneel on planks of wood...no padding here.

The view from my bedroom overlooking the town of Orani.

Seafood salad....I only ate the shrimp, but it was impressive to look at.

Standing behind a cutout of traditional Sardinian garb....wool, it was 95 degrees.