Scuola e la festa di San Cosimo

I've been in Italia for three weeks now. I feel a little bit different and have consumed more than four kilograms of pasta. I've also locked myself in my host family's bathroom approximately five times. I had to slide the Cinderella key underneath the door for my host family to open it from the outside. All the locks in this house baffle me.

I'm attending school in Italy now! Besides the first day, it has felt surprisingly normal.
School can be confusing like the locks in this house, but often subjects like science and math are simpler and similar to what I learned last year. It's fascinating to learn some of the same concepts with the fresh gleam of a new language. I had school today, Saturday. The school week is long and I actually want to go to bed earlier so I don't get so terribly exhausted.

I like the fact that school gets out at 12:30 or 1:30 (13:30) everyday here. After calculating it, we spend less hours in school in Italia than the US. We have many more subjects, but for much less time per week. You also stay with the same class (there is no moving around here!) throughout the day, which is wonderful for getting to know the personalities of your classmates. I spend an equivalent amount of time in some classes as I would if I took them at a recreational center in America. Two hours per week for certain subjects. Italian and history are exceptions; the two most difficult classes for me I have most frequently! I take the bus (or pullman as they call it here) home from school almost everyday. It's enjoyable, but fairly noisy when everyone plays their music out loud and no one tells them to stop. I still prefer it to a car here. Cars zoom quickly on the autostrada (highway).

My host family and the delicious meals we eat together have been wonderful. I also really enjoy spending time with my host sister, Marcella. She just got her license (patente in Italian) which you can only get once you are eighteen in Italia. I like driving around with her and blaring music on her phone and watching the hills of Sardegna streak past.

The yearly festival of my town was this last week. Many people go and spend their nights in tiny cottages at San Cosimo every year. At San Cosimo, the cottages encircle a large church. It's about a fifteen minute drive from my host family's home. There's even a mini pizzeria there and many people go there every night to hang out, eat dinner (cenare), walk around, or watch the various entertainment. This festival at San Cosimo is most famous for its Mamuthones and Issohadores.
There are more photos...click here!

Mamuthones

Issohadores

Gli Issohadores!

The Mamuthones and Issohadores danced through San Cosimo dressed up and masked as part of the celebration. Watching them was slightly frightening but very entertaining. They also have various entertainment almost every night at San Cosimo, including traditional Sardo (Sardinian) dancing and singing.

Un ballo sardo!

It was a dip into the diverse culture in Sardegna. The huge party is now over and everyone has cleaned out their little house at San Cosimo.
I think I'm going to go try and read a textbook completely in Italian now. Or maybe sleep? We stay out extremely late here, trying to slurp up every minute of the day before we become weary.