#eurosi

I arrived late Thursday night (13th) and was picked up at Alghero airport by my friend Cristina and her two roommates Giovani (JOE-von-ee) and Caouri. (CA-oo-ree, r is rolled). They have all been so kind and welcoming to me. Cristina is an AMAZING vegan cook and she cooks for everyone every meal, it is blissful.

It is so beautiful here. It is a very small town of just 500 people, so beyond a few houses is endless rolling hills and olive orchards. We are at the north end of the island of Sardinia (Italian: Sardegna). It is probably 25 degrees right now and gorgeous blue skies but I can’t check the temperature because there’s no wifi. The beach is an hour away but we will go the next day Cristina gets the car. In the town there is the ruins of a 700 year old church. It is beautiful and interesting to put some of my art history knowledge into context. Everyone makes their own wine and trades with each other. Depending how long I stay here I might help with picking olives, which Giovani will then drive to the next town to get pressed into olive oil and bottled, which we will then sell, and that is a major source of income for the house. I am hoping to leave with a few bottles but whittled my luggage down to carry on so I can only bring 100mL bottles. They are renovating the kitchen and have asked me to paint something around the wood fire pizza oven so I am thinking of what to paint. Most of our produce comes from a garden that the household takes care of in exchange for half the food grown. Last night we had eggplant in pasta, which I have ever had and I had 3 helpings.

There are countless archaeological sites on Sardegna, a few near to us to walk or short drive. There is one called, “House of the Fairies” because there are many small hobbit-like houses built into the hillside. We will go see that soon. There is also a petrified forest which of course is where trees decay and over time minerals fill up that space and form a tree shaped rock. We learned about that in geology but it was 2 years ago now and I’m afraid to misinform you. We’ll probably see that today as it is sunny out and walking distance. Also a friend of Cristina’s offered to take us mushroom hunting so I am ecstatic about that.

There is no wifi in the house so I have to go to the town square and then I have a limited time and amount of megabytes to use. So don’t expect to hear from me very much.

I have eaten a mandarin, a fig, a pomegranate and a cactus fruit all straight off the tree! In October! The cactus fruit was my favourite, it tasted a lot like a papaya. Nobody seems to get how awesome it is that cacti make edible fruit and that you can just walk about the town and pick them and eat them?? (After removing the spikes!!)

There are 3 adorable and sassy dogs in the house, I will take pictures but I can only upload probably one picture so I’ll show you all when I get back or have better wifi in a week or so. I have quite the slideshow shaping up.

There is a saying in Italian (and I’m positive I’m about to butcher the spelling):

“Il dolce far nula,” which means, “the sweetness of doing nothing.” I honestly think I have done more in a day here than in a week any place else but it feels so effortless. It’s not an endless struggle reading maps and finding metro stations and post offices and restaurants… It’s just so relaxed.

Ciao for now!