^Picture from a local hike we did. 

I’ve been in Cagliari for two weeks now so I’m going to give you the rundown on my life and what I do and don’t like about living here. My apartment is in a pretty central part of the city so there are a lot of stores and restaurants around which is nice. I was sad to realize that there’s no equivalent of a target (the store) here that sells a bit of everything, but I can get most of what I need from local grocery stores. Fruit is kind of expensive, which is surprising. I paid about 7 euros for a quarter of a watermelon. There’s a laundromat near my apartment, which is convenient but it cost 5 euros just to wash (not dry) a small load of laundry. 

I have a lot to say about restaurants here so I’ll make it its own paragraph. There are a good variety of restaurants here. So far I’ve gotten Chinese, Indian, Mexican, and Mediterranean. The Chinese food was not great. The noodle dish they gave me was just stir-fried spaghetti. All the other places were pretty good. I like that tipping at restaurants isn’t really a thing here. Most places have a cover charge which is 1-2 euros. But I have some MAJOR qualms with restaurants here. You have to pay for water and it’s always bottled. You’d think a place that’s so progressive with its plastic use would have moved beyond plastic bottles for water but they haven’t. I’ve started bringing my water bottle to restaurants to avoid this charge. My primary issue is with Italian meals, and this is not specific to Cagliari. First of all, people eat pretty late; restaurants only open around 7:30. Try to get dinner earlier than this and you simply cannot. Second issue: all the courses. Italians do an appetizer, a first course (usually pasta), and a second course (usually meat). I’d like my food brought out all at once. I don’t like that I fill up on the first stuff. I’d like to have all the options in front of me immediately so I can decide how to allocate stomach space. Third issue: the time between courses. WAY TOO LONG. I have no patience for these three+ hour meals. I want my food now and then I want to go to bed. Final issue: meat is always last. I try to save space for meat because I know it’s coming last but it’s hard when you’ve been here for two hours and haven’t seen meat yet. You think it’s not going to come and then it does. Right after you’ve eaten a bit too much pasta. So sad. I love meat. 

When I got here I truly thought I’d just have to go a month without boba but I’m happy to report that I did find a bubble tea place and there were a bunch of other Asian people in there. 

On most weekdays we have class that is held at the University of Cagliari’s campus. It’s about a 15 minute walk to get there–all uphill–but I’ve recently started taking the bus, which only takes about 5 minutes. You’re supposed to buy tickets and pay to use the bus but we’ve witnessed that the locals never pay so we assumed that the bus drivers just don’t care. However, Annalisa informed us that there are random checks to see if people have paid, so that makes the bus less cool. We can eat lunch at the university cafeteria and Annalisa got us some deal where our lunches only cost 3 euros which is a sick deal. 

In the evenings people in my class like to go out to bars/clubs and I’ve joined them once. We usually have to get up early for class so I will only do this on days when I know I can sleep in, and those are rare because our schedule is so packed. I’m pretty tired after class/activities so in the evenings I usually just chill in my apartment and watch shows, do homework, and try to call people back home. The six-hour time difference between me and the east coast is rough, and I haven’t even tried to call the California crew yet. 

So yeah that’s my life. I saw this cat while on a walk and I was wondering when I’d get the chance to include it in a post. 

Here’s a summary list of things I like and don’t like about Cagliari/Italy/Europe. I actually made this list before writing this post so I tried to elaborate on most of the points in the post.

Things I like about Cagliari (werk):

• Food is pretty inexpensive
• Tax is included in the price of things
• Tipping at restaurants isn’t a thing (though many places have a cover charge which isn’t much)
• There’s a good variety of restaurants
• There are a lot of potted plants everywhere and they’re just THRIVING because they’re just living in their intended climate (unlike my houseplants)
• I dig the separate trash system
• There is a bubble tea place

Things I don’t like about Cagliari (sashay away):

• It costs 5 euros to wash a small load of laundry at a laundromat (not including drying)
• You have to pay for water at restaurants
• The Chinese restaurant near my apartment was not great
• It’s pretty normal here to have multiple courses for a meal so when I order food I’m not sure what the portion size will be (might be small if they’re expecting you to order multiple things)
• I don’t like the way Italians do meals: too much time in between courses and meat brought out last
• Fruit is expensive
• Drivers here make me feel as unsafe (or even more) as I do in Boston
• I often don’t know how to properly dispose of things in the separate trash system