Evy LaVelle in Sardinia

 This weekend trip started with all you can eat sushi. It was delicious. Although I love Italian food, I am getting tired of it. I miss spicy foods and foods with seasoning. Having the sushi was really nice. Then we took a bus into the mountain. It was a beautiful ride up through the mountains where I could look down on the valley. When we got out I immediately smelled the mountain air and I was so excited for the next few days. We started our hike down to Gorropu Canyon. On the way down we saw cows and huts where shepherds used to live. We finally got down into the canyon and it was amazing. The walls were so high on either side of me and it made me dizzy. We got to see a climbing route where Alex Honnold recently climbed.  We were brought out of the canyon by jeeps. It felt like the ending of naked and afraid when the survivors finally get to their "extraction point" and hot into a jeep to be driven out of the wilderness. Then we exited the canyon and headed to the next hot

 This weekend's trip was very eventful. First we took a bus to Sinis where a rock festival was happening. On the way we stopped at a rest area where I have had the best coffee and cappuccino in Italy yet! We were all laughing and talking about how the area we were in looked just like the United States. Every time we leave Cagliari I feel like I am in the central valley of California because of the agriculture and cows. We walked around the town and had a delicious lunch. Then we went to a cool beach with a place to cliff jump. It was about 35 feet high and a little scary to get to. Actually jumping wasn't the hardest part for me. Walking along the jagged cliff before jumping was the hardest part. Then we went to out hotel and had fish dinner. We finished the night by drinking Ichnusas and walking along the beach. The next day we took a small boat to a tiny island. We were the only people on it! Seagulls nest on the island and they were very aggressive. I tried to explore the is

 We have seen a lot of waste on this trip so far. Here are some of the photos I have taken. Enjoy! "The Princess and the Pea" This image is me at the Arborea waste management plant. Behind me is a pile of mattresses. "Evy and Her Food Waste" I am standing next to smelly food waste getting ready to be fed to the Anaerobic Digestor. Yum :) "She's Hungry!" This is the Anaerobic Digestor that takes nearby food waste and digests it to create biogas. This Biogas is burned and the energy is put onto the grid. This plant has a maximum capacity of 1 MW. "One Big Lasagna" This photo is pasta waste that will be fed to the Anaerobic Digestor. The waste comes from a pasta factory which sells their bad batches to this plant. A win for everyone involved. "The Green Landfill (sustainable)" Taken at the Arborea waste management center, this is a landfill that is closed and covered. It is comprised of all materials that cannot be composted or recycle

 This weekend was our first weekend away from Cagliari and it was so much fun. We were picked up by land rovers and first driven to an old mine. We explored the mines which are very extensive. I was a little worried to go inside of them because I am scared of small spaces underground. Then, we went to the sand dunes and beach. It is probably the most beautiful beach I have been to in my life. We had a delicious lunch on the beach and went in the water. After that we drove to the place we would stay for the night. It was a hotel/farm which was so much fun. There were chickens running around and I got to pet a goat! Then we made pasta and had my favorite dinner yet. It was a huge dinner with many courses. We got to eat the pasta we made which was delicious. To finish the night we went to the top of the hill and watched the stars. The next day we left the hotel and went to a cave in the mountains. It was so cool to see the natural pool that formed inside of the cave. Next we went back in

 We visited the Arborea Waste Management Complex on Wednesday this week and it was awesome. Going into the visit, I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew it would smell bad and there would be trash, but I didn't expect to see such a complex system to sort waste. Seeing how metal material was separated by a magnet was really cool. I also loved seeing the machine that had air blow bottles in different directions to sort them. I didn't expect myself to be so fascinated by the waste complex. It felt fulfilling to see what we have been studying in real life. My favorite part was getting to understand the sustainability practices that the Arborea Waste Management Complex uses. I loved seeing their system of collecting rain water from the landfill to water the plants they used for composting. I also have never seen a landfill before so I appreciated seeing that. I took so many photos because of how in awe I was of the plant. Strangely, I didn't feel horrible after seeing all of t

 My first impression of Sardinia has been excellent. Even after less than a week, I think I could move here. The weather is nice, the food is delicious, the people are fun, and the island is beautiful!! The beach has been one of my favorite activities so far. The water is so refreshing, especially on the hot days here. I also loved doing the tour of Castello. The tour guide was amazing and pointed out some things that I would have never noticed. I had no idea that Sardinia has had so many different people rule over it. I was also unaware that part of the island was bombed during World War II. I feel like I have already learned so much about it in the five days I have been here. Exploring Cagliari with the other students on the dialogue has been so fun. Everyone is adventurous and excited to experience as much of Cagliari as possible, which has pushed me out of my comfort zone. I have loved every second I have spent here so far, and I know I have time left, but I still dread the day tha