Pasta

When I think of Italian culture, I think about the Italian-American families from my home town: family-oriented, warm-hearted people with a love for pasta. I love pasta. While I'm confident that my preconceived notions about Italian pastas will live up to the hype and certainly exceed my Ramen-based, college-distorted pasta standards, I imagine that my thoughts on Italian and Sardinian culture will dramatically change over the next six weeks. 

Over the past month, I've been doing my best to do as much research on Sardinia as I can. From reading articles and watching videos, I quickly discovered that Sardinia is very different than mainland Italy. Having never been to Italy but having travelled in the Mediterranean, my first thought was that the island must be much like other islands in the area- filled with nonchalant, laid back, happy people with an affinity for seafood, sunshine, and nightlife. After doing a bit of research, I realized I really have no idea what to expect. With Cagliari being a much larger city than other island cities and having so much historical influence from surrounding areas, I began to think of Sardinia as this mysterious melting pot of Mediterranean culture mixed with hints of Italian and other European nationalities brought on by historical political turmoil and war. Still really having no idea what to expect, I imagine the people of Sardinia to be very laid back, strong-willed, and cheerful.   

While I'm excited to be traveling to a new place, I am still not entirely sure what to expect from Sardinians or the students at the university where I will be studying. Will they speak English? Will they judge me for not speaking Italian? I'm not worried about not being able to communicate; that seems to always work out okay- hand gestures, trying to pronounce words you know you're not saying correctly etc. What I am more concerned about is how people will view me as an English speaker and as an American. Nonetheless, I am hoping for the best and I am looking forward to a new experience visiting a truly unique area of the world.