Nastilicious: Ayo Dance, You Are in Sardegna!

I should have been doing my Biology Lab Report right now - since the deadline is tomorrow. It's important indeed, but sometimes there are less important things that will make you happier - I decided to post an article about our Project Week in Sardegna.

I can consider myself lucky when it comes to Project Week. Last year I went to Naples, it was my first choice. We worked a lot yet visited so many cultural places. This year I was almost unlucky. Not getting any of my four preferences, at the end chose a PW that was canceled because of an external problem and got in Sardegna - I think it was my 6th choice at the end.

Project Week is not always about the place where you go, but the content - the activities of the Project. Personally, I am always attracted to a Project that is going to do something with arts and kids. Sardinian Project Week with Carla Monni (because there was another one with Roberto), really made my week.

Friday, March 5
We left the college at 11.30 catched a train to Treviso, it was three hours train. The flight was at 15.00. We arrived in Alghero around 16.00. Picked up by Carla's father and aunts. The trip from Alghero to Carla's village was long. About two hours. But the view was beautiful. It was so green; mountains and they have lots of sheep everywhere. Arrived in Carla's house, we chilled out from some hour, had lunch and practicing. We practiced our dances; Bolywood, Polka, Blues Brother also Italian Drama and Siyahamba. The coolest thing is that we got to learn Sardinian dance, taught by Carla's family, her aunt, mother, father, uncles. The living room turned out to be a place to dance.

Saturday, March 6
Eventough it was Saturday, we had to get up early at 7, since we are visiting two different school location. One location was for Elementary School and Middle school the other location was a kindergarten. We taught English, played English game with them - for sure introduced who we were, where we came from. Many students thought I was Japanese! With the kindergarten kids we played the jungle games. They had fun with us. They are so cute, around 1-4 years old. We also perfomed a show that consisted of all the dances that we have in the college. Cup dance attracted many audiences, they asked us to teach them how to do it. In the night, we went to La Sala - a party before the Carnival, held in a common building. It was great, people danced in masks, even somehow it turned to be really random since they just did what they wanted to do. But we had fun.

Sunday, March 7
It was the only day when we could really had a good sleep. Waking up at 12am and had lunch, practicing and going out to join the Carnival! It was a blast. The fact that Orune is such a small village with 5.000 people that makes everybody knows each other really well. The people that we met in the Carnival are the people we met in Sala. Everybody knows each other basically. The Carnival was a blast, it went around the village. There were 4 major booths carried by trucks. There were Simpsons, Mickey, car ganks and I forgot the other one. But it was just amazing. People were very welcomed to us as visitors. They offered free salami, wine. We danced. There was many songs and musics: our favorite was Il Capitano. For so many times the Sardinian dance was done. The Carnival finished around 7pm. We went back to Carla's house, had dinner and practicing!

Monday, March 8
We had to wake up at 6 because we had to catch the bus that will bring us to Oliena, Maria Salis' village - since there are only three orario everyday. We reached Oliena early in the morning, looked around the city. We visited MAN (Museo dell'Arte Nuova), apparently since it was Monday it was close, but after talking with the keeper, magically we were allowed to enter without a need to pay however weren't allowed to take picture. The museum was amazing. That time they were showing Aborigin arts. It was wonderful. One of the prettiest artworks I have ever seen in my life. Around lunch time, we headed to the village part of Oliena and worked helping a Caritas to move out tons of foods from a container. We had lunch with them. After lunch we went back Nuoro, this time to Carla's grandmother's house, because we were having another show somewhere near there. Once managed to visit a church, saw a choir practicing. And went back to Carla's grandma's place had dinner and did some other new Sardinian dances.

Tuesday, March 9
We woke up at 6.45 to catch the first bus to Nuoro, not that we missed it but unfortunately there was no bus that really went there somehow. So we waited in Piazza until Carla's family members picked us and brought us to first Carla's grandma's place then we walked to a Casa Famiglia house. It was such a deep experience to do activities with people with disabilities. One cannot see, one cannot see and hear, one is just too old and out of his mind, one cannot see and you can only communicated through his palms. We did a lot. We first played the jungle games, then we made a stories togehter. It was funny, about a prince who was looking for love and somehow realized his princess was a guy or something. We also perfomed Bolywood dance and asked them to dance with us. They were really happy. They smiled a lot, they laughed. It made us happy too. We also performed for the last time. We went back to Carla's house had pizza together, had a talk till late night knowing that it was our last night in Sardegna. I felt sad, because I had been having a great time. Precious.

Wednesday, March 10
Sayonara, Orune. We took the earliest bus at 5.30 that will bring us to Oliena. We waited for an hour for the bus that will bring us to Sassari. Arrived in Sassari we still had one and half hours before catching the bus that brought us back to Alghero. We kind of walked around and had breakfast. Visited a church, apparently has two Sardi fathers who had lived in Sumatera and speak Indonesians, man it was random. However, I didn't manage to meet them since we had a bus to catch. So, we took the bus to Alghero, around 1pm I flew to Rome, some other students went back to Treviso. And Rome has another batti cuore story to tell! Which I am going to share latter.

For me Sardinian Project Week was memorable. We learned, we gained yet we gave. It was just so cool, I think we danced the Sardinian dance for like ten times in a week, wherever we were with people they just did this dance. At the end we knew it by our heart. It was a wonderful experience. Thanks a lot for our super Sardinian organiser: Carla Monni and the co-organizer Maria Salis. Ballu Sardo!! AYO!!!

ps: Ayo is a way to say let's go in Sardinian. Apparently back home in Indonesia we also say Ayo to ask someone to get out to do something like Let's go eat (Ayo, makan!).