Summer is my favorite time of the year. Yes, I am one of those summer gals who love the 3s – sun, sand and the sea. My summer in the Philippines (March to May) has always been awesome and when I received the news of me going to Italy for EVS, I was ecstatic because I will be spending the warmest season of the year in a foreign place.
Prior to my flight, I was told by Rona Liza, a fellow Filipina and Aklanon volunteer in Italy, that I would be very lucky since during this time of the year, I would be able to see the beautiful beaches (yey!) of Sardinia and participate in one of the epic event, the International Summer Week. My International Summer Week 2016 (ISW2016)
What is International Summer Week 2016? It’s a fund raising event organized by my NGO, TDM 2000, lasting for 7 days (from August 5 – 11, 2016) and attended by participants coming from countries all over the world (mostly Europeans). The activities in this event include visiting different beaches and places in Sardinia, boat rides, partying, meeting people, games and a little bit of historical and cultural tours dashed in between.
To give more insight on what had happened during this year’s ISW, here is the rundown of the activities we had:
Day 1 – Arrival and registration. Opening ceremony and welcome dinner were also held for the participants of the event.
Day 2 – Beach day! We visited Chia Beach and for the first time to my surprise and delight, I saw my first pink flamingos on our way. TDM 2000 also hosts a beer drinking event, where everybody attempts to break highest Ichnusa beer consumption every year. After everybody has found their spot, settled down and put their sun cream on, the drinking begun while the others went directly to swim. It was a day of beer drinking, sunbathing and enjoying the sea. The silence of Chia Beach was broken off by cheers, song (about drinking) and chanting, and shouts of “contribution” every time a box of beer is finished. There were people coming from time to time to check what was the hullabaloo was about, taking pictures and even contributed (money and drinking) making our part of the beach the noisiest and the most fun filled area. By the end, we finished a massive 825 Ichnusa beers, setting a new record. Dang, what could be more fun being in a beautiful beach, swimming, sunbathing and merry-making. It was a great day to start the week (as long as you don’t get wasted enough and still able to participate in the next activities). To cap the night off, we had pizzas for dinner in one of the biggest and fancy pizza places in Cagliari and head out after to one of the clubs in Poetto Beach.
Day 3 – Another beach day (this time, filled with sports-fun activities)! Me and others were “still alive” and “survived” the previous day’s partying headed out to the Poetto Beach first thing in the morning. This beach is crowded due to the fact that it is just 10 minutes away from Cagliari, the center of Sardinia, Italy and is easily and most (probably) accessible to everyone but surprisingly, this is one of the places I had fun during ISW. Half of the participants were not around, probably still sleeping in their hostel trying to recover. Some of the participants still have their hangovers and some were there to have a good soak under the sun and enjoy the beach. Then the ball rolls as another group called to play football. Some were hesitant at first but when the game started, everybody got into the mood, playing it competitively and more people eventually joined the match. Spanish participants made the match livelier as they share antics and jokes which made us laugh the whole time. As the day continued, we went biking from Piazza Yenne to Flamengo Park and this is probably the most exhausting activity of the day for me since somehow I got confused in the briefing between 20 kilometers or 20 minutes of biking which made me everything physically challenging for me. At night, we roam around Cagliari’s major establishments and significant places for treasure hunting. Walking around Cagliari’s center means walking up and down on its hilly roads and that pushed my limits (note, I was still dead tired from the biking and had no rest) physically!
Day 4- Exploring other cultures! In the morning, we had a flag parade from Hostel Marina (the official residence of ISW participants) to the Municipal Hall of Cagliari where we were welcomed by one of the city officials and given a brief tour inside the building. It was an awesome experience to see the parade of flags and more cool to introduce ourselves. I felt like I was in a beauty pageant when I introduced myself and shouted “Philippines. ” Whew! We headed out to Monserrato after lunch where TDM 2000 reserved a conferece for us and the local officials briefly speak to us about the issue on unemployment and plans on how they would address it and their ongoing and future projects on youth. We also went to Mandas, a small village north of Cagliari where were greeted by a mini country fare. There were mini shops set up in a table selling traditional Italian wine, cheese, sausages, meat and other food. We also saw Italian ladies preparing ravioli and other pasta ingredients. I patiently waited for some of it to be cooked but sadly, luck wasn’t on my side. Nevertheless, I was delighted when we went to a nearby vineyard and satisfy myself with the beautiful scenery in front of me. We then proceeded to the Global City, Gesico for dinner.After that sumptuous meal, we took a walk to the main piazza and spent the evening listening and dancing to the live band. One of the best moment in the piazza was when a traditional Sardinian song was played and the villagers stood up, held hands, formed a circle and started to dance traditional Sardinian dance. The most amazing part was when they encouraged us to join. It was awkward jumping and kicking at first trying to learn the new dance moves but eventually we did learn and what a feeling was that and we were rewarded after with smiles and thank you by the villagers. And when I thought that was amazing, I was wrong. I was yet to be more amazed of what happened next. Participants of summer week were asked to bring something from their country, food, sweets and drinks. When we got back to our place in Gesico, everybody headed out to the space assigned to them in the long tables and took out what they brought and prepared it on the table. After that, it was one of the most memorable intercultural event that I had witnessed with people showing off and talking about the food and drinks they have brought. It was a very good interaction of introducing your country and culture to other people. I wished I knew beforehand and I could have brought maybe some lambanog or tanduay for the drinks and balut (which I pretty much introduced to everyone), bandi and even sisig and represent Philippines.
Day 5- Laid-back day! We given a break from our hectic schedules and enough time to explore Isola de San Pietro, an isle located southwest of Sardinia. I had fun walking around the island, looking at the vibrant colored-houses and streets and satisfied my seafood cravings at lunchtime. We watched sunset at the shores of Porto Pino beach. Day 5 was a good change of phase from the very hectic schedules where we had a very laid back day in Isola de San Pietro in southwest of Sardinia. No planned activity for this part and we were just left on our own to explore the Island. I had fun walking around the Island, looking at the very colorful houses and streets which made me realize I had a fascination in Italian windows and doors. We had our sunset at the beach of Porto Pino and we had games that night as well. Some were hesitant to join the games at first but as always, free drinks as games prizes is a very good motivation and has worked its charms to the participants. Then it was not just the drinks but the fun itself in the games that brought mostly everyone to join in the games. I had a good laugh especially during the watermelon eating contest where some participants even tried to eat our boss’ hands.
Day 6 was allocated for the boat trip to Ogliastra, west side of Sardinia where the most beautiful beaches in Sardinia are. We visited Cala Marioulu, Cala Sisine and Cala Luna. These are one of the most beautiful beaches in west side of Sardinia. Some people asked me how could I still be amazed with Italy’s beaches when the Philippines has 2 of the most beautiful beaches in the world. The secret is, I don’t compare and I don’t put expectations. That way, I could still be surprised and amazed and it is always wrong to compare places because each is always unique. The charm of these Sardinian beaches is with its cliffs that surround them, the rock formations and the crystal clear water. At night, we visited the town of Jerzu which is a village inn the mountains and is known to be a wine town. It was windy and cold night for us but the wine from the wine festival and the thousand (5,000 atleast) of people somewhat helped us warmed up that night.
Day 7 – Beach, beach and more beach! We spent the last day of the ISW event at the beach and we had no choice but to enjoy the beautiful white beaches of Cala Senzia and basked under the glorious sun. A mini-concert was held during the closing ceremony at night and that was the moment where I and fellow participants exchanged bitter-sweet goodbyes for truly, we will miss each other.
Photo Credits also to: Carlo, Anna, Nino and Lil.
Anahaw Cahilig, EVS volunteer from Philippines