We have begun the Carnevale season here, which culminates in many parades and festivals on Fat Tuesday, known here as Shrove Tuesday, marking the beginning of Lent. Last week, I went for a drive to the small town of Mamoiada, a couple hours south of here in the province of Nuoro, with a friend and her little girl, to see the Festa di Sant’Antonio. Sant’Antonio apparently stole fire from hell and brought it to earth, which means that there are a large number of bonfires lit around the town during the Festa. More interesting, though, are the characters that tour from bonfire to bonfire in a strange pre-springtime ritual. Each year, men dress up as Mamuthones, wearing costumes of shaggy black sheepskins, black wooden masks and, most impressively, about 30 kg (70 lbs) of campanacci, or cowbells. They are supposed to embody all of the things that primitive humans feared and are rounded up, lassoed and chased out of town by the Issokadores, men dressed up 
as gendarmes wearing red brass-buttoned jackets, tricorner hats and white wooden masks. All around the town, there are bonfires set by digging up the entire stump of a tree and setting it ablaze. They were impressive. The Mamuthones and Issokadores parade from one bonfire to the next, stopping at each one to do a rhythmic dance where the Mamuthones stamp their feet, rattling their many pounds of bells, the sounds of which can be heard throughout the town. The Issakodores, rather than lasso the Mamuthones, opted to instead lasso the women in the crowd. I was lucky enough to get lassoed by a very young Issakador, who was quite proud of his accomplishment. I took his photo while in the lasso. At the site of each fire there is a small canvas tent set up for people to gather in and women from the town come out of these tents with baskets of homemade cookies of all types – almond, lemon, and dried fruits – 
and pass them around the crowd. The men come with jugs of wine, which they freely pour for the onlookers. Once all the stamping and lassoing is done, the whole crowd follows the performers on to the next bonfire. Though the town is not big, because the bells are so heavy and there are many bonfires, there are two troupes of performers needed to cover all of the sites. It was a festive and uniquely Sardegnan event.The drive to Mamoiada took us through beautiful mountains, requiring many tunnels along the road, into the Barbagia, an area known for trekking. Intrigued by the scenery, I convinced Chad to return there over the weekend in an attempt to follow a hike outlined in our Lonely Planet guide, which would apparently take us through the lush green Valle di Lanaittu along the Sa Oche River to the Grotta Sa Oche (Cave of the Voice) named for the gurgling water flowing under it, on to a site of 
nearly 150 nuraghe, and then to the town of Tiscali, a 2nd century BC mountainside hideout for Sardegnans following the arrival of the Romans. This all sounded intriguing and we carefully followed the directions, looking for the described forks in the road and signs pointing us in the right direction. We did find a fork at one point and a sign for the nuraghe, but it was unfortunately on the ground among a pile of rocks and we weren’t sure which way the arrow was meant to point. We pushed on, as the scenery was beautiful – steep granite cliffs towering above us on either side of the valley. The serenity was broken, however, by the frequent shotgun fire of hunters seeking the cinghiale (wild pigs) that live around here. Needless to say, we kept Manny on a tight leash. We wound up climbing a steep track up the mountainside until the path ended at an abandoned-looking house and stable. Peeking inside the gate, I saw a lone older man sitting silently in the shade and asked him the way to the nuraghe, only to find that we’d chosen the wrong fork in the road. At this point, we were pretty tired, took a break for lunch, and headed back to the car, the mysterious sites having eluded us, but the scenery making it certainly worth while.
nearly 150 nuraghe, and then to the town of Tiscali, a 2nd century BC mountainside hideout for Sardegnans following the arrival of the Romans. This all sounded intriguing and we carefully followed the directions, looking for the described forks in the road and signs pointing us in the right direction. We did find a fork at one point and a sign for the nuraghe, but it was unfortunately on the ground among a pile of rocks and we weren’t sure which way the arrow was meant to point. We pushed on, as the scenery was beautiful – steep granite cliffs towering above us on either side of the valley. The serenity was broken, however, by the frequent shotgun fire of hunters seeking the cinghiale (wild pigs) that live around here. Needless to say, we kept Manny on a tight leash. We wound up climbing a steep track up the mountainside until the path ended at an abandoned-looking house and stable. Peeking inside the gate, I saw a lone older man sitting silently in the shade and asked him the way to the nuraghe, only to find that we’d chosen the wrong fork in the road. At this point, we were pretty tired, took a break for lunch, and headed back to the car, the mysterious sites having eluded us, but the scenery making it certainly worth while.All of this exploring has been particularly enjoyable because of the very warm winter we are having, or so we are told. Over the weekend, to take advantuage of the warm winter, we joined in a Polar Bear Plunge organized by the Navy base. We hardly felt like we’d earned the hot chocolate we consumed afterwards. 
Although, after a sunny, calm start to the day, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up just before we were scheduled to plunge, so it felt a bit more legitimate. After several weeks of having time to catch up with friends and family, go adventuring around here, and enjoy many café dates with new Italian friends in order to practice my language skills, I am now getting ready to start the next term of Biology.
Although, after a sunny, calm start to the day, the clouds rolled in and the wind picked up just before we were scheduled to plunge, so it felt a bit more legitimate. After several weeks of having time to catch up with friends and family, go adventuring around here, and enjoy many café dates with new Italian friends in order to practice my language skills, I am now getting ready to start the next term of Biology. 