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Land:
Italien
Universität:
Università di Cagliari
Semester und Studiengang:
3. Semester Bachelor International Tourism Management / Health & Medical Tourism
Aufenthalt:
wintersemester 2016
Über die Universität:
The Università degli Studi di Cagliari (UNICA) has several faculties which are spread out in Cagliari. I went to the Facoltà di Scienze Economiche, Giuridiche e Politiche (Faculty of Economics, Law and Politics), which is in the centre of Cagliari and easily reachable by foot or by bus. It's a small faculty and therefore very clearly arranged.
Before my arrival in Cagliary I informed myself what courses are offered in English, which wasn't very easy at first because I couldn't find a list of the courses on the UNICA website, but the staff from the THD International Office helped me out, so we found a solution. I picked out four courses in English, BUT when I arrived in Cagliari I was told that for some reasons there is only one course I could take because the other ones weren't offered this semester, what was very frustrating. I also wrote several e-mails to the staff of the university what other subjects are offered but I never got an answer. I finally found a booklet where other courses were described and I found two more subjects I could take. The problem was, that they were held in Italian and that they weren't the easiest subjects.
I did have several language courses before and during my stay (I arrived with an A2 level in Italian), but it was still really hard for me to follow the lectures, for example Finance. I went there two times but I felt completely lost because the professor was talking very fast.
The only course in English I could attend was Public Management by Prof. Melis, which I can recommend. His English is really good and the lectures are very interesting.
Betreuung vor Ort:
There is a student organisation, called ESN which is very supportive, especially to Erasmus students. ESN offers pick ups from the airport (there is also a train station near by the airport, it takes less than 10 minutes by train to get from there to the central train station of Cagliari and it's also really cheap, €1.30). And ESN helps with finding accommodation.
Then there is ISAWO, it's an organisation that plans trips to several cities in Sardinia. The only thing is, that they are always starting late. For example, they say that departure time will be at 10 am, but they always wait for late comers (mostly spanish students). So often the departure time is 2 hours later which is very annoying.
The ISMOKA office is placed in the International Office. They help you out when you have questions, but be patient and don't expect an answer asap.
The main person who is responsible for you is Fabrizio Lay, so contact him, he is the one who is most likely to respond. He is also responsible for creating your Arrival/Departure Sheet and tells you who your tutor is. The tutor assists you with the Learning Agreement.
Concerning the accommodation, there are often some offers on the Erasmus ESN Cagliari facebook site. Another option is subito.it
I was searching for a room some time before my stay in Cagliari, but I couldn't find anything. So I went to Cagliari without having an accommodation and rent a room by airbnb for the first 1 1/2 weeks. I was lucky because a guy from ESN wrote me that he has a room in his apartment available. I have to say, the living standards in Italy are a lot lower than in Germany, so don't have too high expectations, Italians use everything until it breaks, they often don't have a heating which is normal.
Tipps:
- I recommend taking an Italian course before the stay. I can really recommend the one in Siena at the 'UNISTRASI- Università per Stranieri di Siena'. Cagliari also offers a language course.
- There are opportunities to rent a bike for the semester in exchange for a small fee, but Italians are crazy drivers and it often goes up and down the hill, so drive carefully or take the bus, there is also a monthly student bus ticket.
- Don't underestimate the weather when you're going there in the winter semester! Of course, the winter is very mild (in November we still had 25 degrees), but at night it gets really cold, so bring also warm clothes and a warm jacket.
- Sardinia is a very beautiful island with very nice beaches, so rent a car to discover the island! Renting a car isn't too expensive when you're travelling with friends.
- There is an Erasmus bar called 'Foghorn', every Tuesday they offer 'all you can drink beer for €10'.
- Fruit and vegetables aren't always fresh when you buy them at small stores, so go to the Mercato di San Benedetto, from the centre it's a 20 minute footwalk and it has fresh fruit, bread, cheese, meat and fish for good prices.
- Try to find an accommodation near Piazza Yenne, from here everything is close (except if you have to go to the faculty of medicine, this one is a little more out of town).
- The Mediateca del Mediterraneo is a perfect place for studying with a Café right opposite.
- Try some Sardinian food, it's delicious!
I had a really good time in Cagliari, and I enjoyed every second of it. I definitely would go there again. I got to know a lot of people from all over the world and also the Sardinians (the people see themselves as Sardinians, not as Italians) are very friendly.
Cagliari has around 150.000 inhabitants, so for people who don't have great of orientational skills (like me) it's perfect& it only takes 15 min. by bus to get to the beach.