My experience is hard to express here in the mountains. But here is a try...
I wake up by roosters between 7 and 8am calling me back from my dreams (really crazy dreams by the way)...to urge myself out of bed in the freezing mornings...Heather wakes up first and starts the porridge that we freshly ground a few days ago. We eat in the kitchen, which is also the family living room, the music room, the dining room, the save yourself by the fire room, and the two little girls constantly screaming play room...and its about 15 feet by 15 feet. The other day I had to leap over one driving a little bike between the chairs in order to help bring something to the table from the fire.
I arrived in the evening, after a 30 minute car ride, a 40 minute train ride, a 4 hour bus ride, another hour train ride...and then another 2 hour bus ride...for another 20 minute car ride. It was dark when we arrived and the lady who welcomed me humbled me by her grace. When I woke up in the morning and walked out of my room, my breath was taken away at the sight in front of me. Through the porch, past the old wheelbarrow, the lush green mountain side with orange and yellow trees in a rainy stormy haze, its so expansive.
We get the donkeys every morning and walk them up to their free reign on the mountain side. But when i say take them to the mountain, its not like you are walking an eager dog. They stand there looking you square in the eye saying, look if i get to eat my first meal in the rain you get to stand there waiting and watching...There is a baby named Rocco his stubborn mother Caterina and an older lady Lucern..I think. I got the baby my first day and he decided it was play time and almost bucked me in the stomach 3 times...later on his forth try if it isnt for my catlike reflexes I would still be in bed today, with a bruise the size of a small country. But no worries we like eachother now.
From my first walk through the mountains with the donkeys I wrote...We walked the donkeys through the path to new pasture and everytime I looked up I was breathtaken. In the way that everything stops for that moment, your heart stops, your breath stops, you even cease to exist, expanding over the tree tops, through the distant pastures dotted with sheep and up up up into the foggy clouds covering the mountain tops and then..Blink...my heart beats, Ive found my breath and op...theres my body...being yanked by this stubborn baby donkey.....
We pick them up in the evenings...after they have freedom for the day...The other night we couldnt find them for 2 hours, and we had to bust through crazy thorny bushes tracking their bells...which is impossible because the mountains are ful of herds of cows and goats and sheep...all wearing bells. Its quite romantic gardening with the distance mountain noises all around you....including the rushing river.
but we did find them...and now they know where to meet us so its getting easier to pick them up in the evenings, they are very smart animals!
When we arent with the donkeys Heather and I are planting things in the Synergic gardens, or spiral gardens...or helping in the kitchen...i picked all the kiwis the other day....or what else...we made ravioli as a family the other night, tomorrow we make bread. They make artisinal bread from a special kind of wheat that is rare. That is what they were at Terra Madre for.
Oh by the way...the way I found this farm was when Caitlin and I were traveling by train back into Turin, and didnt know we needed to validate (stamp) our ticket...so the conductor was making us pay again and we couldnt understand eachother, so i asked the kid in front of us if he knew some english who helped translate...we still had to pay it was retarded....but the point is that then we started talking to this kid and he was at terra madre and gave us the info to Angelo who sings while harvesting his wheat...so I emailed him and tada! Here I am.
The people are wonderful. It is amazing to be here. I am not exactly dressed properly bc I said when I left...no Im not going to be in cold places...so its not super comfortable during the day...and the girls are sick and constantly screaming and coughing...cooonstantly...even in their mothers arms, while we are all in the kitchen together packed by the fire to stay warm.
Its a simple life. Rich life, when the neighbor brings fresh cheese over, and the family is all smiling no matter the choas of the children...and the wine is exquisite. Life is good.
I plan to leave soon though and move on to Greece.
lol Angelo just came out to wonder at how fast I type and he said you type like you play the piano, it seems to say.....and he belts out in beautiful singing while his friend accompanies him on the drum walking out from the kitchen...hahaha
Yes the people are wonderful. they speak less english than the farm in Puglia...but Heather an American from Washington translates.
So yes, my hands are scratched, my feet and back are soar, my fingernails are dirty, I havent showered in a week, Im wearing a tshirt, a silk turtleneck, and 2 wool sweaters, and Im still cold, as its pouring rain outside...the girls are screaming in the kitchen, ......but my belly is full, my body is relaxed, chestnuts are roasting on the fire, and my heart is laughing in good company.
Stay warm!!!
Friday, November 28, 2008
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Italy...next stop Greece!
So its been awhile…my apologies.
I have been up to my smiling ears in olives…with limited internet.
I am still at the olive farm in Ceglia Messipica…near Ostuni, Italy. Because I have never fully described it…It is called Om Nama Shivaya Farm, where they have about 200 organic olive trees. Owned by Marilina, loving, warm lady who has these blue piercing eyes that doesn’t miss anything, and has been to India many times. Very spiritual and nourishing. Ishu is up in the tree and cuts some branches down for those of us on the ground to rake through the branches thoroughly…catching all the falling olives in green nets places strategically on the ground under the trees we are working on. We gather about 150 kilos of olives in a 5 or 6 hour day…and 300 kilos of olives make about 15 kilos of oil. Every few days we take about 500 kilos of olives to the press about 40 km away…and bring back freshly pressed olive oil to then put into bottles…Mariliana does that while cooking in the kitchen. The oil sitting for a month or so before it is sold so the taste settles and is not so strong. It is almost hot peppery right away.
It is eye opening, to say the least, seeing how much work goes into small farm production olive oil. . It is a lot of work for olive oil, and its sooooo good!!! The difference of taste is substantially better compared to larger commercial farms. It is like a different product all together.
When I am not gathering olives, I am deep in my bowl of food drenched with fresh olive oil…and our newly homemade bread.
BUT NEWS!!!!
So Trisha from FF was here my first week for a few days, she is the one who told me about this farm…because I am illegally wwoofing here in Italy…meaning I am not signed up here…so I contacted them through Trisha. It was wonnnnnderbar to have her here! I spoke as much English as I could…as fast as possible just on principle. So much laughter and love!!! Out of nowhere we are soul sisters. She is going on to India next month. I deeply wish we could travel together! Maybe it will happen… J
I have been definitely finished with olive harvesting this week…but with no phone working or internet to figure out where and how to go next…I have been enjoying as much as possible…in my own world…which has been interestingly a lot like Mother Divine. hahaha
Like I have said before, they do not speak much English..so when we do talk its simple jokes…or slow…which works a lot on my communication patience…which apparently is good for me…
oh, but about MD…so I am mostly in my own world, unless they are practicing Italian with me…and my own world lately has been a crazy emotional rollercoaster ride..one minute Im so angry and things are blowing up in a firey disarray all around me…and the next stoke of my olive rake I am laughing at myself for such an intense emotion…and the next I am amazingly happy over bearingly so for no reason whatsoever! Im just floating along with it as it is all changing good and bad…time goes by really fast or really slow…just like MD…and all the good and bad seem to melt away by the evening into warm contentment…wondering over the days emotions. …but it is interesting to watch how my mind works when I don’t talk much…its almost like I am in silence here. Come to think of it, it is much like an Ashram..minus long programs if you don’t count working as meditation. They have vedic chanting and Krishna Das playing most of the time in or outside while working or relaxing…it is very purifying. Its funny how I am all the way in Italy but its like I am in FF.
The people here are great. They are what keep me going and waking up with a smile every morning.
There are 2 other wwoofers here Andre and Manuella, a young vegan Italian couple my age. Andre is helpful with my Italian, and always is talking about these theories he has about how they are putting chemicles in the jet fuel engines that change the weather….whenever a plane flies overhead he runs into the house to grab his camera and take pictures. One day I found him leaning against the shady side of the house…and he said…see! amellia! from here…you can see the streaks in the side…its not normal…and its true I looked from where he was and saw these strange broad jet fuel streaks…his girlfriend is so amazingly sweet. Every morning when she sees me she says..Ciao!!! How are you? (Which started from How you is?) and I say Bene Gratzie..y tu? and then we go to the olive trees…oh the never ending olives
ohhh but Alessandro wins for my favourite character here! He is a friend who met Isho (side note: I think it is Ishu…but I always call him Isho…or it’s the other way around…I cant actually pernounce his real name…Mauritsu..I think…a lot of vowels. anyway!) in an Ashram in India and so he came here (originally from Tuscana) to help for the harvest. He does not have a home. He goes wherever God wills him to go. I know…you first say oh god..another one of these people…god talking and mood making….but he is amaaazing! Always singing random tunes, with so much energy all the time. He is always helping around the house, first to go and last the leave…or start the dishes or start sweeping…but when he is silent he is verrry silent…and then randomly he busts out with Sanskrit chanting over and over…or from the other room I hear him announce… YOGA! or… PURUSHA! I get a kick out of it. He makes me laugh about 20 times a day. He does stuff just to make me laugh…and then points at me smiling like…see! Happiness is normal…just be a happy giraffe…And for the record he has floored me 2 times….which isn’t good because then I fall over on the olives and Isho yells from the top Attentione!!! ok ok ok!
But this guy (as Eddy would say) this guy is soooo funny! Alesandro comes up to my chest, shaved bald, and every day he wears the same work out fit (which most of us do) but his is these blue pants, and this blue button up shirt…buttoned all the way to the top and the collar is buttoned down as well. he has a big black belt wrapped around his skinny waist that misses a few belt loops everyday. If he speaks it is usually a passionate revelation about divinity in Italian, and I know what he is saying because of some Sanskrit he says…or the world divine here or there…or else he is chanting random sayings…making a joke…usually about how I am a Giraffe….or repeating random English words over and over….like It is not MY dog…it is NOT your dog.
I LOVE HIM!
lets see…what else…
oh! the other night we made pizza in the fire oven connected to the house!!!! Alessandro made pizza for 6 years in a time in the pass…as well as seeing a white tiger in north india…(random tidbit) and so I go into the kitchen that night and they have everything out on the table like a cooking show…and Marilina is video taping…I am laughing quietly soooo hard!!! They make the dough and talk like they are on television…then the next night after we have cleaned out the oven and started the fire to heat it up…we have invited some people over…first it is an old couple who lives on the next piece of land…who actually sold this place to them…and the man built this room I am in all by himself…its crazy!!! the beautiful white stone dome. This man only speaks Italian so I am sadly limited in speaking with him or his wife…but watching them is so funny. She automatically owns the forno (fire oven) and is manning the door hatch, this short stocky thick Italian woman…with a dramatic scowl always on her face but eyes that are quick to smile…I cant understand what she is saying but the tone is like she is always emotionally opinionated about how her husband can be doing something different…and yes annoyed about it as she is scowling…but somehow always entertained at the same time…which seems to be the way most Italians are. Her husbands voice is just like the God Father…deep in the throat and breathy…when he saw me and fond out I was American he wanted a picture taken with me. He held me very close and pressed his cheek to mine. I was laughing really hard in the pic. (I have it) He reacts to his wife with a kind of mock startlement and a heart melting twinkle in his eye. With all the activity I have described they are very silent and don’t say much.. (unless someone is trying to touch her forno). Alessandro made 6 loaves of bread, and lots of pizza that night. 3 spinach, fresh ricotta Calzones. They also had 3 other guests…Greg (went to University of Iowa, and his mother…and his girlfriend (Italian). They just got back on their BOAT from Greece…no big deal. I only have to sit down directly after I heard this…
It was a really heart warming night. I felt like part of the family, even tho I was le Americana…because throughout the evening there would be those small moments of familiarity with Alessandro, Ishu or Marilina…the small eye smiles while someone is talking…or the kind of knowing inside joke about something in the subject of conversation.
Then the other night Ishu took me to the Dentist. Ive been having this pain which is like a cavity. oi vey! So we go..in the waiting room Im writing in my journal while he is playing with my Itouch. He is soo engrossed by it…and we were sharing the ipod listening to the music together. Out of all my music guess which he decideds on…108 names of Shiva and Krishna Das…sitting with his eyes closed in the waiting room. I was greatly entertained by this. (There was no cavity and the dentist helped me with this high gum problem ive had for years, where the tooth is really sensitive…and he didn’t charge me! Saying Puglia Hospitality..incredible)
Then we went to his apartment in the city meeting up with Andre and Manuella. Its gorgeous!!! 3 levels (the top he just added) and I went up as high as I could…I was dancing on top of the city. I could see this big dome cathedral in the near distance lit up as well as the other side had a castle jutting up. If it was day he pointed out where I would be able to see the Adriatic Sea, very near. Maybe 3 km.
That about wraps it up…except that I have also just received 2 emails of welcome from farms in GREECE!!!!!!!! my dream destination! So I am currently strategizing asap to go. It is hard to figure out travel when I do not really have internet…but I hope to go next week. (I was going to stay longer in Italy but my farm options are diminishing and I want to stop with the olives and its getting cold.) One place is in Evia…a yoga thia massage retreat…they have orange, eucalyptus, fig, almond trees…house work a garden…animals and kids that I get to take care of!!!!!! I might be living in a tent I just realized…because they said accommodations in the house in winter…but is it their winter? I have no idea. hmmm….otherwise there is this place in Paros, an Agean Island…where there is tons of new work for me to learn, laid back people, and good food. I will prolly do both, but start in Evia and go to the island in more winter….not sure tho. I am asking them for travel advice help.
So yes…wow.
A month from tomorrow I left. Sadly, I sad goodbye to Charly at the airport…and excitedly got on my plane to Dublin. It feels like sooooo long ago!
All my love!!!! Hopefully my next farm I can have better internet and actually call people!!
I love you all so much and you are with me everyday, smiling in my heart!
KISSES!
ps for my dear friend...the reason you have a right to make fun of my writing is because a) I have limited time to write to i chose to not use too much puncuation ...b)I have been writing..even in my journal...in the way I have had to speak...which is simple bad english.
ahem...Justin...
:)
I have been up to my smiling ears in olives…with limited internet.
I am still at the olive farm in Ceglia Messipica…near Ostuni, Italy. Because I have never fully described it…It is called Om Nama Shivaya Farm, where they have about 200 organic olive trees. Owned by Marilina, loving, warm lady who has these blue piercing eyes that doesn’t miss anything, and has been to India many times. Very spiritual and nourishing. Ishu is up in the tree and cuts some branches down for those of us on the ground to rake through the branches thoroughly…catching all the falling olives in green nets places strategically on the ground under the trees we are working on. We gather about 150 kilos of olives in a 5 or 6 hour day…and 300 kilos of olives make about 15 kilos of oil. Every few days we take about 500 kilos of olives to the press about 40 km away…and bring back freshly pressed olive oil to then put into bottles…Mariliana does that while cooking in the kitchen. The oil sitting for a month or so before it is sold so the taste settles and is not so strong. It is almost hot peppery right away.
It is eye opening, to say the least, seeing how much work goes into small farm production olive oil. . It is a lot of work for olive oil, and its sooooo good!!! The difference of taste is substantially better compared to larger commercial farms. It is like a different product all together.
When I am not gathering olives, I am deep in my bowl of food drenched with fresh olive oil…and our newly homemade bread.
BUT NEWS!!!!
So Trisha from FF was here my first week for a few days, she is the one who told me about this farm…because I am illegally wwoofing here in Italy…meaning I am not signed up here…so I contacted them through Trisha. It was wonnnnnderbar to have her here! I spoke as much English as I could…as fast as possible just on principle. So much laughter and love!!! Out of nowhere we are soul sisters. She is going on to India next month. I deeply wish we could travel together! Maybe it will happen… J
I have been definitely finished with olive harvesting this week…but with no phone working or internet to figure out where and how to go next…I have been enjoying as much as possible…in my own world…which has been interestingly a lot like Mother Divine. hahaha
Like I have said before, they do not speak much English..so when we do talk its simple jokes…or slow…which works a lot on my communication patience…which apparently is good for me…
oh, but about MD…so I am mostly in my own world, unless they are practicing Italian with me…and my own world lately has been a crazy emotional rollercoaster ride..one minute Im so angry and things are blowing up in a firey disarray all around me…and the next stoke of my olive rake I am laughing at myself for such an intense emotion…and the next I am amazingly happy over bearingly so for no reason whatsoever! Im just floating along with it as it is all changing good and bad…time goes by really fast or really slow…just like MD…and all the good and bad seem to melt away by the evening into warm contentment…wondering over the days emotions. …but it is interesting to watch how my mind works when I don’t talk much…its almost like I am in silence here. Come to think of it, it is much like an Ashram..minus long programs if you don’t count working as meditation. They have vedic chanting and Krishna Das playing most of the time in or outside while working or relaxing…it is very purifying. Its funny how I am all the way in Italy but its like I am in FF.
The people here are great. They are what keep me going and waking up with a smile every morning.
There are 2 other wwoofers here Andre and Manuella, a young vegan Italian couple my age. Andre is helpful with my Italian, and always is talking about these theories he has about how they are putting chemicles in the jet fuel engines that change the weather….whenever a plane flies overhead he runs into the house to grab his camera and take pictures. One day I found him leaning against the shady side of the house…and he said…see! amellia! from here…you can see the streaks in the side…its not normal…and its true I looked from where he was and saw these strange broad jet fuel streaks…his girlfriend is so amazingly sweet. Every morning when she sees me she says..Ciao!!! How are you? (Which started from How you is?) and I say Bene Gratzie..y tu? and then we go to the olive trees…oh the never ending olives
ohhh but Alessandro wins for my favourite character here! He is a friend who met Isho (side note: I think it is Ishu…but I always call him Isho…or it’s the other way around…I cant actually pernounce his real name…Mauritsu..I think…a lot of vowels. anyway!) in an Ashram in India and so he came here (originally from Tuscana) to help for the harvest. He does not have a home. He goes wherever God wills him to go. I know…you first say oh god..another one of these people…god talking and mood making….but he is amaaazing! Always singing random tunes, with so much energy all the time. He is always helping around the house, first to go and last the leave…or start the dishes or start sweeping…but when he is silent he is verrry silent…and then randomly he busts out with Sanskrit chanting over and over…or from the other room I hear him announce… YOGA! or… PURUSHA! I get a kick out of it. He makes me laugh about 20 times a day. He does stuff just to make me laugh…and then points at me smiling like…see! Happiness is normal…just be a happy giraffe…And for the record he has floored me 2 times….which isn’t good because then I fall over on the olives and Isho yells from the top Attentione!!! ok ok ok!
But this guy (as Eddy would say) this guy is soooo funny! Alesandro comes up to my chest, shaved bald, and every day he wears the same work out fit (which most of us do) but his is these blue pants, and this blue button up shirt…buttoned all the way to the top and the collar is buttoned down as well. he has a big black belt wrapped around his skinny waist that misses a few belt loops everyday. If he speaks it is usually a passionate revelation about divinity in Italian, and I know what he is saying because of some Sanskrit he says…or the world divine here or there…or else he is chanting random sayings…making a joke…usually about how I am a Giraffe….or repeating random English words over and over….like It is not MY dog…it is NOT your dog.
I LOVE HIM!
lets see…what else…
oh! the other night we made pizza in the fire oven connected to the house!!!! Alessandro made pizza for 6 years in a time in the pass…as well as seeing a white tiger in north india…(random tidbit) and so I go into the kitchen that night and they have everything out on the table like a cooking show…and Marilina is video taping…I am laughing quietly soooo hard!!! They make the dough and talk like they are on television…then the next night after we have cleaned out the oven and started the fire to heat it up…we have invited some people over…first it is an old couple who lives on the next piece of land…who actually sold this place to them…and the man built this room I am in all by himself…its crazy!!! the beautiful white stone dome. This man only speaks Italian so I am sadly limited in speaking with him or his wife…but watching them is so funny. She automatically owns the forno (fire oven) and is manning the door hatch, this short stocky thick Italian woman…with a dramatic scowl always on her face but eyes that are quick to smile…I cant understand what she is saying but the tone is like she is always emotionally opinionated about how her husband can be doing something different…and yes annoyed about it as she is scowling…but somehow always entertained at the same time…which seems to be the way most Italians are. Her husbands voice is just like the God Father…deep in the throat and breathy…when he saw me and fond out I was American he wanted a picture taken with me. He held me very close and pressed his cheek to mine. I was laughing really hard in the pic. (I have it) He reacts to his wife with a kind of mock startlement and a heart melting twinkle in his eye. With all the activity I have described they are very silent and don’t say much.. (unless someone is trying to touch her forno). Alessandro made 6 loaves of bread, and lots of pizza that night. 3 spinach, fresh ricotta Calzones. They also had 3 other guests…Greg (went to University of Iowa, and his mother…and his girlfriend (Italian). They just got back on their BOAT from Greece…no big deal. I only have to sit down directly after I heard this…
It was a really heart warming night. I felt like part of the family, even tho I was le Americana…because throughout the evening there would be those small moments of familiarity with Alessandro, Ishu or Marilina…the small eye smiles while someone is talking…or the kind of knowing inside joke about something in the subject of conversation.
Then the other night Ishu took me to the Dentist. Ive been having this pain which is like a cavity. oi vey! So we go..in the waiting room Im writing in my journal while he is playing with my Itouch. He is soo engrossed by it…and we were sharing the ipod listening to the music together. Out of all my music guess which he decideds on…108 names of Shiva and Krishna Das…sitting with his eyes closed in the waiting room. I was greatly entertained by this. (There was no cavity and the dentist helped me with this high gum problem ive had for years, where the tooth is really sensitive…and he didn’t charge me! Saying Puglia Hospitality..incredible)
Then we went to his apartment in the city meeting up with Andre and Manuella. Its gorgeous!!! 3 levels (the top he just added) and I went up as high as I could…I was dancing on top of the city. I could see this big dome cathedral in the near distance lit up as well as the other side had a castle jutting up. If it was day he pointed out where I would be able to see the Adriatic Sea, very near. Maybe 3 km.
That about wraps it up…except that I have also just received 2 emails of welcome from farms in GREECE!!!!!!!! my dream destination! So I am currently strategizing asap to go. It is hard to figure out travel when I do not really have internet…but I hope to go next week. (I was going to stay longer in Italy but my farm options are diminishing and I want to stop with the olives and its getting cold.) One place is in Evia…a yoga thia massage retreat…they have orange, eucalyptus, fig, almond trees…house work a garden…animals and kids that I get to take care of!!!!!! I might be living in a tent I just realized…because they said accommodations in the house in winter…but is it their winter? I have no idea. hmmm….otherwise there is this place in Paros, an Agean Island…where there is tons of new work for me to learn, laid back people, and good food. I will prolly do both, but start in Evia and go to the island in more winter….not sure tho. I am asking them for travel advice help.
So yes…wow.
A month from tomorrow I left. Sadly, I sad goodbye to Charly at the airport…and excitedly got on my plane to Dublin. It feels like sooooo long ago!
All my love!!!! Hopefully my next farm I can have better internet and actually call people!!
I love you all so much and you are with me everyday, smiling in my heart!
KISSES!
ps for my dear friend...the reason you have a right to make fun of my writing is because a) I have limited time to write to i chose to not use too much puncuation ...b)I have been writing..even in my journal...in the way I have had to speak...which is simple bad english.
ahem...Justin...
:)
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Olivia Olivia Olivia!
First off I must appologize for any worry... I am Fine.
I do not have interent at the house, nor a phone with reception.
I do have a phone. numero 346 102 5044 think think plus 39 for italy... ?
But international calls cost me 20 cents to receive. So this is emergency knowledge.
Anywho!!!
I am good. I am in Ostuni, Italy...Ceclia Messipica actually. A small farm with the 2 owners, 2 Italian wwoofers, 1 Italian man, and today Patricia my friend from MUM will get here!!! No one speaks much English, so I am working on my Italian, and its a bit lonely in my American mind.
We pick olives all day, starting around 9am. Ishu, is up in the tree cutting down branches, and we pick them up and with this plastic claw run it through the branch spitting them out onto the netting on the ground..without stepping on any. We usually eat a late lunch...around 2 or 4. And then keep working until dark, around 5pm. We usually do about 2 trees a day, about 150 kilos of olives. ooph! The weather has been sunny...when the sun is out it is hot, when the sun is behind a cloud it is cold...so it is a dance with my sweater every few minutes...
The land is amazing. There are stone dome structures scattered throughout the country side. There are about 6 or 7 in the immediate mile radius. I am always blown away when I see them as Im walking. There are olive trees everywhere, as well as pomigranet (sp?) and almond and walnut trees, but they already harvested them.
My first night I arrived on the train...oh! and on the train conversed with this Morracon man..who speaks French, Italian, and Arabic...but not English..and sadly all I speak is English...
so I whipped out my Italian cheat sheet (thanks to Lynett) and my auto-translater (thanks to Raina) laughing the whole time...and we had a pretty good conversation and exchange for the hours on the train. Who knows how acurate we were...but it was super entertaining for me.
Then...my first night I get off the train and into a van full of Italians...we drive a half hour to the house...I get out of the car and they are all staring at me ....ALTO! (tall!) I laugh..yes yes.
Alessandro...this super cute older, Italian...calls me the Giraff...with a strong G like in Jugg.
And he is always surprised when I pick up the bucket of olives myself and has wide eyes...saying strong in italian. its funny. Then we go into the kitchen and there are woven baskets filled with fresh nuts, and fruit everywhere!! so romantic!
So the days are filled with million of olives...the nights are colder, and filled with playing soccer with the dogs, small runs or walks through the groves, but cant go too far cause there is hunting guns in the distance...and then i shower...a quick hot shower(savoring the warmth).....then reading and writing by the fire, wearing all my clothes to try and be warm...with everyone talking about things I dont understand...or lieing down listening to their chanting CD.
They are really into yoga, and meditation...and India. So it is homey...but sometimes too much...but ok.
I then usually go to bed early between 8:30 and 10. It is nice...seeing my eye bags slowly disolving and waking up fresher every day...
So this is my life right now.
I said I will stay here until mid December...the season ends Dec 20th. And then Angelo in Rofrano said I can come there late December....so we shall see.
I NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IF I STAY IN EUROPE LONGER THAN 3 MONTHS.
ANYONE KNOW? I MIGHT CALL THE EMBASSY BUT I DONT HAVE AN EASY PHONE ACCESS...
I want to go to Greece in January...but Jan 21 will be my 3 month date. Can I leave the EU for a few days and come back? ...or does it have to be a long time?...in that case maybe I can go say hello to Niyazis home in Turkey and then go back....but weird to go to Greece and then Turkey and then Greece? I dunno these things...
k anyway!! if anyone know something you can email me
amelliaschuldt@gmail.com
So yes, I am an olive oil farmer. Im not so sure if Im actually learning much...more just helping them...but we will see how this works out....I kinda done with it...lol but Im kinda spoiled....but I usually love hard work...the rythm of it...but not so much here...it is an amazing experience and I love it.
I miss everyone!!! And hope you are all staying warm and love in your hearts.
LOVE
I do not have interent at the house, nor a phone with reception.
I do have a phone. numero 346 102 5044 think think plus 39 for italy... ?
But international calls cost me 20 cents to receive. So this is emergency knowledge.
Anywho!!!
I am good. I am in Ostuni, Italy...Ceclia Messipica actually. A small farm with the 2 owners, 2 Italian wwoofers, 1 Italian man, and today Patricia my friend from MUM will get here!!! No one speaks much English, so I am working on my Italian, and its a bit lonely in my American mind.
We pick olives all day, starting around 9am. Ishu, is up in the tree cutting down branches, and we pick them up and with this plastic claw run it through the branch spitting them out onto the netting on the ground..without stepping on any. We usually eat a late lunch...around 2 or 4. And then keep working until dark, around 5pm. We usually do about 2 trees a day, about 150 kilos of olives. ooph! The weather has been sunny...when the sun is out it is hot, when the sun is behind a cloud it is cold...so it is a dance with my sweater every few minutes...
The land is amazing. There are stone dome structures scattered throughout the country side. There are about 6 or 7 in the immediate mile radius. I am always blown away when I see them as Im walking. There are olive trees everywhere, as well as pomigranet (sp?) and almond and walnut trees, but they already harvested them.
My first night I arrived on the train...oh! and on the train conversed with this Morracon man..who speaks French, Italian, and Arabic...but not English..and sadly all I speak is English...
so I whipped out my Italian cheat sheet (thanks to Lynett) and my auto-translater (thanks to Raina) laughing the whole time...and we had a pretty good conversation and exchange for the hours on the train. Who knows how acurate we were...but it was super entertaining for me.
Then...my first night I get off the train and into a van full of Italians...we drive a half hour to the house...I get out of the car and they are all staring at me ....ALTO! (tall!) I laugh..yes yes.
Alessandro...this super cute older, Italian...calls me the Giraff...with a strong G like in Jugg.
And he is always surprised when I pick up the bucket of olives myself and has wide eyes...saying strong in italian. its funny. Then we go into the kitchen and there are woven baskets filled with fresh nuts, and fruit everywhere!! so romantic!
So the days are filled with million of olives...the nights are colder, and filled with playing soccer with the dogs, small runs or walks through the groves, but cant go too far cause there is hunting guns in the distance...and then i shower...a quick hot shower(savoring the warmth).....then reading and writing by the fire, wearing all my clothes to try and be warm...with everyone talking about things I dont understand...or lieing down listening to their chanting CD.
They are really into yoga, and meditation...and India. So it is homey...but sometimes too much...but ok.
I then usually go to bed early between 8:30 and 10. It is nice...seeing my eye bags slowly disolving and waking up fresher every day...
So this is my life right now.
I said I will stay here until mid December...the season ends Dec 20th. And then Angelo in Rofrano said I can come there late December....so we shall see.
I NEED TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS IF I STAY IN EUROPE LONGER THAN 3 MONTHS.
ANYONE KNOW? I MIGHT CALL THE EMBASSY BUT I DONT HAVE AN EASY PHONE ACCESS...
I want to go to Greece in January...but Jan 21 will be my 3 month date. Can I leave the EU for a few days and come back? ...or does it have to be a long time?...in that case maybe I can go say hello to Niyazis home in Turkey and then go back....but weird to go to Greece and then Turkey and then Greece? I dunno these things...
k anyway!! if anyone know something you can email me
amelliaschuldt@gmail.com
So yes, I am an olive oil farmer. Im not so sure if Im actually learning much...more just helping them...but we will see how this works out....I kinda done with it...lol but Im kinda spoiled....but I usually love hard work...the rythm of it...but not so much here...it is an amazing experience and I love it.
I miss everyone!!! And hope you are all staying warm and love in your hearts.
LOVE
Monday, November 3, 2008
A Home to Relax in...Scirocco
Written Oct 30 8.00pm
The onions cooking are stinging my eyes, the after sip of mouth feel...The indescribable fulfillment of all experiences so far. Like a warm bath bubbling from my feet up to my heart and up throughout my cheeks out the top of my head. Warm like home. Warm like...just unbelieveable. The rain-dripping, green leaves out in the lantern light. The back lit arched iron gate across the pebble courtyard with the stairwell over out lit kitchen window, of which spills out smells of wam cooking, sounds of distant music and full laughter. The random little car drives by splashing the puddles, mixed with light footsteps down the street and Italian voices musically falling away. We are on the sea town of Levanto, Italy...our first night in our apartment, Scirocco.
The onions cooking are stinging my eyes, the after sip of mouth feel...The indescribable fulfillment of all experiences so far. Like a warm bath bubbling from my feet up to my heart and up throughout my cheeks out the top of my head. Warm like home. Warm like...just unbelieveable. The rain-dripping, green leaves out in the lantern light. The back lit arched iron gate across the pebble courtyard with the stairwell over out lit kitchen window, of which spills out smells of wam cooking, sounds of distant music and full laughter. The random little car drives by splashing the puddles, mixed with light footsteps down the street and Italian voices musically falling away. We are on the sea town of Levanto, Italy...our first night in our apartment, Scirocco.
5 Nights in Levanto, Italy
Written Oct 30, 2008 7.30PM
"You know you are home when there are plates hanging on the wall." -Chris
"You know you are home when you underware is hanging in the kitchen...which is your bedroom!" - Amellia
Getting to town with al ight rain and fresh air, smelling of clean dirt. Walking through stone streets with tall colorful buildings and bringhtly painted shutters. The walls are crumbling down to show its original raw brick. Side streets show rustic stairwells spotted with lantern lights. The sound of my sloshing pants mixed with the feeling of tired unknown as I look to my left and right...or straight without knowing which to take. So instead I take it all in. The pitter'patter of rain, the warm wind on my face with a light salty breath. The tall lanterns light our way to a boy pointing "la!" and we find our hostel. This brick archway and creeky gate opening into a tunnel.
We check in, put our bags down, make our beds and go out to see Levantoàs night life (Tuesday). Which consists of rustic walls lined with bikes, closed stores, open empty bars, or the scattered few men watching football. The wind picks up as we turn certain corners to find more old unique buildings and a pretty courtyard with the largest bell flowers smelling like a fairys land. We entered a bar with the ceilling lined with bundreds of beer bottles, and the room holds thick wooden tables. We warm up with bonding laughter over a bottle of wine before heading to bed around midnight...cant wait to see Levanto in the day light.
"You know you are home when there are plates hanging on the wall." -Chris
"You know you are home when you underware is hanging in the kitchen...which is your bedroom!" - Amellia
Getting to town with al ight rain and fresh air, smelling of clean dirt. Walking through stone streets with tall colorful buildings and bringhtly painted shutters. The walls are crumbling down to show its original raw brick. Side streets show rustic stairwells spotted with lantern lights. The sound of my sloshing pants mixed with the feeling of tired unknown as I look to my left and right...or straight without knowing which to take. So instead I take it all in. The pitter'patter of rain, the warm wind on my face with a light salty breath. The tall lanterns light our way to a boy pointing "la!" and we find our hostel. This brick archway and creeky gate opening into a tunnel.
We check in, put our bags down, make our beds and go out to see Levantoàs night life (Tuesday). Which consists of rustic walls lined with bikes, closed stores, open empty bars, or the scattered few men watching football. The wind picks up as we turn certain corners to find more old unique buildings and a pretty courtyard with the largest bell flowers smelling like a fairys land. We entered a bar with the ceilling lined with bundreds of beer bottles, and the room holds thick wooden tables. We warm up with bonding laughter over a bottle of wine before heading to bed around midnight...cant wait to see Levanto in the day light.
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