Calabria
25 Nov
Thankfully Julio stayed the next hour and some, he took over every conversation which was fine. I had the chance to let this place sink in. A small concrete building. Large metal doors with bolt closures. Junk everywhere. No bathroom. No shower. Electricity, thankfully, but no heat. Random clutter on every countertop. Cats also on every counter, jars of olives and other concoctions piled on the dirty floor. Imagine my face as Im taking this in.
My first view:
The woman, Katrina, is totally beautiful. She is 39, has her eyebrow pierced, and long light brown hair. She is obviously pregnant and doesnt speak very much italian or english. She and Alessandro are from Germany! Ales is about 50s-60s but who can tell…. with his long stringy white thinning hair… fully equipped with the bald-spot comb-over. When he laughs his whole face explodes into a super creepy, over-the-top excitement with bulging eyes and open mouth.
Yet, first impressions are nothing. In the light of morning I realize I enjoy this simple way of life. I am stoked to poo in the garden and shower in a bucket in the sun overlooking the sea!
The beach was so beautiful up-close.
Katrina and I spent the morning together, laughing and learning about the farm. She made me a delicious breakfast with fresh goat cheese, bread, tomatoes, and basil. (Yes mom, I ate the tomatoes!)
I asked her if I can milk the goat and she laughed for awhile but eventually said yes (!!!!) The olives here are rediculously deliciuos. They have a smokey flavor, are super salty and spicy, but the blend is great.
The farm has about 20 sheep and goats, some chickens, a horse, a donkey, and some cats.
The donkey dropped to the ground in utter exhaustion after i rode him on my final morning on the farm.
The view of the sea, though quite far, is totally magnificent.
We are up in the mountains and I can (at all times) see the horizon of where the sea meets the sky through the trees. I can barely catch the towns along the coast in the far distance.
My work on the farm is to help reconstruct the bamboo house (which blew away in a strong wind a week ago…
Yea, I was supposed to sleep in it!) and also to watch the sheep-goats in the afternoon. I basically just plod around for 3 or 4 hours in the fields and make sure they dont cross a certain boundary. Its great though. I read aloud to the animals, jump pretend rope, watch the sun set and practice yoga-karate-etc. When it is time to leave the field I yell all the rediculous things you can think to move sheep and goats. Sounds like “YAH!! HIYA! EEEHHHH!!” echo in the distance as I scare them back to the farm. To keep them moving I sing “Come what may” in my most booming and threatening tone. 🙂
Some gross things:
-A few nights ago the cats caught a lizard and proceeded to eat its tail right under my chair during supper. Nobody else said anything, so I pretended not to notice.
They appeared sweet while asleep though.
-At breakfast I’m trying to stomach all these tomatoes, the texture is what usually gets me, when I notice Ales ear. It is half burned or eaten or something. It is dripping some puss-like blood liquid down his bits of white stringy strands of hair. HUAA… (vomit sound.) No thanks, I dont want seconds.
MRumianowski
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