Getting here was an interesting story. I spent the night at the Bucharest airport with the squad, stayed up all night giggling and watching movies with Kelly and Rachel, then said a hard goodbye to everyone at 6am. My flight left at noon, and the lapse between was filled with some sort of consciousness, some sort of sleep and awful bathroom results from drinking the airport water. After arriving in Naples I befriended a Nigerian man who paid for my shuttle to the train station and pointed me in the right direction. The hour between my flight and train ride was supposed to be my time to pick up this guys shorts, who left them in Naples that I met on Craigslist. Instead I entrusted my bags to strangers and ran around trying to figure out how to print my ticket, buy and use a phone card and when to board the train. As soon as I boarded and situated my bags I passed out, they didn't even bother waking me to ask for a ticket. In Salerno I waited for Gianpaolo for an hour and a half, which I barely even minded, it was nice not having to carry around my extra-heavy luggage.
Gianpaolo turned out to be the sweetest Italian man, thankfully! When I saw the mountains lining the horizon I "ooh"ed, to which he immediately decided "Oh, you like? We will plan a trip there, okay!" He took advantage of his trip to the city by having a meeting with his partners. I was able to use the internet for a minute and assure my mom that I made it alright, which she loved. It took about 45 minutes from Salerno and lots of winding roads up the mountain, but finally I was home! I live in the National Park and it is so so beautiful! I share a house with another WWOOFer, Chet. He is 25 and from Seattle. Luckily he is gay, so I don't have to worry about switching from living with an all girls team for 11 months to living with just one guy! We get along beautifully and have a lot of fun in our little apartment and wasting time on the farm.
Chet, my roommate and coworker for the month
Sicignano Castle and our home! We live across the street from the castle.
Each work day begins at 9am, where Chet and I wait at the bottom of the hill for Gianpaolo's friend to pick us up (which usually involved his entire family). The past few days we have been hoeing the vines and weeding the herbs, along with other random odds and ends. The family that lives at the vineyard feeds us lunch everyday at exactly noon. Lunch is 2 hours long (the last half hour is a nap!) and is very traditional Italian. We start with an 'antipasto', usually a huge bowl of noodles, a 'primo' of cheese and bread (the most amazing cheese I have ever eaten and usually accompanied by a glass of wine), a 'secondo' of a very oily salad, a 'contorno' that is different every day, finished by a 'dolce', with espresso. We are usually so full we can barely stand up, roll outside to nap on a bench under an olive tree and, finally, get back to work until about 4pm (but still have to wait for Gerardo to pick us up until 6pm, everyone is always late). The family that lives at the vineyard consists of:
– Geseffina, a hilariously angry, 4 foot tall, Italian woman that tries to explain our duties while cursing at us for not being able to understand her Italian
– Geseffina's mother, who is very, very old, with Altzheimers, and unable to talk, sometimes eats her napkins
– Geseffina's father, who loves to play games, but doesn't speak English. Usually our games consists of him smacking my hands and laughing, me poking him in his big belly until he chuckles or us copying what each other says (I'm pretty sure he is just making me swear)
– Geseffina's Niece, who cooks most of the meals and only shows up around meal time with her very large, very stubborn, little boy.
Chet and I cook our own breakfast and lunch, which is very convenient. Whenever Gianpaolo shows up he asks what we need for the house and takes us shopping. Whenever we need fresh fruits and vegetables we walk to the local market and can get anything we want on his tab. The internet cafe we use is very close as well and I just found out the owner let's Gianpaolo's workers use it for free! However, Gianpaolo is the only English speaker in the town (and his English is very poor), so getting around to these places can be tough. I am studying Italian every day and night and forced to use it, since no one speaks English.
Right now I am off to run, my first time in a week or so. It had been hard keeping up with running while we were travelling so much, so this run will probably be a bit hard. Tomorrow I work again at 9am, then (hopefully) Saturday will be off and Sunday will for sure be. I'm hoping to head to Salerno and visit the beach, maybe hitchhike on a boat to Sicilia! Well, that is all for now. I will try to get some of my own pictures and post them as soon as possible.
To my Y Squad, I miss you more than words. I love you all so much and can see how much I have changed through the past 11 months while travelling with you all. May God bless and may your transition home be fulfilling, smooth, restful and blessed. Integrate!! 🙂
To my family, 2 more months!! I can't wait to see you all and I love you and miss you so much. Two more months, I promise 🙂
To Michelle & Michael and to Codie & Emily, congratulations on your engagements!! I can't wait to see you all and your beautiful rings!
I should do shout outs to everyone, but I'm going to end there. I love you all! Thank you for reading this long blog and thank you thank you thank you for your support on my trips! God bless!!
