Today I found out that there are snakes living around here. Otherwise, it was an almost-perfect day. (Please, read on - it's not as bad as you think.)
In the morning Lorena asked me to do some weeding. I said sure! (Thanks, Dad. "How to pull weeds out of the ground in Teaneck: 101" turns out to be a pretty useful lesson.) As it happened, Lorena was actually asking me to uproot several small trees. Farming is hard work! I only knew that in abstract until today and I have a feeling I'm still pretty clueless about what's ahead... Anyway, it's also very good work, if you like manual labor, which I do! We worked outside for about 4 hours, and then decided to have lunch. For lunch: lettuce and radishes from the garden, a frittato with eggs from the chicken coop and asparagus from the olive groves (it grows like a weed there and I'm the one who picked it so I suspect that we actually ate some grass with it), and... conversation! Which was a nice change from the past two days when I have been pretty shy about speaking very much (Italian or otherwise).
Conversations with Lorena in particular included her asking me if I would tutor her in English for one half-hour a day, which is very exciting although I'm not positive that I'll know how but no matter, I'll improvise. Also, I mentioned that she should write a cookbook for Americans because it's very clear that she knows exactly what she's doing with food all around. She said she'd like to but she doesn't know how to get it published. Anybody happen to know a thing or two about that?
I also asked at lunch where I could take a nice walk in the afternoon. Sergio was headed into Siena, so he suggested that he would drop me off at the abandoned monastery on the way (this is not creepy - it's a tourist site) and I could walk back. The walk would take me under an hour. Terrific! After lunch, Sergio dropped me off at the monastery. He asked the groundskeeper to show me around and then direct me back to La Gavina. The monastery was very cool. After taking a good look around I headed off, map in hand, toward La Gavina. Suffice it to say that the journey back took me about 2 hours and 15 minutes - the map was not very detailed. I got very, very lost. I walked in the wrong direction for about 45 minutes, and asked for directions from 4 different groups of people. And the people were hard to find! Tuscany is underpopulated. Nonetheless, it was an excellent adventure, though I will not be repeating it, and I found my way back to La Gavina. Not in time, though, to miss seeing two dead snakes on the road. At least I did not see any live ones, but those two popped up within the first hour of my little "walk." Need I describe the anxious snake related thoughts that I carried with me for the remaining hour and one-half? I think not.
Snakes aside, the day got funnier when I got back to La Gavina and Lorena mentioned casually that I had uprooted even several trees that, in fact, were not meant to be dug up. The thing is - I did ask many times which ones and Lorena and I just mis-communicated, and she was laughing when she showed me. So all is well. But I was too thorough. I dug up the entire pathway - about 7 different kinds of plants/trees, and actually I was only supposed to remove 2 species. OK - embarrassing, but some things get learned the hard way.
Tonight there are three guests at the bed and breakfast. Lorena, Emily and I made dinner together. Oh! Emily and I are officially friends. She showed me pictures of her two daughters today - (she has two daughters! What? How old is this woman she looks like she's 25!) - They are in Bulgaria. It seems she misses them very much of course, but she was excited to show me the pictures and it was nice to share that with her. We're getting better at yelling the right words ar each other when we talk even though the volume remains the same. Anyway, we made dinner in the commercial kitchen which is soooo cool. It's small and rustic like the one in the house, but everything is fancy and works so quickly! In 1 hour and 45 minutes we made:
Asparagus soup
Fresh salad
Fresh vegetable pasta - this was the highlight for me!
Meat (2 kinds)
Steamed green cabbage
Bread pudding with chocolate, pane, and coffee
I had soup and 3 bowls of pasta for dinner. Still standing.
The highlight of today was definitely the pasta. Also it's so cool that Lorena and Sergio basically only eat things that they have grown. And they do not waste anything. Any water that we don't drink goes to the garden, including the water we use to wash the vegetables. Any leftover lettuce bits or other garbage from food goes to the compost and the chickens eat it. Anyway Lorena showed me how to make pasta and promised to give me another lesson when we're in less of a rush, so mom - yes! We can make pasta together when I'm back. And you know who - you know who you are - get excited. This stuff is waaaay better than what comes out of the bags/boxes that some people buy in endless quantities.
Goodnight! Thanks for reading!
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