days off

i don't know where to start...

basically, things are great.

i am back in florence for my two days off from the farm. it was supposed to be yesterday and today- but giorgio changed it so the sunny days would be work days. ...

i arrived in cecina on ... thursday the 6th? my train arrived 1º2 hour late and marina was there waiting for me. we knew who each other were right away. she said something to me in italian and i shook my head... - no italiano? oh.. no es un problama por mi. por tu? maybe...

the farm is run by marina and giorgio. they are AMAZING. they have a daughter, guilia, and a dog rudy. and lots of family and friends who appear to help seemingly randomly to me.

giorgio- speaks no english but he is very animated, gestures wildly, is hilarious, and i understand enough od was he says to me to get things happening. and when i don't understand him- he is so funny anyway that it doesn't matter.i am mostly with him in the olive orchard. he is 59, climbs olive trees like a monkey, is always smiling, humming and laughing. he drinks so much wine at lunch and dinner. he often pours it into his soup or cous cous and calls it water. he is so fucking funny. he looks like how i would picture leonardo di vinci. he has unkempt hair and a crazy beard. he is little and has very bright eyes. he makes fun of me in the best possible way. he told me i was an american baby for putting wine in a glass that still had water in it. when i reached for the white wine last night, he said (in italian) wine, you know? tonight you sing!!!!

marina- she is fantastic. she somehow seems to do as much or more work than i do on the farm, cook all the meal, wash cloths and work the vegetables. she is funny. i have had a cold... marina gives me asprin and a hot water bottle to sleep with while giorgio encourages me to eat cookies. ( bene por tu refreiendo) good for your cold.

guiglia- she is 18 and little. she is super nice and she speaks some english . she is in the last year of italy's equivalent to high school. the main thing she says to me is understand??? she comes home for lunch and is done with her day. at meals the tv is always on and it is always in italian. i might be able to pick out a couple words or manage to figure out the subject of the show.


other wwoofer- a few days max arrived. he is great. he is from northern italy, works on a vineyard and speaks english pretty well. it has been nice to be able to talk to him a little. mostly about olives. and how many fucking olives there are. he would say ' santa maria!!!' (so many fucking olives). i had know idea how old he was. he is 37? i would have guessed anywhere from 25 to 35. he recently planted 100 olive trees and is at this farm for a week to learn about olives. within the first 5 minutes of picking olives together he said ' i ask me- why do i plant oliva?' ' i go home and cut them all down!'

the work- sometimes we do different things in the morning than in the afternoon. mostly- OLIVESSS!!!!! they have 300 trees. a couple days ago, max and i worked 4 hours and did 2 and a half trees... there are these pickers- a long pole rith some rotating spike like things on the end . you kind of comb the tree and it rains olive. they are tiny and mostly blackish purple. then you pick most of the olives around the bottom of the tree by hand or with a little bright orange comb like tool. you have to be careful not to step on the olives. there is usually a hand held radio nearby that plays a funky mix of american 'pop', random classic oldies or remakes- and ilalian vibratos . it is fun. the work is really hard, but not according to marina.


i wish i felt up to helping fix meals- but i am exhausted, and marina is so efficient that i would just be in the way.

breakfast is mostly really black coffee that is hard to drink, cracker like little pieces of bread, honey, and maybe a pieces of sweet bread. i am not to into breakfast... lunch and dinner a usually huge. always bread, wine (in big plastic water bottles decanted from 25 liter jugs) , fresh olive oil made from giorgio's olives, pasta of some kind, salad... and whatever else. it is good. i have had a few things that i have never eaten or seen before. they don't seem to mind that i dont speak italian. and i dont really mind either. you kind of figure out what is essential. i have a lot of time to think.


art- i have been keeping a drawing journal. gail and sofie cut up 150 pieces of postcard size paper and every day i make a little drawing and notes about the day.


internet access- i am not sure if i really have internet access at the farm. i have used the phone once. it is nice not to constantly be around and checking a computer. it is easier to just not ask and not worry about it.


well- i will write more before returning to bibbona- (livorno= region, cecina = major town where i take the train to to get to the farm, bibbona= smaller town outside of cecina where the farm is close to)

the farm- is beautiful. it is close to the sea, but i can't see it. i can smell it and the air looks like ocean air. it is so clean and crisp and fresh. the light here is beautiful... it is truly amazing.
on the farm they have 2 green houses, a huge area of rows of all kind of vegetables. a few rows of grape vines , SO many olive tress..............



I CAN'T BELIEVE I AM IN ITALY!!!!!!!!!!


love you all and thinking of you fondly.

more soon,
zoe


please forgive my spelling and typing.

so... i saw a LOT of incredible things today...it was a beautiful sunny day here and the perfect temperature. i decided to go on a tour (offered for free by the hostel i am staying in.) some of the things i saw on the tour:



Basilica di San Lorenzo
Palazzo Medicci Ricciardi
Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza Duomo!!!!
Pallazzo Vecchio- with an amazing sculpture garden
Galleria degli Uffizi!!!!
Bargello
casa di Dante
Chesa di S. Crocce

after the tour and some gelato and pizza (in that order) i went to the Uffizi- i saw SO many paintings! the high lights were Boticelli's Primavera, Birth of Venus, and Annunciation, Giotto's Madonna and Child, di Vinci's Annunciation, and many others...
after that i went to the Academia di Bella Arti to see the David... it is HUGE and so beautiful.

it is pretty incredible to see all of these things in person. i can't believe that i am here.

tomorrow i head to Cecina, Livorno- to a farm where i will be for a few weeks! i am not sure what my internet access will be.

i am so excited.

obama!

it was nice to wake up this morning to the buzz about obama!!! a girl from austalia congradulated me and said that she is really happy for our country.... and the world. i have only seen a couple peolpe who are upset, but for the most part everyone i have seen has been really excited.

florence!

hey gang!
i am in florence after a long couple days. my plane landed in pisa instead of florence- so that was kind of an adventure. but now i am at a hostel in the center of florence! it is dark here. i just ate pasta pomodoro while watching cnn coverage of election day in america and got offered a beer. seems just about right. the pasta sauce was perfect with big chunks of motzerella.
i am going to spend the day tomorrow cruising florence. there are some tours offered by the hostel and i have a pretty good map now. on thursday morning i will head west to livorno!
woah!

zurich

i just got to zurich+

i fly to florence in a few hours...