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The Beast
Enzo with the watermelon that he carried for close to 10 miles in his backpack. Translation: Goodbye Americans and Hello Italians!
*The pictures you see are from my last update from Italy that I never published and just discovered. The text is at the end.*
Since I last published an update, not too much has happened. I came back to America (why!?) to a terrible job market and still no clear life path. I've been living at home, applying for jobs, interning at Palm Beach County's Environmental Resources Management Department, studying for the GRE and Italian, and having little travel adventures now and then. I finally came up with a loose 2-year plan and going back to Italy is a big part of that. BUT...I may return early if I get a job. It's a one-way ticket and there are so many directions I could go in (literally). I sure haven't had much luck finding my way by consciously trying, so I'm going to continue to float in sea of uncertainty, but with more fun, less work, and a better view 😊
My goals for this trip (if I stay my expected 3-4 months):
Improve my Italian language skills
Make academic contacts
*The above are to strengthen my possible Fulbright Scholarship application to
Salamanders!
We saw 20 of these on our hike! study in Italy
Learn more about Italian culture, food, and agriculture (now that I can communicate better)
Visit some friends in other European countries
Get out of my comfort zone (meet lots of new people, etc.)
Be happy and have fun 😊
I'll try to update every few weeks, keep the posts short and entertaining, and include lots of pictures.
Ciao!
***
Here's part of my forgotten last blog post from the end of my stay in Italy last summer. In case you don't understand why I'm going back (though I'm sure my parents are alone in this sentiment), this should make it clear.
Il Mio Compleanno...che romantico Life is perfect. Too perfect. I imagine something terrible will happen soon because it’s hard to believe that such fortune can last so long. Maybe my train or plane will crash. That would be so God (please read Foreskin’s Lament to understand this).
Allora, I kid. (I hope.)
I returned to Rivalta on Friday evening and the family welcomed me back like a long lost child. There is also another American WWOOFer here now- Luke from Seattle. He came to Italy only for this
Hazelnuts
My life, most days. farm and totally lucked out with his choice. He’s writing a paper about Slow Food and related topics, so it’s convenient for me to learn more about this without having to actually put any effort into it. He also works at catering company and is an excellent cook.
Let me tell you about the hardest working man alive. Or that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting, anyway. Enzo works at least from sunrise to sunset 6 days a week, only taking a break for eating and maybe a short nap. And this is usually hard manual farm labor. On the weekends he gets barely any sleep because he is preparing for the markets during the night and on the road or at the market from before sunrise to late in the night. Does he complain? No. Is he ever grouchy with us? No. And what does he do on his day off? You won’t believe it. The weekend after my return, we didn’t go to the market, so instead he took Lorri, Luke, and I for a 13 mile hike in the mountains. This guy is a beast; it’s impossible to keep up with him! The weather was rather
Birthday Camping
Someone told me "There's so much right with this picture I don't even know where to start." I agree. gloomy, but it was a good hike none the less. We saw 20 salamanders, marmots (marmote- one of my favorite Italian words), and had a good time picnicking and skipping stones. We even heard a rock avalanche had had snowball fights. On our way back down the mountain, we stopped for water and Enzo pulls out a watermelon from his backpack! A watermelon! He had been carrying it the whole time. Incredible! Then, after I realized that I had left my camera on a rock back about a mile, he runs the whole way back to get it. I wish I was as fit as this 60 year old man at 22. Minchia.
Most of the work lately has been to pick up hazelnuts from the ground. Ogni guorno, raccoggiere nocciole, sempre cosi. Ma, mi piache tanto. (Every day, to pick up hazelnuts, always like this. But I like it very much.) It’s beautiful, shady, and peaceful. I can sit down, lie down, dance, sing, think, dream. Come voglio. (How I want). I think about what I’ve done, what I will do, and how wonderful life is.
Oh, my Italian romance. I may just write a novel about
More birthday camping
More proof of heaven... it, it’s just that good. For my birthday, Mattia and I went camping in the mountains. It was wonderful and beautiful and he even surprised me with a cake and candles. Che romantico (how romantic), as my Italian mother said.
The family surprised me with a cake as well, but the most delicious birthday cake I've ever had, along with an Italian dessert wine, of course.
Overall, this has been a perfect ending to a perfect summer.
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