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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Yes!!!

Italian farmstay.

Writing as it happens...

On Friday I started my very exciting journey to THE farm. A two and a half hour bus ride took me to a town called Sora, which btw I could not find on any map or in my rough guide... In a hurry I hopped on a bus which I was 95% sure was going the right way. I therefore spent the next two and a half hours a bit worried that I was on the wrong bus and would get lost in who knows where. I arrived in Sora about 7 ish and called Antonello which has been my contect by e-mail. He said they would come and pick me up straight away. The ten minutes I was waiting, a thousand things went through my mind. What do I expect from this? How are the people? Am I alone as a voulenteer which was my biggest fear. What will I do there? Why would I ever leave beautiful Rome, I mean WHY?? Anyways! A car came, full of people, all happy and very friendly. Turns out there are two other volenteers here and a girl who never left! The main house is big and have a nice common space. Me and a girl from Berkeley called Gianna share a room, a bit cold, but a nice view facing the valley. A good dinner and a bottle of home-made vino later I am content wiht the situation and the people surrounding me. Domani it is rise and shine at 07.30 for breakfast and then work.

First day working I found it a bit hard and different than expected, although I did not really expect much. We work from 08.00 to 12.30 every day and then we have the rest of the day to do what we want. The family has a big property, houses and other places as well. We all went to another "farm" where there is a big project going on. We helped cleaning a creek for trash and moving big wooden logs down a hill and up the other. That was hard work! Since this is not what I had in mind when I first found this farm, it was a bit of a shock. As the viking I am I pulled my self together and got through the day but I must say I was happy to discover that I was not the only person that found it hard. A bit low spirited and with sore hands, I rested in a hammock while enjoing the sun. With a cup of tea and a volunteer friend by my side, I recharged my batteries and decided not to jump to any conclusions too fast. If there is anything I have a lot of, it is time.

The farm has another project running a "farm" nearby as well, for now there is one guy from Austria but in the summer there will be more. I would go there if it was not for the fact that there is no hot water and no heating and all of this, and as my mum knows I have certain standards which I can't go below. I wish I was this strong but I have nothing to give.. Maybe when I grow up and out of it :) Anyways, we went there and I had a good look around the property. We found wild asparagus, a bit undone but still, wild asparagus! After a while we returned home to discover that one of the goats had given birth to two kids! Wow baby, that was cool.

There are four volenteers here, me, from Norway, Gianna, from Berkeley in California, Radu ,from Romania and Anna ,from Austria, the girl who never left... Anna also studies here and join us every once in a while but most of the time is the 3 of us working. We have a lot of fun and get along well. This is the third day working and we have done all sorts of things. In the morning we help Giuseppe, "the grandpa" with the animals before going off to do other work. We have picked trash and and moved big wooden logs and who knows what :) Inspite of everything I'm happy here for now and am enjoing my days in the Italian countryside.

Our biggest question today is, Do we set the clock back an hour or what is going on? California thinks so, nobody on the farm cares and I don't have a watch so it is non importante! All the volunters are sitting here is still wondering... Maybe somebody can post a comment here and share their knowledge about setting the time. Any takers?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Du skriver veldig bra - veldig bra! En fornøyelse å følge deg gjennom dagene!

Anonymous said...

en ting til ... her er et debattinnlegg som en elev av "The world without us" kan ha interesse av .... http://www.dagsavisen.no/meninger/article393996.ece

Anonymous said...

og en tredje ting - en huskeregel: Klokka skal alltid skrues en time mot sommeren. Det vil si at den skal en time fram om våren og en time tilbake om høsten.

Anonymous said...

Ja, huskeregelen lyder som følger: om høsten kan man sove lenge (man får en time ekstra), om våren er det "opp og hopp" tidlig (man mister en time). Ha-ha!

Takk for oppdatering fra den italienske "campania". Høres hardt, men lærerikt ut. You're a molto bene viking! :D

Jeg hadde Helle som overnatningsgjest fra søndag til mandag, veldig hyggelig. Jeg tok henne med på Dolce Vita på mandag for å dele den italienske is-gleden, og vi koste oss virkelig. Vi hadde tenkt å sende melding til deg, litt sånn "Æda-bæda, nå nyter vi italiensk is".... Men så kom vi på at du faktisk ER i Italia og kan spise så mye italiensk is du bare vil.... DUUUH!

Anonymous said...

Skrivingen din tar helt av - jeg ser deg for meg som arvtager etter Ian og hun andre - som reisereportere for Lonely planet eller hva det er. Skulle gjerne vært flue på veggen på farmen - når alle er samlet til middag (er dere det?) eller når dere hjelper bestefar med dyra på morgenen. Dette høres ut til å være bra for italiensken din. Jeg har vært hos Per tannlege i dag og sitter noe pjusk i sofaen med en tann som skal rotfylles. Og katta er nettopp tilbake etter en uke i Lysgårdsvegen. Hun har mange venner. Pass på deg!

Anonymous said...

Moro å lese om livet på gården!(som nesten høres ut som en TV serie elns). Skulle hilse mye fra vår kjære bestemor og si gratulerer med navnedagen i dag! Hurra:) Du får kose deg videre og holde oss oppdatert. Hørte om kumage til middag.. spennende, jeg føler med deg:p


Janne! - Alva ble minsunnelig på isen vår, så vi klarte en av to da i hvert fall;p