Recapitulation

So seeing as I haven't written for about a week and a half, I though I would just recap what I've been up to.  

Last Saturday was the first rainy day since I've been here, so we stayed inside and made membership cards for new WWOOFers.  Then in the afternoon, we watched Monty Python's Meaning of Life, since it was too rainy outside to do anything else. 

For Easter, the other WWOOFer and I walked into the village to go to Easter Mass.  I thought it would be a cool cultural experience, going to an Italian church for Easter.  It was interesting and it sounded very Italian.  I didn't understand about 99% of it, but no matter, it was a nice day to walk into town.  Afterward we went for some gelato, which was delicious, and then walked around the main square and then back home.  

We had Monday off from farming since it was a holiday and so we went to the beach.  It was a bit windy, so we didn't go swimming.  When we got back to the house, we watched another Monty Python movie, the Life of Brian.  Later that evening, we went for dinner at a friend of Bridget's (the farm-owner).  It was a lovely dinner and the house where it was held was beautiful (the friend designed it herself--she's an architect).  The friend is also lending me an electric keyboard for while I'm here, which is awesome.  It feels so good to play a piano again :)

Tuesday was back to work.  This week I weeded some gardens, I did some raking, I tried to get a tan during my siestas, I cut a vine-like plant off an olive tree, I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time, I sprayed some potato and tomato plants (with a natural compound to keep the leaves from getting diseased), I de-shelled some peanuts for homemade peanut butter, I did some hoeing to get soil ready for planting cucumbers, and I cleaned out the chicken coop.  

Oh, and yesterday, I saw some interesting creatures.  First, while I was sun-bathing, a big green lizard ran near my towel.  Then while I was shoveling mulch (decomposing grass that's used for keeping moisture around the plants) into a wheelbarrow, I found a viper!  It was so cool.  It was only about foot long, had a light-brown belly, a dark, diamond-patterned back, and it slithered around belly-up.  Then while I was shoveling mulch on a different terrace, I saw two more!  On top of all that, I saw a big toad, really weird looking spiders, and a colourful centipede-like thing.  I was kind of blown away.  Oh the things you can find in the rotting, cold places :)

One of the other jobs I did turned out to be quite a challenge.  It sounded simple: remove the brambles from the chicken coop area.  Well, first off, brambles have vicious thorns covering the stems.  Secondly, they happened to be growing amidst a huge patch if stinging nettle.  So, in order to protect myself from stab wounds and burning stings, I had to wear long pants, my jacket, and two pairs of gardening gloves.  Did I mention that the sun was giving off that warm Tuscan heat?  Oh and I had to get them out by hacking a hoe into the roots, which proved to be quite difficult since the brambles were growing beneath the low branches of the fruit trees.  So I am pleased to say that I completed this challenge and have come away from it with a great distaste for stinging nettle, which has stung me about six times now.  Despite the challenging aspect of the task, I still didn't mind doing it.  Plus the breeze would blow by now and then and give me a break from the heat.  And just a fun-fact in case you ever get stung by stinging nettle: there is a plant that grows near stinging nettle, which here they call "doc." If you rub the leaves of this plant on the place that was stung, the horrible burning feeling goes away in a matter of seconds.  Yay nature!

Today, the other WWOOFer left, so I will be the only WWOOFer here for the rest of this week.  However, there is a long-term WWOOFer here and her family is visiting, so that's nice. Tonight, we all played a board game (Rummikub) which was great fun.

In very happy news, my sister is joining me here next Friday.  YAY!  I am of course very excited about this.  I still can't believe I only have one week left here, though.  It definitely doesn't feel like I've already been here for two weeks.  My how time flies! By the way, whoever may be reading this, please feel free to post a comment. It would be nice to know that people are actually reading what I write. I'd appreciate it :)

What a Wonderful Life

Today marks one week from when I left home.  It hardly seems like a week.  So many things have happened that it seems almost impossible that a whole week has already passed.  Yet, it also seems like such a short span of time that has gone by so quickly.  

I have fallen in love with this place.  This evening I just stood outside and closed my eyes while the breeze softly caressed my back.  The sweet twittering of songbirds filled the air, along with the sound of someone humming in the kitchen,  someone peeling potatoes for dinner, and someone turning a page as they read a book.  I smiled to myself as I let the immense beauty of this place wash over me.   

I have discovered that I really like gardening.  I find it peaceful and almost meditative.  On Monday, I thinned the lettuce and then helped put up a fence. Yesterday morning, we went to a market in a nearby town.  In the afternoon, I helped plant tomatoes.  Then in the evening, the other WWOOFer here taught me how to play some basic chords on his guitar.  Early this morning, we went over to a different farm to help out there.  We were given the job of weeding the lavender.  As we pulled the lavender from the grasp of the grass and weeds, its sweet aroma hung in the air.  Everything here is so lovely.  

What more could this amazing piece of paradise have in store for me?  Only time will tell. 

Basking in Tuscan Sunlight

I am sitting here looking out to the beautiful, lush hills of Tuscany.  The sun is warm and the breeze is cool.  Across the valley is a lovely villa sitting peacefully atop a hill.  Olive trees, cypress trees, and vibrant greenery surround it, just like they do where I am staying.  Earlier today, I did some painting and then read a book (Under the Tuscan Sun, which I thought was rather appropriate) while birds twittered about me and bees buzzed around me.  This place is the epitome of tranquility.  I still have to remind myself that I am actually here.  One of the other farmers tells me that tomorrow we will be working in the vegetable garden.  I am baffled that this is real.  

The Adventure Begins

Today is the day before I leave for Europe.  I flew to Vancouver from Castlegar this morning, which was particularly awesome because the weather forecast looked a little iffy the last couple of days.  It was a lovely flight and the plane soared into blue and lightly clouded skies.  As I flew over the snow capped mountains I was reminded of how incredibly beautiful the Kootenays are.  And then I passed out for pretty much the remainder of the flight.  When I awoke, we were pulling into the Vancouver Airport.  After leaving the airport and boarding the Sky Train, I discovered the hard way that Burrard Station is not part of the same line which the train takes from the airport to downtown.  So instead of meeting my friend at Burrard station when I was supposed to, I wandered the streets of Vancouver with adventure on my mind and a forty pound backpack on my back (plus a twenty-or-so pound carry-on bag slung over my front).  Needless to say the adventure part started to wear thin while the bags started to gain weight--or so it felt.  I also found out that some people in Vancouver are not the best at giving directions.  No matter.  I took this as a good sign of this being a trip filled with exciting and unexpected things.  Also, this little direction-challenged moment was good practice for being confused/lost in a foreign place (which is bound to happen quite frequently in the next four months).  I did eventually find my friend, who was of course at Burrard Station.  We then walked another fifteen or twenty minutes to her house which is where I'll spend the night.  My flight tomorrow leaves at 4pm, so I will, theoretically, have plenty of time to find my way there. 
I greatly look forward to whatever lies ahead of me.  No matter what the outcome, I know it will be an adventure.  I will write again from Paris :)  Until then, bye bye!

Let's Begin...

Well, hello there.
This is my first time blogging and my first time that I will be traveling in Europe.  Some people suggested that I blog about my travels  instead of emailing, so here it is.  I hope you enjoy reading what I write.  I make no promises to avoid rambling, for I believe that is the point of a blog.  I will write some more once I actually have something worth writing about, so until then, goodbye for now!