People and Places

Along with accumulating some fantastic skills that will stay with me for the rest of my life, whether I like or not, I've also met some unique characters along the way and visited some incredible places. Let's start with people:

Milena: She is my host mother on my third farm in Cumiana (see below) and probably one of the strongest women I have met, both mentally and physically. And boy, is she loud. From across the farm we can hear her telephone conversations she has with her parents. She is also constantly moving, whether is be washing something, feeding you, sweeping the floor, yelling at the dog, yelling at her husband, yelling at her sons through skype, or just laughing at my attempts at Italian. I've only ever seen her sit down once, besides at meal times, in the two and half weeks I've been at the farm. She is also a fabulous cook and addicted to daytime television. The TV is always on when she is in the kitchen. It is very comforting and she reminds me a lot of my own mother. She wears the same dress every day and cares more for others than her own comfort. She takes great pride in her home and I have the upmost respect for her.

Bruno: a small man. His eyes are small, he is short and his words are few. Being the husband to Milena, you kind of have to be. He loves to farm and we often find it very hard to call him in from the fields for dinner. He loses track of time like it's his job. I think "Italian-time" was created because of Bruno. He rarely gets frustrated and patiently teaches me how to do each task he assigns. Whenever he gives me a new task though, his face looks pained as if to apologize in advance for the back breaking work I am about to do. He loves to swear in Italian, yet it comes out of his mouth without anger or really even emotion. If I didn't know what the words meant, I would think he was just calmly muttering to himself as he hit his thumb with a hammer or dropped a bucket of water on his foot. He also types on the computer like one of those birds that sits on a desk and swings back and forth into a cup of water.

Nonno Zaro: Milena's father. He likes to drink and speaks very little Italian (he speaks the dialect of the Piedmont region that somewhat sounds like French). He introduced me to putting Johny Walker Red on my gelato and mixing my sparkling water with wine. I feel bad for his liver. Like his daughter, he is highly active and loves people. While I can't really understand the words coming out of his mouth and he is in the same predictament with me, we have a mutual understanding that our situation in this world is part random, part sporatic, and part crazy. We just have to laugh.

Victorio: OK, so not really a person, but he is worth mentioning. He is the mule I feed every morning and evening. Ever heard the expression "stubborn as a mule?" Not a joke. He's in love with the horse on the farm, who couldn't care less about him, yet he follows her everywhere. It's a little depressing to see him constantly be rejected by the woman of his dreams.

Federico: A classic wannabe hippie. He is the farmer on my second farm. He grows his own grapes, makes his own wine, yet does not drink. He has a weird odor and correlated fascination with different cheeses. He thinks he knows everything about everything and loves to give his input. I've found that his facts are rarely accurate and his arguments are often off topic and irrational. But don't tell him that, he has "sources"

Enid: A 29 year-old WWOOFer at my third farm. Our stays overlapped for only 4 days, yet she had the time to tell me her entire life story, whether I wanted to hear it or not. Some parts of it were interesting, like the part about selling her house, her car, her wardrobe, and her business in order to travel Europe for a year. Other parts of the never-ending story I could do without, like the entire list and description of each pet she has ever had, or why she broke up with each one of her various boyfriends throughout her life. Did I mention that she was a self-proclaimed culinary Expert? Whatever that means.

Jess and Matt: This couple (from London) was probably the funniest couple to WWOOF with yet. They were at my third farm for only 5 days and hated almost every miniutes of it, except of course drinking Bruno's wine. They complained all the time and cracked me up with their snide, dry English wit. They planned to go to two other farms following this one, but because of this experience they quickly canceled the farms and spent the rest of their holiday driving around Italy in a camper van.

Emil: He is a 9 year old boy who Milena watches during the day. He can break dance and loves to goof off. Sometimes he follows me around when I'm doing my chores to act like he's doing work. I like to think we are buds.

Zella and Maria: These two are some characters. They were guests at the argirtourismo on my second farm. They are two Scottish, middle-aged women who love their wine. They never really left the picnic table in the back patio, not even to go into Bologna, a 10 minute bus ride away. They just sat there, drinking, bemused that I was working my tail off and they were doing nothing of the sort. Needless to say, they were very good entertainment once 4pm rolled around.

And now for the places:
Il Lago Verde: A lake in the middle of the French Alps that has turned green due to algae in the water. On Saturday, I trekked up to the lake with Nonno Zaro and Bruno, only to realize I forgot my camera.

Cumiana: This village is the location of my third farm. It consists of about 4 cafes, 2 bakeries, 1 pharmacy, 1 market and a park. Everyone knows each other and sits in the piazza together; the women gossiping about the latest hook-ups and the men complaining about the corruption in the Italian government. It's quaint, provincial, and just what I thought a small Italian village would be.

Angirelle: the location of my first farm. This is the epicenter of isolation, if that even could exist. Water from a mountain spring, electricty from solar panels on the roof, rare access to the internet, and no other human contact for about 5 miles. While this allows for amazing views of the Appennine hillsides, I could have gone for some more human contact.

Torino: The closest city to Cumiana, right on the river Po. Amazing piazzas and gelaterias.