Day 34: Hikes in Heat

I woke up, and had some pastries Jamie had grabbed. We headed to the school, and Sam took Jamie and I up the mountain. We had until 11:30, when he was going to meet us at the waterfall that is, at this point in the summer, a very small trickle. We hiked on roads, trails, through fields, woods, and everything in between. Jamie found lots of terraces to study, and the weather was nice. We got back to the waterfall with twenty minutes extra, and I laid down to snooze. As soon as I had put my head down, Sam showed up and picked us up.

We ate lunch, and then I went upstairs to play the organ. In the stairway just above my studio is a small organ. What could be more fun. After messing around for a bit, Jamie got me, and we met Susan and Ed, who took us back up the hill. This time, we were going to walk back on our own. This afternoon, the hike was hot. Though we weren't out long, it felt like forever, and we were glad to get back. Half way through the hike, I started dreaming of the gelato at the bottom. But, when we got down, Bar Central was closed; presumably due to Italy's siesta from 2-5ish. We headed back to the school, and I looked for work, but there wasn't much for me to do. I made some calls, then went back and showered etc.

We had a delicious dinner of lamb, potatoes, corn, spaghetti, and melon. After dinner, Eli, Jamie and I headed upstairs to plunk on the organ. After a bit, we went back downstairs. As I was about to call Naomi for her birthday (Happy birthday Naomi! 14!), Moon slinked off mysteriously with two glasses of wine; and returned soon after with Keith, the longest standing student of the Sangro Valley Project field school, now complete with a PhD in archeology, and his girlfriend. We sat behind the school and chatted for a bit, and then I successfully called Naomi. After some more shmoozing, it was time for bed.

Day 33: Sunday

I woke up, ate some bread and jam, and went downstairs to the Bar Central for a cappuccino. I drank it quickly and walked to the school with Eli. After a short powwow, we got to work. I finished putting the pieces of the studio together, and then started to shoot. I have a few different set ups that I wanted to try, and I wanted to figure out what I was missing, etc. It went well. Of course, as with everything, there will be lots of challenges, but they will be fun and interesting challenges. I worked until lunch, and went down to eat.

After lunch, I worked with Susan a little, showing her what I had done, thinking about which were the best. At two, Jamie and I got in Sam's car. He drove us up to the Samonite walls and dropped us off. For the next few hours, we hiked back to town. Jamie is studying the terraces on the mountain--and all the places where, in the past three thousand years, humans have changed the landscape for their own purposes. So as we walked, he stopped often to write in his field book, look at his compass, and mark places on his map. I was there mostly just in case of an emergency, so I took photos, and talked with him. We talked about Oberlin, about Archeology, about beekeeping, etc. it was a really nice hike.

We got back and had some time to relax. After reading and showering, we headed to the car, and drove a few minutes to the only restaurant within twenty minutes from here. We took the seats right in front of the small TV, ordered fries, several different pizzas, and wine, and watched the world cup final. After a very fun, very long time at the restaurant, we came back and went to bed.

Day 32: Setting Up

After a small breakfast of bread from last night, jam, and blood-orange juice with a real kick, we heeded the message on the note that was passed under our door in the wee hours of the night last night. Ed, the archeologist from Oxford who is the other co-director of the project here, and his grad student Chris Noon, who has been coming here for five years, got in late last night, and didn't know what the plan was or anything, and asked us to wake them and fill them in. We rung the door bell, and were greeted by a slightly confused and very sleepy Ed. He woke up Noon, who had a lot of trouble getting up. They ate our left-over breakfast, and we all walked together to meet Sam and Susan.

They opened the doors to the Nursery school that is going to be our home base. It is run by the church, and is severely lacking in chairs higher than ten inches off the ground. After a short tour of the facility, which has an industrial kitchen, a dining room, and several classrooms and multi purpose rooms. We moved some chairs and tables around, and set up some full sized tables and chairs in the main work room and the dining room. We then all went back to Susan's apartment to get things. We pulled things from their living room, the attic, and everywhere in between, stuffed it in Ed's rental car, and unloaded it at the school. I then spent the next while putting together my studio. It is in the corner of the large room upstairs; which fortunately has shutters on all the windows. I unpacked the new lights, table, and put things together. Unfortunately one of the light bulbs does not work, but fortunately, that was the only problem I ran into. As I was finishing the initial set up, Sam called for lunch. We ate cold cuts and salad, and then Ed and Noon went to their flat for a nap.

Sam and Susan then took us for a drive. Tornareccio is situated at the foot of the Palano mountain; this area has been inhabitant throughout the history. Our first stop was a little visitors center and summer nature camp. There are posters up about the history of the area, and I was given a concise history, and introduced to several artifacts and maps. We then continued up the mountain, to the Samonite wall. The Samonites were a pastoral tribe that lived in this area from about 1000-300 BCE; about the same time as the Etruscans were living in Italy. Near the top of this mountain is a huge wall built by the Samonites, with remaining doorways. Not a lot is known about the Samonites, though some burial sites have been excavated, there is little remains of them in life. The wall has only one side; so it is not clear if was even used for defense--it could have just been to impress alien tribes so they wouldn't attack. After walking along the wall, with Eli and Jamie telling me the history, we met back up with Sam and Susan. We drove to the top of the mountain, to the antennae farm. There are tens of different communication towers and structures, that apparently has been growing and expanding each year. From here, a beautiful view of the Sangro Valley presented itself. We then drove down the other side of the mountain, with Susan pointing out archeological sites and telling us more about the area.

We got back to the apartment, relaxed for a bit, and then headed to the school for dinner. During dinner, Noon introduced me to Wanta, a local specialty. It is a mix of, as the name suggests, red wine and Fanta. After dinner, I went to the Bar Reviavol, right across from our flat to watch the second half of the match for third place. There were some locals there, and one, Sol, who knows about as much English as I know Italian, and was very keen to speak it and learn more. We had a good time communicating and learning each others' languages during the exciting game. After that, I came home to find Eli and Jamie reading the bible in Greek.

Not long after I got back and took my shoes off, Ed rang our door bell, wondering if we wanted to go to a party. After some uncertainty, we decided to come. We piled in the car with Ed and Noon. The directions to the party were: drive up the mountain a ways, put down your window, and listen for the music. We drove for a while, and then passed an area with some cars and caution tape. At first, we thought it might be an accident site, so we kept going, but we soon realized it was the party. We went back, parked the car, and talked to the guy with little tickets, a friend of Ed and Noon. The ticket gave us one free beer. We walked through some shrubs to an an open field. There was reggae music, played through an impressive set of speakers and amps and sound equipment. There were about 25 people, all standing around. There was a tent with beer, and a bar-b-q cooking Arrosticini, a local specialty of very thinly sliced pork on a skewer grilled. We received our beer, and stood around for a bit listening to the music. We ate an arrosticini, and then I wanted to dance. There was no one dancing at all. I finally worked up the courage to ask someone to dance, and she politely declined. Every other girl I saw was with a guy, and I didn't want to cause any trouble. After standing around and talking for a bit, trying to dance, and eventually giving up, we headed back home and went to bed.

Day 31: The Long and Winding Road

My alarm went off at 5:15, and I finished packing up, showered quickly, walked downstairs. I ate a banana, put my things in the car, and said goodbye to the dog, cat, donkey, and horse. The sky was just lightening up; the silhouetted hills were beautiful. We got in the car and began the long and winding drive to the train station. The sun had begun to rise, and beautiful golden light poured across the tobacco fields in the valley and the hillsides. At certain points, the valley mist was illuminated, creating a cool glow settling between the hills.

When we got to the surprisingly busy for 6:40 train station, I bought my ticket and went to the right track. There I said goodbye to Michael, who was a fantastic host and a good friend. I then walked back to the station to grab a croissant and a cappuccino. Not long after paying, and well before I had finished either, I heard my train coming. I ran back to the track, grabbed my bag, and got on with no trouble.

The train was pleasant; affording beautiful views of sunflower fields and the Umbria countryside. I read some, wrote some, and watched the earth fly by for some time. I arrived in Rome, bought a 90 cent ticket back to the Tiburtina station, and then had a long hike to the train; it was in the farthest part of the station, and well advanced on the tracks already. Since I was only taking it for 8 minutes, I didn't get a real seat, and just sat on my bag in the doorway area. We got going about ten minutes late, so I arrived ten minutes late, but it was no problem; I had plenty of time. After unsuccessfully looking for an open bathroom, I walked to the bus station. As I approached, I saw two guys who looked likely to be Oberlin students and introduced myself. Sure enough, I was right, and they introduced themselves as Jamie and Eli, the two other Obies working on the dig this season. Eli and I found a place in the shade and talked, while Jamie found a payphone to call Susan, the archeologist we are working with. We hung around for about an hour, and at ten got on our bus to Lanciano, where Susan and her husband Sam were to pick us up at one. The bus ride began quite ugly in the suburbs of Rome, but as we got into Abruzzo, it became quite beautiful. Jamie and I chatted, and then I read for a while. Halfway through, we stopped at a rest-stop restaurant. I walked in, looked at and smelled all the good food, and then walked out, now very hungry, and we got back on the road. Not long before we were supposed to arrive, something was said as we stopped by the side of the road. People started getting off. Jamie and I had not understood what was said, but Eli turned around and told us we had to change buses. It was the quickest transfer I've ever experienced--we got off, grabbed our bags, through them in the other bus, got on, and were off in significantly less than five minutes again.

Susan and Sam picked us up from the bus stop. We piled our stuff and ourselves into the rental car, and drove the forty minutes from Lanciano, a small city, to Tornareccio, the town of 1,800 where we will be living and working for the next three weeks. During the ride, Susan and Sam brought us up to date on everything; where we are staying, working, the changes in the town, etc. We got into town, and dropped our stuff in our flat. Jamie, Eli and I have an entire apartment, with a large living room, decent kitchen, washing machine, and three bedrooms. Sweet. Right outside the front door are two of the three bars in town, a mixed blessing; a bakery; gelato place; and grocery store. Very hungry, we decided not to clean up, and went straight to Susan and Sam's apartment down the street a little ways, and ate a great lunch of fresh mozzarella (this is the mozzarella hub of Italy), prosciutto, salami, tomato and cucumber, fresh bread and foccacio and cold drinks. It was exactly what we needed. We headed back to our flat and rested for a long time. When we got up, Jamie and Eli did some work while I putzed around. At 7:30, we headed back to Susan's for dinner. Sam is an excellent cook, and we had a multi-course dinner with melon, pasta, veggies and sausage. We talked about where we are, what we are doing, and they told me about the characters around town who I'd run into. After dinner, we ate a local pastry stuffed with grape marmalade, accompanied by the local drink, grappa. Grappa is highly distilled wine; a clear, brandy like drink with 40% alcohol. We sat in the living room and talked for a while after dinner, and then headed back to the flat. I remembered that Garth gave me some movies on my hard drive, and I watched Duplicity before going to bed.

Day 30: Relaxation

After a breakfast of muesli and soy milk, I got to work. Michael told me not to work too hard this morning; I had two massages scheduled for this afternoon. I moved all the things that were on the porch of the massage hut up the hill--there was wood, trash, tools, etc. Michael's friend Patti was excavating some tree stumps, and I took a break to talk to him for a while. He was born in England, moved to British Columbia where he welded dam parts, and now lives in Umbria, doing all kinds of work, from plumbing to excavating.

My next job involved putting up some chicken-wire fencing under the massage hut. The space beneath is where Michael keeps things to reuse and recycle, but it is quite unsightly, so some fencing with dried plants will conceal it. When I was done, I read on the hammock for a bit. We ate lunch and had a long siesta in the hammock. The temperature under the porch was perfect; warm with a cool breeze.

At five, it was time for my first massage, Michael. I worked on him until his lovely girlfriend Martina and her son came. It was then Martina's turn. She too is a massage therapist, so it was another great massage. Working in the hut is wonderful; all the sounds of the birds, the wind in the trees, and the setting sun pouring light in through the open windows.

The sunset was stunning tonight, a real treat on my last night in Umbria. Dinner was all in Italian. I could follow a few of the conversations loosely, and every once in a while someone translated something for me. After dinner, I laid on the couch listening to the conversation and reading.

Day 29: Breathing Easy

I woke up at 8:15, fully rested, and took a cold shower. After eating a banana, I got to work cleaning the pool. All the leaves were out, and all the water had been drained; all that was left was a layer of goop. I used a broom to sweep it to the middle, and a mop to clean up what was left. I got about halfway finished when the Italians came. We ate some breakfast, and
went back out to the pool. Since there is only one mop and one scooper, there wasn't enough work for all of us. I went to the garden, and tied the tomato plants to the bamboo stakes. Next, I went to the big tree in front of the house, which was being strangled by ivy. With a machete and a pair of gloves, I removed all the vines on the lower part of the trunk, and attempted to erradicate the roots. There were big spiky caterpillars all over the ivy, and the ivy had covered about a third of the bark on the trunk. I think it will breathe much better now.

When it was done, we ate lunch: rice, green beans, and fried zucchini flowers. After eating and writing yesterday's entry, I took a nap in the hammock. When I got up, Michael and I set up the massage table in the newly cleaned massage studio, and I got on the table. For the next hour, I was in heaven. It has been a very long time since I've received a massage, and it was wonderful. When I stood up, I could barely walk straight; my whole body had turned to mush. I made my way back to the house, drank some water, and sat on the porch in post-massage bliss. It was then Michael's turn to get on the table, and I gave him one of the most enjoyable massages (to give)
that I've given in a long time.

After the massage, we ate dinner. After dinner, I laid in the hammock and read for a while before bed.

Day 28: An Exchange

I woke up at 8:15, fully rested, and took a cold shower. After eating a banana, I got to work cleaning the pool. All the leaves were out, and all the water had been drained; all that was left was a layer of goop. I used a broom to sweep it to the middle, and a mop to clean up what was left. I got about halfway finished when the Italians came. We ate some breakfast, and went back out to the pool. Since there is only one mop and one scooper, there wasn't enough work for all of us. I went to the garden, and tied the tomato plants to the bamboo stakes. Next, I went to the big tree in front of the house, which was being strangled by ivy. With a machete and a pair of gloves, I removed all the vines on the lower part of the trunk, and attempted to erradicate the roots. There were big spiky caterpillars all over the ivy, and the ivy had covered about a third of the bark on the trunk. I think it will breathe much better now.

When it was done, we ate lunch: rice, green beans, and fried zucchini flowers. After eating and writing yesterday's entry, I took a nap in the hammock. When I got up, Michael and I set up the massage table in the newly cleaned massage studio, and I got on the table. For the next hour, I was in heaven. It has been a very long time since I've received a massage, and it was wonderful. When I stood up, I could barely walk straight; my whole body had turned to mush. I made my way back to the house, drank some water, and sat on the porch in post-massage bliss. It was then Michael's turn to get on the table, and I gave him one of the most enjoyable massages (to give) that I've given in a long time.

After the massage, we ate dinner. After dinner, I laid in the hammock and read for a while before bed.